Post-war Immigration to U.s, May Benefit from N.r.s. Accomplishments, Says Rosenwald

The program by which the National Refugee Service has sought to aid America by aiding its newcomers may well become a pattern for post-war handling of immigration, William Rosenwald, president of NRS, declared in a message prepared for delivery before the special meeting of the members and directors of the National Refugee Service at the Astor Hotel tomorrow evening.

Mr. Rosenwald related how refugees from Nazism are contributing to America’s war effort. “Today,” he said, “refugee boys who once benefited from America’s assistance are serving valiantly in the United States Army. Refugee workers, including many elderly persons, are serving on our war production lines. Refugee scientists and inventors are contributing the products of their talents to the winning of the war. Hundreds of refugee physicians are helping to maintain civilian health at a time when our country faces a severe shortage of doctors to attend to the civilian population. Finally, most of these new Americans are meeting their war duties in the same patriotic fashion as other Americans, serving where they can in the civilian defense effort, donating their blood to the Red Cross, buying war bonds and working for victory.”

In a report on the NRS activities in 1942, prepared for the meeting, Albert Abrahamson, executive director, stated that the status of about 130,000 of the more than 200,000 Jewish refugees in this country underwent a drastic change following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when nationals of Japan, Germany and Italy were declared “enemy aliens.” The report recounts the many improvements which the NRS brought about by helping to secure a more uniform interpretation of enemy alien regulations for the entire country, by making it possible for refugees to obtain work and by expediting the process of naturalization for many of the refugees.

Mr. Abrahamson in his report estimated that approximately 7,000 refugees entered the United States during 1942. He also revealed that in 1942 the NRS spent $2,216,700, as compared to $3,070,000 spent in 1941.