United Hias Says More Czech, Polish Jews Are Seeking Emigration Aid

Increasing numbers of Czechoslovak and Polish Jews are applying at offices of the United Hias Service for assistance in emigrating to the United States and other Western countries, Gaynor I. Jacobson, executive vice-president of the migration agency, said here today. He disclosed that since the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet and other Communist country forces on August 21, 418 Czechoslovak Jews had registered with United Hias for permanent resettlement. Forty others had similarly registered before the occupation.

Mr. Jacobson came here to head up a team of United Hias staff members flown in to Vienna from other United Hias offices to deal with the mounting refugee problem here. He said today that “the pace of new registrations is increasing and we are being hard-pressed to keep up with the influx.” He pointed out that included among the 1,100 Czechoslovak refugees who are currently receiving aid here from the Joint Distribution Committee are hundreds who are still undecided whether to return to Czechoslovakia or to apply for emigration.

United Hias, with the help of cooperating agencies in England, Switzerland and other Western countries, has already helped more than a hundred Czechoslovak Jewish refugees to find temporary haven in those countries, the United Hias executive said. He expressed appreciation to a number of governments for their interest in the Czechoslovak refugee problem. The United States Immigration Service, he said, announced that it would extend the visas of about 4,000 Czechoslovak nationals now in the United States as visitors. The Canadian and Australian Governments, he said, are expediting the processing of visas. United Hias currently is processing 400 refugees, mainly from Poland and Egypt, seeking to migrate to the United States.