The Emergency Committee for New Immigrants in this city has been forced to close its doors by the problems attendant upon the arrival of more than 1, 000 Jewish immigrants who include members of all age groups, including many children, and a number of seriously ill and handicapped immigrants.
The Emergency Committee, after it closed down, handed the problem to Dr. Julius Lomnitz, Latin American director of the Joint Distribution Committee, as the only representative of a responsible world Jewish organization on the spot. Dr. Lomnitz has managed to keep the leaders of the Emergency Committee together, so that the immigrants are not completely stranded upon arrival. He has also asked his organization for trained field workers from Europe to assist in handling the newcomers.
The Emergency Committee is composed of a small group of community leaders under the sponsorship of the Jewish Federation. Sao Paulo is carrying the main burden of the immigration to Brazil because, unlike Rio de Janeiro, it receives all Jewish immigrants regardless of the reasons for their coming, whether through the JDC, HIAS or on their own.
The Central Zionist body in Rio de Janeiro has ordered all Zionists in Brazil not to help Israeli returnees and the Jewish Federation in Rio complied with this order. Now, explanations are expected from the Israel Government regarding the contradictory attitude of the Israeli mission in Germany and the Zionist body in Brazil on this problem.
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.
