The authorities today ordered all German-born males aged 50 to 65, including refugees, to report immediately with food for two days and hand baggage to the registration center to which all German-born persons up to 50 were ordered to report last week.
In high official quarters it was learned that the authorities are studying the problem of how to accord special treatment to refugees among the German-born aliens. Non-refugee Germans face isolation as enemy aliens for the duration of the war.
The majority of the refugees, including 4,500 Jews, as officially shown in Parisian film houses, have registered as volunteers and would like to fight the Nazis face to face on the war front, but the French authorities would prefer to have them in the Foreign Legion in Africa, which enjoys a high reputation in France.
What is to happen to the wives and families of able bodied refugees who join the Foreign Legion is a problem which the authorities are expected to solve in a sympathetic manner. For the time being, the families of refugees who are at the registration center are being taken care of by the various refugee relief committees which are functioning normally.
It is believed that the older among the refugees will be placed on public works. At any rate, this correspondent was assured in official quarters that a distinction will be made in the treatment of German-born refugees and Germans who are still Reich citizens.
The situation of Austrian-born persons who are affected by the new order will probably be more simple, since with the announced formation of a special Austrian Legion they will be able to declare themselves at the registration center as willing to join this Legion to fight for the liberation of Austria from the Nazi Reich. The Official Gazette has published regulations providing that any alien of military age can at any time be freed from existing obligations if he wishes to leave France.
Among the refugees eligible for enlistment in the Foreign Legion, which stipulates a five-year service, are many holding numbers on waiting lists for American visas. It is , however, out of the question for anyone in France to get an American visa, whether under the immigration quota or as visitors, until all stranded American citizens are enabled to leave Europe. The American Consulate at Paris takes the view that any free space on any steamer going to the United States must be secured primarily for Americans and it is estimated that it will take about two more months until the Consulate has aided all Americans to return to the States.
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.
