JEWS INTERNED IN CYPRUS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25289, 15 September 1947, Page 8

JEWS INTERNED IN CYPRUS

CHILDREN AMONG REFUGEES

ARRANGEMENTS made FOR EDUCATION

LONDON, September 1. Thousands of the problem children’ of Europe are either marshalled on the Continent waiting their chance to make the journey to Palestine “the hard way” or are interned on Cyprus, says .the “Glasgow Herald.’’ Of the 2500 children intercepted by the Royal Navy while attempting to enter Palestine illegally and interned at Kyrenia only 700 were accompanied by one or two parents: the remainder are either orphans or nave left both parents behind in Europe. So far 985 have been sent to Palestine under a special permit granted by the High Commissioner. The rest will wait with 15,000 adults for their turn on the monthly quota. The last of them may expect to leave in June, 1949. During a recent visit to the Children’s Village at Xylotymbou, where 1797 children are being trained for their future life in Palestine, a Reuters correspondent saw the whole picture of Jewish immigration in miniature. In the village, there are 18 children below nine years of age, 41 between the ages of 10 and 11, 233 between 12 and 14, 1356 between 15 and 17, and 160 seniors, of whom the oldest is not yet 18. Forty-three per cent, are from Poland, 32 per cent, from Hungary, 13 per cent, from Rumania, 7 per cent, from Czechoslovakia, 2 per cent, from Lithuania, and the remainder from France, Russia, Germany, and Belgium. Yiddish was the mother tongue of 49 per cent, of them, and 34 per cent, spoke Hungarian. Eight or 10 different movements are represented in the village—movements which have their origin in the various youth groups to which homeless or orphaned children became attached in the concentration and displaced persons’ camps of Europe. Some are fanatically religious, some are political, varying through every shade of political opinion from the right to extreme Marxists, but all support the idea of a State founded upon agriculture, and all have collective settlements which are anxious to receive the children once they reach Palestine. The village is under the supervision of Mr Joseph Rapeport, brought by •the American Joint Distribution Committee from Palestine, together with 24 A.J.D.C. workers and 150 teachers from among the immigrants themselves. Three teachers from Palestine and five immigrants comprise the school administration committee. Altogether there are 100 classes of approximately 20 in each class, and explanations are given in 13 languages, including Arabic. The official language is Hebrew, in which all children are given two hours’ tuition a day, with Palestine geography three hours a week, arithmetic three to five hours, and Jewish and general history one to three hours weekly. Much of the instruction is practical and technical, and the instructors keep in mind the fact that the child is destined for a communal and agricultural life.