Palestine Certificates for Jewish Children in Vienna Returned; No Children Remain

The Jewish Agency recently made available 100 Palestine immigration certificates for Jewish children in Vienna, but was advised by the Jewish Council there that these were not needed since there were not 100. Jewish children left in Vienna, it was revealed here today at a press conference addressed by Eliahu Dobkin, head of the Agency’s immigration department.

Mr. Dobkin also disclosed that the Agency has received, through a neutral country, about 700 telegraphic requests from Jews in Nazi-held Holland asking that they be included in the list of Jewish civilians to be exchanged for interned German civilians in Palestine.

Negotiations with Balkan countries for the emigration of Jews are now being carried on and the Jewish Agency has taken these negotiations into consideration when allocating the Palestine immigration certificates under the currant schedule, Mr. Dobkin said. He emphasized that no possibilities exist of Jewish emigration from Nazi-held Poland. “Limited possibilities of emigration of Jews from Nazi-held countries in Western Europe do exist, but transportation complications make this emigration difficult,” he stated.

The authorities in Spain, Mr. Dobkin disclosed, are willing to release several thousand Jewish refugees from internment camps, providing they are given Palestine visas. The Jewish Agency, for the time being, has sent 500 such certificates to Spain and expects 500 refugees from there to reach Palestine by way of the Belgian Congo, he added.

JEWISH AGENCY SENDS FOOD TO POLISH JEWS IN RUSSIA

Answering queries with regard to the activities of the Agency in sending food parcels to Polish Jews in Russia, Mr. Dobkin reported that it is now arranging to send 7,000 such parcels, the cost of which is about $200,000. A special envoy has left for India to arrange for regular shipment of thousands of packages from there. More than 2,100 food parcels, costing about $50,000, are being sent via Teheran with the financial aid of the American Joint Distribution Committee, he declared.

Mr. Dobkin reviewed the latest tragic developments in the ghettos in Poland and revealed that the Jewish Agency, as early as last November, received information from occupied Poland disclosing that serious differences of opinion had arisen between the younger and the older Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. The younger Jews insisted on armed resistance to the Nazis arguing that “death is threatening us anyway, therefore it is better that we die like heroes.” In January the Agency received another message from the ghetto stating that “after long discussions we decided to fight for our lives.” On February 6, the Jewish Agency received the news from the Warsaw ghetto that the Jews were ready for action. “What happened subsequently is already known,” Mr. Dobkin concluded.