The Mauritian Shekel

The Mauritian Shekel

Authors: Geneviève Pitot

Number of pages: 288

Release date: 2014

In 1940 thousands of Jews were trying to flee Nazi persecution in Europe. This is the little-known story of a group of 1,600 Jewish refugees who, having escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe, were refused entry into Palestine by the British in 1940 because they were considered ‘illegal’ immigrants. Their deportation after landing in the Promised Land, Eretz Israel, was unique. As a deterrent to others, they were deported to Mauritius, a remote island in the Indian Ocean. They were detained in a Mauritian prison until the end of the war and were deprived of all basic human rights, even that of family life. This story sheds light on the British government’s lack of understanding of the critical problem of Jewish refugees at that time.