Although the overcrowding in the transient center here for Jews fleeing Poland has improved temporarily because there have not been any incoming transports in the past few days, relief workers are continuing to press the military authorities for more transient facilities in anticipation of a new influx.
The present transient center, which can house 200 persons fairly adequately has been playing host to about 1,000 in the last few weeks. Refugees are forced to sleep on straw strewn on the floor, and as a result many children and old persons have become ill.
The Army at first refused to open a new transient center for fear it would become a permanent installation, despite assurances that nobody wanted a permanent camp in Frankfurt. The Army then changed its mind and agreed to set up new quarters here in the form of a permanent camp, but the relief agencies reiterated that establishment of a permanent camp here would be unwise. The Army is, therefore, once again considering the whole problem.
The permanent camp situation, however, has improved recently. The Army has opened three new camps which accommodate 5,000 and two more are to be opened which will house 6,500. Four of these camps formerly held DP’s who did not wish to return home UNRRA has opened convalescent homes in two former hotels at Bad Kissingen, where Jews who have been ill may recuperate.
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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.