At least 2,000 persons, the majority of them Jews, are under orders to leave German territory within the next few weeks despite the fact that all frontiers have been closed to them.
This was revealed here today as interested agencies moved to intercede in behalf of those ordered exiled. Among the number are hundreds of Burgenland Jews and an additional large number of Jews arrested since Anschluss but now released from prison on condition that they leave the country within the stipulated grace period, ranging from a few days to a few weeks.
Among the released prisoners are many Polish and Rumanian Jews whose passports have been or soon will be invalidated under the recent citizenship laws of both countries. But even Austrians, except in rare instances, find it impossible to gain admittance to other lands, certainly not on short notice.
Some hopes are entertained here that pleas in behalf of these people may be effective. It is known that hundreds of Jews in the town of Wattersburg, in the Burgenland province of east Austria, who had been ordered to leave the Reich this week at the latest, have been permitted to remain until June 10.
Although unverified reports are being circulated here that certain countries are willing to give temporary refuge on guarantees by responsible Jewish organizations to care for and eventually remove the exiles, it is noteworthy that border police throughout Europe are guarding most vigilantly against illegal immigration.
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