Deportation of Jews from Hungary “within Twenty Days” Ordered by Minister of Interior

All Jews marked for deportation from Hungary must be expelled from the country “within twenty days,” the Hungarian Minister of Interior today instructed police authorities charged with the task of deporting Jews from Hungary to occupied Poland.

The instructions, which were broadcast over Hungarian radio stations, advise the police authorities that “the deportation of Jews must continue with the utmost speed.” The British and American warning to the Hungarian population that those participating in the deportations will be punished as war criminals was termed “nothing but typical Anglo-Saxon bluff,” by the Minister.

Private advices reaching here from Budapest reveals that the pro-Nazi Hungarian Government is anxious to complete the deportation of Jews from the capital before the principal railway lines leading to and from the city are crippled by Allied air attacks. Large-scale deportation of the 250,000 Jews of Budapest would be difficult if rail communications are disrupted.

Acting on the instructions of the Minister of Interior, the chief of police in Budapest was reported today to have ordered a huge raid throughout the city for the purpose of capturing Jews who are still outside the ghetto which was closed on June 24th. Jews who are captured by the security police during the raid will receive severe punishment, the police chief announced.

The Hungarian Telegraphic Agency today reported that 116 Jews were killed and 342 injured during the Allied raid on Budapest on Tuesday.

In an effort to make anti-Allied propaganda out of the fact that Jews suffered from the Allied bombing of the capital, the news agency says that eleven Jewish houses were demolished. “The Allied bombing of Jewish homes disproves the widespread belief that Anglo-American raids on Budapest are made in retribution for the anti-Jewish measures in Hungary,” the news agency quotes Budapest newspapers as stating.