American Jewish Conference Asks More Freedom for J.D.C. in Camfs for Displaced Jews

Greater freedom of action for the Joint Distribution Committee in camps for displaced Jews in the American zone in Germany was asked in a memorandum submitted by representatives of the American Jewish Conference to Judge Simon H. Rifkind, civilian adviser to the Commanding General of the United States Armed Forces in Europe, it was reported today by the Conference.

The memorandum, prepared by three representatives of the Conference after a six week’s survey of camps and communities in Germany where the displaced Jews are ceased, emphasized that J.D.C. relief in the camps is now being hampered by red tape. The three representatives are Major Alfred Fleishman of St. Louis, and Samuel Sar and Jans Lamm of New York.

Other recommendations made in the report to Judge Rifkind urge that Jewish committees democratically elected by the displaced Jews themselves be given official status by the American Military Government; that Jewish voluntary agencies be enecuraged to bring in teachers and school supplies, since there are Jewish children in the camps who can neither read nor write; that farm land be acquired for agricultural training of the displaced Jews and in order to provide additional food for them, and that a simplified mail system be introduced, with mail censorship abolished, in order to enable the displaced Jews to communicate with their relatives abroad.

According to the findings of the conference team the majority of displaced Jews desire to go to Palestine, while some wish to enter the United States and other countries. Conditions in the camps were found to have improved gencrally as a result of official American action, but in recent weeks these improvements have been offset by absence of long-range, coordinated and effective planning, the conference representatives reported.