Eight Austrian Jews, unable to remain in the United States and barred from Mexico, found a haven in Havana today as a result of having met Col. Fulgencio Batista, Cuban military chief, on board ship.
Arriving at Veracruz on the Cuba Mail steamer Orizaba, the refugees were not permitted to land because they could not meet Mexican immigration requirements. When they learned that Col. Batista had boarded the ship to return to return to Havana from his visit to Mexico, the refugees decided to appeal to him.
Col. Batista listened to their plea of the fate that awaited them if forced to return to the Reich and sent a radiogram to the Cuban Labor Minister, with the result that when the ship arrived in port here today, a representative of the Labor Minister was there to meet them. This representative and Col. Batista intervened with the immigration authorities. The refugees were immediately released and were sent to the Jewish community center, where they were immediately provided with temporary homes and means of subsistence.
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