A wave of suicides will occur among the displaced Jews still held in camps in the Anglo-American zones in Germany, if they are not reserved from the camps soon, a leading UNRRA official warned today in a report on his visit to the parts of Germany held by British and American forces.
The official described the situation of the Jews in the camps as “most terrible.” He said that the food there is inadequate, the hygienic conditions bad, and the morals “shockingly low” as a result of prolonged idleness. Anti-Semitism, he reported, is not confined to the camps supervised by Polish liaison officers, but is widespread in other camps.
In the Polish camps, he said, the position of the Jews can hardly be described. They are beaten and maltreated by anti-Semitic Poles, and one can hear constant shouting of slogans such as “We want a democratic Poland without Jews,” or “There wasn’t enough fire to burn all the Jews up in the German extermination camps.”
“There is evidence of open unrest against the Jews in many assembly centers of the displaced persons,” the UNRRA representative stated. He stressed the desire of the Jews to go to Palestine. “They are in great despair, and if nothing is done to rescue them, there will be a wave of suicides among them as the winter approaches,” he declared.
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.
