An all-European conference of JDC representatives from 17 countries opened here today under the chairmanship of Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European director of the organization. The meeting will map plans for allocating more than $100,000,000 which will be required this year to meet the needs of Jews in Europe.
Noses Beckleman, vice-chairman of the J.D.C. ‘s European department, stated that 1946 was a disappointing year to the Jews of Europe for three reasons: Firstly, a solution of the Palestine problem was expected, but did not come about; secondly, the number of refugees from Poland trebled during the year; and, thirdly, although President Truman authorized the entrance of 39,000 refugees to the United States, only about one-third of that number arrived in America.
The major task for this year, Beckleman said, is to keep the displaced Jews “emigrable,” by keeping them at productive work. In this connection he cited the vast shipments of productive machinery and supplies to the DP camps. He declared that the main problem facing the other Jews in Europe was raising their economic level, since the war had stripped most of them of their possessions and jobs.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
