Special Commissions to Screen Dp’s in Germany Desiring to Immigrate to Palestine

The Jewish Agency will establish special commissions to screen displaced Jews desiring to immigrate to Palestine, a spokesman declared today. The commissions, which will be composed of representatives of the Agency, the local Zionist parties and DP organizations, will group applicants in such categories as “youth,” “technicians” and “persons with close relations in Palestine.”

Meanwhile, the official revealed, Agency offices in the major cities of Germany have been swamped by hundreds of Jews within the past few days applying for immigration. However, the Agency officials have been forced to tell the people that ## definite date for the start of legal, large scale immigration to Palestine has been set and that they may have to wait until August 1, 1948, when the British evaluation of Palestine is slated to be completed.

In the interim, the Agency offices plus the screening commissions will com##te as much of the paper work as possible in preparation for the start of immigration. Chaim Hoffman, Agency director in the U.S. zone, is conferring with Army officials in an attempt to work out a solution of the extremely troublesome transportation problem. One question mark in the minds of the Agency planners is whether to ## a French or an Italian port for embarkation of the DP’s after they are brought ## of Germany. At the present time the political and labor situations in both countries make the choice a toss-up.

Agency officials continue to emphasize that when immigration starts it will have to be on a selective basis, because it is feared that a pell-mell mass movement may ruin the economy of Palestine. The local officials are still waiting for word from Jerusalem as to the proportion of youth, workers and “close relatives” among the total to be accepted from Germany.