Writing about the Jewish refugees who have been left stranded in various ports of Europe and in Cuba, owing to the decision of the Canadian government to bar further immigration of refugees to her shores, I. L. Dalidanski. in an article which appears in the Jewish Daily News of Oct. 22. says:
“There are at the present time ten thousand Jewish refugees in various European ports and five thousand in Cuba who are affected by Canada’s decision. These refugees were on their way to the United States, when the Johnson bill was adopted, closing the doors of this country to them. At the same time they are being allowed to remain in the various ports only temporarily and on sufferance. Roumania has made several attempts to deport them and may carry her intention into effect any day; those refugees who are in the ports of England are being permitted to remain only on condition that they refrain from seeking employment, for England has a million and 300 thousand of her own unemployed who are in need of jobs.
“And worst of all perhaps is the fact that nearly all the refugees have been deprived of citizenship in the respective countries from where they originally emigrated. They canner go anywhere, they have no haven.
“What is to be done about these unfortunate 15,000 Jews?
“It is an awful problem and tremendously difficult to solve. But this should not deter the American Jews from taking immediate action. A start has already been made in collecting the funds necessary to keep the refugees from starving. This work should be hastened with the participation of all classes of Jews.
RUSSIAN ZIONISTS THREATENED WITH EXILE TO SIBERIA
“The Jewish communists in Russia have taken the latest revolt against the Soviet Power in Georgia as an excuse to cause the arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of Zionists in Russia,”writes the correspondent of the Jewish Daily News from Moscow under date of Sept. 26.
“The chiefs of the Soviet government are well aware that the Zionists are not engaged in counter-revolutionary activity, but they have always had to yield to the Jewish communists who are forever exerting themselves to suppress the Zionist movement in Russia. In the past, however, the punishment meted out to the Zionists was not very severe. They were usually exiled to other countries and frequently direct to Palestine, which was not at all to their dislike.
“But now, on the occasion of the counter-revolutionary revolt in Georgia, hundreds of Zionists are apparently to be exiled to remote parts of Siberia far removed from civilization, which will be a punishment indeed.
“Punishment for what?
“The Zionists are not guilty of any transgression whatsoever. But the fact that they are the most active and self-conscious element in Russian Jewry and that they impede the process of assimilation is ground enough for the Jewish communists to persecute them.
“In 1920 when a large number of Zionists were arrested the American Jew. Fischer, interceded in their behalf and succeeded in having them liberated. If the Jews of America and other countries would let their voice be heard in Moscow now, it is not impossible that the imprisoned Zionists would be freed. After all the pressure of public opinion brings results.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
