First Authentic Report on Situation of Jewish Refugees Under Japan Reaches Europe

The first authentic report since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor depicting the situation of the more than 20,000 Jewish refugees in Shanghai under Japanese control reached the Hias-Ica office here today.

The report states that the number of Jewish refugees in Shanghai who depend on relief has grown from 7,000 before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor to 14,000 at present. This, the report explains, is due to the fact that a third of the Jewish refugees in the city lost their livelihood after Japan’s entry into war against the United States.

Efforts are now being made to secure the permission of the Japanese authorities for the emigration of more than 200 Polish Jews from Shanghai to Palestine through Soviet Russia, Iran and Iraq. These Jewish refugees from Poland were already in possession of Palestine immigration certificates and were ready to leave Shanghai shortly before Japan went to war against England and the United States. The Soviet Government in Kuibyshev has been contacted in order to secure the passage of the refugees from Poland through Soviet territory as soon as the Japanese authorities permit them to leave Shanghai.

JEWISH RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER STRICT JAPANESE CONTROL

Jewish relief organizations in Shanghai operate under strict supervision of the Japanese authorities. They are faced with the serious problem of finding funds to feed the thousands of refugees and fear an eventual catastrophy since their sources of relief are drying up. Efforts are being made by the organizations to send small groups of refugees from Shanghai to other cities in occupied China, especially to Tientsin. An appeal has also been made to the Japanese authorities to permit some of the Jewish refugees to move to Manchukuo.

With the aid of the International Red Cross, the Jewish relief committee in Shanghai is trying to reestablish communications between the refugees and members of their families who were left behind in the Reich and in Poland. The funds of the Jewish relief organizations have been frozen by the Japanese authorities, but it is hoped that the authorities will permit them to be used for transportation costs of refugees who may be allowed to emigrate either into other sections of occupied China, or to Soviet Russia en route to Palestine. The large majority of the refugees, however, are doomed to starvation unless the local relief committee secures sufficient funds locally to maintain the kitchens where they are being fed, the report emphasizes.