Jewish relief organizations, faced with a rapidly mounting refugee problem and fast decreasing funds, today sought international assistance to avert an impairment in refugee aid. Latest complication in the refugee situation was the addition of 80,000 Jews in Bohemia-Moravia and 85,000 in Slovakia to the source of potential refugees. Thousands more were expected from Rumania and Hungary.
Relief agencies in Paris and London, believing they would eventually be unable to cope financially with the entire refugee situation, decided to bring it officially to the attention of Sir Herbert Emerson, both as director of the Intergovernment Refugee Committee, and League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The matter has also been discussed, it was learned, with Myron C. Taylor, American vice-chairman of the Intergovernmental Committee, at a private interview before his departure for the United States, with a view to interesting him in the problem of raising international funds.
The burden of maintaining tens of thousands of refugees is exhausting the resources of relief organization, which are engaged not only in caring for refugees outside the Reich, but for Jews within Germany. The situation is especially precarious in countries like Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, England, France and Luxembourg, where refugees must be cared for in refugee camps and elsewhere by funds of Jewish organizations, principally the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, pending their emigration overseas, the chances for which are slim.
Conviction was expressed that the Portuguese Government might consider favorably the opening of one or two of its colonies to 10,000 Jewish families. Investigations and various steps regarding this were started some time ago by a group in Paris which is now seeking to attract the interest of central Jewish organizations.
Leaders of this group today outlined details of the plan as follows: (1) The Portuguese Government would give preference to German and Austrian Jews, would also receive Czecho-Slovakian and Hungarian Jews, and eventually some from Hungary, but would accept none from Poland, apparently fearing Polish colonial claims. (2) Those admitted would have to keep out of politics, after three years, could speak no language but Portuguese and in the interim would have to establish schools with Portuguese as the only language of instruction. They would have to pledge to join the Legion to defend the empire in case of foreign invasion and would be obliged to pay taxes. (3) The colonists could become farmers, cattle-raisers and craftsmen, but other economic activities would be restricted to citizens, except where special permission was granted.
Violation of any of these provisions would lead to immediate expulsion of the settler and his family. Jewish organizations would be required to invest capital for creation of industries, development of irrigation facilities, combating of malaria and establishment of hospitals. Whether the Intergovernmental Committee is aware of the Portuguese plan is not known, but it is recalled that a similar plan in connection with Angola was dropped when the Spanish civil war broke out.
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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.
