Two developments today threatened further to complicate the task of George Rublee, who is arriving tomorrow.
First was authoritative reports that thirteen to eighteen thousand Polish Jews resident in Germany were destined to become stateless because of systematic denationalizations by Warsaw. About a thousand have already been denationalized. The number of Polish Jews to be denationalized comprises 80 to 85 per cent of all Polish Jews resident in the Reich. The figure is based on a new estimate of the number deported to Poland in October. It is now estimated in Jewish quarters that 25,000 were expelled, in contrast with the 15,000 figure reported by Berlin and Warsaw. If this is correct, then only 15,000 to 18,000 Polish Jews remain in the Reich, of whom only 20 per cent are expected to retain Polish citizenship.
Second was the fresh attack to hasten emigration. Some 300 Jews were arrested last weekend on charges of having overstayed their leaves on Reich soil and had failed to make sufficiently strong efforts to emigrate. The police drive was restricted to Jews unable to find countries of asylum. They were arrested and are now held in Berlin prisons, but many are expected to be removed to concentration camps.
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