With Dr. Arthur J. Kraus, ousted City College instructor, in Albany seeking the intercession of Governor Lehman in his behalf, immigration authorities at Ellis Island yesterday disclosed that an application for extension of Dr. Kraus’ parole has been sent to Washington. No decision has been reached as yet.
Dr. Kraus, bearing a letter of introduction from Professor Einstein, will ask Governor Lehman to wire Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, asking her to grant the extension.
“Please listen to Dr. Kraus,” Dr. Einstein asked in his letter, “for his cause is a just one.”
Dr. Kraus is working feverishly to forestall imminent deportation to Poland. It is feared that if he is sent there he will receive harsh treatment at the hands of the Polish army from which he is reported to have deserted after having been demoted from lieutenant to private for protesting against anti-Semitic excesses.
Dr. Kraus, in an interview before he left for Albany, said that he feared the worst in the event of deportation. He said that the Polish consulate had refused to grant him a passport to any country but Poland, a fact which appears ominous in his eyes. “It is not so much the persecution that I will have to face in Polan,” Dr. Kraus said, “I want to stay in this country to vindicate myself. City College authorities are spreading rumors of my insanity because of my hunger strike in protest against Polish persecution of Jews last year.”
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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.