Under the terms of an agreement concluded here with the United States government last week, the Joint Distribution Committee will receive approximately $500,000 for the care and maintenance of Jewish emigrants from the USSR while they are in transit through Europe en route to resettlement in the U.S. and other Western countries.
Signing on behalf of the United States was James L. Carlin, counselor of the U.S. Mission to International Organizations on Refugee, Migration and Red Cross Affairs, and signing in behalf of JDC was Louis D. Horwitz, director-general for Overseas Operations. Expressing JDC’s appreciation of the assistance, Horwitz said that this was the first allocation made to the JDC out of the $50 million fund appropriated by the U.S. Congress to aid in the resettlement of Soviet Jews.
Horwitz noted that since the overwhelming majority of the Jews leaving the USSR are going to Israel, most of the $50 million fund will be used for their resettlement in that country. However, he added, the government has earmarked about $950,000 to aid Soviet emigrants going to countries other than Israel. There are a number of transmigrants who come to Rome directly from the USSR seeking resettlement in the U.S. on a “parole” basis. Horwitz said. Under this provision of the U.S. immigration laws it takes only a few weeks for the United Hias Service to complete arrangements for them to immigrate to the United States.
However, the period of waiting is much longer he said, for those who inform the Jewish Agency of their desire to join relatives in the U.S. either immediately on their arrival in Vienna or in subsequent months. The JDC has to maintain this much larger group, usually in Rome, for periods of up to six or seven months, at a cost of about $125 per person per month.
Since transients are not allowed to work in Italy, Horwitz explained that the JDC must provide funds for their food, lodging, medical care and incidentals while the UHS deals with the technical aspects of their migration and resettlement.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
