Showing posts with label German Palestinian Exchange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German Palestinian Exchange. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Monday, July 10, 1944. The Third German Palestinian Exchange.

242 Jewish individuals arrived in Palestine under the Third German Palestinian Exchange, a peculiar event that's almost forgotten.  Under the odd arrangement, Jews in occupied Europe were exchanged for Germans in Palestine, most of whom were "Templer Germans".

The Templer Germans were residents of settlements that had been established in Palestine during Ottoman rule in 1868 and continued on into the 20th Century.  Originally part of the German Pietist Templer movement, the Nazi Party made a heavy effort to Nazify the colonies after they came to power in Germany.  Their numbers decreased over time, and never numbered more than 2,000.  They were declared enemy aliens by the British at the start of World War Two, and many were interned in Australia.  The British, however, brokered a deal in which 1,000 Templers were exchanged for 550 Jews, most of whom had Palestinian connections.  After the Second World War, the remaining members came under heavy pressure, with their leader at the time being assasinated, to leave newly founded Israel.

I have to note that being deported to Germany in this time frame would be an epic bummer, although like Italian colonies in Libya, and French ones in Algeria, the small German settlements in Palestine were not long for the world.

Enduring a second blitz, 41,000 mothers and children left London for countryside billets to avoid V1 bombs.

Having taken D-Day objective Caen, the British moved towards expanding their lines under stuff resistance.

The Finns won a second battlefield victory in two days, this time prevailing at Vyborg Bay.


The Battle of Driniumor River began near Aitape, New Guinea with a Japanese assault of Allied positions there.

The SS Duilio, interned at Trieste, was sunk by Allied aircraft.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 9, 1944.