ABSTRACT

Romania, where the Pans lay, contained 450,000 Jews, the largest surviving Jewish community in Europe, and the Communist Party, currently engaged in eliminating other political parties, wished to see them out of the country. It did not augur well that the head of the American Joint Distribution Council was known to have met the organiser of illegal immigration from Romania and a very eminent representative of the Jewish Agency in Bucharest on 10 December. Their agenda had been reported to be ways and means of despatching the greatest possible number of immigrants as soon as possible. On 20 December the British diplomatic representative in Romania reported that the departure of the Pans, with illegal immigrants embarked, was imminent. This news caused the Palestine authorities to start air searches.