The rescue of Jews from Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria may soon take a new turn as result of a decision to press for the reinstatement of these Jews in their rights as full-fledged citizens of their native lands instead of seeking to rescue them by transporting them to neutral and Allied countries, it was disclosed here today by Ira Hirschmann, representative of the War Refugee Board.
The decision was taken by the War Rescue Board recently formed here which is composed of representatives of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the Joint Distribution Committee, the Hias-Ica Emigration Association and the War Refugee Board. The new approach stem from the fact that anti-Jewish measures have somewhat relaxed in Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria.
Reliable information reaching here indicates that active anti-Jewish persecutions have ceased in Rumania and in Bulgaria. Even the anti-Jewish propaganda has been halted. In Hungary, the deportations of Jews have definitely been discontinued, and Hungarian officials go out of their way to assure neutral diplomats that the Germans alone are responsible for the mass-deportation and extermination of thousands of Hungarian Jews. They emphasize that no Jew has been killed on Hungarian soil.
STREAM OF JEWISH REFUGEES TO PALESTINE IS CUT OFF
The steady stream of Jewish refugees from the Balkan countries to Palestine has been out off since Turkey has ordered all her ships from the Black Sea to home shores after the break of diplomatic relations with Germany. Bulgaria has however agreed to furnish a limited amount of shipping on the Black Sea while Rumania agreed to allow the transit of Jews from Hungary to the Rumanian port of Constanza.
While relaxing the anti-Jewish measures, no satellite nation has as yet actually revoked its anti-Jewish laws. It is, however, known here that President Roosevelt’s warning that those persecuting the Jews will be treated as war criminals had the most profound effect upon Hungary where the text of the warning was widely circulated after being dropped from Allied planes.
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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.
