General Joseph T. McNarney, former commander of American forces in Europe, said Friday that displaced Jews in Germany cannot be absorbed into the German economy and that their transference to Palestine is “the only solution.”
At a press conference here following his arrival from Germany, McNarney stated that the influx of Jewish refugees from Poland ceased about mid-November. Since December their departure from Germany exceed their entry, because, he said, they “have been indoctrinated with the Palestine idea by their leaders.” The decrease amounted to 2,500 persons, he estimated. A poll showed that about 75 percent wish to leave for Palestine. “I see no solution for the Jews except to go to Palestine,” McNarney said, adding that “very few are now going there from the United States zone.”
Estimating the number of Jews in Rumania as about 300,000, and in Hungary as 180,000, he predicted that if they start infiltratiing into the American zone, “it might be necessary to close the border.”
McNarney is now senior American officer attached to the Military Staff Committee of the United Nations.
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