Thousands of refugees from central Europe, ninety percent of them Jews, are hitth-hiking, walking and crawling into this city, which is an evacuation point for Allied prisoners rescued from Austrian prisoner-of-war camps.
It is estimated by American military authorities that over 40,000 refugees are already here and more come hourly. Most of them are Hungarian Jews. They escaped, or, more recently, simply walked out of the factories whey they were sent for slave labor by the Germans and systematically starved to death.
Among them, a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent found a Grechoslovak Jan, 33, a graduate economist from the University of Prague, by the name of Kunsian. The 88 seixed him last December and put him to work on the Todt fortifications on the western front. Kunsian, who is tall and big, weight 60 lbs. He speaks perfect English.
He was lined up before the shower-baths, when the correspondent spoke to him, and weaved back and forth as he talked. “You are here,” he kept repeating. “The Americans are here.” A doctor told him to take it easy, and to get out of the sun. “I must wash, I must wash,” he muttered. “I haven’t washed in so long, I must wash.” I reached for the water-pipe to steady himself, but his fingers never touched it. He collapsed and died as the correspondent watched.
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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.
