The French Government today permitted 25 German Jewish refugees to land from the German steamer Cap Arcona, which was returning them to the Reich after they had been refused admittance to Uruguay and other South American countries.
The refugees, including men, women and children, had sailed some time ago from Hamburg with visas to Uruguay. After their departure, however, the consul who issued the visas was recalled by his Government and all of his visas were invalidated. Reaching Uruguay, the refugees were not permitted to land and were forced to return on the same steamer to Germany. On their return voyage, the captain had tried to land to land them in other countries but was unsuccessful until the Cap Arcona reached Boulogne on the way to Hamburg.
Discovering that the passengers were Jews who faced concentration camps when they disembarked at Hamburg, the French authorities unhesitatingly permitted them to land at Boulogne and made possible their transportation to Paris, where they were immediately placed under care of Jewish organizations until provision is made for their emigration.
Measures are being taken to obtain permission for two more groups of refugees, who are expected to be turned back by Uruguay, to disembark at Boulogne. Meanwhile, central Jewish organizations are preoccupied with the fact that certain shipping agents are indulging in all kinds of schemes to transport Jews from the Reich to overseas lands. The HIAS-ICA Emigration Association is understood to have warned all steamship companies not to take passengers unless their visas are in complete order to to bear the consequences when they are not permitted to disembark.
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.