ONLY STRONG INTERVENTION BY THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CAN PREVENT THE FREE CITY FROM DRIVING ITS 7,000 JEWS OUT OF THE TERRITORY AND CONFISCATING THEIR CAPITAL, IT BECAME APPARENT TODAY AS A RESULT OF DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE WEEK-END.
ACTING UNDER ORDERS FROM BERLIN, THE DANZIG ADMINISTRATION HAS APPARENTLY DECIDED THE TIME IS RIPE TO CHALLENGE CONTROL BY THE LEAGUE BY IGNORING ITS GUARANTEE OF EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL, AND BY MAKING DANZIG “JUDENREIN” THROUGH PASSAGE OF LAWS SIMILAR TO THE NUREMBERG LAWS IN GERMANY AND THROUGH CONFISCATION OF JEWISH CAPITAL ON A LARGE, ORGANIZED SCALE.
IN WEEK-END SPEECHES, BOTH DR. ARTHUR GREISER, SENATE PRESIDENT, AND ALBERT FORSTER, NAZI DISTRICT LEADER, OPENLY DECLARED THE DANZIG ADMINISTRATION WAS DETERMINED TO RID THE FREE CITY OF ITS JEWS.
“FOR DANZIG-BORN JEWS,” DR. GREISER STATED, “WE WILL INSTITUTE THE SAME LAWS AS IN GERMANY, WHILE JEWS WHO ARE FOREIGN-BORN WILL HAVE TO LEAVE DANZIG WHETHER THEY WISH TO OR NOT.”
“WE PREFER TO SEE DANZIG DWINDLE TO NOTHING AND BECOME A SMALL TOWN IN THE GERMAN REICH,” FORSTER ASSERTED, “RATHER THAN TO SEE IT PROSPER UNDER JEWS.”
THE DANZIG AUTHORITIES ARE CONTINUING SEIZURE OF JEWS AND CONFISCATION OF THEIR PROPERTY, BEGUN LAST WEEK WITH THE ARREST OF SEVERAL JEWISH BUSINESS MEN AND IMPOUNDING OF SOME 2,000,000 GULDEN OF THEIR FUNDS. BANK ACCOUNTS OF JEWS ARE BEING CONFISCATED AND PROPERTY AUCTIONED OFF ON THE PRETEXT OF IMPOSING FINES FOR ALLEGED INCOME TAX IRREGULARITIES WHICH SUPPOSEDLY TOOK PLACE SIX OR EIGHT YEARS AGO.
THE REAL MOTIVES FOR THE CONFISCATION OF MONEY IS THE FEAR OF THE AUTHORITIES THAT THE JEWS WILL REMOVE THEIR CAPITAL FROM THE FREE CITY, SINCE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DANZIG AND POLISH CURRENCIES, ALL CURRENCIES CAN BE EXPORTED OR OBTAINED WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS. CONFISCATIONS OF JEWISH CAPITAL TO DATE, IT IS ESTIMATED HERE, TOTAL MANY MILLION GULDEN.
THE AUTHORITIES HAVE ALSO PROHIBITED BUILDING OWNERS FROM RENEWING LEASES OR RENTING PROPERTY TO JEWS. SINCE ACCORDING TO DANZIG LAWS ANY BUSINESS MOVING FROM ONE STREET TO ANOTHER MUST OBTAIN A NEW LICENSE, THE NEW MEASURE PRACTICALLY MEANS JEWISH ENTERPRISES DEPENDANT ON RENTALS MUST GO OUT OF BUSINESS WITH THE END OF THE YEAR.
A CONFERENCE OF JEWISH LEADERS HERE DECIDED THE ONLY HOPE FOR DANZIG JEWS LAY IN ORGANIZED EMIGRATION TO PREVENT THEM FROM BECOMING BURDENS ON JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS ABROAD. AMONG PARTICIPANTS IN THE MEETING WAS DR. JAMES BERNSTEIN, DIRECTOR OF HIAS-ICA (JEWISH EMIGRANT AID SOCIETY), WHO MADE A SPECIAL TRIP FROM PARIS.
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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.
