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200 Refugees Rescued from Africa by J.D.C. Reach New York

August 7, 1941
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More than 200 refugees from Nazism who, after having been stranded in North Africa for periods up to half a year, were rescued through the efforts of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, arrived here aboard the steamer Guinee this morning, after a fifteen-day voyage from Casablanca, Morocco. The J.D.C. arranged with the Companha Colonial, a Portuguese line, to have the Guinee stop at Casablanca to pick up the refugees.

Among those who arrived are men who were saved from the labor camps in the Sahara Desert where thousands of refugees are now toiling in the construction of a railroad to Dakar. Refugees in France have recently been rounded up and transported to Africa to work on this project.

Also among the Guinee passengers were some of the refugees who have been trapped in Africa since January, when the steamer Alsina, on which they originally sailed, was held up at Dakar where it remained until June. Another group was aboard the steamers Wyoming and Montviso, which sailed from Marseille for Martinique and were turned back to Africa due to international tension. These refugees had faced the prospect of being stranded indefinitely until the J.D.C. came to their rescue.

Another 200 are scheduled to arrive soon aboard the steamer Nyasse which, also at the instance of the J.D.C., called at Casablanca. There are still about 1,100 refugees in Casablanca awaiting transportation facilities which the J.D.C. is trying to arrange.

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