The U.S. government entered into a discreet diplomatic silence today following Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky’s rejection of President Nixon’s appeal to him to reopen the Schoenau Castle processing center for Soviet-Jewish refugees bound for Israel and UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s refusal to keep the center open under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“The United States is not in a position now to recommend alternatives or solutions,” State Department spokesman John King said. Under questioning, he confirmed that Department officials and diplomats in Washington, New York and abroad are consulting with various governments but he would not name them apart from Austria and Israel.
When a reporter suggested to him that it appeared the U.S. “is backing off, taking a hands-off attitude,” King replied: “I am sorry you take that attitude. The United States has taken great interest in this problem and will continue to play the role in assisting these people.”
King said he saw no alternatives other than those keeping the Austrian center open either by the Austrians themselves or the United Nations. He emphasized that the U.S. “never held out the promise” of an American “initiative” in the situation but “obviously we are not indifferent.” In this connection, he expressed the hope that “there is a determined stance against terrorist blackmail by all countries.”
King was asked whether the Department would classify the Soviet Jews as refugees. “A precise definition” would be “involved,” he responded, but he said he would “characterize them as emigres.” This question was an allusion to the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
In stressing that the U.S. is “obviously engaged in this effort” towards helping the Soviet Jews, King pointed to “facts and figures” on the U.S. role issued by the State Department which noted that $50 million was appropriated for refugees in 1972 and $1 million was spent in refurbishing the Schoenau center.
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.
