Jewish Repatriates from Soviet Union Reported in Need in Poland

The flood of Jews returning to Poland from the Soviet Union is growing with every week according to reports reaching here from Warsaw. Most of them prefer not to remain in Poland and register for emigration to other countries, the reports indicate.

The Warsaw Yiddish newspaper “Folkstimme” reaching here today also reports that many Jews who were born in Poland are now being repatriated from the Soviet Union. Those who intend to remain in Poland receive government aid until they can find work and support themselves. However, Jews who declare that they prefer to emigrate from the country are given 1,000 zlotys as a one-time grant-in-aid. They find it especially difficult to secure dwellings. Many of them, the paper reports, spend their days in the waiting room of the Warsaw railway station.

A Jewish delegation, the paper reports, has appealed to the Polish authorities to give wider assistance to the Jewish repatriates and was told that the matter will be considered sympathetically. In the meantime, an appeal has been issued to individual Jewish families in Warsaw and in other cities to share their dwellings temporarily with the repatriates until they are in a position to emigrate.

“Folkstimme” reveals that the Warsaw Jewish community is maintaining about 500 Jewish repatriates who are expecting their exit visas and must therefore remain in Warsaw to complete the necessary formalities. In addition, the Jewish community is providing 130 free meals daily to other Jewish repatriates. Most of the repatriates desiring to leave Poland must remain in the country about two months before they receive exit visas. The 1,000 zlotys which each receives is insufficient to cover even the bare necessities during the period, the Warsaw Jewish paper emphasizes.