OWN CORRESPONDENT
Pictured : Prisoners who died in the camp on Mauritius were buried in the Jewish section of St Martin Cemetery, a short distance away from Beau Bassin’s outskirt.
More than 1 000 Jewish refugees were imprisoned on Mauritius during the Second World War. They were the only refugees to flee Nazi persecution in Europe to have ever been deported from Palestine after landing there.
The group was refused entry into Palestine by the British in 1940 because they were considered “illegal” immigrants, even though they had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe and the Mauritian government was asked to accept them. At that time the colony of Mauritius had 400 000 inhabitants
The centre being built will be known as the Beau Bassin Jewish Detainees Memorial & Information Centre and will focus on this particular event. It is situated next to the cemetery where 126 of the detainees who died on the island, were buried.
Andrew Slome, the general manager of Sugar Beach Resort, said it was important that events like this were recorded as part of Mauritian history and it would help to further educate the Mauritian public.
He envisages the centre becoming a site for school educational visits as well. He is connected to the project as treasurer of the Island Hebrew congregation.
Linda Bester, a designer for the memorial, says the exhibition will enable one to learn about the hardships of their internment, their resilience; how the detainees managed to create a sense of community and how they struggled continuously and tirelessly for their freedom and ultimate return to the Promised Land.
Bester helped design the exhibition for the Cape Town Holocaust Centre, which opened its doors in 1999 and subsequently for the Durban Holocaust Centre, which opened in 2008. She is also part of the design team working on the permanent display that will be installed in the new Johannesburg centre, nearing completion.
In total, 128 prisoners died in the camp, and were buried in the Jewish section of St. Martin Cemetery. Most of the detainees at the end of World War went back to Palestine. Once there, most stayed but others left for South Africa, Australia, Europe and the US.
The current Jewish community is unrelated to the 1940s detainees and the first Bar Mitzvah in Mauritius since World War II took place in 2000. END
For donations banking details are as follows:
ISLAND HEBREW CONGREGATION
AMI CENTRE
SEENEEVASSEN ST
FOREST SIDE
MAURITIUS
BANK NAME: MCB (MAURITIUS COMMERCIAL BANK)
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 000441196314
IBAN: MU33MCBL0944000441196314000MUR
