A number of Jews in Holland have sought to escape deportation to Nazi-hold Eastern European territories by feigning insanity and having themselves. committed to insane asylums, the Nazi press reported today.
The lunatic asylum at Meerenberg receives daily a largo number of applications for entrance from Jews, on the basis of doctors certificates which state that the patients “have become insane as a result of being subjected to extreme cruelty,”tho Nazi papers reported. They add that a number of prominent of Haarlem, who never before manifested mental deficiency, are now confined in asylums.
Asking segregation of the Jews from the other inmates, one paper writes that ” if these ‘insane’ Jews were taken to Poland and not treated too kindly, one would see a miraculous recovery,” It urges punishment of doctors and other persons aiding the Jews to secure admission to the mental institutions.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.