Rabbi Philip Bernstein, advisor on Jewish Affairs in the European Theater, and the Contral Committee of Liberated Jews today denied recently published reports that more than 100,000 displaced Jews in the American zone of Germany planned a mass migration to Palestine.
“No responsible Jewish leader or organization is advocating or organizing a mass crusade of Jewish displaced persons to Palestine,” Rabbi Bernstein stated. “In my personal opinion it would be catastrophic to send 100,000 men, women and children out on the road without food or shelter or transportation which could not conceivably be provided for such numbers.”
Rabbi Bernstein added, however, there probably would be “increased exfiltration” from the American DP camps to European ports where the Jews hope to get aboard illegal transports to the Holy Land. This exodus, Rabbi Bernstein said, would be in an “unauthorized and disorganized fashion.”
Speaking for the Central Committee headquarters in Munich, Vice-Chairman Abram Blumowicz asserted that his committee was neither instigationg nor endorsing any mass migration.
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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.