The Polish Government-in-Exile today instructed its representatives in North Africa to contact Polish-Jewish internees held in camps in order to give them whatever immediate aid they need.
The action was taken by the Polish Government following a message received by the New Zionist Organization here from a number of Polish-Jewish refugees interned in camps near Oran appealing for food and clothing. Though the French authorities in North Africa are releasing Polish and Czech citizens as soon as private lodgings are provided for them, many Polish Jews are still interned, the report stated.
ANTI-JEWISH LAWS NOT YET FULLY ABOLISHED IN NORTH AFRICA, BRITISH MINISTER SAYS
The London press today publishes a statement by Harold MacMillan, British Minister to North Africa, establishing that the Vichy anti-Jewish laws have not yet been repealed in North Africa despite President Roosevelt’s order that they be abolished. The statement, which is dated from Allied headquarters in North Africa, emphasized that the restoration to the Jews of rights which were taken from them by the Vichy Government is complicated because of the large Arab population in North Africa.
Declaring that the British and American people would not permit a continuance of the present anti-Jewish abuses of the French administration, the British Minister declared that he will energetically demand the complete abolition of the anti-Jewish regulations and the liberation of the Jewish and other political refugees interned in North African camps. “The attitude of the French regime toward the Jews must be changed and the Hitlerite taint removed,” he stated.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.