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Polish-jewish Refugees Reach Bombay En Route from Japan to Palestine

August 8, 1941
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A group of Jewish refugees from Poland who found their way through Lithuania across Soviet Russia and Japan to Singapore reached Bombay today where they were granted visas for Palestine, the London press reports.

Developments in the Far East make it certain that the thousand or more Polish-Jewish refugees stranded in Japan will have no further chance to proceed to Singapore. Dr. Ignacy Schwartzbart, representative of Polish Jewry to the Polish Government-in-exile, has been flooded with cables from various organizations in Palestine asking him to secure visas for stranded Jews which would permit their entrance into Palestine or any of the British colonies.

Reports received today in London confirm that the Japanese authorities have notified the stranded Polish Jews that they will all be interned if their emigration from Japan is not effected speedily. The Jewish community in Kobe cabled a desperate appeal to Jewish relief organizations to take immediate action, pointing out that among the stranded are 450 rabbis and yeshivah students whose names have been submitted to the Polish consulate in Kobe in order to secure their admission into any of the British dominions. It is understood here that the Federations of Polish Jews in Canada, Australia and South Africa are prepared to assume full responsibility for the maintenance of this group, if they are admitted to any of these countries.

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