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FORM AD-46b (27 NOV 1945)

UNRRA

OUTGOING

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES COMMUNICATIONS BRANCH

CABLE SECTION

CABLEGRAM

NOTICE: lnform<1tion copy only

FORM AD-46b (27 NOV 1945)

UNRRA

OUTGOING

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FORM AD-46a (27 NOV 1945)

UNRRA

NOTICE:

INCOMING

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES COMMUNICATIONS BRANCH

CABLE SECTION

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CABLEGRAM

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FOR>.I AD - l.l6b (2' NOV 194~1

UNRRA OUTGOING

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CABLE SECTION

CABLEGRAM

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NOTICE: INFORMATION COPY ONLY

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1 0 3 P A R K AVENUE, NEW Y O R K 1 7

LEXINGTON 2-7916 • CABLE ADDRESS: INTERELIEF

HONORARY CHAIRMAN

Charle, A. Beard

CHAIRMAN

L Holling,worlh Wood

VICE-CHAIRMAN

Freda Kirchwey

Sterling 0. Spero

Ingrid Warburg

TREASURER

David f. Seiferheld

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Sheba Strun,ky

NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Roger Baldwin

Abraham Blue,tein

Paul f. Brl11enden

Stuart Cha••

Georg• S. Counb

frank Crowninshield

Margaret De Silver

John Dewey

lewis Gannett

Horry Gideons•

Jam•• G. Heller

John Haynes Holmes

William H. Kilpatrick

Frank Kingdon

Wesley C. Mitchell

Reinhold Niebuhr

William Allan Neilson

John 001 Pa1101

Cecilia Razov1ky

Victor Reuther

Abba Hillel Sliver

Upton Sinclair

Dorothy Thompson

O1wold G. VIiiard

• Registered With Th•

President's War Rellef Control loard

• Member Agency Of The Notional War Fund Through Al'llliatlon With RefugH Relief Tru1tM1

~ L.,s lorence Black Volunt .heency ... i ison l, th 1344 Connecticut venue ashington 25, ~.~.

Dear 1 iss .1:nack:

~epte~ ber 23, 1946

ficer

r. ~oseph buttinver, a rember of the Beare of Lircctors of the lnternationw. ,escue and .1.elief Co xittee, is :eaviu for ~t.rope on ~epterr.ber 29th to undert ke the \Ork of ~uropean Director for our org n·z tion.

Lt is connection e is pl nning to o to ~ermany, for \hich he lready has clearance froffi the Joint Chiefs of utaff. o 1ever, he desi es to spen part of his tiFie .:..n er any in d · c ssing, with ur v orkers there, our ryrogr rr. in the displaced per ons camps. It is also hi~ int ntio~ to s nd ~everal weeks n ,nP,land for tte s e t.rpose in ore er to cor:fer with the I ondoi: l .J of ice.

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h 4 kin yot. for y ur kind coo r t.ion, I wn

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......incerely yours,

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... '1~~ x. Eecker, Lirector t. of~ ateri 1 ~ ic

FORM AD-ll6b (2' NOV 1945 1

UNRRA

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NOTICE: I NF OR MAT I ON COPY ONLY

GROSS REFER:S::CE SilEET

Subject Date Description Filed In

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INFORMATION BULLETIN of the

HEBREW SHELTERING AND IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY (HIAS)

APRIL, 1946 No. 3

Judge Rifkind's Report to the War Dept. Advisor on Jewish Affairs in Germany Says DPs MUST Emigrate to Survive - Stresse that Jews

In Europe Should Not be Treated as Object of Charity, But Favored Over Germans -Praises Work of Army in Rescue and Care of DPs

Judge Simon H. Rifkind, who has just completed five months of service in Germany as Special Advisor on Jewish Affairs to the Commanding General of the U. . Forces, European Theater, has ubmitted his final memorandum Lo Gen.

Jo eph T. McNarney. In the memorandum, made public by

the War D partment, Judge Rifkind tresses that rapid ma s reselllement i

the only possible way to soh e what has become known a the Jewi h Dis­placed Person "problrm."

"Unless the world i prepared im­mediately Lo make a place for them, it will drive Lo despair and disaster this handful of a decimated people," he warns.

In the opening sec tion of his report, J uclge Rifkin cl pay high tribute to thr

. . Army for rescuing the remnant of European Jewry and for its subse­quent care of them.

"The historic fact can never be slighted," he ays, "that all that re­mained after Hitler's war of annihilation against the Jew of Europe ,\as. figur­atively, a small dry heap of bones into which, like the Prophet Ezekiel, Lhr United State and it allies breathed the spirit of life."

Text of Report A partial texl of Judge Rifkin d's re­

port follows: The problem of the di placed Jews of

Europe ... is nol yet behind us. An under Landing of the problem must

tart with the fundamental realization that the United tales rmy has in ils kreping nol a group of discrelr individ­uals but a "people" and that it i re­quired Lo dral wi th one of the great migration of histor}. Destiny has called upon the miliLar} forces Lo preserve

that people and to channel its migration, and has thereby challenged the historic role of the United States as protector of the oppressed and persecuted. The man­ner in which the military forces rise Lo that challenge ,~ill determine not onl) whether the page of histoq now being written in this theater will be bright or dark, but will indicate whether our country ... has still the capacity and energy Lo deal justly with a cause that ca~1 make hut a moral appeal to its ron­sc1ence .. ..

The Jews pre entl} in Germany and Au tria are principally of Poli!-h and Baltic origin. Smaller numbers of them are of Hungarian, Rumanian, and Czech­oslovakian derivation. The native Ger­man and Austrian Jews form only a minor fraction of the prohlem; , ery few of them are left in Central Europe. It is with Ea l European Jewry, pri­marily, that we have to deal.

A Civilization

Many centuries ago the Jew began their movement eastward in search of lands where they could practice their religion free of molestation, raise their families in security, and live their live::; in dignity. They never found what they sought, but in the cour e of their at­tempt they created institution which through the long years enriched the civilization of the world.

In the eastern countrie , principally in Poland and the Baltic tales, the Jews developed a religious civilization far clilierent from the native culture. They developed a way of life which was es en• tially th ir own. Despite poverty and oppression, it was rich in ethical sig­nificance, colorful in expression, and al­way1,, intense ....

The Jews of East Europe flourished in this way despite an environment which was essentially unfriendly. They have never really lived at peace. They have always been haunted by fear of the pogrom, of sudden death and tlw slaughter of the innocent. They have alway longed for a place or a time in which they would be free of this mortal fear.

With the coming of Hitler, anli-semi­tism, became an im,trument of national policy ....

Hitler' fi r::;t victims were the German Jews because they were at hand .... But the German plan wa never limitrd to the destruction of German Jewry; it always contemplated the elimination of the Jews in Europe and indeed in the world. . . . pon the Jews of Eastern Europe was loosed a plan of extermin­ation so diabolical that it is impossihle for a ciYilized mind to grasp ....

The Remnant

So ruthles \\as Lhi::; campaign, ::;o furiou was its execution, that some 6,000,000 J e,\ s fell martyred by the

azi . Today, no more than 1,250,000 Jews live in Europe ea t of the English Channel and west o{ the pre-war border::; of Ru ia, and the East Eu rope an J e\\ s are but a portion of that number.

The Jews who are today pro,,isionallv in Germany and Austria are c;mall i{1 number ; approximately 100,000 of them are living in all zone,-, of those countries. Family life is practicall) unknown among them ... the members of their families are dead; they arc de::;­titute ... the German stripped them of everything; a child is a rare Lrea.;ure among them ... extermination of the }Oung wa a ~azi priority; they ulier from p, ychological and physical ills as

2 .,

a result of life in the concentration camps and the experience they have en­dured. Their civilization, so laboriously created over the centuries, has been brought low; its leadership is dead; its institutions-economic, social, religious and scholarly-are demolished.

The one thing that Hitler failed to take from the e people was their spirit. That is today burning brightly and stead­ily in the wastelands of Germany and Austria. . . . That is why this small group represents a people-the remnant of Polish and Baltic Jewry-the grow­ing tip of its future.

Many of the Jews who are today living in Poland, Czecho lovakia, Rumania, and Hungary are baffied and perplexed, insecure in the present, fearful of the future. Not so the Jews in Germany and Austria. They know what they want; they want to quit Europe; they want to live togeth~r, not dispersed among a population that regards them as aliens; they desire to live in the pattern of their own historic culture; they visualize the realization of their desires in Palestine.

It is a strange phenomenon that the Jewish Di_splaced Persons in Germany and Austria, because they have a policy and a program, have emerged as the vanguard of East European Jewry ....

Westward Flow

... The e considerations help explain why the Jewish population in the U. . zone is increasing, whereas that of other displaced persons groups is decreasing.

Returning from the concentration camps, from the fore t in which they fought as Partisans, clemobilized from the national armies in which they balllcd on the icle of the Allies, coming from the place in which they hid from the

azis, the Jews in the Ea t European countries find them elves unwelcome in the lands of their origin. They discover that anti-semitism did not vanish with the defeat of the Nazis. Indigenous, pop­ular anti- emitism flouri hes and creates a climate of hostility on the part of the native populations again t the Jew ....

Moreover, the countries of their origin are to the e Jews places oi sadness and despair .... They find it impossible to take up normal living in a graveyard of memorie . Consequently, they have taken to the road in search of new place , free of prejudice and bias, in which they can settle and be at peace .... They are ... homeless through no choice of their own and cannot be repatriated.

A tucly of the flow-lines of Ea t European Jewry shows a constant and unvarying convergence upon the U. S. Zones of Germany and Austria. This movement i primarily an expression of faith in the United tale which has always afforded asylum for the unfor-

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tunate. . . . The Army has thus far viewed with sympathetic understanding the plight of the Jews seeking asylum in the U. S. Zone. A continuation of that policy is strongly urged. Its abandon­ment or limitation will constitute a de­nial of the humanitarian impulses which should motivate the military in this con­nection.

The numbers coming in, compared with the population of the zone, are rela­tively trivial; they constitute a very small charge upon the economy of the area. To forbid these persecutee entry on the basis of any statistical study of absorptive capacity, which must at best constitute a rough gues , is to elevate form over substance in the face of human tragedy and suffering ....

Seek Temporary Haven

The Jews coming into Germany seek here a provisional place of refuge that will serve as a staging and rehabilita­tion area for migration. The fact that they are seeking this haven in Germany is profoundly just. Their recent lament­able condition is the result of German barbari m. In the process of extermin­ating millions of Jews, the German economy was enriched beyond measure. The fortunes of those who died as well as those who escaped are today being enjoyed by their persecutors. Where 600,000 Jews lived in Germany before Hitler, only a fraction of that number seek to sojourn now.

Have these Jews not a claim upon the available habitation \\hich is prior lo that of the Germans? Have they not a claim against Germany's resources of food and clothing which takes preced­ence over that of the Germans? Are not the Jewish Displaced Persons eternally right when they say, "The German arc our debtor "? ...

Viewed in this light, the question whether the presence of the Jews con­stitutes too heavy a burden upon the German economy becomes irrelevant. Their claim is second only to that of the occupation forces. If the result i that some must live by the grace of char­ity and the standards which charity im­plies, it should be the guilty ones, not the victims ....

The e Jews recognize that they are already immensely in debt to the United States. But as Hitler's victims who lost the war, they look to their brothers-in­arms who won it, to enforce for them some ,mall portion of their claim on Germany.

They object to American food given to them as an act of grace. They pref er German food delivered to them as of right.

They resent living in barrack while the Germans live in civilian homes.

April, 191-6

They wonder at our lack of compre­hension when they are tendered the cast­off clothing collected in American sal­vage drives, instead of the new produc­tion of German factories.

We mu t recognize that insofar as we fail to require the Germans to sati fy the needs of these Jews and sati fy them ourselves, we are discharging a portion of the debt owed by Germany. It would, it seems to me, be preferable, certainly from the moral point of view, to insist that Germany discharge that obligation in the first instance though this cause some di comfort to the Ger­man population ....

Whether the care afforded is adequate is ... not to be measured by reference to standards for Germans or for derelict beneficiaries of charity.

The Tests The questions to which present and

proposed directives should be subjected are:

( a) Do they contribute to the build­ing of healthy and vigorous people cap­able of the pioneering effort which con­fronts them?

(b) Do they contribute to the enlarge­ment of their skills and capacities for doing u eful work?

(c) Do they accelerate the process of re toration of family life, normal, communal activities, moral standard:,; and qualities, good citizenship?

(d) Do they enlarge capacity for self-government, discharge of re pon i­bility and afford opportunity for the development of new leadership?

Mea ured against the e tests, the need of changes along everal lines is in­dicated:

(a) The pre ent practice with respect to the di placed person ' diet need re­vision. While that diet is, in caloric content, above the subsistence level, it is so monotonous as to be unsuitable for more than a very short period of time and constitutes an ever-present provoca­tion to black market tran actions. ome variety is urgently needed.

(b) The introduction of rehabilita­tion and training projects has been slug­gish. Many of these concentration-camp survivors have lost their skills; many of the younger ones never had the oppor­tunity to acquire any skills; others need to learn new trades useful in the lands to which they hope to emigrate. To accompli h these end requires affirm­ative action in the way of making tools and equipment available from the Ger­man economy, in calling forward more personnel and material from the volun­tary agencies, finding more space for training center and farm project ....

(c) In the provision of civilian (Continued on page 11)

April, 1946

The Rifkind Report

(Continued from page 2)

rather than barrack-type hou ing for Jewish Displaced Per ons considerable improvement has taken place in recent months. There is room for more. The Jewish Displaced Persons do not, mor­ally, constilule a burden on the German population. Assuming the highest re­ported proportion of destruction of hou ing, the Germans are still the tre -passer in the aggregate when they house 100,000 Jewish Displaced Persons in all zones where 600,000 Jews lived before.

The educational and religious pro­gram need intensification. In their years in the concentration camps these people were subjected to the most brutal­izing conditions. Law meant tyranny and the only means of survival was through its evasion. . . . Liberation to them meant freedom from bondage-and the realization that their kin were gone, that they were alone in a largely hostile en­vironment, in the grim atmosphere of a displaced persons center from which there appeared to be no e cape. It would be urprising if in these circum­stances we found no anti-social tenden­cies among these survivors. They re­quire re-introduction to a type of society from which they have been divorced for many year and orientation away from the degrading exi Lenee into which the azis forced them. This requires an educational program demanding the ame type of affirmative action as has

heen indicated with re peel lo training project .

Religion

Religious in truction i of great im­portance. The e people have not had an opportunity to practice their religion for many years and they are in special need of religious reintegration. There is a great dearth of per onnel available for pastoral duties among the Jewish Displaced Persons. I have di covered only one native German Rabbi in all of Germany; and since intellectual training wa not a factor which con­tributed to survival in the concentration camps, it i clear that help must be ob­tained from outside Germany. A more lib ral policy for the admi sion of Rabbi and religiou teachers, a well as people in other cultured professions, is very much to be de ired. Moreover, such religious personnel as is available in the center hould be a[orded ade­quate opportunity to pursue their call­ing with dignity and facility.

o fir t class effort has yet been made

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in the direction of providing opportun­itie for employment. Statements have been made that the Jewish Displaced Persons will not work. This is true of only a small percentage of them, who feel that they slaved so long and so hard for the Germans without compen ation that the Germans hould now labor for them. The Jews understandably refuse to work for the Germans or aid in an) way the German economy.

This leaves three fields of possible employment:

(1) Work for the occupation forces, both in the way of per anal and indus­trial services.

(2) Work for them elves. ( 3) Manufacture of items for sale. Efforts should be made along these

lines to increase pre ent employment opportunities. o such program can be effective, however, unless incentives for work are simultaneou ly established. . . . It is unrealistic lo expect these people to labor without some form of compensation.

Not "Problem Children"

( d) Present tendencies in some quar­ter to regard the Jewish Displaced Per• sons as in litutionalized "problem chil­dren," which they are not, are pointed in the wrong direction. These tenden­cies have not yet been formulated into policy directives; I hope they will not be. Plans which are designed to re­strict movement, to intensify police con­trol, to ubject the residents to frequent earche , all in the intere t of "law and

order," are permissible, for securit) reasons, in dealing with a conquered enemy people. They are not justified in dealing with friendly allies; and urelv no free people would tolerate them. They are peculiarly inappropriate when applied to persecuted groups, Jewish and non-Jewish, in greater measure than lo the Germans themselves.

The use of German police in per­secutee centers is not promotive of or­der. Careful creening would produce good ex-persecutce material for such policing. A program of education of the newly-arrived troops and military police with respect to the misfortunes of these people and their present unhappy stale, designed to evoke sympathetic and un­derstanding treatment, would also he helpful in preventing unfortunate in­cidents ....

I recognize that no matter how wi e the policies formulated and no matter how sympathetic their implementation, they can only ameliorate the present conditions of life of the displaced Jews and prepare them more adequately for the future. They cannot solve the prob­lem of the displaced Jews. Being a human problem, it resi ts definition by

11

directive. It is not confined to the ar­bitrary geographical lines of the U. S. Zone, but overflows the newly created zone boundaries as well as the more an­cient national frontiers. IL embraces not only those who fall within the technical definition of "Displaced Persons" but all those Jews of Europe, who, by reason of the global war of ] 938-15 and the war against the Jews since 1933, have had their home-roots cut, so that they are in fact a mobile, floating populatio11.

It will cease to be a problem, not when any specified agency ha dis­charged it limited respon ibility, but when the Jews concerned have been re­stored to normal life in an abode in which they strike permanent roots.

Rapid, mas resettlement is the only means of solving that problem. Life in the di placed person center · cannot, at its very best, begin to ap­proach normal life and the inevitable consequence of a prolonged stay therein is demoralization. Disintegration has already begun and may rapidly pread.

Frustrated in their attempt lo find a place outside of Europe in which to live, unable to make a home in Europe, sur­rounded by a hostile population which erves to exacerbate old wounds and

create new re entments, these people arr coming to the end of their emotional tether. Unless the world is prepared immediately to make a place for them, it will drive to despair and disaster this handful of a deeimatt'd people.

All of them have but one earnc:,,l ,~ish, to be quit of Europe; and most of them have one other compelling deBirc, Lo emigrate lo Palestine. For reasons I have ad"anced at length before the Anglo-American Commillee of Inquiry on Pale tine, I believe their problem is actually insoluble without Palestine. Whether or not the United States Army will this Spring be faced with the neces­sity of dealing with people sickened by "hope long deferred" depends upon the action of that committee and the gov­ernments which must implement ils dc­ci ion. Every day's delay in solution boosts the price to be paid for th<' failure to act promptly.

UNRRA and the IGCR

Record should be made of the patent fact that of the several governmental agencies charged with re ponsibility. the Army i the only one that has lo date made a sub tantial and noteworthy con­tribution. U RRA has refused to con­tribute any supplies to the displaced persons. In the U. . Zone it ha like­wise failed to bring to it task the neces­_ary initiative, admini trative skill, and

(Continued on next page)

12

(Continued from page 11)

imagination. Conspicuous has been iLs lack of drive to implement ideas con· ceived both within and outside its staff.

Its lower ranks have brought zeal, sympathetic understanding, and social welfare experience, and I cannot praise too highly the devotion to their task of the workers in the field. But Loo often this personnel-and more particularly the supervisory staff-does not po ess the requisite "know how" Lo deal with the routine tasks of hou ing, clothing, and feeding.

While it is true that in some areas U RRA personnel has been confronted by non-cooperative and resistant mil­itary officers at the operating level, that circumstance would not have proved to be a serious obstacle had the UNRRA organization in the U. S. Zone possessed the necessary executive capacity.

Had this administrative weakness of U -RRA been foreseeable, it would have been wise to limit its function to wel­fare and ca e-work problems. It is too late to retrace the steps taken. But it i not Loo late for the Army to be aware of this defect in the performance of U RRA, and to deal with it by instruc­tion, inspection, and the fullest mea ures of cooperation on all levels.

Although resettlement is the ultimate objecti,c, the lntcr-GovPrnmenlal Com­mittee of Refugees (IGCR), whose re­,;ponsibility cover that field, has by its own directi, es rendered it elf impotent lo deal ,~ith the problem. It has accom­plished nothing in the way of reselllc­ment of the Jewish Displaced Persons, and can accompli h nothing under its pre ent policies.

' ome fe,\ of these people have been reselllcd in Pale tine through the Jewish ,\crency for Palestine, an organization at~·redited to IRRA. The nited State,- is now opening Consular Offices and taking steps lo implement the Pres­ident's Directive with respect to emigra­tion of Displaced Person to the nited States. But a far a I know, IGCR has to <lat taken no step to make po siblc the selllement of Jewish Di placed Per­son,; an ywherc.

By appearing lo act in this field it has discouraged others from taking the initi­ative. valuable time has been lost. IL is plain that for those who de ire migra­tion to place other than Palestine, di­reel negotiations hy the nited tales with other immigraLion-rccei,ing na­tion,;; is necessary.

HIAS 425 Lafayette Street

Ne w York 3, N. Y.

Return Postage Guar'lnteecl

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1648 Disaster In the Ukraine

(Continued from page 5)

Jewish centers in Western Europe, lo stimulate fund rai ing. The Leghorn community contributed a quarter of it income toward the ransom of the cap• tives. The Constantinople committee alone was credited, by a contemporaq author, with the ransom of 20,000 Jews captured by the Tatars. This figure ma) be exaggerated somewhat.

The first groups of survivors of the Ukrainian massacres in 1618 fled to Lithuania and moved about that prov­ince in dire need. Help had to be organ­ized speedily. The problem was brought up at the session of the ational Council of the Jewish Communities of Lithuania, commonly known as Vaad or Vaad Lita, in 1649, and wa dealt with at greater length in 1650. The Vaad, which as the upreme autonomous body of Lithuanian

Jews enjoyed quasi-governmental rights, decided that tho e refugees from the Ukraine who had means to carry on business or had ome skills would be al­lowed to establish them elves ternpor­aril y in their occupations everywhere in Lithuania. With regard to the nPed) refugee , particularly women, girls and aged peopk, the V ood instructed the communities to take care of them. Small communities of ten Jewi h hou ehold::; had to as isl one refugee each, while larger communities were to support proportionally larger numbers. In adopting the e decisions, the V aad fo.ed Lime limits for this charitable help, in the expectation that conditions in the Ukraine would be settled before long and that the refugees would be able to return to their hornei:;. But in 1652 thr Vaad decreed the support of 2,000 ref­ugees b) the Lithuanian communities for the duration of six months. Three ) ears after that, in 1655, the Lithuanian Jews themselves became victims of per­secution , and they joined the n1tm) thousands of Ukrainian and Pokh Jc\\s who had started lo migrate Lo W cs tern Europe.

We obtain a general picture of th!' rescue work from the chronicle J even lfetzulah (The \1ir} Depth) by \ "athan HanO\er, him elf an eye-witness of thr massacre. of 1618. He had emigrated through Germany to Italy. and his chronicle, which is considered the fulle~t account of the tragic e\ents. appeared

April, 1946

in Venice in 1653. Regarding the atti­tude of the Jews of the countries of im­migration toward the refugees, which he could observe on his travels at first hand, Hanover wrote:

"Those who had escaped the sword of the foe fled to various countries, namely to Moravia, Austria, Bohemia, Germany and Italy. The Jews of the-.e countries provided the refugees with board and lodging and clothing. They made presents to each one according to his importance and they were kind Lo them in other \\ays. The Jews in Germany were particularly helpful. They did more than they could af­ford." Hanover does not mention any so­

cieties or rescue committees in those countrie which we must assume to have been set up, as was the case, for instance, in Amsterdam. There the Portugue,;e Community established an immigrant aid society under the name e Has/war la-Adonoi, which means: ''This is the Gate of the Lord."

The Case Against Quota Reductions

( Continued from page 7)

lions "hatsoever as far a immigration from almo,,t all Western llemi,,phere countries i concerned. It is ob, iou~ that if the political or economic con<litiom, of the counti·} were such a to present an attraction to Canadian or Latin Amer­ican laborers- be it because of the un­willingness of American laborer,; lo accept depression wages or for other rea ons-a mon ter immigration, indeed importation of labor from at lea t '-0111('

American Republics could he staged in no lime.

"Thu , H.R. 3663 would not achie, e the result it seeks. It would be , implv an act of gratuitou,; crueltv toward Lh~• great masse of suff crinir men and "omen and children in de,•a,.;tated Europe ... .

" .... Rather than considering a pro-po al for the further exclusion of a fe11 of the great mas of helpless person~. the Congress of the l.nited tales might more appropriately be concerned with means whereby national quotas ma} he combined and the total quota of 15:1.000 a }Car be made a,ailahle for admi-,-..ion of victims of the '\azi terror. together ,\ilh other eligible immigranh. "ithout regard to birthplace or reli~?;ion.''

Taken by: J.Douglas

Memo to Files

DOM: Minerva c. Morris

25 February 1946

SUBJECT: TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH MISS STRUNSKY, IRRC

S: e have a very complicated business that I t to discuss with you before attempting an, action. There are three problems: (1) e received a cable from Sternberg from London just after he had left the UNRRA Office and he says that on that day (22 Feb.) Sir Michael received a cable from UNRRA Germany requesting Ann Gould, Charles Sternberg, and both Helene and Jacques Ka tel. Sternberg• s cable reads: "Creagh today received callle from UNR.-qA Germany requesting Ann Gould, Charles Sternberg, Helene and Jacques Katel proceed Germany immediately. UNRRA ready to send us via Paris with understanding we may stop for 2 weeks in Paris."

11 this seems very strange in v·ew of what s gon before with regard to the Katels' military clearance. You know, we had decided to send only Helene to Germany and let Jacques go to Paris.

lh Yes, it is ocld. And apparently Sir ichael did not get my cable statin9 that Gould and Sternberg would be on the way shortly and that Katels were going Pariso

S: Did you withdraw Jacques name from the State Department?

14: No. ha: e n no ction wha.tsowv r on it.

S: Good. Katels are sailing ednesday. Both of the ; Jacques has his French vi • In tlie light of this ne cable, I think that e n though Jacques did not gt his Military clearance here he should go directly to the UNRRA Office in London and discuss the matte!" with Sir Micha 1.

Mi That would be "a good idea if you can arrange it and I will discus the tter %.im with Sir Michael hen I arri e.

I

S: Second proble is this. We cabled last week to the Blums in Paris telling th tht they should immedi te1y •insist on their Military clearance. They re in the irst group desi ted, you know. Got this sweri " litary cl aran impossible on

rso representation. Sponsorship required. Onl:y' ba.s1 kno here is i di idual assignment UNRRA b hest and they ecur cl a.nee. If made oth r agreei~ent send certifi d copy and have them cable UNRRA Germany for request proceed Germany deacrib ng assignment".

I does not know that all thia has been doe. er part of the original team.

: I 11 e bat w can do on this. Think check it.

st be they have forgotten Bl

supported the some ti ago, but will

S: Alright. Now for the th rd. You kno oout ORA.LOG clearance for relief in Ger rr,. Onl po sibl man we hav who could temperer l-y fill the job (could be r ple.c d

· later) is Sternberg and we would like to pull him 0'1t of mmRA and hav h g t

( lip)

leave from the DP operations for 2 or 3 months and then return to the team.

M: If th team's e phasis is on the it!:migration pli,.n it will depend upon hother

S: .

wi 1 be coordina g agency and it · ght not be necessary. for him. to ask or leave from UNRRA under ~uch condition. •

e cabling Sternberg in London in the hop that he bas not left for Fari tel.llng him to go i~ ediately to he UNRRA Office and clear the matter with Sir ichael, asking for tlm or three months leave with the understanding that he

would be r placad in the CRALOG job. You see, he is the only one suited for he • or, rly a Cz c and speaks German v ry ell.

: I ir Michiie the details when I get over there.

S: Th sis the cab e t6 Sternberg: "You de igna.ted temporarily IRRC repres ntative 0G Ge man relief. ~equ st of UNRRA maxi 2 mo the leav of abs nc and. if

granted proceed Pari k ep1ng &lily touch with be.ssy for your clearance on Ger '.Mly CHA.LOG iss n' •.

- . . M: Don't ino. ho much Sir ichael wilJ know about the CRALOG affair, but Sternberg

can explai t fully. No on from here has been giving him any details on it as far as I 1mo •

L will dheck on the Blum· situation and e what can do on it. : -:

S: Good, and if there are any further questions or any inforna.tion available call e· bac • ilJ. be h re 11 day.

I

(~: Represents.ti es le!i,Vin_g on Gripsholm, ednesday).

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INCORPORAT D

1 0 3 PARK AVE U E , NEW YORK 1 7 LEXINGTON 2-7916 • CABLE DDRESS: INTERELIEF

CHARMAN

Wood

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February 20, 1946

Mr. Leonardo. Henninger ssis ant Vo un ar ~-~-~Y mison

Bureau of Services UNRRA D ont Circle Building 1344 Connecticut Avenue ~ashington 25, n.c.

Dear Mr. Henninger:

In accordance with our conversation last week, I am writing you to re uest that the IRRC team approved bx m~ for migration and resett ement wor in the d.p. camps be cleared for work on the U.S. immigration program in line witli the Pres ent's directive.

We would appreciate much if you would take up this matter with Sir Michael Creagh and let us have a copy of your communication to him on this matter.

The present members of our team are Cnarles Sternberg and Ann Gould who vill arrive in London in a day or two; Helene Katel who is sailing on February 27th; Melvin and Pauline Blum who are already in Paris and Augusta May rson who will not be ready to join the team until April. They can all be contacted thl'ough our Paris office: Int ernational Rescue and Relief Committee, 35 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris 2.

Thank you very much for your lelpful cooperation .

Very sincerely yours,

She~runs{~) Executive Secretary

SS/ir 2

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INCORPORAT D

1 0 3 PARK AVENUE, E W Y 0 K 1 7 LEXINGTON 2-7916 • C BLE ADD SS· INTEREI.IEF

HONORARY CHAIRMAN

Cha les A. Beard

CHAIRMAN

• Hall gsworth Wood

VIC CHAIRMAN

Freda K rchwey

S rling D. Sp ro

I grid W rburg

T EASU ER

Dov d F. ferh Id

EX CUTIV ECRETARY

S ba unsky

NATIONAL COMM TTEE

Roger Baldw n

Abraham B uestean

Pa IF. ne de

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I Jo

January 28, 1946

Mrs. Minerva Morris Acting Volagency Liaison Officer Welfare Division UNRRA 1344 Connecticut Avenue Washington 25, D.c.

Dear ·rs. Morris:

In view of the latest developments in connection with the President's directive on admission of refugees now in displaced persons camps in Germany to the United States, I feel that it is necessary to record with you a slight change in the emphasis of the I.R.R.c. program for Germany.

Since our program, as approved by UNRRA, primarily concerned itself with locati on, m vration and resettlement, it is quite logical that we should plan to utilize our team which is ready to enter Germany immediately for implementing the initial work on the u.s. immigration plan.

At the meetings which have been held by the voluntary agencies which plan to participate in this work it was indicated that the Intergovernmental . Committee on Refugees rather than UNRRA might be in charge and t 11at the voluntary agencies trucing part in it would work under IGO. ~e would now like· to know how this would affect our agreement with UNRRA and whet 1er our participation in this new activity would require any change in it.

We would also like to inform you that Charles Sternberg and Ann Gould will proceed to London as suggested by you but that Jacques and Helene Katel will go directly to France since it would be difficult fo i them to obtain a British visa since they are not American citizens and are travelling on French passports •

37 . 4

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In connection with Mr. Sternberg's and Miss Gould's ability to stay in London long enough to pick up the necessary documents from UNRBA, we would appreciate a letter from your office indicating that it is necessary for them to follow that procedure. Such a letter, I believe, would make it possible for them to have their British transit visa extended a few days, if necessary.

Thank you very much for your kind cooperation.

Very sincerely yours,

C\1 (} I Qi u-o, ~T~~

Sheba Strunsky / Executive Secretary

, -- i,/1,,Jtl' ss/ir 4

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16 J ar:, 1946

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16 January 1946

Memo to Files:

Due to some question arising at AGO in reg rd to the v lidation of passports for Jacques and Helene Katel, members of the IRRC team for Germany, and in response to a request from Mr. Blundin of our Travel Dept. for information on elvin and Pauline Blum and other cases of husbands and wives working together in Germany, rs. Morris talked with Miss Strunsky of the IRRC by

telephone.

Miss Strunsky informed Mrs. Morris that the Blums are not now in Germ...ny but are in Paris awaiting the ar­rival of other members of the IRRC team for Germ.a.by. She stated, however, that IRRC New York had received a cable from their Paris Office (Urs. Blum) to the effect that a 11call forward" cable had been received from Frankfurt for rs. Blum, saying that Mr. Bmum would be called shortly, and li1rs. Blum wanted to know if she should proceed to Germany. Miss Jtrunsky replied by cable that both Mr. and rs. Blum should remain in Paris until the entire IRRC team had assembled ther~.

Miss Strunsky told Mrs. orris that there had been no indication that the Blums would have any difficulty getting into Germany together. She said the Blums had been in touch with UNRRA and the Paris Embassy and it is well known in all circles that they are part of the IRRC team for Germany.

Miss Strunsky further stated that she had had a letter from the State Department saying they would issue a passport for the Katels for Paris if iss utrunsky would like them to go there and await Military clearance for Germany. She said she thought it would be well to follow this plan.

rs. l!.orris promised to advise her of any further developments re the K tels.

20 ab.46

REGARDING REPLIED □

INITIALS

DAT&;

" .· ....

Honorary Chairman Charles A. Beard

Chairman L. Hollingsworth Wood

Vice-Chairmen Freda Kirchwey Sterling D. Spero Ingrid Warburg

Treasurer David F. Seiferheld

Executive Secretary Sheba Strunsky

National Committee Roger Baldwin Paul F. Brissenden Stu a rt Chose George S. Counts Frank Crowninshield Margaret De Silver John Dewey Lewis Gannett Harry Gideonse James G. Heller John Haynes Holmes William H. Kilpatrick Wesley C. Mitchell Reinhold Niebuhr William Allan Neilson John Dos Passes Cecilia Razovsky Abba Hillel Silver Upton Sinclair Dorothy Thompson Oswald G. Villard

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103 PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK 17, N. Y.

LExington 2- 7916

ugust l, 1945

PROGR 1 l!'OR DIS L CED PE F SONS IN GE !ANY

l. Mi~ration service and international case work.

Since the Internationai Rescue and Relief Committee has been specializing in this aspect of refugee relief work since 1935, we feel especially qualified to provide this type of service to displaced persons. In addition to rendering technical assistance in migration and resettlement cases, the IRRC will provide necessary trans­portation costs. In this connection, the IRRC may also wish to assist in those probable cases where, because of a technicality, UNRR may accept financial responsibility for only part of a family.

2. Information service.

Through connections with other branches of the IRRC, and with other relief committees, the I C will attempt to locate relatives and resources, and secure other information essential to the person assisted.

3. Guidance for adolescents.

4 surprisingly large percentage of the displaced persons in Germany are adolescents, who have been in camps since late childhood, and are no emerging into freedom without any preparation for the responsibilities and opportunities of dult lif • ~efore these youths can make any decisions for the future, they ill need cousel and guidance.

4. Supplementary maintenance.

For those in assembly centers who had been inmates of concentration camps, the IR C will supply necessary maintenance, and rehabilitation treatmm t,

Registered with President's War( feWef !dntrol Board Member Agency of the National War Fund through affiliation with Refugee Relief Trustees

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International Rescue and Relief Committee -Program for Displaced Persons in Germany Page 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

over and above that supplied by UNRR. There will be many persons residing in the shelters who have needs which should be met, but which the limitations of shelter assistance do not provide for.

5. Recuperative holidays.

If permitted by the military authorities, the IRRC will arrange and pay for short stays in rest homes for concentration camp victims, as one means of aiding them to regain their health.

This pr jecta will require the following staff:

a. Heai of mission, to supervise the progress of all projects, and be in direct ch~rge of migr~tion and re­settlement services. This position is to be filled by ugueta ayerson, a member of the IRRC staff at present

att ched to UN in the ear East, and a kno n expert in the migration field.

b. psychiatric sodial worker, to supervise the adolescent guidanca project.

c. one case worker, for the information and recuperation services.

d. Two or three case workers, to assist in the guidance and migration projects, and to work on the supplementary maintenance project. ·

The budget for the German program is 72,000 for the year 1945-46.