SEPTEMBER 14, 1951
THE CANADIAN JEWISH REVIEW
POSTSCRIPT TO BELSEN
IY Dft. F. IRASSIOFF, WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS OFFICE IN GERMANY
When units of the British Army liberated the concentration- camp of Belsen in May, 1945, they were staggered by the horrible sight of dead and dying victims of monstrous and callous brutality. Lying ro heajps were the corpses of those who had perished as a result of Naxi mass extermination. There were 13,000 of them. Many thousands had died before and thousands were yet to die.
But in that spring of 1945 which was to bring peace to Europe, more than 50,000 Jewish men and women were found to be still alive. Out
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of their efforts and amidst these shambles grew a new community of survivors. They felt most urgently that desire to make themselves understood to the outside world. It was not a matter of language; they spoke many. But they elected representatives to act on their behalf. Public opinion of the/ world had still not grasped what had happen* ed within the barbed wires of Bel-sen- and other camps. It was difficult, it seemed, to understand the state of mind of the human remnants of the Nazi hell. But it was, no doubt, equally difficult to bear with the apparent lack of imagination of the outer world for the physical and mental sufferings of those who were soon1 conveniently and euphemistically to be labelled "Displaced Persons".
The Jewish DJPs. settled dawn at Belsen, as they thought, for a short while. Their first census was taken in September, 1946. There were then still more than 10,000 left to stny where they had suffered so abominably under the whip of the Nazi tortures and where their own kin had been murdered by people, many of whom now, no doubt, claim to have been "always good democrats".
Against the background of these bitter and tragic memories which could leave little space for a policy of forgiving "realism", the restraint this community showed in the immediate post-war years in givtog expression to their strong feelings is rather surprising. They concentrated their efforts on rebuilding their own. lives and on re-integrating themselves into the Jewish community of the world.
On the site of the Belsen concentration camp, the Belsen "D.P. camp" came into being. It was to become a focal point for liberated Jews in. the British Zone of Germany, and its Central Committee, created by democratic elections, , soon took charge of day-to-day affairs and also provided valuable spiritual guidance. In co-operation with the British Occupation authorities, and with the help of international Jewish organisations, social, religious and cultural welfare services, departments for emigration' as well as for the tracing of missing relatives, were quickly established.
Jewish relief organisations from the United 'States and Great Britain stepped in to help in the creation of a hospital, schools and kindergartens, which were most urgently needed. Gly-n- Hughes Hospital, put at the disposal of the Jewish D.Ps. immediately after the liberation, acquired a good reputation in the course of the years. When, in January 1948, the birth of the thousandth baby since the liberation was celebrated, it was proudly recorded that the infant mortality rate of this hospital was 0.6 per cent lower than- that of similar English and German institutions.
Much was done at Belsen in the immediate post-war years to bring the survivors of the Nazi camp back to normality. But even those whose physical and mental health had been restored were longing for the most essential prerequisite of a normal life, a real home. To live on relief (even if it was charity under self-administration) in hostile German surroundings, was just ?.s hateful to them as the thought of returning to their countries of birth m Central and Eastern Europe where cemeteries were all that was left of a formerly flourishing Jewish life. It took some time and the lesson* of the "Exodus" incident before the out-aide world grasped the determination of these Jewish D.Ps. to fight for their rigtot to live in freedom and dignity.
When, in the summer of 1947, the British authorities *aw fit to seed back to Germany a shipload of displaced persons, bound on a hazardous journey to Palestine, the fierce resistance shown by these Jewish men and women csme as a surprise, It was in this difficult sttastion that the World Jewiih Congress intervened. Contact was established between those not yet deafened by continuous appeals for sympathy for the victims of Nssi persecution and others of the "official mind" whose attitude had created a dangerous position.
Co-operation between the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in
Belsen and the World Jewish Congress has remained close daring the six years of the camp'a existence. The survivors of Nazi horror realised perhaps more than other Jews who had been spared their experiences, the need for practising Jewish unity. Through the Congress they were given support without patronage. The Central Committee of Belsen, just as the Central Committee at Munich, had seat and vote in its councils. The World Jewish Congress stepped in whenever its help was sought and serious obstacles arose in the relations between the Occupying Powers and the D.Ps.
And there were many such difficulties which it might be instructive to recall today. There was the threat of German police raiding the camp which created an ugly situation. There were the incidents which arose when luggage of emigrants to Israel was impounded by the Customs without authority. There was, last but not least, the short notice demand by the military for evacuation of the camp. A good many similar events could be listed. In all these cases, the World Jewish Congress was able to represent successfully the interests .and wishes of the Jewish community of Belsen.
When unhampered admittance to Israel became possible and migration to other countries was stepped up, this community, of course, quickly decreased. In the autumn of 1950, the camp population was reduced to some 1000 people, two-thirds of whom were invalids and other "hard core" cases, as well as members of their families. They were removed to Jever camp, a block of buildings in pleasant surroundings in the countryside of Oldenburg which once served for the recreation of the Luftwaffe.
Now, one year later, this settle-
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ment has been liquidated, in good order and according to plan, and the camp will be taken over by the R.A.F. Of the three hundred people left at Jever two hundred went to Wentorf, an American' transit centre near Bremen, to await transport to the United States. Over one hundred left Jever for Israel on the eve of the Zionist Congress, placing a symbolical seal upon, a remarkable chapter of Jewish survival and rebirth.
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