In the past fortnight nearly 30,000 would-be immigrants, 95 per cent of them Jews, stormed the United States Consulate General seeking visas and information, it was disclosed today. Of these thousands, only a few hundred have the remotest chance to escape this year.
An avenue of escape for additional hundreds is seen in the incorporation of Austria into Germany, qualifying Austrian-born for the German quota of 26,000, instead of the current Austrian quota of 1,413 annually.
Thousands of foreign-born Jews in Austria do not come under this quota. The Hungarian and Rumanian quotas of the United States are filled for the year, the Polish is almost filled and the Czechoslovakian is filled until June. The overwhelming majority of foreign Jews who came to Austria from these countries must apply for admission to the United States under their quotas.
The fact that the Austrian quota was previously under-subscribed gives the American consulate leeway to meet the storm of applications. Thus there is still an opportunity for a few Austrian-born to leave here within the next few months provided they are able to show proof that they will not become public charges.
Immigration regulations will automatically reduce the number who will eventually become bonafide applicants. Thus, of 30,000 applicants, approximately 12,000 believe themselves possessed of the necessary qualifications for immigration to the United States. Among these are hundreds who are distinguished in business, art and the professions.
It was pointed out that under present conditions even those who obtain visas are not altogether sure they can emigrate. They must first cross the Austrian frontier, which is often impossible for Jews, except through special intervention of one kind or another. Moreover, laws regarding the right to remove property have not been definitely established, which presents an obstacle not only to the would-be emigrant, but to the consul trying to decide whether the applicant qualifies as a person able to support himself.
It was reported today that Nazi police have arrested Rabbi Arnold Frankfurter, uncle of David Frankfurter, Yugoslavian Jewish medical student, who is now serving a prison term in Switzerland for the killing of Wilhelm Gustloff, Swiss Nazi leader, in January, 1936.
It was established that Robert Stricker, Zionist leader and newspaper publisher, and Alexander Geller, director of the concern which published the newspapers Telegraf (now National Socialist Telegraf) and Echo have been interned in the Dachau concentration camp near Munich, Germany.
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.
