Emigration Body Allowed to Reopen in Warsaw Offices

The intention of the German regime in Poland to permit Jewish emigration was indicated today when news was received here that the Nazi authorities in Warsaw have permitted the Jewish Emigration Society, known as JEAS, to reopen its headquarters in Warsaw, which were closed since the German occupation.

JEAS branches in other cities of Nazi Poland will apparently also be permitted to reopen in order to (1) advise Jews on emigration matters, (2) assist them in securing visas to overseas lands, (3) bring them into contact with relatives in the United States and other countries to obtain the necessary transportation costs in foreign currency.

With the reopening of the JEAS, tens of thousands of Jews in America may soon hear from their relatives in Poland to aid them in emigrating. It can be expected that Jewish central relief organizations in America will receive appeals from Jewish bodies in Poland for assistance on organizing mass Jewish emigration from Poland, as was done for Jews in Germany.

This will raise the question of whether foreign currency should be forwarded to Poland, since this would aid the Nazi regime. The HIAS-ICA Emigration Association in Paris, which was advised about the reopening of the JEAS, foresees possibilities for rescuing thousands of Jews from Nazi Poland if funds for this purpose are obtained. It is believed that a way can be found to have the steamship tickets sent from America or secured in neutral countries in Europe without having the money sent into Poland. The emigrants will then have their tickets awaiting them at the ports of embarkation, which are usually in the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.

One of the problems which has arisen in connection with emigration from Poland is the securing of transit visas through European countries for prospective Palestine pioneers from Poland who have reached Lithuania.

The Nazis have virtually destroyed the Hechalutz (Palestine pioneering) movement in Poland, according to information reaching the central Hechalutz Organization in Lithuania, and have liquidated the hachshara (training) establishments in Lodz where hundreds were trained for work in Palestine.

Also dissolved are the Gordonia Jewish fishermen’s colony near Gdynia, where Jewish youths were trained for the Palestine fishing industry; the Shomer Hatzair agricultural training colony in Czestochowa and other Hechalutz institutions. There are still two Hechalutz centers unmolested–one in Lodz and the other in Bendin.

Several hundred pioneer youths from Nazi Poland who trekked 400 kilometers to Lithuania, leaving behind seven who died on the way, are in a precarious position in Wilno, according to a report received in Paris.