One of the most important Jewish communities with an active political and a vital cultural life is developing in post-war France, Marc Jarblum, president of the Zionist Federation of France, declared today at a press conference of leaders of the European Council of the World Jewish Congress.
He reported that there are now 200,000 Jews living in France including some 7,000 recently-arrived refugees. About 30 percent of the Jews are in a poor economic condition and most of them require aid from America, he said. Although property restitution laws promise full restoration of property seized by the Nazis and the Vichy Government, in actual practice very little has been accomplished and a number of Jewish property owners have given up hope of ever recovering their possessions, Jarblum asserted.
Alex Easterman, British political leader of the World Jewish Congress, reported on the condition of the Jews in the Balkan countries. Here, he said, the problem is not one of immediately caring for displaced persons, but of taking action to prevent the Jews from becoming displaced as a result of virulent anti-Semitic feelings among the people. He maintained that at least 500,000 Jews in Central and Eastern Europe would migrate if they could.
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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.
