A tale of difficulties encountered in bringing a Russian-Jewish family from Odessa to Delaware was unfolded yesterday by the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society.
Nine months ago it was decided to have the family come here to join relatives. The members of the Odessa family had been well-to-do until the revolution, after which funds for their support had to be sent them from the United States.
Letters, cablegrams, telegrams and long-distance telephone calls passed and at length the American relatives, working with HIAS, forwarded the money for transportation and other needs.
Before the passports could be secured the United States went off the gold standard, so that the original sum was no longer sufficient. More money to bridge the difference was dispatched.
The fee for each passport was $550—until the Soviets decided the Odessa people were not entitled to so-called “cheap” passports and would have to pay $1,100 apiece.
The HIAS representative went to work and finally got the officials to relent. After that things moved swiftly, and now the folks from Odessa are in America at last.
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.
