Six hundred Jewish families, most of whom had come from Poland and who settled in the Department of the North, with Lille, France, as the center, and who were threatened with expulsion, will not be deported, it was announced yesterday as the result of prompt action taken by the Paris office of Hicem (HIAS-ICA).
As soon as the HIAS committee was dispatched to Lille. Mr. Lambert called upon the Prefect, the ground for this having been prepared by previous interviews with the French Minister of the Interior and other government officials.
The result of the intervention, the local office of HIAS said, was an agreement with the Prefect that henceforth no more expulsion of Jewish immigrants shall be made without first informing Chief Rabbi Berman, the HIAS representative in Lille, at least eight days in advance. An opportunity will thus be afforded Chief Rabbi Berman to plead the cases of the affected Jewish immigrants. Should the Prefect, after the hearing, render an unfavorable decision the case will be referred to the HIAS Committee in Paris for presentation to the Ministry of the Interior. In those instances where the decision of the Perfect is final, the immigrant will only have to leave the Department of the North and the HIAS Committee will then either find a place for him in some other part of France or have him repatriated.
During his stay in Lille, Mr. Lambert also visited the Polish Consul who expressed himself as highly pleased at the result of the HIAS intervention because he, himself, had been unable to secure any favorable results although supported by the Polish Ambassador in Paris.
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