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Jewish Refugees from Eastern Europe Piling Up in Austria; Fear to Enter Germany

April 30, 1947
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Jewish refugees from Poland and Rumania are beginning to pile up here just one week after the U.S. Army announced that it would no longer permit “infiltrees” to enter DP camps in Germany.

As of today there are about 500 “infiltrees” in Vienna and another 1,000 are reported to be at the Rumanian -Austrian frontier headed in this direction. Although the U.S. Army has not closed the borders of Germany, the “infiltrees” fear to enter Germany because of the uncertainty of their fate there.

At present the DP’s are housed in a shelter maintained by the Jewish Refugee Committee. They receive no assistance from official quarters and Joint Distribution Committee food supplies while increasing are still not adequate. A recent group of arrivals have been quarantined for two weeks, because a case of chicken pox cropped up in their midst.

The first group of Austrian Jews to return from Palestine arrived here today. Five-thirds of the repatriates have been lodged by the municipality in small hotels, while the others will stay with relatives. They declared that they had returned because they could not stand the climate in Palestine and were attracted by the reports of restitution legislation in Austria. They said about 800 Austrian Jews now in Palestine wish to return to their homeland. Small groups of Austrian Jews from France, Italy and the Soviet Union arrive every week.

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