A group of 69 men and women, mainly elderly persons, sailed from Haifa today aboard the Turkish vessel Akso bound for their native Rumania. A few hundred more immigrants from Rumania are preparing to return to that country.
According to some of the group, they had to return because their children were unable to leave Rumania and join them here and they were unable to support themselves. Many of the returnees had left their homes and families in Rumania in the belief that the Rumanian authorities would permit their children to follow them. Instead, Rumania closed its gates to Jewish emigration.
Newspapers report that the Rumanian consular authorities here are doing their utmost to encourage the return of the immigrants and that they have been paying off thousands of pounds in debts owed by the returnees here. The Rumanian consul in Tel Aviv, according to one paper, shifted his headquarters to Haifa to direct the repatriation operation. The Rumanian Legation has announced that it would arrange for the repatriation of 200 persons monthly.
Return of these immigrants to Rumaula, it is believed here, will be used as a political propaganda weapon by the Communists to discourage other Rumanian Jews from seeking to migrate to the Jewish State.
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.
