Medical missions will shortly leave from here for (##)men and Aden, under agreements reached with the rulers of those countries, it was disclosed yesterday by Dr. Judah L. Magnes, who reported to a press conference on the activities of the Joint Distribution Committee in the Middle East and the Balkan countries. Dr. Magnes is chairman of the Middle East Advisory Committee of the JDC.
During 1944 and the first six months of 1945, the JDC sent 155,000 parcels to Polish Jewish refugees in Asiatic Russia, Dr. Magnes said, adding that of the estimated 150,000 such refugees in the Soviet Union, the JDC has the names and locations (##) about 100,000 in a card index in Jerusalem, The parcels, which were sent via Teheran, contained, in some cases, only food, while large parcels also contained clothes and other supplies. Total value of the parcels sent in 1944, he said, amounted to about $3,000,000.
In addition to the packages sent to Polish Jews in Russia, the JDC sent 350 tons of goods to the Jewish Relief Committee in Lublin, which is headed by Dr. Emil (##)mmerstein, Dr. Magnes revealed. He said that a third means of getting assistance to the Jews of Poland–from Stockholm via Leningrad–was being explored.
Discussing relief sent Jews in the Balkans and central Europe, Dr. Magnes said that supplies were being sent to Hungary directly from the United States through Switzerland, while relief was sent to the Balkan countries by way of Istanbul, from where five transports, containing 40,000 pairs of shoes, $100,000 worth of clothing and about $50,000 worth of medical supplies, have already been dispatched. In addition, two transports of relief supplies have been shipped to Italy.
One of the chief problems facing the JDC is establishing contact between the remnants of European Jewry and relatives abroad and also among families in Europe, survivors of which are in widely scattered camps or cities, unaware that other members of the family have survived. In this connection, Dr. Magnes suggested that the office set up by the Jewish Agency for this purpose should be merged with the JDC activities, in order to avoid duplication.
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