Twenty-thousand refugee Jews from Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia have crossed into Austria since last October, it was reported here today by Bronislaw Teichholtz, director of the International Committee for Transient Jews. Most of the 20,000 eventually reached the American zone in Germany.
The increasing demoralization among the 10,000 Jewish DP’s still confined in camps in the American zone of Austria was today brought to the attention of Gen. Mark Clark, U.S. commander, in a memorandum suggesting an educational and vocational training program to relieve the monotony of camp life.
The memorandum, which was submitted by Dr. Teichholtz proposed the following steps: 1. Instruction in Jewish affairs by Jewish teachers. 2. Courses of a general cultural nature, including language classes. 3. A sports program. 4. Establishment of technical schools where the youth can learn new trades. 5. Placing small plots of land at the disposal of the DP’s for instruction in farming techniques.
Such a program, Teichholtz said, would be welcomed by at least half of the DP’s, the other 5,000 being either too young or too old. He expressed appreciation for the assistance the U.S. forces have extended to the DP’s, both the transients and those quartered in Austria, but said that additional aid is now needed.
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