Current visa regulations under which ex-Nazis may be admitted to the United States were criticized by a number of Jewish organizations as “a severs setback to our democratic way of life” in a memorandum submitted to the State Department.
The memorandum pointed out that under existing law, all former members of the Nazi Party may be excluded. It maintained that to do otherwise is in effect to give preference in admissions to ex-Nazis at the expense of anti-Nazis, underground fighters against Hitler, and others who were our allies and sympathizers during the war.
Six Jewish national organizations and twenty-seven local groups throughout the country associated themselves in the memorandum. They include the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish War Veterans, and Union of American Hebrew Congregations which, together with the local organizations, comprise the National Community Relations Advisory Council.
“Every ex-Nazi admitted is a potential point of fascist infection,” the memorandum asserted. “To the Germans of today, our current immigration policy must be interpreted as an increased indifference to the crimes of Nazism and an increased willingness to 1st by-gones be by-gones.”
Pointing out that present immigration quotas for Germany and Austria are 13,685 a year, the memorandum observed that during the first month the new regulations were in effect, more than 285,000 Germans applied for entry into the United States. “Presumably among these 285,000 applicants, at least 13,685 could be found whose devotion to democracy is untainted by former membership in the Nazi Party,” the memorandum continued. “Accordingly, every ex-Nazi admitted leaves one less place for such democratic applicants.”
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.
