Says Immigration Relief Emphasis Must Be on New Centers for Europe’s Jews

Establishment of new immigration centers for European Jews unable to remain in their countries and who cannot enter the United States due to the restrictive immigration, is the aspect of the immigration relief work on which emphasis is at present being laid and which must be the growing tendency in coming years. This was brought out in the annual report of Abraham Herman, president of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society, Hias, presented at the twentieth annual convention of the organization held yesterday at the Hotel Astor.

Under the joint supervision of Hias and the European organizations, the Ica and Emigdirekt, some 20,000 Jews were settled in countries other than the United States and Canada. These went largely to the Argentine, Brazil, Uruguay, Cuba and Australia. By means of shelters, employment agencies and relief service, the new arrivals in these countries were aided in establishing themselves in business, finding employment, and in their general economic rehabilitation, the report stated.

Turning to the problem of caring for Jewish immigrants to the United States, the work to which the Hias has devoted its energies during the forty years of its existence, Mr. Herman voiced a protest against any attempts to add further restrictions to the existing immigration laws and vigorously opposed the registration of aliens. Repeal of the national origins clause was urged by Mr. Herman. “It is urgent that the immigration law of 1924 shall be so amended that the clause referring to the national origins be repealed. For the last few years every session of Congress postponed its enforcement. It is difficult to arrive at a correct estimate, since the early census was far from accurate, it was mere guess work, and further to accept quotas on a basis of national origins would be unfair and unjust to many nationals,” he declared.

Despite the restriction and quota laws the work devolving upon the Society was a great deal heavier in view of the complexities of the laws and particularly in view of the needs required by individual cases. Immigrant aid work has changed from a wholesale or mass relief to a highly individualized and specialized treatment of separate and individual cases, the report stated.

During the past year there were 15,000 Jewish arrivals in the United States, of whom approximately 11,000 were immigrants. During the period reviewed, 846 steamer bringing arrivals were met at the pier by Hias workers. Those who were taken to Ellis Island were cared for by the Society’s agents at that point, the others going to the Society’s shelter at 425 Lafayette Street, from which they proceeded to their ultimate destinations. Individuals who called at the offices of the organization in this country and received service and information on varied subjects totalled 139,880.

ASKS FOR BUDGET INCREASE

A plea for an increase in the Society’s budget which is about $400,000 a year in order to be able to cope with the increased demands for aid and relief of various kinds, was made in the report.

Senator David I. Walsh of Massachusetts, Benjamin M. Day, Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, Rev, H. Masliansky, Jacob Massel, Harry Fischel and Albert Rosenblatt, addressed the session following the presentation of the president’s report.

The following directors were elected to serve for the next three years: John L. Bernstein, Morris Feinstone, Israel Friedkin, Adolph Held, Dr. Joseph Krimsky, E. W. Lewin-Epstein, Harris Linetzky, Rabbi M. E. Margolies, Jacob Massel, Max Meyerson, Nathan Schoenfeld, Morris Seltzer, and Abraham Spiro.

Terming the activity of finding new immigration centers, which the Hias inaugurated two years ago, as “one of the most far-reaching endeavors in the history of our organization,” Mr. Herman described the progress of the work.

NEW IMMIGRATION CENTERS

“I am happy to be able to report that what has been accomplished thus far is most encouraging and gratifying. We set out jointly with the Jewish Colonization Association (Ica) and the United Jewish Emigration Committee of Europe (Emigdirekt) upon the work that enabled thousands of our people who were on the brink of despair to establish themselves in new homes and embrace new opportunities.

“We made investigations in the Argentine Republic, Brazil, Uruguay and other countries. We found that these lands offered opportunities and we took steps to bring knowledge of these opportunities to our people in Europe. Those who appeared best fitted for the new lands were advised to go. It was a work that concerned itself with specific cases, involving thousands of individuals, and each individual case presented a different problem.

“Coming to the new lands, these Jewish immigrants meet the firm and brotherly handclasp of their own people (Continued on Page 4)

They talk to Hias representatives and they are answered in their own language. They are taken to temporary shelters where reasonable comfort is afforded them. Here again Hias representatives study each case according to its own particular needs, and measures are taken at once to give the immigrant a start by finding suitable employment for him or through the loan funds by Hias and its cooperating bodies in those countries to enable him to purchase the tools or merchandise he requires.

“During 1928, a delegation consisting of Dr. Louis Oungre, representing the Ica, Dr. Myron Kreinin, the Emigdirekt, and Aaron Benjamin, honorary secretary of Hias, visited these countries and after stdying all the possibilities for Jewish immigration, proceeded to organize the work on a firm basis.”

South America is not the only place where this work has been undertaken, the report stated. In cooperation with the Emergency Committee, formed at the instance of Hias, and to which Hias contributed the sum of $100,000, a similar service is being rendered to immigrants into Cuba. The opening of a shelter for the care of unaccompanied immigrant girls was recently made possible through a special subsidy of Hias, as an extension of the work.

In Canada, the opportunities for Jewish rehabilitation are good, the report declared. Hias, Ica and Emigdirekt, jointly known as Hicem, are cooperating with the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada.

“Our work in the new countries has a two-fold purpose. One is to take care of the immigrants and their individual needs and the other is the necessity of conducting our activities in such a manner that the governments of these countries shall regard new immigration as desirable and beneficial to the progress of the country,” Mr. Herman said.

“As a result of our efforts Jewish immigrants are being placed on farmlands in France. Through our employment bureau in Paris permanent admission has been granted to many Jewish immigrants. We have been engaged in an active study of the immigration possibilities in Australia. Responsible committees have been formed, and as a beginning $5,000 has been allocated for work in Melbourne and a similar amount for work in Sydney.

An immigration committee was formed in South Africa not only to look after the immigrants already there but to make it possible for others to come. This committee is subsidized by the Hias.

At the Hias offices in Europe permission and the preparation for the departure must be granted and made. It is there that each case must be studied and cared for so that no journey shall be made in vain, the President pointed out.

DESCRIBES AID TO NEW ARRIVALS

Describing the work done in settling the 20,000 Jews in countries other than the United States and Canada, Mr. Herman reported that close to 7,000 immigrants arrived in the Argentine; 2,689 received constructive aid and 1,094 were helped in finding employment. A $25,000 immigrant loan and credit fund was set up. Language courses were conducted and immigrants aided in settling in Buenos Aires, interior cities and on the Ica colonies. In Brazil 4,055 immigrants arrived. An immigrant shelter and employment bureaus are functioning to aid the new arrivals. Two thousand two thousand two hundred Jewish immigrants arrived in Uruguay, aided by the employment bureau and granted credit facilities.

In Australia 750 Jewish immigrants arrived during the period under review. Loan funds of $5,000 were established in Melbourne and Sydney. Close to 1,500 Jewish immigrants went to South Africa, where many were aided in establishing themselves through the Hias employment bureau.

In Cuba, a school recognized by the government has been established and is attended by 165 children. Adult classes were conducted, medical service and legal aid in making representations before immigration to the United States are provided.

A steady stream of Jewish immigration to Venezuela, Colombia and Peru has begun.

The activities of the Hias in European countries was pointed out. A total of 30,299 Jews applied at the offices in Poland, Danzig, Latvia, Lithuania, Roumania, Belgium, Holland and France for information, advice and service. In Warsaw alone 9,698 emigrants were served. Emigrants were saved $50,762 in connection with their journeys; 102 emigrants given instruction in agriculture; 26 emigrants completed electrical and carpentry courses; 32 lingual courses were conducted attended by 548 persons; 4,942 visits were made by emigrants to the Eye Clinic. 16 operations were performed.

In Roumania 3,631 persons applied for service at the offices in Bucharest. Kishineff, Czernowitz and Siget, while in Latvia the number was 4,380. In Lithuania 6,752 Jewish emigrants applied and received information and service.

Danzig is the embarkation point for Jewish emigrants from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Roumania. There 6,965 emigrants were aided before embarking for their destinations. Hias, New York, dawdesvohsaifte S4V (nTu New York, was advised of the departure of emigrants so that relatives may be notified and the immigrants met upon arrival.

COMPARES NO. OF VISAS WITH APPLICATIONS

Urging that the delegates vote for the renewal of the Hias agreement for joint work with the Ica and Emigdirekt, Mr. Herman presented a comparison between the quotas for entry to the United States and the number of applicants for emigration.

The quota for Poland is 5,982. The applicants who registered for permission to leave that country were 31,231. For Russia the quota is 2,248. The number of requests for visas total 73,000. Lithuania’s quota is 344. The number of applications for visas filed totals 9,948.

“Here are tens of thousands of our people crying out to us for help. The work must go on unhampered and must be extended if possible, that is if means will permit,” Mr. Herman declared.

In addition to the work of aiding Jewish immigrants who entered the United States during the past year, of whom there were 11,598, the Hias activities in this country extended in many directions toward aiding the new arrivals. The Hias Washington Bureau handled 1,868 petitions for quota exempt and quota preference visas; 260 cases of appeals from exclusions of immigrants were argued before the Board of Review and in only 21 cases were the appeals denied.

As a result of representations made by Hias to the Surgeon-General at Washington calling attention to the exorbitant number of cases excluded by government physicians abroad as mental defectives, a commission was appointed by him to make a study of these. As a result of the study made by the commission, fully half of those who had originally been excluded were declared normal after re-examination.

The Citizenship Bureau aided 10,742 persons in becoming citizens. In the shelter department 87,241 meals were served and 16,993 nights of shelter given. Twelve hundred and sixty-one applicants at the employment bureau were placed. Requests to trace relatives who have been lost track of reached the number of 1,675. Individual remittances of monetary relief to Poland, Roumania, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia numbered 38,479, totalling $1,502,667. Since April, 1920, $29,095,705 were transmitted without any loss.

The Service Bureau of the Hias provided information to 139,880 individuals, handled letters, telegrams and cables and prepared petitions for visas, affidavits and forms verifying arrivals required by Consuls abroad in issuing visas to relatives of non-citizens.

Urging a budget of $400,000, Mr. Herman referred to the financial report of the treasurer, Harry Fischel. “I am sorry to state that during the year we had a deficit amounting to $8,966.87. This in addition to the deficit of 1927 of $8,311.54 makes a total of $17,278.41. I am mindful of the generosity of American Jewry which enables Hias to function, but I sincerely hope that when we meet next year that not only will this accumulated deficit be wiped out but we shall have a reserve fund which will make it possible for us to carry on our work without constant financial worry. Hias needs at least $400,000 a year,” the President declared.