The decree issued in Algeria today concerning the reopening of business enterprises left by Jews and Europeans who emigrated from the country may constitute the first step toward expropriation of the property of Jewish refugees from Algeria now in France, it was feared here.
Reliable reports reaching Paris during the weekend have indicated that stores left in Algiers by Jewish refugees now in France have already been reopened by Moslems presenting themselves as “temporary administrators,” even before today’s decree was issued. The reports stressed that the Algerian authorities were ignoring the one-month deadline they had fixed for the return of owners of such businesses before taking over the shops and plants belonging to Europeans.
The difficult situation of Algerian refugees was dramatized here today by repeated attempts of a Jewish refugee to commit suicide. Fernard Shetrit, a former bus conductor in Algeria who arrived in France two months ago, jumped from the fifth floor balcony of the Public Bus Company office in Paris where he had vainly been seeking employment. Falling unhurt to the fourth floor, the 52-year-old refugee immediately made a second suicide jump, falling three floors and injuring himself seriously. He was taken to a hospital where he said he would try again to kill him self.
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