Vatican Claim That Chile Refused to Admit Non Aryan Refugees During World War Ii Called Baseless

Several Jewish and political leaders here characterized as baseless yesterday a statement in Vatican documents released in Rome that Chile and Bolivia refused visas to non-Aryans during World War II despite the Pope’s personal appeal.

Jacobo Schaulsohn, member of the Federal Constitutional Tribunal and one of the most powerful figures in the government told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the statement from Rome had no foundation in reality. He said that thousands of Jews were permitted to enter both Chile and Bolivia.

Schaulsohn, who is Jewish, noted that there was no general refusal to allow non-Aryans to enter. He noted that during the war years the President of Chile was a Free Mason and the government was a Popular Front government similar to that which ruled France prior to the war. The Pope at that time, he noted, was not interested in intervening in the affairs of Chile.

Gil Sinay, chairman of the Representative Committee of Jewish Organizations, a group similar to the Presidents Conference in the United States, also told the JTA that “more than 10,000 Jews came to Chile and Bolivia during the war years. “Maybe not all who sought to got in, but most did get in.” He added that whatever visa problems existed during the war years was almost universal in South America. “Every country had some restrictions then just as they do now,” Sinay noted. “I’m at a loss to understand why Chile and Bolivia were singled out.”

A high and well-placed source in the Jewish community here-stated emphatically that “thousands of Jews got into Chile and Bolivia. If there were any restrictions these applied to all persons seeking to enter, not just to Jews.” He said the Archbishop in Chile at that time was very considerate and sensitive to the problem. In fact, the source noted, there were quite a few non-Jews who reported themselves to he baptized Jews in order to facilitate entry.