Relatives of Botosani Jews Flood JTA with Calls

Publication in the English and Yiddish press yesterday and today of the names of Jews in the Rumanian town of Botosani who have relatives in the United States brought a flood of calls to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency office today by persons who had found names of close relatives. The names were obtained by a JTA correspondent in Russia who made a special trip to Botosani to secure them.

One excited caller told a JTA editor that the name of his father appearing in the list was the first word he and his two brothers here have had in the past five years. Brothers and sisters called up to share their joy at discovering that their families in Botosani, who they feared were dead, had survived the years of German and Rumanian persecution. One man discovered relatives of whom he had never heard, members of his family who were born since he emigrated many years ago.

A tragic sidelight to publication of the Botosani list were many calls from persons who had relatives in other Jewish populated cities which have recently been liberated, such as Vilna and Minsk, seeking information as to the fate of their people. All that is known at present concerning these cities is that virtually no Jews remained alive there. One call came from a young woman who had promised a U.S. soldier overseas that as soon as Vilna was liberated, she would attempt to locate his parents.