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Israeli Consul to Issue Visas to 1,772 Shanghai Jews; Refugees Will Sail Soon

December 1, 1948
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Moshe Yuval, Israeli Vice Consul in New York, will arrive here tomorrow to issue visas to 1,772 stateless Jewish refugees who are expected to sail for Israel for resettlement.

Two International Refugee Organization ships, the Castel Bianca and the Wooster Victory, are due to land here next Sunday from Australia to take on the Jewish immigrants. Despite the fact that displaced persons must sell their homes and possessions, dispose of their businesses, pack their belongings, get inoculations and exit visas and comply with other red tape requirements, I.R.O. officials expect the ships to leave in a few days.

The evacuees include both Jewish war refugees and Jews who left Russia after the Bolshevik revolution. Although Jennings Wong, local I.R.O. chief, declined to give the proportion, other sources say that the Jews from Russia enjoy a priority. The basis is that they have more to fear from the Chinese Communists, should they overthrow the Kuomintang Government, than the Jewish refugees from Poland and other countries.

Apparently lacking clearance from acting Palestine mediator Ralph J. Bunche, the ships are going to Marseille or Genoa. The passengers will transfer to other ships if necessary. The voyages will be by way of the Cape of Good Hope or Panama, not the Suez Canal, where the passengers might be liable to interference by Egypt.

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