Behind the mass deportation of Jews from Vienna to the Lublin “reservation” in Poland lies a Nazi scheme to secure millions of American dollars as ransom money for Jews, it was learned here today.
Nazi officials in Vienna, it is reported, are informing Vienna Jews that if they do not wish to be expelled to Poland they must cable their relatives in the United States to secure for them steamship tickets for overseas lands, with the money for the tickets to be paid by the relatives to German travel offices in New York. This would automatically guarantee permission to leave German soil and transportation to neutral ports under the supervision of German travel agencies in the Reich.
The sum which the Nazis demand is set at more than $400 per person. As there are still about 50,000 Jews left in Vienna, the total would yield about $20,000,000 for the German treasury, since it is understood that the Nazis are negotiating for the use of Spanish steamers for transportation overseas of those Viennese Jews for whom the fare is deposited by relatives in the United States.
The United States immigration quota for Austria is not filled and American consulates in Germany are willingly issuing visas to Jewish applicants, provided that they can prove that, in addition to affidavits from American relatives they also possess steamship tickets. Faced with the alternatives of deportation to Poland or securing freedom by cabling American relatives for funds, thousands of Jews are sending such appeals, which would involve paying money for their passage in dollars to agencies in New York.
The number of Jews in Vienna who have, in the past week, cabled to America seeking passage to the United States and other overseas countries is estimated here at 20,000. About 1,000 of them have asked that the money for steamship tickets be deposited with the offices of the Joint Distribution Committee in New York. The Nazi authorities apparently do not object to this, since they are certain that no matter where the fare is deposited it will fall into the hands of the Nazis because there are no steamers other than Spanish available for carrying the passengers. The American Export Line, which is the only U.S. steamship company now navigating between the United States and Europe, has all its steamers booked up at Lisbon for many months in advance.
Parallel with the scheme of securing American currency by permitting Jews from Vienna to emigrate, the Nazi authorities in Vienna are proceeding with their program of mass expulsion of Jews to Poland. The transportation of a third group of more than 1,000 Jews from Vienna to Poland is expected in the next few days. The two previous transports of more than 2,000 have already reached their destination. The deportees are reported to be housed in wooden barracks in the vicinity of Lublin.
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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.
