Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee arrived here last night from Europe to report to JDC leaders on the situation of the Jews in liberated territories which he visited and on problems connected with the rescue of Jews from occupied countries.
“The success of the Allied armies has caused a profound change in the attitude toward evacuating refugees,” he said. “The Turkish Government was very cooperative in allowing transit of refugees from the Balkan areas. The main difficulty has been the unwillingness of the Germans to permit the evacuation of refugees to safe places.” He added that since Jan. 1, 1944, the committee had succeeded in getting 8,000 refugees out of danger spots in Axis Europe, most of them out of the Balkans.
Additional relief for Jewish refugees and destitute native Jews in Turkey and also in liberated Italy in being made available by the JDC, which yesterday approved a $200,000 grant — $100,000 each for needs in the two countries.
The relief situation in Italy is acute, according to Dr. Schwartz. As a result of long months of Nazi occupation, the war-torn Jewish population is in need of food, clothing, shelter and medical care. In the city of Rome alone, where the cost of living is tremendously high, there are, in addition to 2,000 native Jews, about 910 foreign Jewish refugees as well as 460 Italian refugees. Moreover, approximately 250 persons in villages outside of Rome require immediate assistance. The $100,000 Italian grant brings to a total of $240,000 funds made available this year by the JDC for alleviation of Jewish distress in Italy.
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