The Polish Ambassador in Washington has told the American Jewish Committee that he would ask his government to see what could be done about speeding up issuance of passports for Polish Jews who wish to come to the United States, it was disclosed today. Ambassador Jerzy Michalowski’s pledge was in response to urging by a Committee delegation that the emigration of Jews who have expressed a desire to leave Poland be expedited.
The envoy told the delegation that those Jews who are intimately linked with Israel and do not feel fully at home in Poland would be permitted to leave. He said he did not know how many Jews wanted to come to the West, including the United States, but he promised the delegation that he would notify the Polish Government of the concern here and would see what could be done about speeding up the issuance of passports.
Mr. Michalowski denied that recent job dismissals and other signs of unrest in Poland had anything to do with anti-Semitism or that there was persecution of Jews there. But he said that “there are anti-Semites who would like to take advantage of the present situation.” He declared that the March 19 statement by Wladyslaw Gomulka, Communist Party chief, was the only official policy position announced by the Government. He denied that articles in the Polish press which have been interpreted as anti-Semitic-necessarily represented official views. He said there was press censorship in Poland but there was no control of the entire press.
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