Impressed by the withdrawal of the Vaad Leumi, Jewish National Council in Palestine, from Haavarah, the Palestine trustee office for the execution of the German-Palestine barter pact, the German Government today announced far-reaching regulations for counteracting the Jewish campaign.
These regulations provide that Jews living in Palestine will be able to buy special “Haavarah marks” which they may send to Germany for the support of their relatives still residing there.
These “Haavarah marks” may also be used as donations of Palestine Jews to Jewish institutions in the Reich.
“Haavarah marks” will be issued along the same lines as German “registered marks.” These new measures were sanctioned today as part of the German exchange regulations intended to assist Jews in Germany who are dependent upon the assistance of their relatives living abroad.
According to the new regulations, it is not necessary to have an account with Haavarah in order to buy the special “Haavarah marks.” These marks may be sold by Haavarah to every Jew or to Jewish institutions with the understanding that they are to be used for charitable purposes only.
The money will not be paid out directly to the receivers in Germany, but through Paltreu, the German trustee office established by the transfer-agreement. The money will be paid out in German marks with a deduction of two per cent for commission.
Haavarah was established in 1933 following the approval of the German government of a transfer-agreement with Palestine. On the basis of this agreement, Haavarah became the Palestine trustee office for the execution of the pact, and a corresponding office known as Paltreu, or Palestine Trustee Centre, was established in Berlin. Jews emigrating to Palestine, or those investing their capital in Palestine in preparation for emigration there, pay the amount of marks released to them by the German authorities into a separate account in the Reichsbank. Haavarah alone has the right to dispose of these accounts. Through Haavarah, consumers or importers in Palestine may use these sums of Reichsmarks for the payment of goods imported from Germany. In this way German Jews are enabled to save part of their capital from Germany.
The board of Haavarah consists of representatives of the German Zionist Federation, the Association of German Immigrants in Palestine, the Anglo-Palestine Bank and the Vaad Leumi, Jewish National Council in Palestine.
The Vaad Leumi withdrew its representatives from Haavarah last Tuesday in protest over the new “ghetto laws” for German Jews enacted last Sunday by the German Reichstag.
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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.
