Danger of deportation constantly faces the 3,000 Jewish and non-Jewish German refugees still in Czechc-Slovakia, it was reported today by Dr. James Bernstein, European Commissioner of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society, recently returned from Prague where he went to study the plight of these refugees.
This number, Dr. Bernstein stated, does not include refugees placed by the Jewish Aid Committee on farms or in trade schools for training purposes, whose status will have to be considered when their training period ends.
Dr. Bernstein’s report pictures the refugees, most of them in Prague, as destitute and completely at a loss as to where they are to go if deported. The government, Dr. Bernstein points out, prohibits any foreigner from taking a job or establishing a business. The right of asylum, moreover, is offered to the refugees on condition that they do not become public charges.
During Dr. Bernstein’s stay in Prague, he was visited by Dr. Peregrin Fisa, of the Foreign Office, who wanted to know how soon evacuation of refugees might be accomplished. Dr. Bernstein informed him that while a portion of the refugees would be settled within six months, many of them would have to remain in the countries to which they fled.
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.
