Hias Convention Opens in New York Today; 2,500 Delegates Attending

A vivid picture of the desperate efforts that were made during 1942 to rescue through emigration as many Jews as possible from Nazi Europe will be presented to the 58th annual convention of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society on Sunday at the Hotel Astor here. 2,500 delegates representing 1,000 religious, labor, fraternal and benevolent organizations will participate in the deliberations of the convention.

Isaac L. Asofsky, executive director of Hias, in his report for 1942 states that the Hias-Ica Emigration Association in Lisbon was instrumental in organizing and aiding the emigration of 4,750 refugees and that of this number 50 percent proceeded to the United States, 35 percent to Central America, 10 percent to South America and 5 percent to Palestine and other countries. Describing the deportations of Jews “to unknown destinations” from Southern France, in the summer of 1942, the report reveals that 2,000 refugees in unoccupied France for whom the State Department in Washington had already granted advisory approval for the issuance of U. S. immigration visas, were unable to depart because of the sudden decision of the Vichy authorities to cancel all exit visas.

The report shows that American Jews, during 1942, deposited with Hias $1,158,653 to be applied to covering the cost of transportation for their kin abroad, that Hias expended $820,785 for the maintenance of its services at home and abroad; that 309 steamers carrying Jewish passengers were met by the Hias pier service in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Norfolk and New Orleans during the year, and that 342,726 inquiries from American relatives and friends were directed to Hias in matters affecting immigration and naturalization. Of the 12,900 Jewish aliens who arrived in the United States during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 1942, the federation immigration authorities discharged 2,735 immigrants into the care of Hias, the report states.