The ouster of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev by Communist hard-liners this week has increased pressure on the German government to ease its restrictions on the immigration of Jews from the Soviet Union.
Heinz Galinski, chairman of Germany’s Jewish community, was received Tuesday by Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaueble for a discussion of the problem. Although no figures were announced, it was understood that they agreed on generous treatment of Soviet Jews who apply for German entry visas.
A statement released by the Jewish community office here Tuesday said it was besieged with telephone calls from relatives of Jews in the Soviet Union begging for help to get them out.
“Hour by hour, we receive dozens of calls for help. People back in Russia are scared,” the statement said. “We feel obliged to receive as many of them as we can.”
The German government adopted immigration restrictions in March after large numbers of Soviet Jews settled in Berlin.
Soviet Jews were required thereafter to apply for visas at German consulates in Soviet cities. Preference was given to those who have relatives in Germany or could prove their families originated there.
But the processing has been slow.
Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s government has since come under heavy pressure to accept larger numbers of Jewish refugees who have family or cultural links to Germany.
It is expected to intensify as a result of Gorbachev’s fall from power.
The Jewish community said it would try to make help available and provide security for Jews trapped in the Soviet Union, who may become targets for harassment and discrimination.
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.
