Hundreds of Jews who hold Polish citizenship but who have been educated abroad and who do not even speak the Polish language will be able to enter the services of the United Nations and the Allied armies without losing their Polish citizenship, under an amendment to the Polish citizenship law of 1920 approved yesterday by the Polish National Council.
The law as amended provides that a Polish national who, while living abroad, accepted service for an Allied or neutral government will not lose his citizenship provided his appointment is only temporary and does not interfere with his duty and allegiance to the Polish State.
The amendment specifies that Poles wishing to join the armies of Allied countries or military units such as the British Home Guard must obtain special permission from the Polish authorities. In such cases the applicant must secure a release from his obligations to serve in the Polish army.
The new measure will enable several hundred Polish-Jews, many of them residents of Britain, to join forces other than the Polish army.
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.
