Hicem Report Finds No Drop in Immigration

In the first eight months of the present year, ordinary Jewish emigration, exclusive of that from Germany, remained at the same level as in the corresponding period in 1933, HICEM, Jewish emigration group, reported.

Some 2,745 Jewish emigrants left for various countries, the report stated, including 986 to Palestine, 336 to North America, 293 to South Africa, twenty-six to Australia and 174 to other countries.

“In view of the increasingly stricter immigration measures enacted by almost every government, apart from the already existing harsh restrictive laws, the report stated, “we must consider these results satisfactory.

“To achieve them, offices of the HICEM in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Rumania dealt with 16,000 applicants, intervened in 9,500 cases with various government departments, secured 5,250 passports and visas and succeeded in tracing 1,450 relatives out of 2,700 whom we were asked to trace. Some 985 inquiries are still pending. All immigrants were met by an officer of the HICEM when they landed.

“With regard to German Jewish refugees, the activities of the HICEM can best be illustrated by the following figures:

“Between January and October, 1934, the HICEM in agreement with the relief committees sent forward 4,311 German Jewish refugees. Of the number, 2,013 came from France, 808 from Belgium, 641 from Holland, 345 from Czechoslovakia, 282 from Austria, seventy-two from the Saar, sixty-one from Switzerland, forty-six from Poland, and forty-three from other countries.

“Over 1,171 were sent to Palestine, 114 to North America, 812 to Brazil and 148 to various other countries. Since May, 1933, 9,736 German Jewish refugees have been assisted by the HICEM. Funds for the work came from the Jewish Colonization Association, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the British Central Fund and the French refugee committee.”