Nazi Fostered Anti-semitism in Luxembourg Making Life Difficult for Returning Jews

Although the government of this duchy is friendly to Jews, Nazi-fostered anti-Semitism is flourishing here and making life difficult for the few hundred Jews who have returned, according to Capt. Henry Cerf, a Luxembourger who recently returned here as a member of the British Army, attached to the SHAEF mission.

About 400 Jews have returned to Luxembourg, mostly from France, Capt. Cerf told a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent, and, of these, many are returning to france or going to Belgium, having found Luxembourg an unhappy home. Although the upper government circles are friendly, the administrative personnel, he said, is largely the same as under the Nazis. Capt. Cerf quoted one official as declaring openly that he “didn’t care what happened to the bloody Jews.”

Returning Jews are finding it very difficult to secure dwellings, since their homes, having been taken over by the Germans, are now classified as enemy property, and are being used by the military. Practically all of the Luxembourg Jews are professionals or small businessmen, and their businesses and shops have been sequestered by the government, pending hearings on restitutions. Meanwhile, the Jews are without funds.

An additional problem is posed by the presence of 50 Jews who are not Luxembourg nationals, and who are dependent on the Jewish community for assistance. An attempt is being made to reorganize the community. There is no synagogue and not even a Torah for use if a synagogue could be improvised.

Most of the Jews are thinking about emigrating. More than 200 Luxembourgers are in the United States and nearly every Jew here has a relative in New York. One man stated that “if any Jew comes back here, he is making a mistake; if he comes back with children, he is committing a crime.”