Speech #810153390

President. may we consider in additional detail the charge of discrimination against persons of the Jewish faith. I have previously alluded to the number of displaced persons who were admitted into the United States during the war years. Up to the end of 1943 the Immigration and Naturalization Service recorded arrivals of peoples of the Jewish faith as an identifiable. class. Of the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons who were admitted into the United States during the war years. it is stated in the publication Refugees in America. which I have previously cited. that approximately fourfifths were of the Jewish faith. According to the Jewish Year Book. from 1937 to 1943. inclusive. by yearly average. more than 60percent of all immigrants into this country were persons of the Jewish faith. On November 8. 1943. Earl G. Harrison. then Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization. whom I have previously identified as chairman of the Citizens Commitee on Displaced Persons. issued an insruction to the effect that Jews shall no longer be classified as such in the immigration records. With reference to the number of Jewish displaced persons who were admitted into the United States from 1933 to 1943. I again quote from the publication. Refugees in America. as follows: "Taking the immigration statistics of Hebrews as a measurement of the number of Jews. we find that during the fiscal years ended June 30. 1933 to 1943. a total of 168.128 Jewish immigrants were admitted on permanent visas from all countries. They constituted 33.6 percent of the total immigration (499.998) during that period. The great majority of them. 160.718. were born in Europe and comprised 44.9 percent of all European immigrants (357.261) admitted during those years. In addition 43.944 Jews. exlusive of Government officials and returning residents. were admitted on temporary visas from all countries. constituting 4.4 percent of all such admissions." According to a report by the Service Affairs Division of the Headquarters European Command dated October 1. 1947. there were 10.000 to 15.000 Jewish camp survivors of various nationalities found in Germany at the end of the war. According to Rabbi Phillip S. Bernstein. who was quoted by Assistant Secretary of State Hildring before the House Committee on the Judiciary in July 1947. at the close of the European War there were about 30.000 Jews still alive in the concentration camps. Under the Presidents directive of December 22. 1945. which as I have previously indicated. set aside 90 percent of certain quotas for exclusive use of displaced persons. 23.594 of the visas which were issued were to persons of the Jewish faith. 5.924 were to persons of the Catholic faith. and 3.906 were to persons of the Protestant faith. As I have previously pointed out. we have thus far under the present law. which authorizes the admission of 205.000 displaced persons into the United States. admitted a little over 64.000. of whom 29 percent. or aproximately 20.000. were persons of the Jewish faith. and our program under the present law is. of course. only about a third completed. The Chairman of the Displaced Persons Commission testified before our subcommittee that all of the Jews will be out of the displacedpersons camps by August of next year.