More than 1,000 persons holding immigration visas for the United States and South America have been released from concentration camps as a result of energetic measures taken by the refugee aid committees in Genoa and Trieste. Because of the scarcity of normal means of communication, it is necessary to proceed by plane from Rome to Lisbon and from there by ship to the countries of destination.
As a result of severe restrictions imposed by Portuguese and Spanish authorities in the issuance of transit visas, an almost impossible situation has arisen, curtailing in great part the emigration of refugees and local Jews from Italy.
Hardest hit are males of German, Polish, Czech and Italian nationality between the ages of 18 and 30. Spanish consulates have instructions from Madrid not to accept their applications for transit visas. Inasmuch as it is essential to transit through Spain to reach Lisbon, which is today the only European port of exit, they are effectively stranded.
Males not in this age group and all females are in a situation only slightly less impossible. This is particularly evident in the cases of those otherwise fortunate enough to have received United States immigration visas after having survived a wait of more than two-and-a-half years.
On the basis of the United States immigration visa, Portuguese consuls accept transit visa applications for transmission to Lisbon, where they are approved or refused. This transmission is usually effected by wire at the request of the applicant, who pays the approximately $5 in charges. In Lisbon the decision rests with the international police, usually on the criterion of a reserved passage on a given ship leaving Lisbon on a given date. Owing to the large number of refugees in Lisbon waiting their turn to obtain ship passage from Lisbon, this last is particularly difficult to get.
Given that this difficulty has been overcome, however, and the international police are convinced of the applicants bona fide intentions, authorization for the issuance of the Portuguese transit visa is wired to the consulate in Italy. This procedure involves from four to six weeks, often even longer. The price of the transit visa is $6 normally. The visa is valid one month from date of issuance.
Applications for transit visas through Spain are accepted only the basis of a valid Portuguese visa. The procedure is similar to that at the Portuguese consulate, with the application being wired to Madrid for approval. Time required for the reply averages from three to four weeks.
As the trip to Lisbon is usually made by train, a French transit visa is required from the Armistice Commission in Turin. Ten days is needed to effect this formality.
By this time, the one month validity of the Portuguese visa has elapsed, necessitating another telegram to Lisbon requesting an extension. Usually, the ship upon which the original reservations have been made has left Lisbon by this time. Another reservation on a later sailing ship is attempted through a series of expensive telegrams to Lisbon. If successful, the extension on the Portuguese visa is authorized.
Having arrived at this advanced point with all the transit visas in order, the refugee, who has undergone innumerable hardships, patiently awaiting his turn to receive an immigration visa to the United States, to which he had looked forward as the milestone of hope towards the beginning of a new life in a new country of opportunity, suddenly finds that the four months’ validity of the United States visa has also expired; that a renewal will require perhaps fresh affidavits of support from the United States–a matter of months; that, in fact, he must begin the vicious circle all over again with all the odds against him and little hope of salvation.
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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.
