The HIAS did not acquiesce in any “tentative understanding” reportedly reached at a conference in Bonn convened by the German Foreign Office on the subject of Jewish “illegal infiltrees, ” Ben Touster, president of HIAS, declared today.
The agreement reportedly reached at the conference provided that the 700 Jews in Foehrenwald camp would not be forcibly departed or transferred elsewhere and efforts would be made to arrange their emigration within six months. New infiltrees lacking proper German visas and entry visas would be jailed and later deported. “Illegals” entering Germany after the census deadline would not receive aid from the Jewish organizations.
The HIAS representative attended the Bonn meeting but opposed the policy suggested at the meeting, Mr. Touster said. He declared that “HIAS never has, in any degree, been in agreement with a policy which dictates the arrest of migrant Jews who are seeking to find permanent homes. The reasons which prompt people to migrate are often inexplicable. Our Society recognizes the sovereignty of nations to make laws, but cannot agree to the incarceration of homeless people who are forced by circumstances to sojourn temporarily in countries situated on their transmigration route.
“Our Society has never advised Jews to travel on ‘illegal’ routes, but feels it is its sacred duty to safeguard them, in every legal way, from arrest and deportation.” He added that HIAS will not refuse aid to any migrant Jews in trouble “and we certainly will not issue such threats to despairing homeless people. We strive to cooperate with governments, but do not use threats to Jews in our efforts to achieve amicable solutions of problems. “
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