German Jewry was urged by its leaders tonight to concentrate on leaving Germany “since there is no other alternative left,” at the first public meeting devoted to emigration.
At the same time, the Reich Government issued an order which will prevent Jews wishing to leave the country from taking with them even such capital as was hitherto permitted under the currency regulations.
The edict, known as “Order 198,” declares that recently there has been a sudden rise in the demand for foreign bonds, which emigrants are allowed to take out of the country, owing to the increase in the number of persons wishing to emigrate.
The order therefore instructs custom authorities to cancel immediately and with retroactive effect all permits issued to emigrants to withdraw bonds and to issue no new permits, except where the emigrants are able to prove that the bonds were purchased before January, 1933.
German-Jewish circles regarded the order as a serious blow to the Jews since it deprives them of practically the last chance of taking any capital out of Germany, even at a loss.
The increase in bond activity became noticeable after the passage of the new marriage and citizenship laws by the Reichstag at Nuremberg Sept. 16.
The meeting on emigration was addressed by a number of leaders of the Berlin Jewish Community, who declared that there was no other solution to the problem of the German Jews.
Increased emigration of Jewish youths to Palestine is the purpose of a three-day all-German conference of Hechalutz, organization promoting Jewish pioneer work in Palestine, which opened here tonight.
The meeting was greeted by Dr. Leo Baeck, chief rabbi of Germany and president of the Reichsvertretung der Deutschon Juden; Dr. Franz Mayer, general secretary of the German Zionist Federation and Herren Adler and Rudel of the Reichsvertretung.
The conference will work out a program whereby the training of Jewish youths for pioneering in Palestine will be carried out in Jewish schools since hachsharah (training for agricultural work in Palestine) is become increasingly difficult as a result of restrictions on Jewish farming.
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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.
