More Than a Million Jews Will Emigrate from Europe After the War, Expert Says

A Jewish emigration of 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 souls may be anticipated following the war, according to Ilija M. Digour, secretary of the Hias-Ica Emigration Association, writing in the Jewish Social Service Quarterly.

“It is difficult, indeed, to assume that in the Western Hemisphere, especially in the United States, post-war economic and political conditions will favor immediate large-scale Jewish immigration,” Mr. Dijour writes. “The contrary is more likely to be the case. The American countries will be confronted with problems of demobilization and transition from war production to peace-time industry, which will entail the reshifting of entire sections of the population. We may, therefore, expect on the American continent a growing tide of anti-immigration policy. Perhaps the only possible the immigration will be that of close relatives of citizens of countries on this continent.

“Emigrants who because of their idealistic tendencies may be suited be colonization enterprises, will no doubt go to Palestine,” Mr. Dijour continues. “There is little likelihood of a large scale Jewish emigration that could be directed to colonization elsewhere. Furthermore, Palestine will be called upon to play an important role in the solution of the tremendous Jewish refugee problem after the war, if the intergovernmental Committee, or a similar body set up by the United Nations, will truly attempt to find a realistic solution to this problem. It is evident that the one-and-half million Jews who will seek new havens after the war, will not be able to find a single country that could or would absorb them in a short period of time. Considering the fact that during the terrible ten years of Hitler’s domination over Europe, only 163,000 Jewish emigrants or some 16,000 per year, were admitted in the United States, the post-war picture does not look bright for Jewish immigration into this country. Furthermore, there will most likely be a large trend among the non-Jews of Europe to immigrate into the United States.”

Argentina, Mr. Dijour states, which never absorbed more than 14,000 immigrants a year admitted an average of 4,000 to 5,000 Jewish immigrants yearly. “There is no reason to believe that even under the most favorable conditions, one may expect in the future a larger immigration into that country,” he writes. “The same holds true of the other South and Central American countries, as well as of Canada, South Africa and Australia. All these countries taken together, except the U.S.A., may absorb a total of 25,000 Jewish immigrants per year. Assuming optimistically that the United States, too, will admit 25,000 Jewish immigrants a year, a total of 50,000 Jews from European countries will be able to find new homes for themselves.”