Three hundred displaced Jews in the British zone will be allowed “immediate-and direct entry” into Palestine, it was officially reported today. They are all skilled workers. Their transportation will be financed jointly by UNRRA and Jewish relief organizations.
It is understood that this will be the first group to emigrate under a plan by the British authorities providing for the issuance of 360 Palestine immigration certificates monthly to displaced Jews in the British zone. Special machinery to process the recipients of the certificates is being set up by a commission composed of representatives of civil and military authorities in the British zone, the Jewish Agency and Jewish relief organizations. The commission will select the emigrants and will arrangs for their transportation.
The immigration project has been kept secret to prevent a rush of displaced Jews from other zones into the British zone, but transit camps in which the prospective amigrants will be assembled are already being established, it was reported today. The candidates will be required to satisfy certain health and vocational standards. The first group of 300, today’s announcement said, will travel through Belgium and France to a port near Marseilles where they will embark for Haifa. The transfer will be known as “Operition Grand National.”
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.