The emigration of Jews from Poland to Austria which stopped last month on account of cold weather has resumed again at a rate of 100 a day, it was revealed here today. The new refugee influx is apparently caused by fears that the coming election campaign in Poland will bring with it new outrages against the Jews.
In a broadcast appealing for understanding and better treatment for the 30,000 Jewish refugees from Eastern European countries now in Austrias, Bronislaw Teichholz, president of the Jewish Refugee Organization, today declared that the refugees do not want financial or other material aid from the Austrian Government. He denied rumors that the government was feeding them at them at the expense of the general population, pointing out that their food was supplied by the American military forces and the Joint Distribution Committee.
Teichholz declared that the Jews did not desire to remain in Austria, but were waiting to go to Palestine. He stated that the displaced Jews did not want to be treated in the same fashion as other DP’s, asserting that many of the other DP’s had formerly persecuted the Jews. He protested the publication in the press of charges that displaced Jews were involved in crimes, saying that no Jews had been found among criminals.
VIENNA JEWISH LEADER DOES NOT ADVISE JEWS TO RETURN TO AUSTRIA
The Jews who fled Austria during the Nazi regime should not return now, David Brill, president of the Jewish Community of Vienna, declared in an interview here with a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent. He offered this advice although he personally “would be very happy” to see them, Brill said.
In opposing Chancellor Leopold Figl’s indirect appeal inviting the Jews to return to Austria, Brill pointed out that housing for Jews was still inadequate, with some 600 living in camps and barracks and with only 180 Jews having recovered their apartments since the liberation.
He pointed out that while he is convinced that by this time the Austrian Government probably intends to press its program of restitution of Jewish property, he does not know of a single case where a Jewish business or house have yet been returned. Brill also stressed the fact that anti-Semitism has not been completely suppressed and seems to be increasing as another factor which Jews who are thinking of returning should take into consideration.
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.
