The special regulations which allowed Polish Jews to emigrate to Israel expired in Poland yesterday. Jews wishing to leave the country from now on will be subject to the same restrictions as all other Poles which make it almost impossible for the average person to travel abroad.
But there are only about 12,000 Jews left in Poland compared to about 20,000 two years ago. Emigration depleted the Jewish community especially since the government’s anti-Zionist drive and purge of Jews from government, Communist Party and other jobs in the spring of 1968.
The Warsaw regime permitted Jews to emigrate but imposed severe restrictions on the amount of cash and personal valuables they could take with them. Jews had to secure Israeli visas from the Netherlands Embassy in Warsaw which handles Israeli affairs in Poland since the latter’s diplomatic break with Israel in June, 1967. But Polish authorities announced last May that exit permits would no longer be granted after Sept. 1, 1969. The date is the 30th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland which started World War II. On Sept. 1, 1939 there were an estimated three million Jews in Poland. About 200,000 Polish Jews who found refuge in Russia returned to Poland after the war.
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.
