The Greek government has not withdrawn its order of November 30 forbidding Jews to enter the country without a special permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the local Chief of Police today informed the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Not even one Jewish foreigner can enter the country without special authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the police official declared.
The order issued by the Greek government instructed all consuls to inquire by cable of the Foreign Office in Athens whenever a Jew applied for a Greek visa. Exception was to be made only for foreign Jews already settled in Greece, the order stated.
A short time afterward, Premier Panyoti Tsaldaris announced officially that the order had been withdrawn since it had a damaging effect on Greek tourist trade.
According to the terms of the order, Foreign Jews travelling through Greece on their way to Palestine will not be permitted to pass the Greek frontier unless they have a Palestine visa.
Greek Jewry held the order to be a direct blow against the Jews of Greece and protested vigorously to the government.
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.
