December 26: Mauritius, island in the Indian Ocean about 500 miles east of Madagascar, where Jewish refugees from Central Europe – passengers of the Atlantic – were put into detention during World War II after being forcibly deported from Palestine by the British as “illegal” immigrants. On their arrival in Mauritius (Dec. 26, 1940), they numbered 1,580 persons.
They were repatriated to Haifa, Israel, in August, 1945.