After years of talking and planning, housing in German cities is now beginning to be provided for former displaced persons from the last Jewish camp in Germany, Foehrenwald, who will not or cannot emigrate.
Of the 1.200 “legal residents” of Foehrenwald, several hundred “hard-core cases” are resigned to staying in Germany for good, or at least until they become eligible for American visas. Because that chance is remote under present U.S. immigration legislation, they have been waiting, year after year, in the camp. Deadlines for closing it have come and gone, but in 1955 a more energetic effort toward that end is to be undertaken by the German authorities, who have the support of the Jewish organizations.
The first four apartments outside the camp have just been made available. Located on the outskirts of Munich in a new development adequate by German public-housing standards, they consist of three rooms, without central heating but with coal stoves. Normal rentals are charged. Regulations prescribe that four adults, or three adults and two children, must be in occupancy. If smaller family units are assigned, and they are the rule rather than the exception in Foehrenwald, they are required to take in boarders, who in turn must be from Foehrenwald.
Another 26 apartments should be completed in Munich by March. Altogether, 200 are scheduled to be built in various cities of Germany for “legal residents” of Foehrenwald, out of funds made available largely by the Federal Government and to a small extent by Bavaria and the other governmental subdivisions concerned. The purchase of furniture and other household utensils will be financed by the Joint Distribution Committee.
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