Thereupon, families with children and elderly people left the ship. Huge loudspeakers transmitted
Jazz music.
Exactly as in Auschwitz, exactly as in Bergen-Belsen, exactly like the Nazis.
wrote the Jewish community newspaper for the British Zone.
At 09.15 Hrs the remaining passengers refused to leave the ship. One hundred military police and
infantrymen equipped with steel helmets, wooden truncheons, gasmasks, and tear gas canisters
stormed the ship. One hour later the Ocean Vigour had been evacuated. The people were taken to
awaitng trains that soon departed for Lübeck. In Lübeck the internment camps of Pöppendorf and
Am Stau had been prepared for their arrival.
On the following morning the Empire Rival was
evacuated. Its passengers were mainly women and children, as well as 126 sick people. Following
the search of the ship a self built time bomb was discovered that had been smuggled on board in
Port de Bouc. The bomb was taken to the nearby marine barracks for defusing, where it exploded
before the arrival of the explosive experts.
Finally, the evacuation of the Runnymede Park began. The ultimation to leave the ship was met
by shouts, whistles, and the singing of Jewish songs by the passengers in the holds. At 12 noon,
the soldiers boarded the ship. The commanding officer renounced the use of tear gas, fearing
panic, and ordered the people to be individually carried out of the hold. The use of trunchions
became the rule. Five to seven soldiers were required to drag one person off the ship. The
atmosphere of despair passed from the ship to the quay where the Jews were waiting to be
transported further.
Men and women wept, screamed and shrieked.
At 14.00 Hrs the Runnymede Park was evacuated. Shortly before the trains left for L³beck the International Red Cross brought food to the passengers in the railway carriages. However, the passengers, in their uncontrolable anger, flung the food back onto the platform. At the same time, 400 Jews from the Bergen-Hohne camp were demonstrating against British government policy, and attempted to force their way into the port area. German police denied them entry.
After having witnessed this inhuman action a journalist wrote a letter of protest to President Truman. The majority of international journalists were also shocked. The events in Hamburg were transmitted around the world.
