The Joint Distribution Committee in Vienna today informed the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of the raid carried out by some 40 Austrian policemen Monday on the living quarters of about 20 Jewish families in the Austen refugee camp, near Linz. The JDC also informed the Allied authorities in Vienna of the details of the search.
It was learned, meanwhile, that the raid was carried out without warrant. The Linz police, the local police headquarters and the Ministry of Interior all previously disclaimed knowledge of the raid, which was restricted to the Jewish area in the camp.
Although the raid was said to have been conducted in an attempt to track down a smuggling ring, nothing was found and the police confiscated about one dozen pairs of stockings and three wrist watches owned by various DP’s. The three Jews arrested during the raid were found to be in possession of 1, 000-schilling notes, which is not a legal offense of any kind.
Among those questioned for hours was a DP rabbi, identified as Eisenberg, who was quizzed unceasingly about the contents of a number of letters written in Hebrew which were found among his possessions. To underline the anti-Semitic character of the operation, the police asked each suspect whether he was Jewish and interspersed their questions with occasional insults about “dirty Jews.”
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