The United States consulate in Marseilles was continuing to issue immigration visas to Jewish refugees at the rate of about forty a day as of the middle of December, it was disclosed today by Dr. James Bernstein, European director of the HIAS-ICA Emigration Association, who arrived here on board the Portuguese steamer, Guine, yesterday.
Tens of thousands of Jewish refugees, however, remain in France, Spain and Portugal with almost no chance of emigrating because they do not possess any visas at present, nor have they prospects of obtaining them, Dr. Bernstein stated. The HIAS-ICA offices in Marseilles, Casablanca end Lisbon are still functioning normally, he said, and it is expected that at least 1,600 of the 2,000 refugees in Marseilles who possess immigration and transit visas will be able to come to the Western Hemisphere on two Portuguese boats slated to sail this month.
Mr. J. Dijour, secretary of the HIAS-ICA, who also arrived on the Guine, stated that among the 255 refugees who arrived yesterday fifty percent had come directly from French internment camps and were only released on the assurance that they would immediately emigrate. Both Dr. Bernstein and Mr. Dijour had warm words of praise for the cooperation of Dr. Joseph Schwartz, the Joint Distribution Committee representative in Lisbon, and expressed the hope that cooperation between the two refugee aid organizations will continue.
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.
