The strained relations between Germany and the United States are causing great alarm among the Jews in Germany and Nazi-held territories ,according to information reaching here today.
Jews in the Reich, Austria and German-occupied Poland fear they may lose their little contact with relatives in America, upon whom they depend for relief. They also fear overseas emigration may be paralyzed and they will be left to the mercy of the Nazis as hostages, without any hope of immigrating to United States.
With the Nazi press and radio increasing their anti-American propaganda, many Jews in Berlin and in Vienna who have U.S. immigration visas but cannot leave the country for lack of steamship passage are now besieging Jewish institutions asking for facilities to be speedily transported at least to Lisbon while this is still possible.
At the same time American and other consulates are crowded with Jews frantically pleading for their visas, which the consulates have hitherto refused to issue until proof is submitted that the emigrants have booked definite passage on steamers sailing from Lisbon to the American continent.
The Nazi propaganda machine is utilizing its anti-American propaganda to heighten incitement against the Jews. The seizure of Axis steamers in the United States is played up in the Nazi press as “revenge of American Jewry,” which is taken by Jews in Germany to mean that serous days are ahead for the Jews in the Reich and in Nazi-controlled areas.
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.
