The exchange of the Palestinian Jews, who at the outbreak of the war were staying in Europe for German residents in Palestine is a relatively unexplored aspect of allied efforts to save the Jewish population. The consensus reached after lengthy and arduous British-German negotiations enabled five such exchanges during 1941–1945. Three of them (in December 1941, November 1942 and January 1943) also included Jewish resident of the  Katowice Regierungsbezirk, who by being Palestinian citizens or by being related with Palestinian resident had the right to leave German-occupied areas.

Probably this enabled 332 people to leave eastern Upper Silesia. The activity of the German administration to do with the "uncovering" of Palestinian Jews staying in the Katowice  Regierungsbezirk, as well as the entire process of organising this action at the local administration level of eastern Upper Silesia was reconstructed on the basis of well-preserved and consistent German documentation from the State Archives in Katowice.