The “present situation of the displaced Jews in Europe may now be termed as the liquidation phase,” Dr. William Haber, advisor on Jewish affairs to the U.S. command in Europe, told a press conference here today. The conference was arranged in connection with the J.D.C.-sponsored international parley on relief and rehabilitation now taking place here.
For the past four months, Dr. Haber reported, approximately 4,000 Jews have been going to Israel monthly. At this rate, he noted, the liquidation of the DP camps will be completed by October, 1949.
Referring to the recent transfer of the inmates of the Jewish Zeilsheim camp to other areas, Dr. Haber refuted published reports that the Zeilsheim inmates had offered resistance when they were asked to move out. Pointing out that the transfer was made necessary by overcrowded conditions in Zeilsheim, Dr. Haber said the Jews had moved out peacefully.
Rabbi Israel Shapiro, religious director for the Joint Distribution Committee in the U.S. zone of Germany, declared that 62 Yeshivah students who formerly resided in the Zeilsheim camp had arrived in Lyons on their way to Israel.
Large numbers of Jews remaining in Europe will require rehabilitation and assistance for the coming years, Henry Sonnabend of South Africa declared here yesterday at the conference. Sonnabend also underlined the need to prepare prospective Jewish emigrants for a smoother integration into the land of their destination.
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