Life for Jews in displaced persons camps in Austria is substantially better now than it was a month ago according to a report obtained today by a Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent.
The improvement is due largely to the arrival of about fifty tons of food, clothing and medicine sent into Austria from Switzerland by the Joint Distribution Committee. Though conditions are still not good, the supplies sent by the J.D.C., added to the army ration, have been enough to lift the food ration above starvation level, The J.D.C. now has offices in Vienna, Linz and Salzburg which are working closely with the U.S. forces.
The latest shipment of JDC supplies has just arrived in trucks of the U.S. 42nd Division. In addition to 25 tons of Swiss food and clothing it contained 300 prayer books for the High Holy Days. Up to now most of the imports have been distributed in the three western zones of Austria, but now that there is international control of Vienna, supplies are coming here and to lower Austria. Previously the Russians had facilitated the importing of some food from Hungary.
To relieve the dead monotony of camp life, and to revive work skills and the interest of the internees, the JDC has started two vocational training projects at Wols, near Linz, and at Gnadenwald, near Innsbruck, at which agriculture, mechanics, needle crafts, radio and cobbling are taught, and other projects are under way.
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.
