The first transport of Jewish immigrants from the American zone of Germany to the United States will probably sail early in May, Ilya Dijour, HIAS director for Germany and Austria, told a press conference here today. The first group will probably be composed of 600-800 children, he said, adding that transports are expected to sail weekly after the program gets under way.
Dijour pointed out that all the Jews who wanted to emigrate could not do so, because, under the terms of President Truman’s directive facilitating the immigration of refugees and displaced persons into the U.S., the majority of the visas are assigned to persons born in Germany. He said that 26,000 immigrants from Germany are authorized, but that there are only 17,000 Jews in Germany who are eligible by birth to apply. Thousands of Polish Jews have little hope of getting to America since the entire quota for Polish-born immigrants is 6,000 a year, Dijour asserted.
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.
