Patria and World War II

For more details on the bombing, see Patria disaster.

Before the Nazis decided on their Final Solution to kill all Jews, they were focused on getting them out of Europe. Three ships sent by the Nazis in September 1940, the Atlantic, Milos, and Pacific, picked up 3,600 Jews from Vienna, Gdańsk and Prague in Tulcea, Romania, to be sent to Palestine.

The Jews that arrived in Palestine came without entry permits and were subsequently denied entry by the British government, specifically Sir Harold MacMichael, who was the High Commissioner. The British decided to deport the immigrants to either Trinidad and Tobago or Mauritius, both British colonies. On 25 November 1940, the first ship carrying the 1,800 Jews to Mauritius, the Patria, was accidentally bombed by the Haganah, who wanted the Jews to stay in Palestine. Their intentions were to cripple the ship. There were 260 fatalities and 172 injuries. There were only enough lifeboats for 805, since the capacity was 805 when the Patria was a French ship. When the British repossessed the boat, they increased the capacity to 1,800 but still had the same number of lifeboats.

The surviving Jews were sent to Atlit detainee camp along with the remaining 1,584 from the Atlantic who were not on the Patria. The detainees who were on the Atlantic were sent to Mauritius on 9 December 1940. When they arrived, they were sent to a detainment camp in Beau-Bassin. Food, water, and religious items were sent to the detainees. At the end of World War II, the detainees could either return to their homes in Europe or go to the recently created country of Israel. Most chose Israel.

Present

According to the population census 2011, there are about 43 Jews in Mauritius, they are unrelated to 1940s fugitives.  The first Bar Mitzvah in Mauritius since World War II took place in 2000.

There is also one synagogue in Curepipe, the Amicale Maurice Israel Center, which was opened in 2005. The Saint Martin Cemetery in Bambous is the only Jewish cemetery in Mauritus. The bodies of the 127 died detainees as well as other Jewish people are buried there.

References

  1. ^ a b Bauer, Yehuda (1981). American Jewry and the Holocaust. Wayne State University. ISBN 0-8143-1672-7. 
  2. ^ a b "Resident population by religion and sex". Central Statistic office. 2011. p. 68. Retrieved 25 October 2012. 
  3. ^ a b "Launching the Jewish Community of Mauritius". African Jewish Congress. May 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2012. 
  4. ^ a b c d "Mauritius". The Jewish Virtual History Tour. Retrieved 6 March 2012. 
  5. ^ a b c "Deaths of 260 in 1940 ship explosion commemorated". Jewish Weekly. 14 December 2001. Retrieved 6 March 2012. 
  6. ^ Mauritian Shekel, p. 17
  7. ^ Mauritian Shekel, p. 224

Further reading

  • Pitot, Geneviève (2000). The Mauritian Shekel: The Story of Jewish Detainees in Mauritius, 1940-1945. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0742508552.