The Mauritian shekel: the story of the Jewish detainees in Mauritius, 1940-1945
| Author | Geneviève Pitot, Donna Edouard, Helen Topor |
| Publication information | Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, 259 pages |
Narrative
In 1940, thousands of Jews were trying to flee Nazi persecution in Europe.
The Mauritian shekel: the story of the Jewish detainees in Mauritius, 1940-1945 is the story 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, was unique, because, as a deterrent to others, they were deported to Mauritius, a remote island in the Indian Ocean, where 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.
The book shed light on the British government's lack of understanding of the critical problem of Jewish refugees.