Russia May Admit Large Number of Jews from Europe After the War, Experts Believe

The possibility that Russia may admit, after the war, a large number of Jews from devastated Europe is suggested by the Foreign Policy Association in an analysis of the prospects of post-war Europe re-settlement.

It is pointed out in the analysis that with regard to the Jewish tragedy in Europe, “public feeling in the United States appears to have been less strongly stirred than in Britain,” and little hope is held out that the United States immigration rules will be liberalized in the near future. It will be necessary to transplant large populations after the war, not only for humanitarian reasons, but to achieve economic stability, the Foreign Policy Association concludes.

“In Europe itself,” the analysis says, “the ravages of war may create labor shortages so acute that countries may be eager to receive immigrants – as France was after 1919 – although it can hardly be expected that all national political and racial groups will be equally welcome. The extent to which Europe is able to resettle refugees, however, will largely depend on the success of the United Nations’ efforts to rehabilitate the Continent. But, even under the most favorable conditions, it seems that Western European countries will be able and willing to absorb only limited numbers of new residents, whereas it has been suggested that the U.S.S.R. may admit immigrants on a much larger scale. In the vast area of Soviet Asia, where natural resources are today being exploited on an unprecedented scale, there is an acute lack of skilled labor that suggests great population capacity. Moreover, in the western regions serious depletion of manpower as a result of the war may make the Russians reverse their pre-war exclusionist policy and accept specially skilled refugees from Europe. The U.S.S.R.’s post-war immigration policy will depend, in the last analysis, on the confidence the Soviet government may feel the loyalty of foreigners who want to settle in its territory.”