The International Refugee Organization’s financial instability is causing great concern among the representatives of Jewish voluntary relief agencies attending the meeting of the I.R.O. Preparatory Commission there. The organizations are encountering difficulty in adjusting their plans for hidding the DP’s in the light of the I.R.O.’s uncertain financial prospects.
Some representatives of Jewish organizations here have voiced complaints at the commission’s practive of discussing important issues in camera. The U.S. delegation is considered chiefly responsible for the fact that major controversial issues are discussed privately. Most Jewish observers are agreed that the French delegates are the only ones constantly putting humanitarian considerations to the fore, but their proposals are repeatedly defeated by a British-led bloc.
In the first open meeting in a week, it was announced yesterday that $3,000,000 in non-monetary gold seized from the Nazis has been turned over to the I.R.O. by American authorities in Germany and Austria. The commission also announced the receipt of $12,500,000 from Sweden, realized from German assets frozen in Sweden. Meanwhile, Switzerland has refused to make good a similar commitment until its claims in Germany are settled.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
