WYKEHAMIST DEPORTEE
SIR,—On July 26th you published a letter from me concerning a Winchester College boy, a German Jew refugee, who had been seized by the Hants police and subsequently deported to Canada. According to Mr. Peake's statement in the House of Commons the treatment of these refugees in Canada was to be very lenient and sympathetic. Actually it still leaves a great deal to be desired. This boy, whose only fault was being over 16 and being at Winchester in a prohibited area, is now treated very much like a prisoner of war. All his own clothes have been taken away from him, and he has to wear a sort of convict's garb, he is kept behind barbed wire, he is not allowed to do any work outside the camp, Canadians are not allowed to visit him, he has been separated from the other Winchester College boy, and all his public school friends—all apparently through no fault of his. I sent him a reply-paid cable on October 6th, saying the Govern- ment was willing to send him back to this country—he received my cable on November 1st and replied the same day. I received his reply on December loth. I tried to send him money through my bank, but the Government stopped it. We have sent two parcels, but cannot find out that he has ever received them. I received on Friday last a reply to my letter of August 23rd—nearly four months! The delays through the censorship are still terrible.
If everything were as satisfactory as is represented in the House of Commons, all these troubles would not occur.—Yours faithfully,
Previous page
