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REPORT OF CHJEF REPATRIATION OFFICER

FOR THE WNTH _OF APRili, 19470

The SPRJNG REPATRIATION PROGRAMl.1E is in full force in all camps througpout the three Zones of Austria. With the close co-operation of the Polish and Jugoslav Repatriation Mission, much valuable material is being circulated among Displaced Persons, and good results are expected. All UMBRA personnel have been repeatedly requested to intensity their efforts at CaJllP level to ensure the success of this campaign. An Admi.n. Order has been issued requesting camps to erect large display boards to impress upon the Displaced Persons the short lif'e of UNRRA, and the ad.vice of the various Generals and tJNRRA Chiefs to hold regular repatriation rallies and to punctuate all camp social activities with appeals to the Displaced Persons to give urgent consideration to their early repatriationo Arrangements are being made with the Austrian Press and Radio to give wider publicity to repatriation moves.

On 22nd April a transport of 405 Polish Displaced Persons left the British Zone for Poland. This train v,as accompanied by Dr.Thompson and Nurse Vincent. Another transport of 34.2 Polish Displaced Persons left the U.S.Zone on 24th April, and was accompanied by Dr0 Gerber, Nurse Duvilliers and l.irs.Peinozyhowska.

Juoong the Poles repatriated from the U.S.Zone was the Canonical Priest of all Poles in .Austria. Tl;µ:s· information was imnediately com:nunicated to Warsaw, and a broad.cast from this repatriate should be of immeasurable value in influencing those Poles remaining in Austria. The success of Polish repatriation :from Austria is being maintained, and the continued close liaison and mutual assistance between the Polish Authorities and. UNRRA will, we feel confident, ensure the success of our Spring Repatriation C~aign among the Polish Displaced Persons in Austria.

During the month of April 75 Jugoslavs were repatriated from the British Zone and 9 Jugoslavs from the U.S.Zone.

The reported repatriation of a Jugoslav Army Captain :from the u.s.zone was also comnunicated to Belgrade, with the request that arrangements be made tor him to broadcast back to Au.stria. The Welfare Officer of Camp Spittal (which contains 4222 Jugoslavs) is now in Jugoslavia and will return after two weeks with answers to queries given her by numerous potential repatriates. She has the confidence of the camp population and it is expected that her visit to Jugoslavia will have a favourable effect on repatriation from that c~. Reports from the Jugoslav Camps indicate that the people are showing active interest in the material being circulated among them. Newspapers and factual pamphlets are eagerly sought by the Displaced Persons and the special Radio programmes are regularly listened to. Again, we must emphasise the undesirability of printed and radioed attacks on selected Displaced Persons in the various camps. Most of the Jugoslav Displaced Persons are victims of anti-repatriation propaganda, and the fear complex it has created is not lessened by these attacks. This point of view was brought to the attention of the Jugoslav Authorities in Vienna, and it is hoped that some action will be taken in Belgrade to omit these attacks in future publications and radio broadcasts. The Jugoslav civilian repatriation Mission is working in the U.S. and British Zones, but DO appreciable effect of their :influence is yet apparent.

A Conference between the Chief' Repatriation Officer and the DP.PW.Division ACA,British Element,was held, and arrangements were made whereby,when necessary, transient repatriates would be permitted to enter UNRRA Camp at Villach pending their early onforward:ing to their destination. This arrangement is mainly to facilitate the movement of Poles from the Middle East via Italy.

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As a result of numerous representations to the Authorities concerned for the speedier processing of Nominal Rolls from the Far East and the Middle East, we have been infonned that as from the 1st April these Lists require clearance from the Austrian Ministry of the Interior only. This obviates the long processing by the Quadripartite Working Party. As most of the Lists submitted to the Ministry of the Interior prior to that date had been cleared by them, and had been passed to the Quadripartite Working Party, from whom no decisions had been forthcoming, it was decided to re_.submit these Lists to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and to have them cleared according to the new arrangement. This was done, with the result that all Nominal Lists exoept the last one from Shanghai have been cleared. Prospective repatriates, although cleared by the Austrian Ministry of the mterior, must prove their claim to Austrian citizenship to the satisfaction of the Austrian Government Representative in the initiating country before they can be finally listed for repatriation.

We were also informed by the Exit and Entrance Division ACA British Elemen;, that in future all groups of repatriates entering Austria must be covered by a collective Passport and Entrance Visa - issued by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior. The Chief Repatriation Officer interviewed Ministerialrat Koioors of the Ministry of the Interior, and discussed plans for the implementation of this directive. An assurance was given that the Austrian Authorities would arrange the necessary collective passports and entrance visas for future groups of repatriates coming to Austria.

The first group of Austrian repatriates from Palestine arrived at Venice on 26th April. They were transported by the UNRRA Italian Mission to Villach, where they were transferred to an Austrian train for onforwarding to Vienna. This group was accompanied from Venice to Vienna by Mrs.Mitchell and Nlll'se Tondreau of this Mission. When the Italian train reached Villach it was discovered that t~ Austrian Authorities were anxious that the Italian train should proceed direct to Vienna, and thereby obviate the necessity for using Austrian Rolling Stock - which they promised would be arranged for these repatriates. This Headquarters issued instructions that the Italian train was to be returned immediately to Italy, and insisted upon the Austrian Authorities t'ulf'illing their responsibilities. The Repatriation . Otticer interviewed Ministerialrat Xomers and complained of this apparent breach of faith, and insisted that an Austrian train be made available for the transport of these people to Vienna. This was done.

.J. /--- L. -{ T.James Lindsey-.

Chief Repatriation Officer.

3rd Mey, 1947 o

• REPORT OF CHIEF REPATRIATION OFFICER

FOR THE N.ONTH OF MARCH,1947.

During the month of MARCH a Polish Repatriation Train, scheduled to leave the British Zone, was cancelled by the British Army Authorities through lack of f'uel. A transport of Polish repatriates left Salzburg in the u. s. Zone on the 20th M.arch with persons aboard. This transport was accompanied by Dr. Nurse and Miss Welfare Officer. 11 Polish Displaced Persons were repatriated from the French Zone, and 74 Yugoslavs from the British Zone.

Throughout all three Zones of Austria the UNRRA Repatriation Drive

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has been successfully maintained in spite of the adverse weather conditions and the disturbing influence of the Brazillian Mission which, in conjunction with the LG. c. R. , began its quest for emigr-ants in the u. s. Zone. With the improvement of weather conditions we every reason to expect a large scale repatriation move on the part of Polish Displaced. persons throughout Austria.

Our chief problem seemed to be one of obtaining sufficient transport to convey to Poland the large number of people who had expressed their desire for repatriation. An estimate from the Polish Repatriation Commission set this number at 4,000 persons. The arrival in the Emigc-ation Field of the Brazillian Mission was certainly w:desirable at this time, and its effect upon potential. repatriates might have been catastrophic but for the i.llm,diate action on the part of the Deputy Chief of Mission, who gave instructions to all Zones to widely publicize the extrenely limited and comparatively infini te$i.mal opportwd ties offered by the Brazillian Mission. Thus was a possible deterrent to repatriation used as repatriation progaga.nda. This experience has proved how necessary it is in the future to publicize the exact facts concerning requirements of representatives of Governments in quest of emigr-ants to prevent displaced persons from placing their hopes in reported large-scale emigration schemes instead of accepting repatriation. The facts on eligibility and requirement figures of Governments-seeld.ng emigrants, however disquieting they may be, are infinitely preferable to the exaggerated rumours that are accepted, magnified and spread by the Displaced Persons themselves.

The SPRING REPA!rRIATION DRIVE was initiated on 24th :March, and will continue until 30th June. A conference of all Welt'are Officers was held at C.H. Q. and instructions for the implementation of this Drive were gi-.-en; problems peculiar to individual camps were discussed, and methods of attacking them were decided upon.

In view of the extremezy co-operative and helpful attitude of the Polish Government and its representatives in Austria, and their :friendly attitude to their nationals in D.P.cang;>s, we feel that, u,nless some unexpected difficulty arises in the near future, our Drive with these people will be very successful.

The Yugoslavs present a m::>re difficult problem, but we feel that, with the now closer co-operation of the Yugoslav Authorities, ani the increasing supply of factual infornation coming through to the Cang;>s, together with the assistance of the Yugoslav Repatriation Committee at present working in UNRRA Camps , repatriation from among these Displaced Persons will_be. considerably increased. Special Radio broadcasts :from Belgrade, instituted at our suggestion, have been increased to three sessions weekly. ~ Authorities conducting these broad.casts would be well advised to lay"siress on their attacks on "Collaborators, Fascists and War Criminals" whom they

claim are being sheltered in camps throughout Austria ard Germany. This elenent will certainly not accept repatriation and should be disregarded in broadcasts to encourage repatriation. These Radio attacks create a guilt-cony;>lex in the minis of the innocent Displaced Persons, and thus nullify the purpose for which they were requested. Every effort is being ma.de to have a successfully repatriated Yugoslav pey a return visit to the Camp where he was a resident in an effort to sti.mJ.late repatriation.

A con:f'erence was held with Colonel Logan-Grey (A.C.A. ,British Elenent) , the 7ugosla.v Repatriation Commission and the UNRRA Repatriation Officer, at which arrangements were made for the reception and assistance of this Re~atriation :Mission in the British Zone. The co-operation of the British Element in facilitating the work of' the Mission in the British Zone was assured.

The Repatriation Officer conferred with Major Hornsby, Movements Officer, B • .i:.A., and discussed the possibility of transport from Ita),.y of Austrian Repatriates from China and the Middle East. In view of the serious shortage of rolling stock and fuel, no assistance could be expected before the end of April, and even then, no guarantee could be given that transport would be available. Under no circumstances would it be possible for rolling stock to go beyond the Austrian border.

The Austrian Civil Authorities were also interviewed on this matter and a promise was received that every effort will be made to give transport facilities from Italy to Austria as soon as weather and fuel conditions improve and approval can be obtained from A. c.A. This possibility will be pursued f'urther,and a conference between the Ministerialrat fur r:nneris, the Austrian Railway Authorities ard the UNRRA Repatriation Officer has been arranged to take place early in April.

The Chief Repatriation Officer interviewed the Polish Repatriation Oanmission vdth a view to obtaining assistance from the Polish Government to help solve the acute transport problem. It was deoided to approach the Polish Government with a view to:

(a) having transports sent down from Poland to collect repatriates or

(b) supply f'uel for transports emanating from the British Zone of .Austria..

The Chief of the Polish Repatriation Mission is at present in Poland and will discuss this ms. tter with his Government.

Repatriation from Shanghai and Palestine.

Further lists of Austrian Nationals during repatriation from Shanghai and Palestine have been received by this H. ~ , and are presently being processed by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, vv.ho will onf orward them to the Quadripartite Worldng Party for final approval. With the ilq;)roved weather conditions the problem of housing returning repatriates should be less acute.

The Chief Repatriation Officer, with the Chief of Mission am Deputy Chief of Mission, attended the Repatriation Conference held in Paris l3-15th March.

Miss Warner, Field Supervisor, is absent on furlough and expected to return to duty until 7th April.

~ 1--~ ~-T. Janes Li.ndaa/

Chief Repatriation Officer. TJI/EW 29th March 1947.

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TJI/EW 29th March,1947.

T. James Lirdsay Chief Repatriation Officer.

-REPORT OF CHIEF REPATRIATION OFFICJER

FOR THE :WNTH OF FEBRUARY, 1947.

During the JIIQnth of Februar,y 1947 tlae :iltensive repa.triation a.rive was maintainecl with particular success among the Polish D~pla.oea. Persons. Transport orig:i.na.tea. in the British Zone, aDd aupented at Salzburg lett tor Poland on the 18th Februar.y, with 192 Poles abroad. 'l'his tranaport waa a.coom:panied by Dr.Danby, Nurse Van Urk and Kiss Duroe acting u ifel.f'are Officer.

u.s. Zone British Zone French Zone

At a oont'erenoe held with the Polish Repatriation 11:l.aaion, the Obief' Repatriation otf'ioer was informed that a largo n\lllber ot Polish Displaced. Persons in all zones haAl expresaecl their ies :ire to return. Thia is attributable in no small meaaure to the repatriation irive oond.uctea in all UNBRA oampa, am the :illplea-entation ot a.otion Mt out in the Hw:ini~trative Ori.er No. • ••••• The q,elliDg up of ccaaunication channels between returne4 Displacea Persons and. those WJJDe1n:IJ'lg in Auatria bu baa an extreaely beneficial ettect en repatriation. The Chief of the Polish Repatriation lliasion expressed h1a keen appreciation ot the close liaison am co-operation between UNRRA ana his Kiasion.

A aore intensive drive alona theae lines 'having proved so sucoeaatul with the Polish Displaoed Persons is undel"lf8iY', and with the co-operation of the Yugoslav authorities we are hopeful of similar results. Regular supplies ot Yugoslav newspapers have been arriving traa Belgrade, and diatributed throughout the camps. The reoent umesty law wu miaeogr:-aphecl and a copy has been sent to eTery Yugoslav temily in the UNRRl cemps in all zones. Arrangements are in hanc1. tor the procluotion of suitable repatriation posters for display in Yugoslav camps. The tilms depicting lite and reconstruction in Yugoslavia have not yet arrived but are expected ear]3" in Karch. Theae tilma will be :bmaediate]3 exhibite in all Yugoslav camps.

On 7th February 1947 a conference with Miniaterialrat Koaera and Captain Pri.tchard.,PW.DP Division,A..C.A.(Br:l.tish Elewmt) was arranged. by the Chief Repatriation Officer, to discuss what measures bu. been taken for the reoeption and care of the seocmd group of .repatriates tram Shanghai due to arrive in Vienna on 13th Pebruary 1947. The Chief Repatriation Ottioer eapbaaiae the fa9t that the responsibility for care of these people woul4 be assumecl by the Austrian Authorities at the Austrian Frontier where the UNRRA responsibility would cease. Ministerialra.t Komers informed the meeting that the Austrian Government was aware of its responsibility and wu doing its utmost to receive and care tor these people. It wu diaoovered that the Ai.strian authorities had no acooaioda.tion arranged tor these ret-unn:ing t'epatriates and no-one seemed to have assumed the responsibility. Ministerialrat Komers suggested that either UNRRA or the British A:l:fq aigbt assist in thia respect and be was infarmecl that neither of these authorities would accept thi8 responsibility which was entirely that of the Austrian GoverDllellt. In reply to ~ Chief Repatriation Ottioer•s query as to whether aooomnoda.tion would be found in time to house these people, llinisterialat Komers replied that he hoped so.

The Chief Repatriation otf'icer req\11/)sted the British .Authorities to call a oOllf'erenoe on the 8th February with the .Austrian authorities co~rned to insist that the necessary aocaaod.a.tion be found. At this meeting the Ministry of the Interior was represented by Ministerial.rat Kcaera a1ld repreaentativea trom the Wohnungaant and Austrian Ministry of Social Welfare. It was again a!aeovered that no "definite preparations had been finalised for the housing_ of the retuming repatriates, and the Chief Repatriation Officer insisted that immediate action would be neoeasary to avert the threatened serious situation. Aa a result of this conference an extraoriJ.nary mee~ing was held on J.fond.q, 10th February, at the Ra.thouse at which the Burgaaeiater ot Vienna presided, and :bmediate atepa were implemented to provide a.o00Jllll0Clet:t.on.

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On the 13th February a second group of repatriates f'r<D Shanghai, nmbering 759, reached Vienna. They were met at the Station by representatives ot the ustrian Government, UNRRA officials and representatives of the Russian Anu:/. The arriving· repatriate• were conveyed in trucks supplied by the Austrian government, from the station to the various billets requisitioned by the Austrian Government.

T.J.LIND3AY Obi.et Repatriation Officer.

TJ'L/1111W . 5th M.aroh,194-7 •

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Your pa shoul be sent to Vienna as loog as possible, beforeha , if possibl o eeks before. You will ne d a Oz ch visa, a Polish visa, Travel orders

r oland a Gr y car to come back through the ssian Zone.

ke sure you have a sufficient supply of rations before you start the journey If you are leaving the train at Dzie ice you ill need ten day rations. If you are returning with the train to Austria you will need fourteen days supply. You should indent for these ratio.i at least three days before departure. :S.ke sure th t y~u ~...ave plenty of tea or coffee, tinned milk and sugar.

Take your camp bed, pillow and plenty of blankets, and if possible, a sleeping bag. Yau should of course take an ample supply of your warmest clo hes and tro. shoes or boot • You will need your mes tins, knife, fork, spoon, cup, plate, and tin opener.

Take a canvas bucket or c el basin for washi.ig. If travelling on a t in fro the U.S.Zon, a tin in which to heat water and a bottle for inking water are also likely to be uoe:ful. Take a supply of toilet p per, .D.T. and water purifying tabl ts are also rec ende • You y need the for r if you stay in any hotels in Polan.

Th re are few, if aey, lighting facilities on these trains. fl sh light, a if pos ible, have car ~lea.

sure to take

If you are tra~ lli on a train fro the American Zone, it i pos ible that a sup ly of strong tring, nails d wiere will be useful, also coat hangers. In case o~ emergency at Prague, the UNI Telephone o. is 64955/6-7.

hen you reach Dzie ice, contact the UNRRA official at the st tion. :tf you are leavingthe train there , he will give you infor tion bout re ching tavice. U there is no ID>llffiA. of 'icial t ere, you can buy a train ticket to Katavice, for 60 lotys, Otherwis you ,ill not 'ne d any Polish ney, as UNRRA in Poland will provide this. · ·

t atavice you can stay in the nopole otel which is opposite the stati n and only a fe yards f'rum the U offic (--.0.13. on the sam si e of' the street). If you go aey furth .r into Poland, UNIU in tavice will mak all the ces ary arrangements f r you. Ji rom the time th t you leave the train you will en ti tl d to a livin,, allowance of 1400 slotys a day whilst you are on ty.

If you go on to arsa , lT.(i there will make the arrang men s for your re turn journey to Prague and book you a throu h ticket. If you return irect from

t vice UN can only b ok you to th Czech bor er, so tha. t you should have a supply of Czech money. his can be obtaine on your out ard journey through Pr: gue. In that case you can telephone UNR and ask them to send you a car to t ke you to the RRA of' ice d a the for enough money to pay your fare from t Czech

li h bor~er back to ague. If you do this, e sure of the time of' departure of your transport and its number, so thi:. t you h ve no difficulty .vhen your turn fro the of' ice.

UNRRA in Katavic or arsaw will infer ague of the time of your arriv l on the return journey. You are entitle to a living allowance of 35· ,<ro r fore ch night you spend in Prague on duty.

r.r you remain on the train throughout you should have no dif iculties, but a si • .a.11 sum in Polish lotys is provided to meet any e rgenci s. You should reclaim this fro U i.A, so t t you are able to return th original s in ct to Vi nna.

Zlotys: ronen:

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1300 to the£ (mm rate) 201 to the£.

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officers travelling on trains are responsible for being present t any es of D.P. prop rty which are conducted en route ( eir:eapt af'ter croaai li Border.)

UNRRA. officers on trains are responsible for e UI-mRA prop rty put on boa , and which h s to be returned to Salzburg or lagenfurt. J_f no UNRRA offic r returns on the train, receipts for all these stores shoul be obtained :f'rom the Train Co,,w,,,a.,uer. I.mm i tely on return to Austria these receipts should r~ sent, to the UNRRA Zon Su ply Of:f'ic~r in Salzburg or Klag nfurt, s the cas y be.

UNRRA officers are respo ible for the distribution of the ed Cross reels, which must not b istri ute until after the lish rder is cro sed. 0 yin a grave ergency such a the co lete breakdown of the ·llc supply :for the children on the train, can hey be opene n route, as thy are i ntende for the repatriates on arrival.

If any repatriate h ve to be put off the train en-route in cas of seriou illne s, full particular hould be reco eo. nd handed to the off ici ls ·n Dziedice~

3rd Dece ber.1946.

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}?Y .ed.ice.l Officer

( olish repa riation train bruary 20th 1947

arrivi.

bad given ort on the · tuation in ustri relat· to Je r.i.sh cai. s., the r :.P tri tion of Je s as discussed. bout 20 Jews had r t vd on hi repatriation train. In the r ort by r. Rosen of Ue!,USt 1946 he re orted about the Jewish settlem nts in ile ia. t w arranged nth .r. Berger that shoul visit the Jewish ttl ents of agric ture and tie fishiJ g enter.Prise t <-zczecin, ruid the Je"rish settle ,en at roscl :w, albrz ch and Ryahbach industrial centr .. s of 11er Sil si • In ans·wer to qu,.,ry, r. Berger s · d ,hat all wor s ould be able to find a job imned.iately on their r t n and that there special need for all trained people, d in particular doctors, nurses d denti t . ousin cond.i tions uld be good for re atriant , espeoial.ly in e recover d territorie •

n the 27th had a conference with the chief of .AJJX: in oland, r. Bein, who confirmed tha. t Je s who ted to ret~ to ola.nd and rk

could find inmediate mployment, e cially as artisan , in ines, railraods and. industrie • o possibilities exist for s eculatio o p ddling and such peo_pl r ot anted by the Jews themselve in oland. If' up would like to return, cial arr e nts for resettl ent could be made if A.JDC ere notified · advance regard.in the age , sex d trade of the

repatr· an""a. • Berger told th same thing cone rning the organi d r turn or 50 or re Je · sh eo:ple. ein conf'irilled th t the · Jews ere treated well by he oli ve nt and had all ri h ts and freedo •

• Bein I had a confer ce with Lt.Col.Dr ahani, Chief abbi of oland, who confirmed to me at e e time that the Jen were 11 tre ted by the Gov rnment and that there re good pos ibili tie for eople vm.o want d to turn. Bigger Je 'Ii.sh co ities ·existe , t others a sa: and Lodz, and there are 90 ,ooo, to 100,000 Je s in Pol at pre nt.

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up repr n ted. T ,., Chai . an, • i ~ionist, told at the b ginnin that 'ie would not be able to ·ve e '1e correct information as e wa ot interes d in the repatriation of Je s to oland. Other • bers of the committee elongi.n to cliff r=-nt arties sho d grea interest in 1 repatri tio of J s d gav e fully etailed infonnation. e a.e up a rogra: e to viait the loo 1 Je · h ocial and cultural institutions and to continue to he Je ish fi nterprise at zebiez (forwerly iegenort) th next day.

e fir t isited the .o •. (Tmvaz s Ochroey Zdrow:i..a - olis Jewish association for public h alth which exists throughout ola.nd. t

zczecin twelve otors were vin e cal aid. ;o the .re · sh comxm.mi ty of about 7,000. bout 200 u -patients were treated ly and bout 20 people

re visited in th ir h .es. o ~h se doctor we s v ral ecialists t ache o he institution, an there s also a ental clinic. ir o

pharmacy, in e e buildin , prepared about 250 p scrip tions day, free of charge. bout 1,0::>o pack es of add,j.t'ional foo re ia ed to sick p ,ople each on h. I visited the whole buil ~ · ng consisting of ro s for medical and inor surgical t eatl en , a harma.cy, ntal clinic and oth rs.

ore edica.l equi ment s needed.

nurses and nur -during the de.y had finished

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POLA1'D TRIP 3/2 - 22/2 1947.

Ad~le J. Tjon de .laart

Dutch Nurse

team 327 Children's Centre Leoben.

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~ eing in C.H. O.Vienna on the 30th of Jmmary 47 I got the m.tssage to join the repatrfa:tiontrain due on the 3rd of February 47 to Poland. The train coming from Italy e,vas to be picked up in Kufstein ( French Zone Austria).

I loved to go, had my papers and everything ready in December 46 and was very much disappointed, when just one day before leaving jaundice ma.de me unable togo.

Filling in the required forms and leaving my passport in the travelsection Vienna, I sent the next day 2 passportphoto's to the same office by signals, which were not required the first time I should go.Instructions to personnel accompanying Polish Repatriation trains were provided by :Iiss 7arner, Repatriation Section C.H. Q.Vienna and seemed to bet very helpful. On the 2nd of February in the late afternoon a message came from H. _.Klagenfurt to go on to Kufstein the next day. Transport was not provided. The idea was, that Y.iss Florence Boester, .\m.erican 7elfare Officer, Camp Adr.1ont, Brit.Zone, ,7ould hw:ve a car to bring both of us and the luggage to Salzburg and from there on to Kufstein. The difficulty however was, that Miss B. was in Linz at that moment, not knowing better than to accom­pany the Polish Repatriation train due to leave the 15th of the same month. 1e succeeded to get through tb her the same evening and to discuss the matter wilth her. Hiss Butler ( Chief Nurse Brit.zone) was so kind and helpf'ul to promise me her car+ driver to bring me to Salzburg, where tiss Boester would wait for me having transport to Kufstein. On the way to Liezen I should pick up Miss B's luggage, needed for the trip, at the F.F.S.~s office.

On the 3rd of February we left only at noontime. The driver had to go through all kind of formalities in the morning to be able to go into the American Zone. Outside Liezen we came into a snowstorm, went into a ditch, but with help of a couple of Army boys everything was o.k. after 10 minutes. The driver was checking the tyres all the time, dhen I asked him whether there was something wrong , he told me, the tyres were very bad and indeed, after a couple of minutes the first one was flat and had to be repaired. 17e came into Liezen and heara. in the F.F.S.office that Miss B. 's luggage was returned to Admont by mistake. It was supposed to be on the way to L. again and it would not be long. Being 4 o'clock already and not knowing exactly at what time the train as coming into Kufstein, I was getting nervous a bit. After 20 minutes the luggage came back indeed and we went off again, but af'ter a short time 2 of the tyres went flat at the same time. I was getting more and more excited, the more we happened to see one cat after the other on the road, which I could not possibly see as a sign of" good luck to you 11

•

Indeed there was some more to come. At the U.S.Zone border the driver's papers seemed to be not in order, the discussion of which cost us at least mother 20 minutes. It was then 10 o'clock in the evening and finally, pointing out the necessity of going on, they did let us go. In the meantime I often warned the driver to be careful, the road being bad and slippery and better to come too late for the train than a bit earlier in hospital, which he agreed. But, without his fault, just outside Salzburg, our last and biFgest accident happened. A car coming along, the driver of which did not dim the headlamps at all, we were totally blinded and unable to see 2 huge trucks standing on the right side of the road without any backlights. That happened we could not realize at the same moment·, except an awf'ul crash and the sound of breaking glass at my right side and we found our­selves just cross the road at the left. The first thing we asked each other was, 'are you alright?' and that being so, we thanked God and I personally St.Christopher, whose small silver byou, given to me by IDiY fiancee, before he left UNRRA, I always carry with me. 1Ve came out of the car, the door at my right being badly damaged and there only we realizes what a wonder it was that we were saved. The back upper part of the car was completely smashed and taken off. Poor driver, he was a young Yougo3lavian D.P. the car was his own, he was working for UNRRA only a short time and he was not certain about any insurance. The drivers belonging to the standing trucks tried to argue with us, but we thought it better not to waist any of the precious time and to have a·statement ma.de by the M.P. and the Austrian Police. The .American M.P. seemed to have not anything to do with it, driver and car being civilian, therefore we went to the Austrian authorities. Not any damage was caused to the engine, thus we continued our way to Slqzburg • .Arriving in the Ho:f\virt hotel ~~~ll

6o}clock, the first person I saw there, was Miss Boester, who, to my greatest

relief6t~we had to meet the train in Kuf'stein the day after. I was so happy to be able to have a good sleep after all what happened and to give the driver accomodation and when they gave me a room to share with a former UNRRA-collegue of Dutch nationality, who joined the A.J.D.C. lately and who welcaned me very cordially, I just felt pleasant having a nice talk in double Dutch together.

1.

-The next morning I phoned to Miss Butler and asked her what had to be done with the

car and she thought it better to have the most urgent repairs done and let the driver .return to Leoben. W he same morning we left for Kufstein per stationwagon, via the autobahn in Germany, which

saved us a lot of time and our papers were in order to cross the Gennan border as well. t 2 p.m. we arrived • The Director, u-.Squadrille, and nobody else in the team, knew

aeything about a repatriationtrain coming through. Te phoned to Vienna and heard that the train in question was due to leave on the 6th, 2 days later. what to do? In the office of the Kuf~~incamp we got tea, biscuits, butter and marmalade, it was a treat, for we did not have a meal at lunchtime, but we noticed, as the Dir~ctor himsler stated, that food and billeting for us would be a big problem. We decided to go to Innsbruck to await further orders there. The Chief Accountant of Vienna happened to be in Kufsteincamp and he was just leaving for I . Our luggage we had to leave behind having not much room in . the jeep and Dr. Dunne who would be with us on the train, was supposed to come the next day and would kindly take it with him. The bftilleting-office in Innsbruck sent us to the Golf­hotel in Igle, about 10 minutes' drive outside I. a beautiful place where we had dinner and the usual French wine together and we enjoyed our stay there very much. The next morning, our first thing to do was, to go back to the UNRRA-office, asking whetha­there was iifte more news. There was not. '"{e went to see the AJDC-peoplein I. Adolf Pichler platz 10, where 1fiss Bmester had some business to do. After that we had some sightseeing by car, which was kindly given at our disposal for a few hours. After coming back to the H.Q. I. they thought it better for us to go back to Kufstein, because it was not at all certain whether the train would stop in I. and having had bad experience with former UNRRA-people who had the biggest trouble to trace the train, it was supposed to be safer. re hesitated, but there was no choice. Back in Kufstein we made acquaintance with Dr. Dunne, Irish Medical Officer, who would be the third member of our party, and with Miss Easto, Vol.Societies, who brought our papers with her from Vienna, that we felt as a relief! The second reception was pretty cool. The members of the team offered us the sittingroom and one of them, who changed" duty" had the meal with us together, while the others had their meals in their own rooms. After the dinner we were brought to a hotel in town, where we were billeted for the night. After breakfast the next morning we went to the railwaystation and made inquiries about the train. The only thing they could tell us there, was, that there was a train with re­patriates from Italy to come, destination Poland. That was a step nearer! In the after­noon we did some shopping, nice ceramicwork was in the shopwindows and we walked to the UNRR.\ - camp where Miss Brydone, Chief' Nurse French Zone , took us round to see the medical setup there. Especially the baby-clinic with the separated boxes and drawers underneath impressed us favourably. After dinner we inquired again at the railwaystation and heard that the train was not supposed to come in before 3 o ' clock the next morning. Tha.t meant spending another nicht in K. We asked the railway-official on nightduty to ring us when the train vas leaving Innsbruck, that would give us still 1½ hours and we could get things ready in time, having a little rest before. In t he evening one of t he servants of the K.team asked us to write our names in the guest­book and the supply-officer came to see us about giving rations there, which we discussed with him and refused. Our Polandtrip would not be aey shorter by the fact t hat we had to wai t in K. for our train more than 48 hours and we were sure that they could indent for the personnel accompanying repatriationtrains through normal channels. Very unpleasantly surprised we were at the lack of hospitality and understanding in that team. The same evening we had a nap and at 3 a.m. the phone rang and the train was due to come in at about 4. 30 a.m. It was 5. 30 in fact when we heard t he trai n coming and the man on duty said to us more or less sneeringly 11 47 Sttlck, alles Viehwagen "• We left the luggage on t he station and the doctor and I went along t he train to ask for the traincommander , for no living soul was to be seen. Finally the engine driver told us to go to boxcar N.20, we walked back in snow l ½ feet deep. Box9S-r N.20 was closed as all the other ones. After a while of banging on the door, we tried not to make too much noise, as we feared t here might be babies in the cars beside, we eventually heard a sleepy voi ce asking who that was. Not too friendly, I'm afraid, we slld we were the UNRRA-doctor and the UNRRA-nurse a.r18. and asked~ 1'ther we were expected or not. We really were afraid that the train might leave, leaving us behind and we could not possibly carry our heavy bedrolls through the snow for such a distance. After a few minutes somebody came out and we followed him to the "Fahrdienstleitung" to tell the Railway-of ficial on duty not to leave until 6.30 a.m. to give us time to f etch t he luggage which had to be put on a sleigh to carry it to our com­partment, a catllecar as all the other ones. I was amazed not to say disappointed and why?

, Asking for some pr actical suggestions in t he Repa.triationsection Vienna, they told me per­sonally not to worry about t aking too maey things with me, as for cooking utensils, drugs and other necessary items, because we should go on a very good train with 2 fully equipped

p t .

hospitalcars, a kitchencar, an officerscar, etc. I took that for granted and did not bother bout taking uzmecessary supplies with me! The military people gave us an emergency place in their oar and we tried to rest a bit on e>ur bed.rolls on the floor. Frozen we were when we got up later, When we were given a hot mug of coffee we felt better again. Being daylight we made acquaintance with an American Major, being in charge of the transport, with a BritishUNRRA-Major, being liaison-officer and to our big surprise with an Irish medical officer, an American Welfare officer and an Australian nurse, the last 3 people all being UNRRA. was not it amazing? That explained to us, why we were not so extremely welcome and maybe not e:x:pected1 was there any need for 2 UNRRA-doctors, 2U.nurses and 2 u. Welfare officersj on a trip for 565 repatriates? These mm.RA-people ( it was their second trip ) came all the way from Italy, had worked with the people for several days. It was a· most confusing situation! We shared duties as good as possible. The hospitalcar, also a boxcar, was right in the middle and we l o.eked after the right side while they managed the left. During the first morning we got a car for ourselves. It was really a task to make the "Viehwagen" a bit homelike, but with assistance of the Army- and UNRR-1-people who provided us extra blankets to cover the walls and to lay them on the floor ( it was terribly draughty ) , nails, a stove, dry wood and placed a batman at our disposal, we managed all right. As for the wor~0 .... tRr,re was really not anything to be done, we walked along the train at the different s"tops and asked whether there were any sick people, how many chil­dren and babies there were in the car and had a look at the same time at the cleanliness of the quarters. The majority of the people came from Africa, where they had been in camps since 1943. They seemed to be a happy crowd together, were pretty well looked after. At the start of the trip everybody received a" 10 in 1 "parcel. The children under 6 years old were getting one tin of milk daily and once during our being on the train fresh loaves of bread, one a head were distributed. On many stops fresh water vould be fetche and if water was not available, snow was always there. After a few hours stay in our cati lecarhome, we could enjo-ay it very much and we had the feeling, that we were closer to the people, than if we had travelled in a comfortable officers'compartment.After all, was not it much more fun and a nice experience to remem­ber ? we thought to be very lucky to have the Irish doctor with us, who seemed to be an

\

extremely handy person and who brought several most useful things along, e.g. a primus stove, an aluminium hot water jar, candles, string etc. ','fithout them we should have 'been pretty badly off. ·

The first day on the train passed very smoothly as well as the next days. Except for quite a few cases of constipation, a few colds and a couple of headaches, the people were in good healthcondition. ife realized it was better not to question them too thorough ly as to their condition, as we had only a mini.mum of drugs and medical supplies. There­fore the doctor's remedy lay in his Irish sense of humor. He did not ask too man,y questie ons, but made yokes here and there, took some snapshots od different groups of people and they felt satisfied and happy. I did not yet mention that the people prepared their own cooking. They had a small iron stove in each car, there as plenty of wood and some~ times coals ( of unknown origin). The mothers looked after their own babies and there were not too many troubles. s for toiletfacilities, in the front part of each car, a small place was partitioned off, only to reach from outside, where a high wooden box with cover was pl~~ed, which was emptied a few times a day and provided ,vi th chlorine of lime. That reminds""10f funny things happening on the way. '!hen the train stopped somwhere, nobo­dy k'.ew for how long that vrould be. I asked the Major the first monrl.ng whether they could tell us at ea9h stop, how long the train was going to stay, it varied from 5 minutes to a few hours. It was difficult not knowing,as regards the work to be done and for the people also. It was impossible, his answer was, he did not know it himself, which we considered an unsatisfactory answer, but we could not do anything about it. No signal was given before the train left, but all of a sudden, off we went, with the result that more than once people were left outside. I myself had a funny experience the first morning. The train stopped and I asked the }~o..jor whether I could go outside for a few minutes, he said alright and I went to the pla.ce in the car mentioned before. '\.fter one minute I felt the train moving and could not get out anymore, But I happened to be not the only victim. A. couple of moments later 2 men varoe into the same place and asked me whether they could stay there, being so fri htfully cold outside. And there we stood the three of us seeing the humor of the case. Unnecessary to say that Miss B. and the doctor were worri;d about me, but the Major assured them that everything was o.k. and that they would see me again the next stop. In the meantime I got frozen there and had to do a good deal of tapd.ancing. A nice cup of hot coffee given to me when I c~~/lfback after 3 quarters of an hour and a plave near the stove warmed me up totally ana:..was a lot of lau~hter when I told them my experience, how I passed the time away in that funn.Y litlle place learning some Polish. All 's well that' ends well.

(

3.

Early in the morning at 7 a.m. on the 3rd day Czech officials came into our car to c}Qeck our papers. i/e did not go into Prague on our out.vard yourney having the intention

M go on to .rarsaw and to have the arrangements for our return.trip made in the Unrra-office • ere. • Coming nearer to the Polish border the people were getting more and more excited and rest­less. On the 4th day at 5 p.m. we were stuck only 15 Km. from the border, not knowing the reason. Everybody had packed already and it was a big disappointment indeed that vre had to stay another night in the cars. There blew a terrific cold wind and we did not feel happy at all. The only thing was, that we could assure the people, that we could unload the first

thing in the morning at 7 a.m. in Dziedice. At the 11th we were in the place mentioned and i2 a heavy snowfall we had to unload people and luggage. The repatriates had to turn in some items as stoves, pipes, buckets etc. which they got on loan at the ,j.tart.They received ~hen a signed paper with which ~hey could get food for the first next days. There were no Red Cross parcels this time. The ff!Nf patients in the hospitalcar had to be admitted into a Polish hospital, but we did not have to do anything with that either, the first doctor and nurse took charge of them. The receptioncamp where the people had to stay one or two days was just opposite the statiQ the entrance of which was decorated with green, welcomegreeti11gs all around and portraits of the Polish President and some other big shots. ,fuat I felt extremely amazing was, that nobody was there to welcome the repatriates. A very cool reception I should say! Having no office in D. anymore no UNRRA-official was at the atation.

I/hen we were sure that nothing could be done by us anymore, we said good-bye to the American Army Major and to the 4 UNR'RA-people, who had to stay till all fonnalities were fulfilled.· e hoped to meet them in Katowice. Thwy had to return-on the same train and were not even allowed to go to K. without an escorte. At 12 o'clock noontime we took the train to K.}ti.ss B. had some Polish money and bought the tickets, 60 7,lotys each. The train was awfully crowded and we did not manage better than finding a 3rd class compartment, where we had to go in with our heavy bedrolls and every­thing. \t 14.30 p.m. we arrived in K. found the Morubpol Hotel, just opposite the station very easily and there our first trouble was, having to argue with the 3 porters who brought our luggage on a small carrier and who demanded 2 packets of cigarettes each. ,fe thought it too bad and inquiring at the desk we heard that i packet each, equivalent of+ 240 Zlotys would do very well. The difficulty was, we had no Polish money yet to pay them with. Ve booked our rooms and had a nice wash before going to the UNRRA-office only a few yards from the hotel No.13 on the same side of the street. de wanted to go further into Poland and the K. office made all the necessary arrangements for us and paid us the living all~van­ce, 3 x 1400 Zl. ( 1300 Zl. to the £.UI'IJ1ffiA rate) that was for the first 3 days. Miss Boester phoned from there to .varsaw to inform the::n about our coming 2 dqys after and I made inquiries after the Polish Red Cross office, having to speak to one of the ladies there. ;,/e had a walk in town. Katowice, called the Pittsburg of Poland, is a very unattractive and dirty place. You feel filthy after a short time being outside. ·,-re were amazed to see all kinds of lovely things in the shopwindows. The pastries were beautiful, whipped cream everywhere. And nothing rationed, everything on the free market, but very expensive. Back in the hotel we ordered our first Polish meal. There are 3 meatless days a week, all kinds of poultry you still can get then. So we ordered chicken with different ve etables, mashed potatoes, comp6te, beer, coffee and a drink of wine. The bill was 2100 Zl. includ~ the tip for the 3 of us. For such a good meal not too bad we thought. There was a very good band of 8 men playing and there was a dance. The next morning we had an apple, fresh rolls, plenty of butter, poohed eggs and coffee for breakfast. for 1050 Zl. the three. Then we went to the UNRRA-office again and got our reservations for Warsaw. The train was ~e due tc leave the same day at 20 p.ro. but 1ras supposed to have a couple of hours delay. re discover ed a hairdresser in the Monopol Hotel, had a haiwwash + set and a manicure, which was badly needed and paid 260 Zl. each. They worked very well and quickly. The same morning I went to see Madame Genna.nowa at the Polish Red Cross. I had to ask herm~bout a report on our Polish children who were repatriated in November 46. She welcomed very cordially, inquirec after a few Unrra-people she had met before, Mrs, West. Miss Dorit Ca.mil, Miss Vi Bretoi and sent her kindest recrard,sto them. Together with her I visited the Polish Assembly Centre where the children are coming after repatriation and waiting for parents and relatives. I was more or less pleasantly surprised to find some of our children back we had in our · Children's Assembly Centre at Leoben, Austria for quite a long time. I felt sorry that they still had not been able to go to their own homes. The children were very well looked after. The wooden barracks in ,hich they are living are big, winterized, centrally heated well painted and kept clean, tidy. Nobody expected us and the impression the whole setup gave me was pleasant. Our train to :arsllW left that night at 23 p.m. Je had no sleepers and i~ was awfully hard to get in, the compartments were overcrowded. At last one of the Railway-officials opened an empty women compartment for us and when somebody tried to come in, he used to say " no,no, reserved for the .American Delegation ". ''fas not it funny ?

L/.

In · arsaw \le were billeted in Ho tel Central , Wl unattra-eti ve place, 7e had to com.plain there vhile our- sheets seemed t 0 ha~e been in use

bef0 re. Ve had a marve110 us lunch at H0 tel 11P 0 110 nia" , a place rhece the diplomates of many foreign countries used t 0 c 0 me. After lunch e

ttwent to the m~·RRA-office. There we were very cordially received by r. Berger, Chief of Mission. He \'"' vras m0 st helpful t 0 us, made arrangements for us t 0 see the A.J.D.C.pe 0 ple, kn0 wing that es9eciallv Hiss B0 ester was most interested in the .:;-ewish pr0 blem and gave us a ce.r t 0 0 ur disposal.

-1arsaw is in a terrible state, so, of the h 0 uses and the buildings is destr0 yed and uninhabitable, and ·e c0 uld n0 t understand where all t~$ pe~ple we Baw in the streets were living. There are a fe streets re­bulh.l t with emergency sh0 ps., The wh0 le im:pressi 0 n was m0 st depressing. Mr .. Berger t 0 ld us that the living allo iiance in Poland w0 uld be Zl.1700 a day+ Zl.300 a da;v for h 0 tel expenses and we g0 t the difference that made with the arrangements made in the Kat0 wice 0 f'fice calculati 0 ns.

"1e had a very g00 d dinner at 11 Can0 lett0 ", a nice little place with music

and dance. The next m0 rhing e had a simple brea{fast in 0 ur h 0 tel and went to

the A. J. D. C. office by car. 'le had a nice and very interesting talk i th the pe 0ple there and after a while I ent t 0 the tracing-bureau A. J. D. C. na made s 0 me inquiries for r~altives f 0 r 0 ne 0 f my friends. At least

fifteen pe 0 ple v ere w0 rking there and w0 rking very hard and efficienrtly I heard later 0 n. The names of the people I asked for c 0 uld n 0 t be · found in their card-system unf0 rtunately but they prOmised me t 0 adNer­tise in different newspaJers in Poland and t 0 let the pers0 n in Qumsti 0 n kn0 -w.

'e intended t 0 g0 0 n to Krakow, :'eeling m0 re and m0 re depressed in 'farsaw and the UITRRA-0 ffice b 00ked 0 ur tic mt f oP the next day. I"1. 1tlhe aftern00n 0 ne 0 f the AJDC-w0 rkers, a nice American ~i_:, acc 0mpaniad us on a t 0 ur thi--0 ui;rh ·arsaw' s ghetto, where we 0 nly saw the remainings 0 f the f 0 rmer biggest Je1ish c 0 rnmunity. Everything ·-as flat, here and there heaps of bricks. te had supper in an0 ther place again, in 11 Sim0 n Stecki II this time and

- e could enjoy it very much as usual. The Polish ray 0 f c00king is ex­cellent .'le th0 ught, very tast;r.

on our last day in 'arsaw we visited a Jewish children's home in Qt". ock, outside r. 0 peratmd by the Central Je~·lish 0 0 .:ni ttee Bnd fin.nnced b r the A. J. D. C. Bevent children aged. 3 - 16 years · ·ere there at the moment, 0 rpha:c.;.s and half 0 rphens. It was a beautiful place in the most beautiful scenery. Nice little ti~y r 00ms in which each child has g0 t its 0 ·m cabinet, \ 1hich was kept in :perfect 0 rder. The children 100

1rnd haJPY and seemed t 0 c 0 nsider this institute as their temp0 rary h 0 me.

e left •• the same day e.t 18 p. m. le g0 t a third c_ass sleeper and l, iss B0 estcr and I · ere sur-_prised t 0 disc 0 ve1" that such a sj!)eeJer had no less than 5 berths and the 3 0 ther 0 nes v:ere 0 ccupied by 'nen. e asked the railv,ay official whether that m~nt a mEi:steke, but it seem~a. t 0 be alright, n 0 bess were f'ree in the women's depar·cment. 'le just layed doV\11'.l ri thout undresring and being tired 'e had a rather go 0 ,t sleep. 'e arrived in Krak0 w at 9. 30 the next m0 rning. Thei-•e -.... e t 00k a horse sleigh t 0 the Franzuski Ho tel, , here · .1e vere billeted., The man charged us 0 nly Zl.2Qo with all 0 ur luggage. The h 0 tel as a very nice place, the pe0 ple at the ~k m0 st helpful and agreeable. Miss B. amd I shared a r 0 om, · e had g0 oa. beds and bediigh ts even, ··hich we did not see for a 1 0 ng time, ce1tral heating and hot and c 0 ld water in the room. The d0 ct0 r and. I attendeti A Mass at 11 0 ' cl 0 ck in the m0 rning in a nice

little church just oPJosite 0 ur h 0 tel., In the aftenn~on we had a walk being Sunday however, e c 0 uld n 0 t g0 in anywhere.In lhhe evening we went t 0 the "Casan0 va Club" a m0 st attractive c 0 sy "Qlace, where ·;e had a simple supper. There 1as a g00 d variete-pr0 gram, an ex­cellent band and a.ance. ve heard there Poland's best c 0 medien, Karo 1/anusch and al th0 ugh we could n 0 t understand 0 ne iv0 rd, le realized, that he must be very good indeed. The bill we had t 0 pay afterwards ,as extremely high.

The next m0 rning -·e should be taken back t 0 Kat0 wice by car at 11 a. m. r.iass B and I g 0 t up earlier than usual to g0 in t 0 wn and t 0 see so 1e­thing 0 re of Krak0 H. It is a very beautiful and interesting u.niversi tv­ci ty ,-,i th many buildings and t 0 1 ers of 0 1d architecture,. ie saw the big 4t markethall and were amazed what variet, of 1 0 vely articles was for sale there. e visited an antig_uariate and Miss B" found s 0 me m0 st interestir:g silver articles 0 f Jewish art used in Synag0 ges. C0 ming back t 0 the h 0 tel we g0 t a ring from Kat 0 wice that the car which sh0 uld fetch us, broke down 0 n the r 0 ad and that we could better take the bus at 1.36 l). m. It t 00k us ab 0 ut 2 h0 urs and 7e were back in K. again. "le went to the UlfRRA-office and as,~ed them t 0 make reservati 0 ns for Dr. Dunne and me to g0 0 n t 0 Prague t.tle same night. Miss B. sh0 uld stay in P0 land a . few days 1 0 nger because arrangements were made for her t 0 visit a Je irish settlement in former Breslau. I phoned Mada..rne Germanoqa fr 0m the Polish Red Cr0 ss and being n 0 t in the office anym0 re she promised me t 0 seDd her rep0 rt 0 n 0 ur Pol.little repatriates to the UNRRA-office next daY v.here IIiss B. w0 uld pick it up. te had 0 ur last Polish meal t 0 gether in the 1.0 110 :90 1 H0 tel. The train due t 0 leave at 20. 53 left only at 22. p. And we nearly missed it even, the :90 rters being so awfully tight and quarrelling all the time.F0 rtm1ately the railwaystati0 n is just oPPosi te the hotel as I menti 0 ned bef0 re. le gave them 0 ur last Zl.300 with which th0 se geft tlemen were n 0 t satisfied at all. e were lucky t 0 have a first class c0 mpartment for 0 urselves and could have a g00d rest afterwards. ihat t 0 say ab0 ut the impression ·we got in Poland? The situation is m0 st confusing, we th0 ught. The food is ex­cellent, all clothing free, but would the average man be able to bu,,v all that? ,e had an inte:imting talk with 0 ne of the raiway-officials a man having a pretty respo13ib:!..e j 0b. He t 0 1d us his wages were Zl.24-Qo a m0 nth, vith Zl.200 f 0 r each child, he had 2. The first 900 calories a day , ·.vere supplied t 0 w0 r1ring pe 0 ple by the g0 vern.rnent at a cheap rate.The balance then had t 0 be b 0 ught at the free market, at ex0 rbi tant high prices as we had n 0 ticed. To give a fe,~ examples: l K.G. of butter c0 sts Zl.500, 1 packet of cigarettes Zl.24(), cheap pastries Zl. lQ-15, for which y0 u pay in better restaurants up t 0 Zl.150. A cup of c0 ffee in an average restaurant c0 sts Zl.15o.C1 0 thing is par­ticularly expensive. but ell'erything unrati 0 ned and wi th0 ut c 0 upons. The impression given us by the average man is, a secret fear and com­plete dissatisfaction, certaiill.ly Politically, and also economically. Bef0 re giving an 0 pen answer we n 0 ticed m0 re than 0 nce that :People looked 0 ver their shoulders !hether anyb0 dy ·vas listening. An a6titude kn0 ,m. s 0 well by me :9ers0 nally fr0 m 0 ur bad years under German occupa­tion • .ie met a Polish Jew coming from Palestine 0 n the way t 0 Germany t 0 fetch a Jewish b 0 y of' 12 Y. 0 ld, hidden there during the 1rmr. ,e ate­cussed life in Poland and we menti 0 ned him s 0 me prices, he drew 0 ur at­tention t 0 the fact that it was n0 t 1300 Zl.t0 the£. but 0 nly 400. That explained t 0 us the Zl.1300 t 0 the£. (Ul'iRRA-rate) as given in 0 ur instructi 0 ns. Thus was life in Poland 3 times as expensive as we th0 ug.ht it was.

Fr0m the Kat0 wice office vte g0 t 0 nly tic:ij:ets t 0 the P0 lish-~ech border, because the throughout tickets to Prague 0 ught to have been pr0 vided by the "Yars w 0 f'fice. Kat0 wiqe h0 wever gave us a letter "ari t­ten in P0 lmsh for the railwayauth0 rities in Prague, that expenses w0 uld be b 0 rne by the 1lliRRA-0 ffice there. The railway-0 fficials in the train did n 0 t pay much attentm.0 n t 0 tJ,:illt letter and it meant an a~:ful nuisance t 0 see the dame man coming int0 0 ur c0mpartment at least 4 times during

, the night, t1•ying t 0 get .American dollars, and if not any, English money 0 ut 0 f' us. Arriving in P~ague the next m0 ~ning at 11 a.m.I cleaned the matter with the railway-authorities there, who were very understanding and agreeable. A p 0 1-.ter who t 00"'-c 0 ur luggage out of the train and barought it int0 the station charged us ?a Kr. ( 201 to the£. ) , very reasonable. After :9h0 ning t 0 the tnffi..."t?.A-office, Kral0 vska 1, ther advised us t 0 take a taxi and t 0 bring the driver 10 ng t 0 be paid there, v,e had 0 nly a couple of Kr0 nen t 0 meet any emergencies. We got billeting in the twavel section. it w0 uld be h0 tel Fl0 ra, Stalin0 va, a good distance a"ay blll.t t 0 reach quite easily 1.:ti th tramcar Ho. lo.

6.

The living-all0 v a.nae in Czech0 s1 0 , 's:: e e -,ere entitled t 0 ~ vas 450 kr. for each nip-)lt 7e spent in Prague on dut.r# 0 1' hich ~m0 unt the h 0 tel­ex:pens• had t 0 be paid, this contrary t 0 arran ements in Poland hl!f,t the liv~ng all0 1ancc ±as se_arate.

a c had lunch in Canada Hotel, a ~Jlace 0 nly a :f'e 1 steps fr0 m the W J! RR.A office, the tickets f 0 1 .. ·7hich were _pr0 vid:ed in UIHL'ltA. The lunch

· as ve~ simple end n 0 t tasty, e th0 ught , c 0 st us 0 Lly 30 r. Dinn r .e had the , ame day in the illRRA-canteen, Stcpanska N0 .24# a nice c 0 sy place , f 00 d bemter than at lunchtime, but n 0 t t 0 c~mpare ui th the meals

e had in Poland. ·1e were sp 0 iled there. It seemed t 0 be a v.ery good idea especially fnr transient ycrs0 nnel t 0 have some UNRP.A-places t 0 g0 ~o.

ou need n 0 t t 0 b 0 ther ab 0 ut rati 0 ns there, f 0 1 .. f 0 d and clothing is rati 0 ned in Czech0 -Sl 0 v alcve. e v:1ent t 0 a Cinema that ei.&1ing vhere,.tlll.e _:tfrnb rger Trial II as given, paid 16 1c,0 n. each f'0 1 .. balc0 ny seats.

e did n 0 t understand 0 ne w0 rd 0 f the speech, 0 n7v the pictures ~ere speaking t 0 us. The next m0 rn:i,ng we mnt again t 0 the UNRRA office and had an aJp 0 intment at lo a.m. with 0 ne 0 f the Ul RA-emp1 0 yees , \"ho ·was s 0 kind t 0 take us t 0 a few sh0 ps here it was· 0 rth while t 0 have alook r 0 und. The m0 st beautiful glassware and silver is t 0 admire in many sh0 ps. Prague is a very interesting t 0 m1 and its reputation t 0 be the museu."11 of the mediaeval hist0 ry 0 f' Central Eur0 pe and bein ranked am0ng the f 0 ur m0 st beautiful t 0 wns of' all situated in the interior of the C0ntinent, speaks certainly f'0 r itself. pecial industries in Cz. Sl. are glass and cr0 kerYvi are, textiles, aut 0 m0bi1es etc. Karlsbad anc l arienbad being n 0 t t 00 far av·ay and "being interested fr0 m a medical _p 0 int of view, we in _uired in the travelsecti 0 n 0 :f ..._he RR.A office ·. hether they c 0 uld _pr0 vide us t1 .. ansp 0 rt for the next da;.1r. It seemed to be imJ0 ssible, the r 0 aas vere too bad, becA~se there was a quite a lot of' snowfall.

It was a great pity that the v eather i..ris far fr 0 m agreeable, the sky 'being al,;•ays cl0 udy and sn0 1 ing nearly all day 1 0 ng. -~e felt m0 re ol'' less depres rnd after> a ,.hiJ.e. I f,,rg0 t t 0 menti 0 n the nu.111er0 us ~n0 st lovely fl 0 • Ql3h0 :ps ,m saw all 0 ver Poland and in Prague~ he biggest va­riety :.n tuli_,s, lilacs, lilies of the valley etc. ·1as t 0 be f 0 u.-rid ther~ It reminded me s 0 much of the beautif'ul sh0 ps in my homec 0 Ul.tr • The last m0 1"ning of our stay in Prague e went t 0 see the fara 0 us Charles Bridge with the 30 statues 0 n b 0 th sides, certainly 0 ne 0 f the m0 st beautif'ul views 0 f P1--ague# with the fantastic gr0 uping 0 f r 00fs, snires and t 0 wers 0 1' the Me 1_a Strana. l'hat m0 rning 1e left a n 0 te in the lJ1i P office f 0 r l.:iss Boester who was supp 0 sea t 0 c 0 me bac1 fr 0 m Poland at noontime and ,. e sh0 uld like t 0 have lunc6 with her and t 0 hear eb0 ut her experiences of the last few davs. Indeed she came t 0 the c~·iada H0 tel and 7e had lunch and a nice talk t 0 gether. Afterwards , e t 00k tramcar I 0 • lo and went t 0 the Fl0 ra H0 tel t 0 gether where Miss B. ·.ms also billeted. e b 0 ught some pastries r 0 und the c 0 rner and 0 rdered tea for three in my room, f 0 r we sh0 uld not have a h 0 t meal anym0 re. The train t 0 Vienna was due t 0 leave at 5.30 p.m.fr0 m the ils0 nstation and the car v 0 uld fetch us at 5 0 'cl0 ck. Arriving at the platform, we met ,1iss I!argaret P 0 hek, Child ·elf'are Specialist C.H. • Vienna ,~1h 0 was 0 n her v ay back. :fe had a c 0 m:partmcnt next to each 0 :bher and paid a visit n 0 and then. The j 0 urney Prague t 0 Vienna .vas n 0 t very pleasant 'e had n 0 sleeper al th0 ugh we asked for resei-·vati 0 ns already 4 days

ahead. M0 re 0 ver the train ms leaving fr0 m the Prague 8tati 0 n. There ·ms n 0 heating during the night. 'vie 'ere fr 0 ze·-. . ::'ter a I hile and when the d0 c·~0 r at a st0 p at 1 ezim0 st nea1~ the AustrM n b 0 rder, managed to get us 3 mugs 0 f h 0 t c 0 ffee, e thought it a God's send. Miss P 0 hek had a verv interesting experience by disc 0 vering a big black market affair, in the f 0 rm 0 f a b 0 x wra_ :ped in black paper and hidden un ., der hel" seat# which c 0 ntents seemed t 0 be a number 0 f small b 0 xes filled with saccharine. After talking to a cust0 ms inspector who happened t~.be in her c 0 mpartment :r0 r a while, her attention vas drawn when she heard that a new wa11.t 0 f blaicrnarketeering was t 0 hide parcels in other compart­ments under se£"'"s.

ve came in st the N. W. station at last at 3Qp.m._;irett;y hungry. The UHRRA bus came t 0 fet ch us and \ e went 0 ff t 0 the P 0 st Hotel •:!here Mr. Cart 0n, Travel Section Vienna, c 0 rdial and efficient as always had 0 rdered us a h 0 t meal , hich v,e c 0 uld m0 r•e than enj 0 y havin had our last 0 ~ e m0 re than 24 hours before. .

This i.as the end of the Poland trip, at the start m0 re 0 r less disap1) 0 inting, but after a while enj 0 ~ring- i t very much a11d feeling it ,·as a grand experience richer in lif'e. ~~-

7_

' \

trhe Cnmmittoo ...f'o.r_,S.c,cial WeJ.,far.e (Department

f ~r Repatriation) attaahei to the Cabinet of

the ~rime Mir_ister ~f the Government nf the

l'ederative PeopleA Republiq 6.f JuyRlavia

replies to Questions put hy u"NRR.A. Jugoslav

Mission in connection with the T:oblems of

tho Re~atriation of Jugoslav citizens .

~ucAtion\ What in tho attituie of the authorities of the FcdoratiTG reoplos1 Republic of JugoslaT~~ as rogards the fate of refugees from

Jugoslavia'f

Answor1 Tho competent factor.R of the For'l.orativc Pe 0ploa 1 Republin of Jugoslavia with tho polirw thC:y have pursued ao far as rogardi=- tho punishment of q_uislinr;s , cnllaborat ir,nist s and war o-riminals, have clearly 8mphasizcd tho prin iplo that tho treatment of thr, criminal leadership which nrGanizrd and directed thr strur~d(' ae;ainst tho Na.­tisnal Libcratirin Movcmr>nt on tho side of tho f0rccs of occupation must bo clearly differ~ntiutod from tho treatment of tho delude~ ns well as of the forcibly mr,biliznd. Ju,-:;c sl2v Nationals whr were mislo~ 'by this leadership and fcr r i'rly onr8llcr~ into its ranks . Applying thi~ principle , r..:spons ible auth0,r itios of tho Fod.crat i ve P '"pl cs I Ropubl i~ of Jugoslavia have branted broad amneBti0s which have encompasse~ the adherents of all armed formatinns in the r,er-vico of the forces of occu­pati0n excoptir1t~ prrminent ide 1-~: i al initiators , ore;anizers and leaders, thus onablin,~~ them o 1:iocoIJ,c a part 0f the normal life of ~;ur peoples 1 c.ommw_i ty .

The authr)rities of tho For.erativo PoriploR 1 Republic of Ju,:;oslavia adopt ara idontieal attitu.do trJWarils thrso porsnns wh0 fled fr0m tho country.

Guided by this just principle, havir:..9; in view the increasing m0r al de­terioration of refugees which is conditioned by specific cir : umstances of life in emi~ration, and not wishihr; them t(, o:x:porienco tho fate of .Russian :Byel~,6ardist s or persons similar to them , tho rcspons 1'blc autho­rities of :5'odcrati-ire Peeples I Republic of Jugoolavia aro l naturally, not indifferent to the fate '"'f refugees I but arc c'ViiT'_f; all that is necessary so that tho mi3lor'. Jurosln, cmi,:;ros ni.;ht rctur:i to their homeland , to their people and to their countries as f'l,,on as possible .

O,uestion! Wh" is cntitlor. tr, repatriation accr.rdin{: to the existing re­gulat ir,n,:; of tho Ju~osl[':7 authnri tiosi

mswcr : Cr,nsiderin,; the abo..,..e-nenti0ned vie-wpoint on tho problem of re­fugee;:; , cur Sta t0 authr.ri t ios adhere to the standp,,int that in prin,d.ple every of cur citizcLs has tho ri~ht to return t~ the country .

Tho mcst imprrtant ratoc"rios of Ju,;rsla, displaced persons who have · tho right to be repatriated , nrc as f9llows:

a) all f,'lrmer pri3rr~crs ~f wnr : r-.on, n-,n-comr.1isni0ned offi ~on; and offi­cers of the former Ju;: .. ~,sla'7 Army . They - oz:cc:rting iridividllills, to a 2:rcater part hi J.~rr1..kin .. · offir,sr:. , w:to dcnoun~ed r.1cDbors of tho Nati onal Libor&tion Movc□ cnt to the cn0uy rnd thus bear the responsibility for

2 -

- their ~u.:fferi.ngi:; -and-d.0atJ:J. - hnve in no way inf~JJ.J;li..lP t,.hf' in-terests of their homelend r.nd ,ro th0J:'Bf')J"O, npturally, n::it r::entioned P,t nll in the e1,mestios whir;h h;_ve °Geer. fTc3.n',ed ,;J frr .

Offic-ers and n,n-cor.:11issi c1ed r_,fficers, 1Jrisr:ir ers of w,r cf the forner Jugr1:::l;,v ,i.rny c1G wel 1 ,.s .:e,Lbcrs ,f q_uisling f".lr.u·t.ions and csrresprn-din5 p'Jlitic-,.,1 r· ::.lz,ti .Y.3, wh are ~t prec:E::::-!t in c-:iuntries in which the r, pe.trL,tir;n hFLF- r..: t be'3,_ :ffi.~ic:lly r,r;r.r.luded, lr;se their citizen­~hip c-fter the lGe..·p_l tern r-f tw:, · 'r..th'."l h[:s e:xiJired. , nr. , fter it hcfl been rscert, ineu th~~ rlS') the n+har c0n~iti0~E in rrticle 3 0f the Law on the Lor;s of Citizer:shi_p ~f the 23 0f Octr,ber 1';46 rre existent , But tc\kin,~ int, cr,nRio.er...,ti·ri. the n·Qjectivo difficdties such es ill­ne r: s , rerartl-nes;~ frrm rsso,,hly crmps .. nd frn1, r,ur diplou,c-tic end r,1i-

. lik•ry repressni.,,,tivE ; re:·, ::A, l tr, , ' r,win~ tr- \Jrsich the :-.1entirned per­~onR W8re un ble tr; , ,r-ke fl c.e lr rr ti··,n within the specified term with regc'rd to their roturr, tr, tr.·' c,''llitr~' - the Law clo:-rly 1,rrvider, for , ueh psrs'"'L~ :it 1--s~ --~ .1.1_ ir ~itizeL:--r'.i.ip.

A~ tl1i~ Lavi C.ncs r_r.t ,__ -.- 7 ~ ,L,.. .1.::_r;;;e ,Ju=- 01 v- --ltizer~:; Vll: are at pre~ent in C{untriea in wLich tLA r-,rr~l'.1Si'1rc nf rei)atrirtirr.. hrs !l t been an­nrunced, their rit; zenshiJ.., i:; n t q_neoti",r..cd.

Enemy prr,pa.,,::and.n. delibo:.'ntely ,.,i8interpreted the r.1entioned re,.:ulation::; with thb ri:1 ,f c,re· tir. ciw i:,_prea;:;hn , , r.c -ur citizer.R th, t they h.-vo been deprived f , ll 1..,r,3f,i--...,ilities tr; r•. tur:r: to th ir c,untry,

J:ir;wever , fro!. the &L ·,e ·j_-,-JL ic1 ... l-T?rttf1+,i'1r.. :'.:'ull l.'...·ht is re.st upon the felsi ty ',f thb ·)rr1n. , ,.,..:., .

Even thr,::,e wr,r, have., r'lronci:, 1 .,- tr,•-ir ri+,iz.A11ship E,nd. who hFve sub­~eouontly re:-,li:~l-2 tLt: i:_~ r 1.st· k-t-, , . .-,y return lYJr,u . Pen:i:::sion f 1r r prtrir-t i .n in tw s. "'s ,:; w.:.J 1 ·o's ~rr,nted indi vicluRll ✓- ~n rr;unds of .-1.pplirrti--n:; wr.icb r,1-0 :-:,:1,:oitten .

c-) .;-,.ll perr,r,ns W. (~ lI lr. t:-_e, 1/.i thc.r· wr 1 uf th~ fr rces ,f ocr,upnti0n left the er 'C.Jltry d ,.r.c r ULC er er err~ !l r,r u.nd. r t!1c influence of pr(J­pa. :-r,da f

ct) •• c11:crt.r,+,;-; of r.~.-,tr.iL, rPcU-:: 1 ,, :1.:r.it0, l<.nit8 Slr,vE~e and Crv".t H·ne 0-uardR , h'j:;lor:: ,1i1.~+,ic:::, ;;·_l}Jto.r arcor. f .rr:,at.i ,ns r,n('l_ all o-!;her •·IT,ed fr,rr:!nticns in 1.hs Gcrvi 1 ·e if tl:e f'1r'::SG rf rr,r,u_tlati,n , /18 well as porsrns wh· -\Ll r,.:vd. trJ "'"l:crs;l.ynr' ' ,i pnlitj_c-1 ,r,-cnizAtions or to the r.orreG_J,nci.in, :,r.r,ir,i str,,t i T-c r,:- le;::, 1 , Jipr,'•r t us; fur-sher .. ore r'.ienbers c,f tt.(:. Ustnsha ;_rr;y, ::- j-tiri:::: 1 r::;e,:: d.et·.cb:J0 rts 'r.d f'lf,r:l"'rs rf the .L~,ussim1 V0llmt,ry C .._'1,, wJ:-1 ,,.;J.,_'E "· 1 il::.z~.::1. pft,r J·cc1c-,ry 1 , 1;42.

e) Ferscns ,f J'u ·, :_, · .-:. :.:.ty ·,:h :5.uri:.,_ the oc-cupnti m succu.r:,bing to terrr-r nf pr0pe-·n 1

·, t..C;).: .. C\ ,:!e:~rnrs ')f th0 "Ku.lturbund 11 • The per -r:.issirln frir rel!;t':·j•,,tirL 11 f''lc:1 -~.[.~J::' will 1:-8 'T.'nted. individually on the ,=_:rr,1 ... ndo - f UJJJJ:. . -~ :1. which A.re S'lOr1i .. te" . .

f) Childrer. - Ju -;sl · ci .i. .:.~c..s ur.d , 14 :re- T::1 ',f - "8 ref-irdless of tht; ir nat ir,nril n1,purt l-11.· nc-E::;

g) Wo •.. or. - f re'.n ~.· ~z~!'r- '(-... 1:1re .. nrrjor!. t- Ju,·0sl v citizens in so far as they ;:;;ibr.,i+, i ::r,s:_ t c:.r repr6Gent~tiv0s e.br01:d th, t the;y were n;t DL:Dbers 0f :?r,rcir· 'T 1J.rir"c: t~_'"'rG;

·h) Rit:ht t,· r-~fn.'c-ri 1

G-err..an r10.t i ;nuli \" v:-_ wnr thr,..1u •. h tb(.;il' , ct , ti ~n Arr.1y .

,_ -B cl3 ~i· ... n tr tb--ce rf our ~iiizvnS of v;·n~ Pur ,, cl ::·of·,re the wer ,,nd wh·; during the lJr 'Tod t re '"dhorents ,f the N· ticnal Libera-

- - 3 -

The perniO-Sion ..f'o..r---r,epatriation in -s~as..e..s -wU..l. oe- ~ed il\di-vi­

, dually on [TrJtmd$ ,f a1:--plications which ;:ire subrciitted .

l .uestirm: What i;; the trertr.10nt of the JU::,0sLv authorities accord ed to the r p~triated personsr

AnGwer : Tho crimin;:,l propac~rmdr. ')f the er.~iE~re le0c.srship i~ fishting with all its Mtrenr th r £,inst repatri,ti ,n ,-,no. j s enc.eav:m.rin<::, to .reate the ir.1pre:;sion thc:t there is n::i p-sr;ioility at all for r,.pdrir·tion o y r.prending nrmsencic· 1 lie:, :-i.'J,~,ut 1,urder and r'"lbtin.; of rcpc>.triRted per­sons , r.bsnt concentrrtic,n c:-D.Gps wl:ich i lleL edly rw:,i t thGm et c-.

An ren be seen fro0 the e~ove ~ivAn replies , all +he laws n~d decree ~ which cie:,l wi t,h the c..u.e~ti -n ~f refu.;ees and de[-,"rted persr;ns wh' hrve UIJ to this d[lte -net r,::-turned tn the C')untr;; are in;:1y irec:l by 0ne oasi -- princi)h, , na1:1sly , tt.rt i'-11 th-;:1e pers ,r..s wh) WcI't, d.eprrted, decE..ivscl 0r dE::luded , ;;,r,y retc1rr.. to their hor::eland c-uite unhaq,trod . Thin is prcved ·oy tl- .. ur'.3.nd.::i of e_!=ii.r::r~s w]10 ev:ery _nqnth rs\µrn tci tr..e Country where they art. treated as cit izcns with fully e~ual r fl.~---:hts , this iR finally ~roveQ by the feet that of all persons repatrinted r. o fnr only O .4%, i. E; , nly th::icie wh'J · owin, to t.heir er iminal act s wen, arrai.ned tsf0re c' urt where th, y answercc1 3cc .. rdinr; to the Law f )r crir.iinal artR <'t;t,inst the Jer,IJle /lnd the State .

'.Enemy prc;pc;,;ccnr',a is ElR" s.:_.reac.in/ rw-.,Jurs to t~:.e effect that eni ~res u.:. ,,n +,heir return .. ', th€ "' u.ntry arc subjectec .. t'l le2:el per:-;ecut ir:,n if their return to tr .. 1:, Ccnntry he.:; n ,t -';nkcr IJlacc einc ;year and. a half af+;or tht., ter .. ina-'.;bn 0f hJstilitieR . Naturally , this is al::;0 an 0rdinary lio which i" nir::ed. at prAventin. the repntri"t.i.(,n . It is necessf-:ry t0 undorlin8 thf,t n'. one has ::;n far tcGn ce.llecl t'l account njr will an;yor,e in f·1turc "!),, helcl ros1)r,nsible f0r thiR .

The treat:,ient r-f t,h8 np· trinted persons in t':rn C' untry i:-; the folbwin~.~

Every'Jre 'Jf ur citi:;;en;-.; w> .. - is repe.triated h:,s +he rLh+. to free transy,,.,rt c,nc' rece:;sary f,c,ci. UIJ V, h~s oirth-r:,lace , - up tri tho p ltice whore he hes c.eciCe". t'J ,;ot.tl · . .!~fter e.rrivin- in th8 country , t,he repatriated pers ::i r ::1c..fr:; two t0 three de ys at the frr-nt ier asse6b ly Rtation fir the ir.0.is: 3n:~a';lo r:ie<'l.ic 0 1 ex r.,in2tir,n and ..?' rsomtl rcc·i:;tra­tion. Accsrdin~ tn an czrecnent with Unrrn Missicn in Austria, overy­rme ,Jf r,ur re1,atrietncl J_.)t>rs ,r .R frnt· this c.,1unLry , aftE:.r comin.? t(, Ju--oslavia , :,:-oceiveR ,~ r,d for sixty c'i.ays . Aftc..r the nodicel ex~uinati0n

and psrsonal rc_-i:'\trc~tirn i3 cr1r.11_JlPte<l , tht. re_;_,atriated pc.rS'Jil is trans­fE;rrec. t') the .Jl n~e wher,_ he wishes t0 seti:;lc. The transft..r is c.Jnduc.., ted at the ex1JeL3C -,f the State .

The n:..p1:,triE.ted pors0n tas the ri .ht t:-; :;rin;~ unlinited ._uantities f personal ·uelr,nr;in,~3 ·me, ,,, , ~r:'.s fr r hir:isolf and. his fo. ... ily . The repatri­ated person also has tl-ie ri .ht to brin,:; fnrei, n currency intri thG country which he i"'- lY;und. t 0 declare upon his &rrival, whi h in n, way can ·oe ccnsidored to oe en exceptional measure towc.:..rds the repatriat ed

pers011 - but is an ;OlL ctlcn r)f E 11 th,A,e whr: entLr our Gountry in acrorab.ncc with +;hs le ·islature of the Federnti ve .=- c plef'-\ f Repubiic of Ju, slevia .

Isuediately aft ·1r hie crrssin-~ into r,ur (":)Lill try , the r2:patriated per­s1n acq_u.iro;:, all the ri,...h+;s c>nc. c:utics i~s ere enjoyed and dischar , od by all ..,tner citizen.~ of °'.;h.J Feri.erati ve PG JpleG 1 R--JJUblic of Ju,,oslavia.

, .

,..

,; /

\ -\ ' / ... /

,.

• •

WHAT Et,'1];RY RCT URNING CITIZEN SHOULD iG,TOW.

The following nnsvrers t 0 questions r..ost o.sked by Polish D.Ps ho.ve been obtc-.incd by Ul'JRRA f ollowing discussions i n W':.X's:;.w .'.U1.d with the Polish OentrnJ. Rep2.trb.tion 1Yti. ssion f or Gor.:·.:.'..li.y.

iork.o.nd Er.1ploy;:ient.

1. Q. Will I be YvClccue.d ho..vints "clr'..yed ,.:y roturn f c•r s o Lins?

A. Poland welcou es D.11 Poles who will work. The e::-..rlier you coa e, the

A.

better prospect n.nd j ob y ou will h ::i.v0 o..nd there will b u no discriLliJ:J.n.tion n.gninst you f o! ho.vi~ del .. :iycd .

Is ther0 work for oe in Polo.nd?

f Yes. here is uore work th.n.n there .'.l.!'e v·rorh;rs. Both on th~ l end ::i.nd in the towns. In fc.ct ories ::tm.1 in th--- rv i:;.cined terri t orics in Lower Silesio. Gorno.ns o.rc stil"l vrorking, but only because there is o. shorb.ge of Polish workers. In this ei.,1.,rgency period it is conpo..rc.tively eo.sy to o.cquire tochnica.l qu.'.'..lific '.'..tions in a. short pcriocl of tin e o..ncl t o le2.rn t o operate ... o.chincs, S '.'DC of which 2.r4 still boin0 o:;::,(;ra.ted by Gerr.1::ms. Throughout PolG.Ilcl the f act ::iries '.m,l w::>rkshops '.'re in urgent need of technici".Ils .'.'..11.d work~rs.

3, Q. How do I get work?

A. You should enquire ::1.t y .::,ur l oc['.]_ 1,-"bou:r )xch~1.go .'.'..S s · :-n o.s y ou <il'ri ve hor:,c.

4. Q, I have no t 0ols. C::::.n I set tho::1?

A. Tools· :md cquip.10nt n.rc ,_llocn.tcc. t . w::,rkc;rs vm.0n.. they ~c .:wC'.ilo..ble. In th0 cnrly stn-1-;0s of rc;p~.tri ct:i on there: wn.s :--. [7...; c.t short::-,,;c cf t .:;,ols but :r:.1oro o.nl ;:1 .re t 'Jols of liff..,r0nt kincl.s ,ir1., bee :: .. ins r.V;'.il.-.blc.

5, Q, Do I ho..vo t pcy f or t ools n;,;v?

' G-A. No. T ,ols ".ml equi1-Y.1.cnt ':'..re :".llocc.tc :L by -i;ho ov'"'rn.i0nt on a l on6

6. Q.

tern rop8,)"r.mnt-bo..si s.

I 3.o not wish t o r1.,turn 1Jier __ .:mently t :i th(.. 7..istrict fr o1.: which I coDc, but I should like t o visit uy rcl::.ti cms 0:-.11.c'. frienJ.s ther" bcfcre I settle GJwn elsewhor~. Is this possible?

The free r,..ilw:.)_y f .'."'.cili tics exist f or o.. r~ o.. s ·::>n .'."',bl0 peri :::ic. aft"r r-. rcp,. ­tri.'.'..te' s entry t o Pol .n.nc. r:.11 ·.::'.. C".r.1. incluJ.e visits L norc.: th.".n 0nc l .:;,c 3.1ity

7. Q. If I do ''1 -,'t li' k , ... th-. -,.1 ,~ .. ce I F-( ' t ' c I I r r., l u-e ? • '-' - ~"' \, , Cw."l. 1.1'.:,"-'-' .'.'.. C 1.0110 · •

.tJ.. Yes.

8 . Q. C'.'.n I be sure th ·:. t uy chil '..r 1.,n will. h· .v0 th e o~·:_c rtunity t o .'.'..ttond sch:x,l?

1-~. The GovGrnr.iont is spcci ·,lly ~ovelo]?ing c c1uc ."..ti o rl f :1cili tics s c th_,_t fr~c e cluc".tion . . :.y bu :::ir :;cL':.e ::1.. f •.:;,r ".11. Universities, t ochnic".l '.ind tro..cle schocls o.rc fully functi )11.in_:; with r..lrc -_-3..y ::.10:i. ~ stuclent s t hr.n before the w, r. Diorc tc:lchvrs ."..re; r '-'quirc ,:J. .

cont'd ••••

cont'd ••• , 2.

ll..grict1lb.lre

- 9-.-~.-M-1u--st--I- h~vc b t 1,~ ~d? ~ u. " een r. fan:icr to E;e ·~.

A. Hot neeessnrily but y ou ;..ust be l'.bli;;: -co -r.ut the l ::md to use y curself before ypu cnn ~eoeivc r:ny.

1 b • . Q. Do the pc.;~snnt s rccci vc lc.ncl. c .. s their pri v :::d:;e :,rc::_J0rty? How r:iuch ch) they reveive?

li.• All the land y ou receive will be your priv .te pr opvrty. :c.;verybody who receives le.nu beco;·_:cs r .. ut or.1r'.ticc1.lly its ovm~r. Tht.; h olclings o.r,., privr.te pr op--rty - they cc,nsist of' 7 to -15 hcctn..r....,s .

11, Q. Is it plarmed. t '.) est1'-blish collective f c:.rus?

A. 'xhe t n.le s y ·~u he:::..r a.bout c ,1llectiv0 f n .. n .cs c.r.;; only nu~:.;urs. It is in the ~n~erest of th1..; Polish Stc.t"' to h:ve :-;5ivc.te ~ ::,l:linJs which ~.re suff1c1antly l '.:1.rge t c be self-sup·::ortint.; . olloct1.vc f n.r:,.1s t:trc not being intr,iduced n...viywh0 r1..- in th..: C'.~uatry -.. ,1.: will n ot bl, introc' .. uccd •

.. ~. The r:,-:in purpoJ~e of the '\gr~i .'.'..n rc:f ~r:.1 is t o Gistribute th:'. l.:md c.nong the pco.snnts. '.l;hr.t is why l.:u-ce eat.::-.tes c.r e being c:.evidecl up. However, raodcl fc .. rn.s '.:lld esk.t1.- s s:;.,eci :-.lising in th0 :;.')r 0cLucti .n 'Jf seeds , bees ci.nd so on h.'.'..ve been t aken eve:::' 1:i.~· the st :'..t .] . In n[Uly c r-.scs th1.- f on.:._, r own1..-rs of these est?.t-::s h :'..VC ~~yeu en c.s their ,.:.'.'..n::-.se;rs .

13. Q. How lc.rge n. f ::-.rn cc.n I obtilin?

.1,1.. The n.lloc::1tion of the l nd is d.e:'1cnd::-.nt on th0 quc-.li ty _;f th" soil• the nuraber of 1:1e,.1bvrs in the f er.lily r-..,:.C. the C:'.pc.ci ty of the gI''JUp to cul ti vc.te the; l ·,.nd fully.

1J+. Q. C.'.' .. n f choo~ the l.'.'.nd I get r.nd when3 it ·will b --?

.. , Yes. Ever.yone cho: scs his plr,ce of settlcnent . In sane cases this creates difficulties f or the Polish Gove;rr1r1ent, :--.s it i s cn.sicr to orgo.nise tr1t1sport t o one pl.'.'.ce, but nevertheless the P~lish Gov0ITJD0nt does not try t o inf'lucnve c.nybody in his fin·~-1 choice ~nl in s::r.10 eo.ses the re1xi.tri r.nts c rsn even chu~ sc their s::ots c.,f l '..nd if l.'.'..11.d if" o.vc.iln.ble in th ~.t re&Lon.

15• Q. I owned n f r1.~ :.1 / or other 1Jr 'Jrorty/ Ea.st _f th1.- . .oug; will I be repo.ye .::'. f:r lnnd. livest ock "n.J. eq_uirne:nt?

he Yea. You will gee l "..nd within th '"' Polish frmticr -::.nd. y ou will ho.ve the 60.J.:e 0:?2_'.)()rtuni ty :::cs othL.r settlers t o c. sh':.rc '.';:f the av::'.il :::cble i;.1plei:1ents, seed. -md st ,Jck.

16- Q. My fc..rr.:-. wn.s r obbeJ by the Gercn.ns. How do I 11r..:cess c.. clw.1?

Ae Yo~ fil~ c.. clci.n with the Polish Gov~rnr:8nt. Det~ilc:s of how t o file elnir.1s co.n be '.)bt runed c.t Stettin ~.nd Dziedzice reccpti cn centres.

17. Q. How do I get seeds , .nc": '.lniDc..ls?

A. ~eds r.ni o.ni 1:1c.ls :'..re 'lll,)c~.ted by the Goverr1L1ont on ::.. rcp:--.yi:i.ent bo.sis. 'Ihere is c.t ;ire;sent :--. grc:'..t short se in c n.ttle, but it is p~t of the Polish ir.1port pr oi;r::-..._ .e . Livest ock, :.1::1chin(,ry .nl".. s oeJ.9 '.:.r-.: .Jistributcd by l ce rsl c..t7iculturc..l c -::>,~.1ittees in cc;nsult ,c.ti n with .::ioci~l Wclfore Car.nittees. At ::_,resent the ,:.0;_10n ··_ of livest:ck is consL1..crr..bly b.r0e;r th.'.l!l the supply; tk.t is vvhy th0 Polish G'- vcrrnenc su~'~'orts the breec! .. L-ie_; of e:::.ttle, horses ,\n::'.. :_Ji;:;s , Fertilizers .:-..re ... lrc~dy boin0 ::,r oduced n.t eH0RZ0W ~d o. l:irge quo.nti ty of fertilizers is boine; inportoc..

cont I d ••••

- cont I d ••••.

18. Q. lu:e · the peaso.nts being c..ss~stecl by experts 2,n,l "..griculturo.l instructors

A . f here o..re o.gricultur::1.l instructors, breeding specio..lists, eto . wh,.J t .,ur the country r'e Q.11['.Xly. ~ipc..rt fr c..n this cvcrybccly L:..-..y o..ppr onch his l oca l Peo.sants ~clf'--Help Office o..nd obt:rin c..c:.vica. Th0r c is still o.. short::.ge of instructors but o. nunb or of new instruct rs .'.:\.r'C being trn.ined in n.gricultur"~l schools.

19. Q. I h o.ve no noney 2.nl nc h one t o so t o; h w c c.n I get uoney t o live?

a. The PUR will show y ou :--. pl .::.ce f o;r:: resettl0,.1ent, help y ou find work and in special co..ses y ou n-:,y obto..in Gov ...: rn:-:.cnt n.ssist :--.nce .

Sto.te o..nd Legal Questions

~·-~--------------------20. Q. Does the St o.te assist r cpo.trio..nts c..nd setth:rs on the west0rn territ ories

A. The Sto.te o.tter.1pts t o he l p repo.triants r..nd settlers in every wn.y , by l oans, by SU:!,'plying then vii th live stock o.n l r.12..chincry, fertilizers, seeds etc . PeQsn.nts in the Wt:..; Stcrn terri tvries o..rc excr.1ptcd f or a period of t wo yc:crs fro;:·, t 'l.Xes .

21, Q, Who.t is the c..tti tude of t he Gov0rnr.iont t o f ,JrDcr s oldiers .::md officers of the No. ti on.::.l :.r uy /lJ</? T G ~lo. he ovcrnnent consi rlers th::.1.t i n tho AK wore VGry nMy good Poles who h n.t ed the Gcmo..ns o.nd l oved. Pc l o.nc.. ":.nd. f ousht f or h '"' r liberation. The Polish populo..t i ,Jn honours the ucnoriJ of r.11 who clied icJ: the fi j.'lt f or Polo.nd and. respects [\.11 survivin:.; POLISH S..!ldiers.The ovcrn;:,cnt expcots froD s olcli, rs of tho f c,ruo~ AK the so.r.-,e hone st f\Ud l oyal service o.s it expects fr on ::my othl.;r citizen -::,f ~°'..er. ::icr .'.'.tic Poln.n<l o

22, Q. Ia it not true tho..t ~11 Poles e~st of the Bug a.r e scnt t o Siberia.?

K 0 No. Not only it is not true , but the r evorse is the co.se . Two nillion Poles hn.ve o.lre[l.dy returncc.1 t o Polo..nd frc:_: En.st of the Bug o.nd ho.ve been resettled in Pol~nd .

23. Q. Who will pr otect ne frcn the b :::md.i ts? /r,rn,/

A. Na.tur.::.lly, the Polish Governuent who ho.VG to.ken the nece s so.ry 1:rl.li t n.ry o.nd police u e ~sure s.

24. t. What happens t o r ep.'.1.trinnts fr cr..1 the E::.1.st o.ncl. those who r e tµrned fr on the We st but lived before the war bey8nd the 1us ?

A, We intenzl t o repatrin.te all Poles fron the Ee.st n.s well c..s those fr oi:1 the West . Poles who returned fr JD the Yvest 2.nd wh ::, lived :---ri or t o 1939 beyond the Bug , o.s well o.s Poles fron the Eo.st C ""n settle in the Western t erritories; no differenti n.tion is ;_10..de betvmcn -chGD with r e,;r:.rd t o their rescttlenent . This '.llsc D.pplies t o ex- s olclicrs who h o..ve the s o.r.1e ri l:9'lt13.

25. Q. Are Poles c\.ll wed t o return Eo..st of the B~c?

A. If y ou nr -.; o. }) olish citizen ::i.nd cb.in Polish ri ,_;hts, y ou will not be 1"eset t led Go.st of th0 .buc:; , o.s this terri t 8ry hr\s now becoue part ,f che Soviet Uni on but if y ou clo.ir.1 Soviet citizenship , y u nrw nc i:;oti a.te with €he U.s·;s.R.

26 . Q. How ,.:uch furniture C.'.'..n I brins frcu Gcr.·_:::-..ny?

A. You n.::.y brin;; o.. s Duch furniture D.fl the US o.nd Brit • .n.uthori tics o.llow y ou t __, l oad ,m t ..:, t he tro.nsport. Ther e c.r e n o r e strictions on the part of th...: Poli sh Govcrn.1ent , ,.

cont 1 d ••••

- --cont'd ••••

27. Q. How nuch of wh['.t I bring the Polish Governeent t f\.ku fra-.1 r.10 in 0ust cr.1s-3.uty?

a. Nothing .

28. Q. Cn.n I go where I like? H JW clo I get there?

A. The Polish Goverrn.1cnt will pr oviJ.e frE-e r c-.il tr2.nsport t o the pln.ce the repatri o.tc Jccides t o 1.:0 t c . The choice of the :.~,l '.'.ce depends u·10n

the in:li vidun.l .

28, Q. I had noncy in [\ Benefit Funds before the GE::rnc..ns t ook it. Who will now give ne ny benefits?

.rl.• This is Pc}rt of the cor.1pensc,tion f or which y ou should file c.. clc.:i.r.1 with th.:: ov -.; rrn.1ent.

30. Q-. How is it that DMY of our friends ho.vc r c turnod t o Polc.nc1 in i,rem.ous nonths and althou~;h IJr c.oisin6 t o write n0 furlb.h'"'r worcls h::-.s been hen.rd.

li,• Intcrnc.ti -..:n£'..l uo.il f ~_cilities f ,:,r letters written in Polish hc..ve only this uonth been ?..uthorize u. by the .. t-i.lliecl 1-:1.uthorities ru.1c. n.rr.'.illt;;euents t o srleecl up corresponclcn"lil'e n.re thcrcforv n r)vv being l:1['.C.e.

31. Q. Why are pwople not pG:rr..ri.ttcd t o write about conditions in Poln.nd? I write nn.ny letters hut 6et no o.nswers •

• 1-1 •• See above f vr the c..ns-wer to this q_uestion. The Polish C-overnnent :;_,lc.ces no restrictions u::::•on pe ople who wish to write n.bout concitions in Poln.nd.

lj . 32. Q. Will not the ovorncent t:lkc the r1r operty fr _)J_1 ue? VVho.t is the use of workin1;?

ti . If y ou owned l ::md bof :re th0 w,:-,.r, y ou uo..y keep n.s nuch n.s you ona. y our fnr:tl.ly o.rc o.ble t o wcrk. ft:ls c. f ::.ctories enploying nd:: nbre .. ,thtm.,50'~wovkers nc.y r._,nn.in under :;_,riv.'.lte owne;rship. If y ou 0\-m o. l o.r 0c house ,and n.re unable to occupy it, tl1is h,)use uo.y be req_uisi ti oned by the G-overnr.:-1ent f or occup~cy by other people . In th<.: present housins short '.'.ge this il'. a systeu ,;,hich is bein0 :,/:.'.)pto l by ~-·-c.ny 0th<)r countries thr:n "oln.nd .

33, Q. i:iy friends o.rc :ill in thv cc:np o.ni we do not w:::,nt t o b0 sepo.ro.ted. They arc frOD Ee.st of the Bu0 • Will we be sepo.ro.tea.?

.b.. Whvre groups of peo::;le wont t o 1.}.l bo.ck :-~11d settle 2-s ,n_ unit, they will be helpe 2 t o d ,--' s o if r,ossiblc. Thu Polish Govvrnne;nt h.:'..s ::-slreo.a.y o.rro..nged DD.IJY such scttlcuents o.nd hor-c s to n.rr::.n0e a ore.

34• Q. I 3L1 n. Pole froo the Polish Ukraine .:ind I h!'..ve not seen. uy fnr.uly yet I h r-..ve he r,xd they are in the now c.re~s . How c:::tn I finc'l vrhcrc th~y o..rc? /or/ ny fnu ily h '\VC been resettled sor..ev1hcr,., fror.1 Eo.st Pob.nd. Hn.ve they been sent o.w,n.y to hussi8.? '

.b. . The CH of PUR in Loa.z he:.ve rec :Jr c:ls of r.11 the re:._::;2.tric.nts frou the E::-..st and the Yv'est. lc::_"'ply t o then :-..nrl s i vc .ther:i r;.'.'LI'ticul'.'..rs of th0 ::,:eoplc y ou wish t o find 'end they will help y,,u .

35. Q. How ouch fimnci'\l n.ssi st'.'.nce r.:o.y I expect f or rescttleuent?

.1;1.. The a.~1ount of fincncic.l o.ssi s-cn.nce t o r0:i?o.trio.nts on their return vn.ries with th'-' cre,::J.its o.vo..ilo.b le t ,J the locn.l Re:_10..trio.tion i.uthorities. l:1.t sone I'eri 0ds when l o.r 0C credits hn.d bE:en obto.ined , this SUD. W[}aS c.s hiGh as 1000 zl. In o.a.w.ti on, r 0po.tric'J1ts a re ~ntitled t o receivt.:: investr:i.ent l on.ns t o n.ssi st then in resettlc,.,cmt. 'l'.'he o.vi;;r::cge loan iX'-Y be 1500t) zl. 11.rtisn.ns h2.ve :~lso been entitled t o l oc.ns o.nountinc t o between 15000/20000 zl • .n. shopkee:;:io r v,culd be .'111. co.tcd ::i. shop Dnll receive c. l ,)C.11 f or stn.rting

cont I a. ••••

-

'

.

..

cont'd..• •• 5.

his business. Pec.sn.nts in th0 'ilost ern territories c..re cxenptcd fror.1 taxes f or a perioi of two ye~rs.

36. Q. What r ation do I get on L'tY return?

A. Pren the Polish G-ovc rnr.1ent - a. c n.te;_;ory one (I) workers r o.tion f or the first 30 dnys, r..nd th0rco.fter the norno.l polish rn.tion. Pren UNR.Rh - the special 60 dny r ati on c.s c. reserve t o help you :1tnrt you:~ new :f'ru::uily life.

tr.,N.R.R~A. AUSTRIAN MISSION

CENTRAL HEADQUARTERS

SUBJECT: Repatriation of Polish Nationals Originating froin Territories Joined to the u.s.s,R.

SERIES: Austrian Miii!sion

.ADMJN. ORDER NO, 254

Vienna,18 November 1946

The Polish Repatriation Mission in Austria on the 8th of November 1946, furnished the following information on the repatri~­tion of Polish Nationals originating from territories joined to the u.s.s.R.:

0Poliah citizens of Polish nationality, irrespective of place of birth or place of residence prior to the war, consequently also Poles previously residing in the Eastern territories row joined to the U,S.S,R. a.re entitled to settle d~wn within the frontier of the Polish Republic."

11They are being treated in the same way as all other Polish citizens, are entitled to benefit the same rights· and privileges as all repatriants, and particularly have the same rights for land, accom­modation, and work facilities in the recovered territories. 11

rn.2 and AM. 4

BBPORT OP CHIEF pPATRIATION OFFIOBR

FOR fflB ll>NTB OF JANUARY. 194:7•

TM repatriati • tranapert which waa a.. te leaw ter Pel.and• 20• Juu.ar., wu cancelle'-, am. tat npatn.awa ait wre te ha-n trawll• •• tllat vaiJl will 'be lwl4 e"Nr until Pebruaq 20th. flit Peli.ah repatria­tia ir.l.W wbioh ... inauaurate .. ia llrteaber, 191.6, baa 'bea mainW..1.1 aDl ettena an being _.. te obtaia aere rel.nut aaterial te iatenal.1) · ._ oe11p91p iD anticipation et 'better naulta u tba weather iaprnea.

0a Jama&r7 lStll, a Peliab tn.upert ill 1nuit tna I~ waa _,._..at ltutawia 'by- ir. Clark, aa4 lfurN J'ieSUft ia o-,liaaoe witll a npat fl"III t• Italian lliaaion, ter repre•nta.ti"Vea tl"III "- Auab'J.an Jliaaiea t• ac111BiJIV' tlle ue.ia te Pelani. !Id.a trauport waa erpni&N 'by- 1JIBRl Ital.T wbaa pl.au ter P9lu4 to ••n4 a apeo1&l tn1a ,.._ t•r tbe repatriate• ia Itaq waa GallNlle4 • &OoeuAt ot inaumeav.ble tittioult1ea ilmtlw ..

A nqueat wu reoeifti. • ,Ota JfAS/J/Al7, te appq lDIRli pene-1 tor a aecon4 train oataa tNII Ital.7. TM •tattiaa et repatria.ti• tniaa eri&S,m.tina eutaide •t Auatria baa onatet. pre'bl- ia that tba art netioe gt..wn 1• buel.y auttioien.t te 1 11q with pnoeaaing nquireleeata et tba 1:ruud.t OGUDtriea threugh whioh tlail tnupert will pa.ea. TM a.tti.tua. et the Peliab authoritiea wwaru arantin& Yi.au te peneael tram .luatriaa Kiaaion ~n1ng truai t traaapena llaa ooauion.t. OIUi._.bl• t.lqa,ettea oe11aia1 »eneuel te 'be olearN ._ late w 3N,II tlll vaupert. At a noeat •nt•nnoe, tbe Polish a.utbor:lti•• &grN4 te iaaue riaa within a t .. hnra et aubld.••i•n et requeata.

A tUa • Pelan4 -.a tnnaterre4 te tha Bri ti.ab Zene when a t--1 abwi.na waa gi'ftll te the LiaiND otticen, llilitu,' ud Gev•zw .... t repreaenta­tiwa • Janu.&17 10• Arrangeaenta bave 'been ...a. tor it t• 'be ahibi te,. thnugbn.t tlw Peli.ah oupa, am 1a areaa wllere Dlaplace4 Per■ona li T.l.ng RtaiAa Nllp& OU. al.N be preMDt.

.A.a a reaul t et tM oenterenoe ip.if. la.at -•th 'between the Depu\y Ohiet et )(luioa, a.lnel Killer, tlle~tria.tic,n Ottioer Kr. T. J. J.1nlaq uf. the Yqealav autt»r1 ti• in v1 .... , w ba-.e been .tficiall.y int.,..4 that a aabff et eur nquaata ba'N 'bNn a.pliecl witil. bgalar rule bnadouta troa Belgrda, aleric tha lbe• et __. auggeationa bave bea imugun.te'-, ant auppli•• et Y...-J.av ---,.pen aw alreaq arrift4 uA llan 'bea tiatrilNW t• tM o-,.. Ye llaw alN 'bee inte:m.4 tat tUu .,_el 1 ng with reoaatruoti•n la Yu,aNla'fia 11111 'be terwartN t• ua ill the ::motiate tuture, tft' emi.bl Uoa in our Olllp8e

De Obi.et R4rp.triatioa Ottion-• on.terre4 with 11111:laterlalrat Kaura w ti■-- arrangaata te ~ Auatrian Geftrmllnt'• reoepti.011 et tbe tiret gl'O\IJ) et repatriate• hwa Sbenpe1, u4 -■ aaaurel. tu.t tbl Auatrian Geftl.zwnt wu.11 aaw tull n•~ibili v tor tM oare •t the•• people tna the -•t ot their entiy inte Juatr.la. -'rreaa-enta 'WU14. be •• ter their reception at Vill.aoh am their apee"1 eat.--rting w Viemaa. Su'bNqu,en, eftnta abned that tba tul.tillunt et thtM uauranosa lett much t• be c1eairetle

The Iaraelitiaobe Kultu.a91ui:nie oenterre4 with the Obi.et Repatriation ottioer • the poaaibility' et UNRRA ebtaining aa hotel ia whiob theae people could be aCMaa04ate4l until they were •HiailatN into nomal lite. Ia viflff ot the fact that these repatriates are Auatriua oitiaena, an.a that UNRRA'a reaponaibility would oeue • their arriftl in their 1Mae-l.an4, it waa auggeatel. that they 111.ke this request tie the Auatrian governaent WMM rosponaibility tbeae people would be. The reaponaibilit,y .t the Auatriaa Govenaent wnrda theae returning repatriate• waa atreue4 in oorreapeniwnoe tftllll tJHRRA to the Miniatr., ot the Interior.

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__- The tint group ot Aust~ repatriatea fNID Shangha1 arrived • 25th Jan\11.17 and wre met b,y tbe~triati n Ott:Loer, repreaentatina

.r the Iarulltiache lCultuageaeilada, and the ~J.:o.c. Arrangement• tor their reception an4 houaing, whiah were oarried out by the Iara.ell tiaahe Kultuageaeinu and not br the Auatrian authorities, were uequate. Iatenien With repnaentatiw repatria.tea tna Shanghai indioatecl that ual•N tJlil Auatr1an Gewrment aa.,,._ •re reaponaibilit,' tor their returaing national•, graft prebl ... would be enoounterecl with tM arrival et the nezt gnup ot 759, aue t• reach .lustria • February 12th. Tm Olriet Repatriation Ottioer oalle4 a oeaferenoe with the Milliatr., t•r the Interior, A.O.A. (Britiall Bl•eat) aad the Iaraelitiaoba Kultuagaeinu at llbioh tbeae antioipatei probleu wre a:Lsouaae4, and uam-anoea giwn by tba Jd.aiaterial.rat x ... ra tilat •aaurea would be ewlff4 to ... t th••• ... rsenat.••• The reaponaib1U'7 et tJN Auatr.l.aa Geveiwnt ta t.ba reoepti.a an4 care •t the•• people wu atreaae4 by Capt. Lawrenoe (A.C.A.) and Kr. L.l.niaq. Miniaterialrat Kaera Womei tJlil ••tl.ng that tbl billeting ot the returning repatriate• wu being n-gam.se& by aa Auatria.n Repatriation 0--1 ttee ,,_ wre ua\81ag all napenaibill '7e

A recvieat waa reoeini trca ti.. Auatrian Miaiatr., et the Interier that toomA Sbangbai be int.,..._ to ._legate till wrk et eata'bliuillg repatriate• cl11u w Auatr.Lan nationality, te the :e.tard ot the Auatr.Lu. Reai4enta .leMal.atio-. Tbia repat n.a oa'blei te Sbang),41 •

Paleatine Reptri&t•••

J'URther liata .r AuaU"ian national.a daairi.ag repa.triat:l.cm haw 'bNa aulaitte& _, the Iaruli'ld.aom ltulteagea~ ia Vienna, and have hat~ w tile lllaiav., et tbl In•ri•r• In rtew et the pelitioal aituati.e 1a Paleatine, Awltrlaa nati.eaale ia PaleaUne are aubnitting tMir requeat ter npatrl.ati.• 1ru-.up tlla KutuageaaiJlllla ia Vienna. TM teur-Ul llat et .lutrian nati.enala ... iriDg repatriatien tra Paleatiae •• 'bNa cil.eare& 'b.r t• Jli.aiatr., tw ta Interior, a.nA ia aow being preoea..._ b.T A.O.A. (British 11 ... t).

Reptriat1m et OkU.tren te Yyealada.

D1iriJ11 1llae •n"lt., arn.agaenta wre _.. wbere~ a. Obil4 Weltan Offloer aheuli &HIRJC1'J' a uiU repatriatio trauport te Yugoalam. u,-11.er retura tlda ettioer •" an uoellent repen &Di bNught a .. 'ber et intereati.ng lettera 11'1 ~ i.r. TM Old.et Repatria.ti• ottioer -■ requeat.,. -,1•• et tlllae letters ter a1. .. &l'&Ph1n& uA tbty will 'be e1relalatK te 1ml Yqealav --,. ia an ettert te enoourage npatria.tiou. ~•t• a.re beiJt& •de• baw tbia effloer T.lait tlM YlJ&Nl•v...,. • relaw aer experi•••• t• ».ti.era with dliUren, ill an atN19t w repatriaw t--.

Reunitiy et 'P..uiea.

The reu:aiUng et taai.li•• 11aa 'bND 1aH17ff&t ... ia the wrk et tlda clepar1aent. Pnareu te elate llaa bNa aln, 'bu.t oenfereno.a are ~h•eA with ,be autMrlti•• onoern.e&, • ti.MUN Mau 1v wbiob. ""1• work oaa 'be upeaitet.

TM U&RA Direoter et the Frenell Z... u.a intei,a ... ua et aa 1g1"9eaent beWNB tbe PraoJI ~- am USPBT ter ti- NUllitiJI& et tud.liea • an •xebangt1 Jlilai ter laM4. 'buia. We haft taken tbe ialti.atiw _._. W.a ..... ad llaw terwuu& te Geraaqr applioa'1n te1111 ter the auenge et ■u people wbe• relat:l.ona in the Jlrenoh Z ne a:re awaiting t--.

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- _, 21st Ja.rruary, 1947.

Checked with Mr. Lind.say the figures of Poles leaving a Dziedzice on 10th December. W The correct figures are:- 298 Poles from U.S. Zone (170 from

Land Salzburg and 128 from Upper Austria), 144 from the Britiah Zone and 110 from the French Zone . making a tct al of 552.

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J :, December 1946.

TO: Ohiet Ugibilit:, cl -.patriation Divia1on, o.n.Q.

SOl3JBO'l: ov ber arra.tive t,pOrt - Repatriation Section.

I. The plans to intclaify the encouragement of repa.tri tion, formulat d

dur Ooto r, were put into effect during tho month of Nov ber with apeoial

ttention to the Poli.ah O a tbrougb.ou.t Auatri • a. Ki toboll, Fia d Supervi.aor,

an Kr. Lindae,y viaited l lbrunn Oam.p and arranged with D • • representatives plana

tor regular meetings a.t which prob.l affecting tb :f'utur• of the displaced persona

w.Ul be diaouaaed w1 th apbaaia on repa:tria.t1on. Arrana-nents wer ade for the

formation of diaouaaion groupa oa fwlctionwill be to atu(\y o.nd diaouaa the

info tion about Poland au;;,plied to the camps by the Polish Authorities and U .M .R.R.A.

Jlrs. Jlitahell paid a vi it to all Poliah and Jugoalav oam,pa 1n the Britiah,

Pre.nob and U •• Zones and hold etinga with D.P. repr senta.tiwea -to diaouaa probl

feotb.Jg repatriation.

th oonterenoea nn held with the Jugoslav and liah Kil1 tary

Kiaaiona in Vienna and repa.trie:tion problana end aiffioultiea wvo diaouaNd. Both

lliaaiowa have oo-operated oxoellently th us in our effort to aupply D •• oau;,s with ,

fao1.ual information about land and Jugoalane.. -

On 5 .. ,o .Rovember • Warne- acO<DpAnied Mr. Leff of th• tmRRA. asion

to Jugoala'rl.a on a tour of tb• Ju.goal.av oampa in the Bri tiah and U .s. Zonea in order

to nqµire into the oondi tioiw atteoting Jugoslav Repatri tion and th• DUNlll.S by which

the umnu. Kiaaion to Jugoalavia Q8Z1 belp in this tau.

II. §a1::!!n1M Team.

During Kw er th aor"ning haa be n working in th U. • Zone where

th.er are abot;t 2000 di~laced peraona yet to be aoro nod. Thia toam i at pr aent

wor 1n camp Lexen:f'eld. Th• 1 ck of poraonnel and the narrative report on each

oue now 1naisted upon b7 the lfili tary Authori tiea g:e Uy reta.r&t the progreaa of

thi■ work. Early in anmber Dr. Be&>,. Chief Repatriation Ottioer, deported for th•

United Sta.tea and will return to duty about the 15 December.

m. R5?!:triation 1'11¥!5?2!:ta.

On 11 NoYcber a liah tranaport left Lins, U.S. Zone, with 425 repatria.tea.

Thia ~r waa inoNued at Salaburg by th• a.dditton of 225 people t'r<D that area.

Thh train waa aooampanied by the fol.l9wins wuu.ua.

Dr. Salt.-, edioaJ. Officer;

hlio Relations f

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s Ott raen, lfar Off'iow J and Kr • Cullen,

O .H. • Ori tioiams contained in the reports ot

uthori.tie oo •rn d and • hopof'ul o corrective aoti b ing ta.k •

re;patriat

ea arner sp

train in 0

the early

0 in

w1 th a iew to tteoting intprovaenta t

of th

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of th conditions in

Sh r.-tuxned t Vi

ae train.a

on 9 ovember ·

and eaiat ly left for Lins-se.lsburg in order to a.a iat with be s,patoh of the

r tria tion train which left the U. • on 11-1

for UNRRA. to do a gr t deal. of laat-minute er erwy w le:

oonditicms of travel bearable.

xv. er the seer tary to the Greek Lega ion

It

th proceaa1ng of Gree na:tional ~ repatri&.tion fran u.tria and aullllitted

a rogµ.ut to the British 1litary utboritiea to

difficulty ariaen th he Italian Governaent who requeat in4:1v1

paaaporta and vis for U pea.pl entering Italy. 1'hia tter baa be taken up by

e ri tilh ill tary Authority 1n

c11tf'ioul v i• xpeoted.

v. $Mnghai an Groupa.

ec\v' and aatufaotory solution of thia

The first li t or Auatrian. nation.a.la awaiting r triation f

WU cleared by both th stry of the Int or and A.a.A. (Britiah lt1HD.t)

and th neoeasary permit tor r-,patri&tion ot the.ae people to .A.uatri

by ~th thea uthoritiee. Thia oxma on waa cabled o ShanBlld.· The aleati!Mt

still under consideration by tbeao two Autboriti◄

W•

tuture.

sured th t the ermita far theao u;pa will be iaaued the · diate.

. . • Lindaay oonferr with re-preaent t1v • o the P •• and D • • Div1a:1on ot

A •• di cu.a od the lcma delay ling ent.r;y pend ta to

Au tria for .,he uatrian nation.ala -.1.ting r91>ati"iat:lon tran ~ and Palestine.

ibaeqµent oo:n:f'eren s b ._. th vari cliviaio of .O • (1'ritiah ~lement)

noonied evolve

ti for ~ tri tion and the future auoh pplloatiOWI

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A d1r ot reault of the•• intervift'IJ and the funotionin.g of tho new

by .A..O.A. (British Elcent) of' th l

pumit for the ti.rat. •ul:a1t'M4 liat of 8bangba1 repa:triatea. 'rhe second Shanghai

liat is now being p~•••d and tran enquirie■ n have made should be ocmpleted

w1 thin the nut rw ~•· )Ir. 1.Jndp.y ma.ct. unauooeaatul. efforts to trw the wherea.bouta of the

Paleatine list aul:m1tud to A.O • (British lcent) lut 91>tember. In an effort

to expe<lite tho granting of th• permit £or thia group, a nn liat waa p~ared

· an4 re-sulmi tted, and ia now being prooeaaed acoorcli.n.g to the plan reoently evolved

by A.O.A. (Br:1.t1ah Blaent) and good progreaa :I.a ~orted.

In an internn between Mr. Lin4a~ and the EU:!ldei:Jm:IJll;a:wri.la tar Inmrea

it waa cleoided that two repr aatativ a fran the Palestine s.botild be

-authorised by tho trian Qovenaent to deoi<le the ola"ms to Auatrian nationality

ot those peopl :traiting nrpatrio.tion to Austria. Thia inf'omation waa cabled to

ed1ately aoted upqn. .rhe namea of thoae aeleotees have been reoeived

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• >tIJ"~Jll.'.lll'.ED NA..'.111.'JlONS R.li8][,]1[]8JIF A.ND JRJl8]ll_ll[A..:UJl[Jlr,Jl['.llfA..'.llf]l[ ON A..D.1"\.][N][§'.ll('JR.A.'lli']l[ON

.A.lITS'.BC":H.]l[AN ~ISS]l[ON

CJIE,N'.llf:JRA ][, Jlll[]8A..DQU A JR TJl8lR.S

V]l[JIS:l"ifN A, A.. U~']L':DRt]l[.A.

<

Ref. Re.21 zt November, 1946. 1 ~ liDEKOPLATZ

T:Jl:o:LEPHONEI U 4,&560

To

Subject:

Chief el.fare Officer, Welfare & Repatriation Division.

October Monthly Parrative Report - Repatriation Section.

1. Repatriation Plans.

During October, plans to intensify the encouragement of repatriation were formulated and are now being implemented. lul administrative order stating the steps to be taken with this aim in view was issued, and an in­tensive effort to carry these out will be launched in all camps, particu­larly Polish. Liter ture, photographs, and films will be featured in this repatriation drive and due emphasis on the 60-day ration scheme will be given. The Polish .Iilitary Mission and the Polish Red Cross have ex­pressed their willingness to cooperate in this effort and are already lend­ing valuable assistan:::e. Posters for exhibition in the Polish camps have been produced and have been designed to answer some of the more common queries in the minds of potential Polish repatriates. These posters will be used in connection with an exhibition of pictures of Polish transports, reconstruction in Poland, etc.

Conferen:::es were held with the Polish Military Mission., Polish Red Cross, Army authorities, and UNRRA Welfare Officers. Repatriation policy and problems af'fecting its successful implementation were discussed and. recommenia.tions for the removal of handicaps prejudicial to the encourage­ment of repatriation were ma.de to the authorities comerned. A du-ect result of these conferences was a cabled intimation from the 3rd U.S. Army in Germaey, stating:

"Reference your cable P 4770. Thu-d US Army policy is as follows: In addition to the normal reserve travel ration for each person repatriates will be pennitted to take all belongings which are proved to be their personal property except items prohibited by military government to exit GERMANY, items too bulky to carry such as furniture, machinery and vehicles, articles of' a nature and in a quantity indicating black market activity and violation of' security regulations. Possession of all items of property of US origin such as chocolate, cigarettes, Army unierwear and any other items distributed by IB\1RRA will not be challenged by border guards if issue to repatriates is verif'ied by UNRRA officials. It is recommended that UNRRA officials accompany searching de­tails at the border for purpose of identifying goods issued by UNRRA. US Cons ta bl.lacy is being notified of this policy. 11

A request that transports be supplied with heating facilities prior to the date decided upon by the U.S • .Army, viz. 1st November, was also granted.

2. Visit of :Mr. Berger of the Polish Mission re Repatriation.

The Chief Repatriation & Welfare Officer of the Polish Mission (1.Ir. Berger) visited Vienna, and during his short stay was able to be present

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at the conf'ere:r:ces held in connection with Polish repatriation. He also accompanied Er. Lindsay on an official visit to Hellbrunn Camp, where re­patriation policy and problems were discussed wi fa the Director. The barracks leaders at Hellbrunn were addressed on the conditions and pros­pects in Poland for returning repatriates.

}1iss \ arner - Assistant Repatr:ation Officer.

Liss 'arner commenced her duties as • ssistant Repatriation Officer. She is devoting special attention to the coordination of repatriation movements. She has visited Klage:nfUrt, Salzburg, and Linz, and has consulted the Army and U1'1RRA authorities at these qentres in connection vl'ith this work. At present, ¥.d.ss arner is accompanying a transport to Poland to experience personally the difficulties and problems eooountered.

Screening Team.

' The Screening Team, under the direction of Doctor Alexander Bedo, has been working in the ]'rench Zone at Kufstein and at Landeck where the screen­ing is now finished. There is still considerable worlc to be done in the US Zone. All ineligible displaced persons have been removed from. sten where the screening was completed some weeks ago and a number of Polish dis­placed persons have been move~ in. During October, the screening of Parsch, White Russian Camp, was completed, an::l recommendations for the exclusion of ineligibles have been made to the U.S. Army authorities. The work of screening is greatly retarded due · t.o t..½.e lack of personnel. Doc t.or Bedo has strongly recommended appointment of more personnel for this work.

5. Repatriation Transnorts.

On 10th October, a transport left Wels, US Zone, with 400 Polish re­patriates. At Salzburg 250 more repatriates joined this transport. This train was accompanied by iss Evelyn Harnett, Welfare Officer, and :Miss Van Styk, UNRRA Nurse. Another transport left Villach for Poland on 29th Oc­tober with / 3 7 repatriates from Italy 1 and ,3 .f' 't from the British Zone of Austria.

6. Greek Repatriates

As a result of numerous unsuccessful efforts to have the Greek Liaison Officer in Vienna comply with the instructions of processing Greek repatri­ates issued by ERO, l~. Lindsay visited Prague an::l conferred with the Greek Charge d'Affaires who was very cooperative and decided to send the Secretary t.o the Legation to screen all Greeks in ustria and to arrange transit visas through Italy and entrance visas to Greece for all those de­siring repatriation. This official arrived in Vienna on Hon::lay, 28th Oc­tober, and began screening in Vienna. Together with llrs. Mitchell, U:NRRA Welfare Officer, and the Greek Liaison Officer, he left Vienna by car to con­tinue screening at Graz, Klagen:furt, and Kleinmtlnchen near Linz. Upon com­pletion of this screening, negotiations will be instituted with the .'-1.rmy authorities for the transport of these people to Greece.

7. Shanghai and Palestinian Groups - Plans for Repatriation

• The delay in finalizing the plans :for the repatriation of Sh~ai and Palestinian Austrian persecutees has been occasioned by the fact that the necessary permit :for their entry into Austria has not yet been approved.

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An assurance has been given that this official notification of approval would be sent to us in the immediate future. The granting of the ACC permit for the Palestinian group is expected to follow closely on that f or the Shanghai group.

TJL/MGN

~ ~- ~ -~. ·- I ) JAff.F.S LINDS.~Y, Repatriation Officer.

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UKRRA C:Bl'TTRAL HEADQUJ.R~ERS FOR G;~m:IANY.

18 Septe,:.ber:, 1~46.

SlJBJECT:

The offer of tho British, French o.nd U.S. Governments that on or after 1 Octob,::r for a ?eriorl of three months, 60 clays food ra.:tion would be given i,1 :;.::-ola:ti.d to repatriating Polish DPs from Germany, is novr firm.

Combined plo.ns to make this offer effective have been d.iscusse<l in a conference held by Chief of Mission, UNRRA Germany at Arolsen on 1.3 anC.:.. 14 se,;itenber ancl a.ttendecl by rc:presents.tives from USFE'I' , British Control Conunissi9n for Germ1.~1y, the Polish Government, Polish .M:i.~sio,1 to Berlin, UNHIM. :iviissiou to 1-bland, U. S,, British ~.nd French u1iRRA Z Jnes in Germany, and E. R. 0. Telegrom 2969 of 29 August from U1-TRP..A :c~ .n.o. outlining the operating pr.ocecluro in coru7.ection ·with this scheme to be adopted by the respective UNRRA Chiefs of Hissions in Gcrrn2ny 1:1nd in Poland w-as issued to all concerned, ta,q.cthcr ,;-rHh Progress Re,?ort :No.4 ,c.ncl letter to C.n.Q, of 21 August.

2. The object of this instruction is to record the

3.

alterations in :>lmmin"J. which i.·r0re determined s.t the Arolsen Conference of 13/lL~ Sc:)tcmbcr, a.;_1~ to reca)i tulatc. the timing of the actions which ti:1e ve.rious ~uthoritius ro_;i rcsentcd c:..t the confeic,ace agreed should t;c1.k~ :;ilaoc to ena1)lc cxccutio1;. of the, comr..1on plun.

The follo· inr; in'ov e:s c:,rc nrrD.ngccl :-

i. COl-:TAn;:;BG . . the following 'ilill be l.itov,.xl b y air to both Lub-ccjZ~·.rn.: ':!arsav: (Dj icdzicc) as i:uitial rcsc1ve to ~\rrive bcbrccn 18 and 23 So:;:,tcm~)v r;

to vach - first fhght - grc2.sc:proof p2.pe;r 4-lb paper bags 61b n 11

cord - yards

to each - second flight -paper sacks

20,000 60,000 15.,000 17,500

1,875

cwt 4.4

13.2 6.6 7,5

31,7

30 C'irt

ii. The following will be loaded on ship in U. K, 21 September for UNI:J,.A B.S.D. Hamburg, m~.rked P.R.S,

. iii.

iv.

greaseproof paper 41b paper bags 61b 11

· 11

Corel. Sana. bags . paper sacks

60,000 sheets 380,000 bags 30,000 II

140,000 yards 200 1000 bags 36,250

Addi tioncJ_ rcquirern.mts mus·i; be notificcl tc E. R. 0. by CHQ early in Oct0be1· according to stlcct;)ss of sche;nc.

A smp.11 sh;i;1, to tro.:;.1s,1?ort _ 250 tons of food each trip has been ch2.r t-.] rcd 1.:;~r r;iR.:)_. to be rc.:,c1i tu load a t Lubecl: on 21 Sept. a r:i:'iving Stettin. ::·.;_);?roximatcly 26 Sc·i;it(;;nbcr, mid rctun1i11.;'), to re;?e;o.t. the i,10•.rcr.1cnt until I"iri ti.sh Zona ship "Soa ~aglc " is in o:9cr;;,.tio~1. .as expected Lt b0;iL1nin:; of OctulJq·,

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v. E .R.C. is forvmrcling ;.--.. oticc of :::-.11 g.rDs to Arolsen rci1CD.tcd Wa~r·so..i.v.

b. g_.II.Q.

i. ~-:crsoi1r:0l: ----··- ·· s~9pl~/ Officers for Stcttii1 ai.1d D.jicdzicc o.rri ··v~d- i1.1. Y1c..rsz:\r ~;-,I ciii.,... 15 arc l 0c.vii1g Arolsc.1 by roe.cl. Stdtin .. '-.icd Djicdzicc 19 or

Se1,..,tc1.j1;)-....;r. Sup~)ly Tcc:uns on 18 S,: tcL1bcr 'en th ET.A 20 Sc;)tcLi'olJr. 19 &rivers

~'.n .. i:.-.cluuu\ vn i;h ·c,~c_lms but um-rn.A. ifiosion to f blo.ncl i s i;.) r'"pl·:.cc ·chcsc , ,.;hi.,n::uJ,U ctrlv0rs ·Jill "bo rctun1.:cd

to C~I0~

ii. Vi_s~--~ o.r:., -~,.; i::.1:_:; ')btaincd .1.n }J(,;::i: lin oy Bri:> Genc r2.l V- .L',.lCycr, 1Ji,:1w~i. D~ C. ~~. !) J~L;1--lir1~

iii. r-ublici ty i$ bc.:,ing coordin.:;:,t c:l :, i; CI-IQ with a view· to gc·ncnl1;elco.sc 011 27 Sc0tcmbcr. CHO Pu'olic Information ,. " roprcsc .. s-~o.tivc [.rrivcd. o.t Wc.rs&'.7 by o:tir 15 Scpte;-,1bcr to collect .J?oli.sh G-uvcrnr,1cnt dcch~r ['.tion which will be prL1tccl il'l G6nl[,'.i:..:, imr,;c:di:.:.tC;ly on his return. Zonos '.Till be ~10tificd of firc1 a_Qtc; for j_)U~blici ty release.

CRQ }ublic Infon:1c...tion offic0 will provide advance copies of proclo.r:12.tions, b.i.11:s a:,icl posters for USY.E'.i' a.;1.d CCG c.na. v,rill orri:>J.-1ge: for distribution to Zone;s ond throw;:,h thi.,m to ']\.,ar:u:; b,.,forc general r e lease date.

iv. Su;opl y - Su·i?:PlY fl: rr~.i1s·;;iort Di visim1 vvill arrc.nge to lift c ont'.:l i i.1\., rs E.rriving f rom U. E. D.t Homburg on 27 Scptcmb<,.,r to Lubeck for Ui'TRRA .. ,arc:;housc o.:nd shi;_)mont, nnd to Ho.no.u f c, r :.:.-sF:i:':' whe, ·,.'ill c..rn:mgc earliest on;;rr,rc1 trc·.ns-1n.issi•':1 ,.-.rith D•) traii1s.

c. lJ1il\}c-~ Zen.cs. ---·----i. .. ell thr c u:tm .. P .. ,i_ Zones will cbto.in fro,;1 th"' ?000. Su·:;iplying

;_,,uthori·dcs bri0:f L1s·cnlctions ,)n the us<.J > method of coo:;::i .. 1g o.nd )"- c c :mtions neccss:H'Y f,Jr proserv2.tion of fooc1 ito,,1s. The:::;,..; ii.1:c:tructions ,,vill then be tro..nsl:i.tcd .i.nto Polish [.ncl :n·in-Gcd ( or duplica"ct.:d) by Zones on l o,flci:;s which sl",ouJ.c'. be fon,2.rclcc: i ,-ith Zone food su~nli-..::,; for Polm-1cl, ::.nd r:.lso displ~,ycd in c nrnps .

ii. All thri.,c Ul:RR,\. zo;_1cs will hn.vc printed in Polish the food cli[i,ibili ty cc::rtificatc ,-:s sho.m in 1i?P.CHDIX :S >

nhich nL J_ be i::;sucd. to each Polish DP rc9.:i.tri<:tii1g o.f-tc:r l Octoo,;r. Thvsc shoulC. b<..: numbered consecutively, ~--u1d, if :?0ss:...;J l 1., e-.. ch 1 , 000 in o. different colour, a:nci forrrr-.ro.s:d co cntrc-.inmcnt centres .

iii. All thr..;c- 'UN11Ri). Zone;s will inform UliPJU .. teams of the 60 day plm1 lx;foro gcnoro.l publicity rcl ~ase dn.tc -27 ::;0rJtemb c- r .

iv. All' thre e 1JNRRA Zones '.;ill c1sure v::.,ry close· contact with Pc,1lish li ':, isor1 officers in connection v:ith the 60 day plc.n, ::.nd ,.-.rill ;::.rr ::.,.11g,c th,:.t c.11 DFs rcp21.trin.t i ng undi.,r the pl2.;1 ::re authorizt:c1 to loc.vc by the respective lL-.ison officer.

v . All thr-,.c IBTRRA Zones vlill orgr..niz<.; <4 Polish Ro!)[,trL"ttion Con'lnittc.e: in rmy crc1np where there ::.r8 Polish DPs .

vi. jJl thr0c lLRR.:~ Zonc-s -vnll c.rrru.1.go for r.'.n oxhibi tion ( c.s fror.1 27 Sc:;:it o1:,bo r-, the d:,tc of offici2.l publicity

•

-

•, 't - .....

-3-

rclc::..se) at ottch cnmp where there may be r-olish DPs, of the offi9i2.l Polish Government dccln.r2..tion and of oth0r posters, hL\ndbills and photogr~'.lhs to be issued in c,-, .:1cction ,frith the c" schemo, and 8.lso of nu cx~mple of t:.~ :::,ctual rn.ticm as vrill be c,,iv-:..11 in R:lltnd ( ser..; _(T3...:r2;wIX B for U. s. and Frvnch Zoz-..cs . o.nd ~ ,:1~.it Cf OJ~~-Br:i. tish Zone). These c::hibitions should be guf'.rd0d D.gainst thcf·c. Th" rr.hons shc,uld show c\ _tYJ:) ic::.l re.ti on for c.n inci i ·vidut.l, c.::icl a typicc.l ro.tion for r-. fruriily of foar·,. '._ i.e. four r:-,.tions adclcd tog,Tchcr). ~:he:: :cn.cio1is mty bo obt :-, inoc1 from ;:1orn,~1 c :-:n;;, su:.?)lY pui:.1-t s on rcg_nest.

vii, JTI\!11t._V.• 2!...~~ will mc-.i:.Tc0.i11. close; lictison ,;r:i_ th liSFE'r through?ut the o~)c:r.'.'.tior~ of -~ h€: sch.:;I':'.O.

vlii. . t1liRH.L.Br"l tish Zo:..10 vlill .. •-,..- --.. -.. _ ..... --(n.) m2:.inttln : .0,we lio.ison 'ilith P.'!/D? ancl t,(1od &

Agriculture DiYisions of C.C.G.

(b) c.ccc·p-t nece3sr~:cy 0.uo.nti t1.c6 · of r c.tions in bulk 2.t 62G Yforchc•uso, Lubeck, ;.-,.d ::-.rr::.u1gs:; for their gur~rc7.in[~ m1.d. l,~bour for :;_:.orter=,.g,c to ship for Stettin.

( c) · sec t hat a sufficient r e serve of ratio:.1s is L, ·hund ::-.t Sto·~ tin throughout th-:; opcrc.tion us comp:u-ed vri 0h the flow· of DPs.

ix. illffiRA i':n,ti.ch Zone ·will -------------( ::-.) no.int~.in close linisoE with DP c.ncl Supply Divisions

;f Fr:.;;.1ch Zone Co.11.tr:)l Head.quo.rt .:rs at Br.den Bo.den.

(b) 0;.: ra:..1gc with Fr(.;nch Zrn.1c authorities to forvmrd to Djicdzicc by s-pc.ci;:l tr:..::in sufficient ro.tions f ur 60 dnys for 2,000 porso:.J..S as a re;;servc, to l ec.vc French z ,)1F, not lP..'ccr th~.n 23 September, mi.cl to forw::.~rd rc.;;1lc11:i.s:11nc.:1ts with tn·.ins leaving after 1 Oct,,bcr cC\.I'r;in'-£ ff's .

a. USii'BT is n.rra.11.ging for th<.: follmving : -

i. to dcsp::--.tch D. spc-ciol tn:in wit!-1 a reserve of rations fer 10, 000 D2s for 60 days ci1d ;;. 1orn of 50 , 000 sn.cks to arri vc 2.t :::)ji(.;dzicc on 25 .or 26 SoptfJmber, ,rhcre :l.-c is to be unJ.02..clcd w.L thiE three do.ys by UNRRA Supply Dct:_1-cru,1,mt.

ii to coutinuc the. )resent tr~vel r::,.tions with each D::? 9lus suff:1.cic;·,t for subsequent journey in Pol0lld,

· iii. to ar:r..'r.,ng_c ,-ride ~~ublici ty for · the scheme in collaborn.­- tion with 1.ITifHP.!. f\.iblic Luorr.w.tion ;:md. i:o.cluding a s ·~c:i:dncnt by G0neral. Ji/4:cNarncy!

e. BR1:T1S~I ZOlt2 C, C.G.ha s bo,:.;n :rn:C(.;C:. -

i . to prnvidc n.tio,1s as required by :f'lo-ir of DPs at Lubeck DlfRil.A 7Tarchousc ,.-,Hh -the first resorvo of 250 tons ~-:;y 20 S(:rptcmbe;;r. · · · ·

.. : ii. to a:..rru.1.ge for sufficient tr::-.ins ond ships to lift up

to 10 , 000 DF's Yle;to lclJ ~

- 4 -

iii. to c~ rry fo:c-:dard fro,n October omrards replenishing r0.ti..,:,1s . from Lub0c1': to Stettin on the 11 Sca ED-gle" or othc r ships, y;h<;rot1:1on the Ul!Rl~i'.. ch2.rtcrcd. ship \.-ill cor.s .::; its joun1cys.

i. As fin::-.1 £.uthori t;1 for ·cl1c, 60 clo..y :pln.n ,;ras only obtc.inca. i11 Faris ,_..n 12 Su,?"~c1;1bcr, it Yv<1s uot :possiblo t,_; invite a rc:..,rcsent[--.tivo 0f th3 Frcnc~1 o.utho,i ties to th..: rcce;nt confcr011cc.

ii. UNi.lli.A. French Zone were ,honcvcr ~ rcprcscmtcd J.nd P.11 ncccss:-.ry plcnning is to be 2.rro.ngcd by thorn cliroctly with the f'r011ch ;~.u-thOI i tics o:L Baden Bo.den on tho gt)norn.l lines T)rc'fi01.lsly discussed there by Colonel Pletcher and General d\!.: Mo.rguorictcs dit Lizc,

i. plo . .ns for c.11 AG.t--:iinistrr.d;i ,:-in of the Su1?ply Dct;:,.chm;;,nt 2.t Stettii1 :·Tid Dj :~oc1zicc, inclua.ing :provision of accomrnod2..tion P 1.:-x, I'olish ;nor-.. .:;:.r for subsistence, r.,tc.

ii. provision of ::.1.ccus2.:i.r_, cq_u:i..:pmcnt c,ncl 12.1:>our 2.t each dc3;,ot i;-1. co11jw1ctic-:1 ·.-..-i th P0lish Gov1.Jn1..:1cnt c.nc1

P.U,R,

iii. ?r0visi,J;·1 of pct ml, oils .mcl r.::·Jdrs for UNRRA. v chicl;.::s wi. th &t;:J)l~l Dcto.croacnts,

iv. rcyl -·.cc:.:1oi1.t c,f Cl,"-.ss I drivc:cs (with Cl.'.'..ss II :personnel ai."1.cl n··turn of fonK.r to C.H. Q)

~ .-, ) , .. b)

(c)

(u)

(e)

necessc,ry visc.s; dcclo.n:,tion rcquj_rcd for :publicity; a.-.. s?c.tch of highly placed representn.ti vcs, possibly PriCTc r.u:;.1.ist0r, to tour Polish reception centres in Gcrmc.ny at end of September; prcvc:11"cion of blc..ck mo.rkot in 60 day ration, p2.rticul2.rly s.t Stettin and Djicdzicc and at raihr:::,y centres through vlhich D?s may tr::cvel; use of films for publicity 1.u.1011.g Polish DPs,

vi. R,,ception of ~,dvr.:mcc contl:'.in(;rs at Warsaw airfield on 20 anci. 23 Scpt0mbcr and omrard despatch to Dji'--dzicc.

vii.

viii

4. _COORDI1lATIOli,

Tnmsfer froL~ DjiGd.zice to Stettin o.fter 25 Saptcmbcr of 20,000 sc-.clrn l oCJ.1.cd by USFET,

Provision and supervision of supply accow.1ting regulations for SU:p9ly Dcto.chrn.cnts ( sc~· .1-\f'PENDIX F •• )

o.. Mr.-Edwo.rc1 A. Ro::i.ch, Executive .A:ssistc.h-c to the Chief of 0-_)e r :.:ctions; ~rr-.1~'-i1.y , t.t ~'i.rol0cn ~ ·will serve c.s coordirw.tor

of' the cnti:..·-.; :_Jr·e.?,l'CcI'.l

b, Lt.Col, l.J:orl,,J l 11L: tch c;.~ h~-s oc:c11 ::-. ·poin.te:d to the stc.ff of Chief of 0°>:)rations, G:,;n:1£~~::r, ;·.s spucic-.1 .::,ssistc.nt in

cJrn-;ccti0~1 vi·i;l1 th:- ::;il c.n,

, '

- 5 .. -c. Ul'{~-illA Zo:.:w Coordinc.tors D.ro f'.S follows :-

1. "[f o i3 . z ~)l'lC

ii, British Z0n.:; Cc,l. R. rr. P . Do.wscn.

• -,.ppond.i x A Schedule: cf -.::fr1i ng of o.ction .

II B U. s. Zo;.10 Go "lc.y rc.tic-::s ) ;;-.t Djioddce. French Zcj:1_0 "

11 )

" C British ~~om; .So rfay r ~. tions G.t Stettin

It D

11 r ..!, Bi:1titleiacnt voucher ,

ll F .lccouuting instructions,

,/1,,, ~ /:-0 ./. { r.l.- C ': ·'--- - ( .r ~-1.J. . l--~-

MY~R COI-illr{ Actir:g Chief of C:90, ·2..t::.on.3 , wr.·:1any.

.~-

-TWO MONTHS POLISI-i l=?.: p_~..,RL.TICH ILTIOf: YL.:J,f -•--·-------- ···•·----- ........ - . ·- . -~-......... • ·- - - --·--

1. T · . .RCL'l' D.'.TJ~S for ,;ntirc ,?ll'.n 1 Octob.:.;r to 31 Dc·cembcr,-1/4

4-

c .• By -

This L'-??li(_s to Polish rn.·.s ii, G,.;nn2l1.y offici~ lly rcp::.:.tri_."~-~.1.:_:. i.J:1 tr:::.ii~ ur ship bchrcc,1 thctic do.tcs

27 Sept. 1946,

GTETTil'T DJIEDZICE Su~~ly Gificurs £'rrivc 17 or 18 Sept. 17 or 18 Sept.

20 Sept. 21 Sept.

8-ir

rriority I fli .s,ht arrive T,UBECK 18 or 19 Sept. II I " n i7 ii.RS~l:'.1! 20 Sept.

Pri::irity II Ii n LUB~C:~ 18 or 20 Sept II II " II Wi..RS~.?i 23 Sept.

:!?..• S.J.ck:s 50,000 . .u. S, Lo ... '.l"l. arrive, DJIEDZICE 25 or 26 SCt) t.

(20, 0CC t ... be moved. tt.1 STK:.'·~r.:·r fr ..)fa DJI::3DZICE)

C. n'y sea frcrn U. I(.

Lo~a. 'Cilbury ss:-.il

Arri vc Hn::B1JRG

. . . . ' . • .. • • .. f • . I: ••

21 Sept. 23 Supt

26 or 27 Sept.

(for ·i;rc1:.i:r::iortr-:ci0n by C.EJ}. -. 50,., to LUB:CK, 50';; to .H..u.-:'AU

5. FOOD S'G?PLI:..:S. DJIEDZICE

U.S. : 430 tons for 10,000 DPs to arrive - to b0 unlo~,clcd by 25 or 26 Sept. 28 ,~r 29 Scp-'c.

French 70 tons f or 2,000 DPs to lc::..ve before 23 Sopt. t o arrive 29 or 30 Sept.

British: 250 teas :for 8,500 l)P.d to c.rrivc LUBT.:CK to las.cl ship to arri v-c ST:ST'i'IE

-------------------

21 Sept. 21 Sept 26 Sept.

SUBJECT:

SERIES:

U .H ,rt,R. A. AUSTRIJJI MISSION

OLlfTRAL IIEADQUAR'I.'ERS

Action to Encourage and Effect Repatriation.

Austrian Mil3sion

11.DHil'f ORDER NO . 2 40

Vienna ., 29 October 1946 .

To encourage and effect the repatriation of all displaced persons in UNRRJ:.. assembly centres at the earliest possible moment; to coordinate and combine the: eff'orb:: of personnel of the ffi\TRRA Mission in behalf of re­p atriation .

'l'he object in mind is to repatriate and restore to useful and productive lives in tho ir home lands as many displaced persons as possible . The Austrian I\·Iission I s dis1_1laced persons operation has b een ins trumcntal in repatriating thousands of D? 1s, but increased efforts must be made in order to send home every dis:rilaced ~rson who cPn be induced to retur.n v1ithin the next few months,

2 . Authority

Resolution No . 99 of the Pifth Council stresse::,. the importano• of expediting the re-pntr:Lc.tion of the .sredest posd.ble nwnber of displaced persons to their countries c;if origin, 'l'he Council lw.s emphasized its policy that tbe Administration faci litate the dis::::;emine.tion of information to diEpJ.D.ccd perr.·ons; establish contr:i.ct betvreen displaced persons and liaison officers of their home Governn1811.ts; fEcilitate free communication bctwee:1 D::? 1 s w1d their friends Lncl rcltcltives at home; and otherwise effect repatri::tion, Our efforts are i!lucle in full consulh,tion with the occu=iying authori tics nncl the Governments concerned. The me.in task of lJI.IRR •• is tu cn­cournge and '.'ssist in the 0arly return of displaced ;;crsons to their home-lands. Their mainten;..nce in [..Ssemb ly ccn tres is purely a teJnporary mec..surc .

3 . Fro cedurc

In order to imple1:10nt this policy, and further s t:imulate r epatri-ation, the followmg cction will be tDkon by this Mission. This direc-tive is published ·with et vier to intensifying steps previously ini ti.ated QJld t&king addit ional ::..ction ,,hich ,;fill bring about more effective results .

a . Open a chc..nnel of direct mail communication betveen DP ' s and their f01nilies a.t home . This \ ✓ill assure them ths.t they are not cut off from their home ountry. The receipt of letters from friena.s and relo.tives will contribute much to a feeling of con­fidence in the homeland.

b . .Print 8Ilcl distribute 8xtn,.cts frora letters received from returned DP 1s or post some sud1 letters on accessible bulletin boards .

c . A grenter effort ',iill be made to flssist DP 1s to contact relr·tives Lt home . The addresses of the Red Cross Offices throughout the ho:-1t- country of the DP's shoula. be displE>yed on n le rgc pos tor inviting t}, e people to contact the office in tru district "i,herc their reldi ves were J.as t k:no-,m to re-side, 1'\n.f Govcn111ent agency cxistine for this pUXJJose in Poland (The Nationrl Tracing Bu.re,u) or Jugosla.vin should i:.lso be employed , ·

- 7 ' '

- 2 -

d. Fo.cilito.te the Ylork of Missions from the homelD.nd of DP's. Encournge DP's to sec members of such missions nnd discuss the present conditions in their homeland.

e . Underto.ke D. vigorous compo..ign to supply facts to the DP's 80ncerning their homeland:

(1) This could be o.ided by a series of posters, each one devoted to 11 question Md answer , nnd displayed :in crunp mess-ho.11 or other suitable place where the people .·cmgre­gate , UiiRRA teorn members can supply the questions, and the ansvrers can be obto.incd from the respective military missions in J.ustria.

(2) .A,_7. exhibition of photographs showing life nt home today sLould be organized nlori..g the l:ines of CT1 1\rt Show. Photo•• graphs should be interspersed vrith :informc.tive posters.

(3) Obtcin and dfatribute leaflets and pamphlets describ:ing pres t:;n t conditions in home countries , includ:ing employment , housing, education, Yrelfare , religion, agrarian reform, r0-training opportunities, vo co.tionc.l field , socic.l legis­lation , fine.nee, o.ncl other matters ,

(4) Obtain 8.Yld distribute ne-rmpo..pers from home countries. ThiG provides displaced pers on::o -.rith lo.test infonnat ion con­cerning events in their homc:lo.nd , including ncvs of their mm particular localities . It Hill assist in bridg:ing tho gap which divides them from their homelnnd.

(5) Radio broudcn.sts frori1 home countries should be made o.vailn. ble ~o DP 1 s. These should :include musico..l nnd enter-tairm,en t feo.tures interspersed \.ith trtlks on economic o.nd social reconstruction, c111d intervieYvS ,1ith returned DP' s .

(6) Films depicting prost.:nt life in home countries will bo obtn.ined vhen o..vail.:1ble o..nd to.ken on a tour of DP assembly c1.mt:..~es, Movies show:ing reconstruction ill1.d development of the ccvntry Hi ll be useful in o.iding repo.trin.tion . A film just completed by this :Mission fol l ows a fr.unily from UNRRA assembly cent.re movement on the tr,LDsport , and numerous in­ciden,cs occurring until they actually reached their home .

(7) Arro.ngc a Sl;rfos of rourn1 table sessions Yrith barracks leaders mid other :intercs ted DP ' s, n t Hhich UNRRA porsonne 1 ,rho have visited Po lmd and nre knmm to the DP ' s can load discussions on repatriDtion.

f, Return movement to homes -

(1) Hake a final c::mvass of D? 's :im-nedie.tely prior to de­parture of transports for their home country , to givu them furthur opportunity to return. This has proved effective .

(2) r.Io.ke ev.::ry effort to :provide adequate trans:i.c:nt staging centres. These should be adjo.cent to or have transport -ati.on lines c2.sily accessible. Housing facilities should be so..tisfnctory, other-.. ·ise other ropatric.tion efforts may be nullified.

-3. f .

- 3 -

(3) Improve conditions of transports for return movements .

(4) Members of the UHRRA staff will continue to accompany +;ransports of returning displaced persons . '.rhis will normally incluuc a welfare officer , a medical officer, and a nurse" UHRRA personnel will submit full reports con­cerni nz the convoys, including recommendations for improve­ments in conducting future similar movements .

(5) Publicize arldi tior.a.l privileges for those returning to their ho!nes , such as priority for clothi ng .

(6) I n the case of DP's from Poland, give thorough pub­J.ici ty to the additional 60-day food allowance for those rotlLc~ning to their homeland .

g . Strict implementation of Army policy of enforcing the appli ­cation of .i-,.ustrian Labor L.'.lws . Otherwise , DP' s may find the comparatively easy life in U:NRRA assembly centers more attractive t::-ian the prospect of the condit i ons vrhich they imagine are await ­ing them at home .

h, The i mplementing of n. vigilant supervision of camp newspapers to prever:.t ::,1,;.btle anti- repatriation propaganda .

i , Discourage and prevent anti - repatriation propaganda from coming i,1to the camps from outside SOltrccs .

j , Set up in e:)_ch assembly center a DP comrni ttee termed "Liai son with th8 Home Country 11 or under some similar title , which will assist in stlmulu.tin[.; the urge to repatria.teo

k. Displaced persons and refugees, including elected or self­appointe,J leaders , who strive to influence adversely or prevent the repntrLation of other displaced persons and refugees, will "be remove<:l. to other UNRRA assembly centers where their efforts to prevent the repatriation qf other displaced persons and re ­fugees wiJ.l be mir..imized (ERO Order 40 E, 12 September 1946). The trn.nsfer of such persons and their families (unless frunilies do not desire to trn.nsfcr) will be promptly effected in cooperation ·with militn.ry authorities .

1, Insofar as practicable , plac9 nationalities in s eparate assembly centers .

m. Continued removal fro,:i UNhRA assembly centers of all persons ineligible fc.,r UNRRA assi.sto.nce and care . Screening for this purposC:' is r..cn.rini:; co:npletion,

n, Edncn.tional and vocationn.l o..ssisto..ncc will be ri1n.de availe .. ble on L'. temporary bnsis only.

o, Ad1nit -'.:0 displn.ced persons C1.ssembly centers only su~h voluntc..ry agency personnel as do not. discouro..ge repatriation.

··-- 4- -

4-. JJ.l UNRRA p ersonnel, whe ther o..t Centrn. l Headquarters, Zone ·Headqua r ter s or iii t h a sscnb ly c entre t eDL1S , who a r 8 en gD.gs.; d in any p a.rt of the displa ce d per sons opc.; r o.tions , uill givl; t he ir whole - hearted support, assistnnce , nn.d encouragement to this progr::unmc . .Any activitie s of UNRR.b. p ersonne l dis -couraging r epatria tion Yi:i.11 be r ep ortc:d to Centro.l Headquarters with o. view· t o r emova l of' such p er s onne l.

en. 2 and )J11. 4-

- ----

. . '/ l'j ) .'•;' ··; •'. .. ., ·7 1/ 1 / I ,· i " . /' ' ,.. ' I:

,,. ' .:' ., • ·/ ' {.: / ' / , / , / / J . • · t "' ··• / ' 1 · ' · / · ,.,-· . I I J __ I ,·

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r'(,1/ 'Ro H. ,.R, P.A.RMI NTER , Brigadi er, Chief ef UNRRA 1fission to Austria .

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7 November 1346

Deputy Chief of UNRRA Mission to Austria Colonel Charles S . Miller

Child Welfare Specialist , CHQ, Miss Aleta Brownlee

S·d.bject : Field Visit to Jugoslavia - October , 1946 . W/5

1 . Purpose of Visit :

The larg6st number of children of United Nations natio~ty who have been located in Austria t0 date are Jugoslavs , 1bst of them ar~ located in the B1·i tish Zone of Austria , There has been difficulty in s~ curing the cooperation of the British ttilitary Authorities to effect the repatriation of these children, The problem has centered largely about a gr oup of 49 Jugos.1.av boys at Ramsau in the care of the Ca tho lie Church whioh brought them to Austria as a N. S.V . School from Zagreb in October, 1944, , under the auspices of the German occupation authorities . The nationality of the children bas never been in question, but the British Military did question the quallty of care which might be provided fnr t hem in Jugoslavia . Although not c-:oncedin6 the right of the British Military to demand >ther in­formation than that :celating to the nationality of the children, it was thought b~r the Jugoslav Repatr,iation Office that it might be helpful if 1JNRRA Austria had recent information in regard to child care in Jugoslavia . At their request, the trip was made at a time.when 16 children whose parents had been · located in Jugosln.vin. wer,a ·being returned . ':.'hese were the first Jugoslav ichildren for whom mili t&ry Qlearunce had been received in' the British .'.:;one , except for fot:r crippled children and one feeble minded child . It was. not required that parents ·; ,3 located in these cases . It should be nqted that I was Child Welfare Specialist in Jugoslavia f):Jom April to October , 194-5, and as such somewhat familiar ·wlth their program. ·

2 . Gener&l ("qnclusions and Recmrunendations :

a . The general standard of care for rhildren who have no parents is gnod: and there is reason to believe it will steadily improve ,

b Jugoslavia has a government whi<h is purposeful and which is planning intelligently not only for economic recovery but also for a bett0r life for its people . Therefore, children who live with th8ir own families can be assured decent housing , education, and nc~>essary modi.cal care . Most important they will be given training for a useful life.

c . In view of those facts, there is no reason why all Jugoslav c:children in .tmstria should not be repatriated as quickly as possible . To prolong further their separation from their people and their country is cruel, and to accede to permanent separation condones German atrocity.

d. To this end I have recommended to the Repatriation Office of FPR of Jugoslavia in Vienna that they should consider establishing

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reception carp in Zagreb, that thP, children should be sent there as soon as tbeir documentation establishes nationality and that tracing of relatives will be done more expeditiously within Jugoslavia than from Austria.

e . In order to assist in documentation, the Jugoslav Red Cross is prepared to execute c,n agreement with UHRPJ\. Austria whereby 6 Red Cross v,orkers will ~ie :nade available to worl: v,i. th UNRP>.A on the program of repatriation of children to Jugoslavia. A worker ' is now enroute to .:~us tria.

f . UNRRA Jugoslavia cnn assist the children 1s pro[;rDJn in the fol-lo.-ving ways which -;rere discu.ssed vri th :iiir . Sergeichik , Chief of j::Iis­sion.

( 1 ) There is illl.evenness in the quantity and quality of su2plies _which children 1s horn.es have . The government might be encour­aged to set a priority of availability for certain items of clothing, shoes , sheets .

(2) There is a certain amount of educational and play w~terial in each ho11ie , but .there is never enough . Private agencies could be encouraged to supply this , or it can nou be ;?urchased.

(3) Every ~ncouragement should he offered any request of the govern­ment fo.r special training of workers .

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3. B.sc,atriatiori of 16 Children and 2 Adults from LEOBEN :

,\.t about 9:30 A, ir., September 27th, the 1G children and two adults to- be repatr.iated. w.are ready, and all gathered in the dining ,room at Leoben for a morning tea before leaving , composed of bread and butLer, salami, eggs and cocoa. The ambulance and truck Y.-ere loaded Y,i th their bar.gage and shortly after 10 A. L ,;ere o.:·r, amid farevrells fro-J those remaining. Several of the children ·who have no par,mts j_nc:uired -.,hy they cou:;_a. not go also . ThE; group y;as accompanied by .irs , Klok and ~!iss D2.vis, -;-:clfnre Officers, and two nurse maids for tho srnaller children. Two hours later Yve n~ached the border, first Austrian, then Dri tish, and then Ju.gos lav ·vrhere the children had a, picnic . The Britis.h authorities notified the Jur,oslavs of ou.r arrival . They tele:yhoned 1-laribor and told llZ the Jt:~~~oslc,v tre.ns·;1ort ·, .-ould a :rive no lr ter than 3 P . 11. ,,hich it did. It was a .'il1l, lLrge sight-se e ing bus, ,and brou~;ht 6 Red Cross and ~'!elfare stai'f members, and an interpreter for me since thcJ had been in­formed that I Yrould accon_rF.illy' ~he children.

A doctor ·.10..s in charge and as 11rs Klok gave him the indivic:.ual records , he talked briefly to each child. The l)arti;:;an guard ·,rho stood by was interested and also talked to the children. When the children had all been seen, he sign,d a receipt f:Jr the list and the UI-J''.R.A Austrian staff told them goodbye . They all looked a little sole.mn as vm left but soon began to sing , except the sr.1all PROHASKA children .;.110 v1ere tired and cried. Since they had been at LEOBEN only a w0ek , a second fare-vrell and change 'iia.s more than they could bear. However, whe11 ·. ✓e arrived at the Children ' B Hone in Maribor , the i r pretty, young mother uas eagerly avaiting them. Sh0 had not seen Joha.nu since he Yras 9 days old ...-men the N. s. v. took him fror.1 her ..

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A general notification of the impending arrival of the chil-- · drcn had gone out but parents had not been told the ex.act- t:i.rne . Most of the children stayed ovor night at the Children I s Home, but by the next morning early all children ·whose homes -v10re in or near Naribor had gone home and on the noon train a ·worker ·.-ras taking 4 children t o Ljubljania and others had gone toYmrd Zagreb .

The Children ' s Home, ·:rhich is us<e!d as a receivi11g home, is one which was built before the ;c,ar for that special pur:oosc . It is a lc.rge -vvhite building 11ith :;:::leasnnt large grouhds and play areas . Inside, it is spotlessly clean with kalsonied walls, arrl cement or white scrubbed floors . 1fo ·;n,re taken i.ir.n1ediuiely to the dining-room where dinner ·:;as ready for us, a soup , bn.,ad and butter, vee.l cutlets , potatoes and vege­table and a~:ij.,lc kuchen. The long tc...ble vas set ,1ith a '.ihite cloth and there ·;rere enormous plntters of fruit, p8n.ches, pears , and grapes, pit­chers of raspberry juice, a ... 11d flo.-rers were scattered along the table . The children were vGry tir,..:d from all the excitement r..n:i were takc;.1 to rest immediately after l-ai-ing "\ihile I was shmm through the building. 'l'he dormitories are quite s;nall - 12 children i:a each .

The present popul& tion of the Home is 43 children aged 7-14. They a.re all full orphans. They ·;;ere in school, separated into 2 grou:,s ~ older and younger children, or ruther those more or lass advanced, as some ohler children have never been to school ht all during the war years . The tea­cher pointed out ono extremely pretty little girl of 14 from Trieste who had been working under Italian occupation in a factory and was just now starting in school. The school rooms ·were bright nnd pleasant Y,ith long tables and chairs rather than d0sks . The walls Y1er0 decorated vrith draw­ings wid poems written by th.:: children. They sang f or us and shovred ovi­d<::nce of good training . The school }-faster is a middle - aged man probably a teacher before the ,m.r , and he is assisted by 6 young men of about 18 or 20 ·11ho act c .. s supervisors as vnll as teachers . There is also a house mother or ;relf'are officer , a warm motherly person , and the kitchen staff is wel1. above the avera.ge. All are voluntary Red Cross v.orkers and the Home has bt,'Cn equipped b. the Red Cross.

Then ·.rG ·went to see a new home for babies and younger children , alse orphans , except that the mothers of a fcyr babies are working, and the fathers dead , This ,ro.r i'orme .rly a private home with a large garden but it is well adapted for the co.re of children since the rooms are quite large . It , too , w-as spotless :ls uere the children. There were new enamel cri bs and beds 1 the babies 'W're -rrhite sweaters indoors and ·warm blue coats and pants out of doors . (Gifts of American Red Cross) . ]'here was a sufficient staff of nurse maids, a separate nilk kitchen, isolation room, pla:,r rooms, and dining rooms Yrith red d1.ecked to.blc cloths vvi th beautiful ·,vhite Ei_;,:,plique animal figures on them~ (Jugoslav R8d Cross) . The children out of doors had an enclosed play yard, s':rings, sand box, etc. 'l'hc person in charge of this home is a )tlung kindergarten traim.:d tco.cher .

'l'hen Yre visited a babies I hos~,ital vmich is caring for about 100 babies , five in 00.ch room. There \iO.S a clinic in process vri th about 20 mothers o.nd babies tm re . 'l'his hospital is connected ·with, but apart from, a general hosp ital. The person in charee is a very :pleasant middle aged woman physici8Il . She served bo years in the woods with the Partisan A:rmy and on the wall of her office in this very modern hosp:i tal are pictures of the little log cabin in .-rhich she had operated and delivered babies during the vmr •

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There are also in ?:Iaribor a domestic science school for 160 girls, a student home for 140 boys and mapprentice 1s home for 80 boys.

1+. Plan of Work :

UNRR.A Jugoslavia had req_uested that I go immediately to Belgrade. Upon arrival there, I conferred with MICHAEL SERGEICHIK2 Chief of Mission, and Doctor Kenneth Sinclair Loutit, who is in charge of Health and Welfare including Repatriatio:'.1. I had with me the complete file in regard to the <"hildren at Ramsau as ,rell as a ca.rd file of nearly 400 children who had been reported as Jugoslav by the AustriDn authorities in the British Zone. They were .very much interested and Mr. Sergeichik said he would make re­q_uests for any travel I \1anted as soon as a plan was made with the Jugoslav auth6ri-ties. Doctor Loutit and I met with the Minister who is in charge of the Central Welfare Committee, Mr . LAZAREVIC, and with Mrs. Dedje~, who is responsible- for Child Welfare. We later met ,vi th Mrs. Nedelkovic, Secre­tary of the Jugoslav Red Cross , ,. and it ·was finally decided that I vrould make a trip through Bosnia ani Croatia, Mrs . Dedjer also wanted a request made for Montenegro~ which was done although we had no infonnation about children in Austria being from there.

I foun.d that the Red Cross has no Central Tracing Bureau , but that tracing is done in each of' the federal states, hovrever, we gave them the in­fonnation we hai in regard to the children and they intended to send lists of· the children to each federal state, They also themselves brought up the question as to whether it vrould be possible for Rei Cro12s workers to help UNRRA Austria in the location and documen te.tion of children. I told them this would be possible, discussed the Czech e.rrl Polish Red Cross program in Austria-· with them, and gave them a copy of the awninistrative order in res:;::e ct to Voluntary Societies, They acted on this almost :immediately appointing six women to go to Austria and securing visas for them; iieYever , Doctor Loutit and I made a req_uest that only one come until an agreement ,.·ith UNRRA could be effected.

I also left ui th them copies of our face sheet for individual chil­dren, and suggested that each f--ederal state us~ this as a basic record for children who are lost as .has been done by the Slovene Red Cross, since Yre have been successful in locating many of these children when we have sufficient information.

r At Doctor Loutit 1 s req_uest, I called ·;Ji.th h:im to see the ·British Ambassador 1 Mr. Peaks, and went over ,vi th him the full Ra.ms au record including correspondence with the British Military Authorities. He said th~t the matter had been taken up uith him by Mr, Sergeichik a feYr days previously, and he was glad to have this background of infonnation in case it becomes necessary for the Jugoslav Government to make a formal protest to his office. He was in perfect agrel->ment vdth the principle that children of lmown nationality should be returned to their o,m country.

' I arrived at a very bad time for UNRRA as the Katzin Committee was in Belgrade and most of the regional office directors were called in. It took nearly two weeks to secure passes for travel, partly due to the usual time re­quired for lil{RRA travel authorization and partly because answers were awaited from Bosnia and Croatia, Bosnia reported that they had no children in Austria

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- and Croatia authorized my visit . It was wifortunate that there was not sufficient time to discuss the matter of Bosnia since ¼ of the Roms au children come from Bosnia. Hcwever , I did return to Belgrade that way and had the opportunity of observation although I contacted no off,icials and once sta.rfod, the government did every­thing to make my trip successful. I was provided with a letter from the Central Welfare Conimittee, and welfo..re officials were notified of my impending visit, I was given Enc;lish speaking staff, both 1'.1inistry and R~.~ Cross, to take me where I wanted to go~ I was absolutely free t o visit any plac0 or any f8mily in Croatia, my only limitation being that of time. I wab especially interested in the secretaries in eaoh corninuni ty. These are key yos i tions end I found them in te lligcnt and very well informed people . They vrere all fully infon1ed in reg&rd to their countri~s policy in reg.s..rd to children and all made the point that there is no disorimination in regard to a child because of the politico.l activity of his parents . I om sure that this is true, as I observed the same thing in visiting children I s hrn,1cs a year ago.

I was provided by lTl\ffiRA ·,nth transport .:.nd vi th an .able inter­preter.

5. Bacikground J;nfoni10..tion on Child Care in Ju~lavia.

According to a statistical report prepared by the Central Welfare Committee in May, 1946 , there are in JugoslG.via a total nf 573 .,000 war and other orphans and half orphar..s . During the ,var it is es-ti.mated that 450 /'~00 r-hildren lost their lives as a r esult of military opera.t:Lons. . and 400,oo~ ~abies died. Sixty- four child.renRhomesl 517 school.kitchens, 1,3 asylums for defective children and 94 day nurseries \7ere seriously damaged or completely destroyed.

The child wr:.,lfa:re rirogrrun is largely clucentralised in the fed-eral states. It is carric:d on cooperatively by the government and large membership orr.;anisrtions such as ths ,Tugoslav Red Cross end the 17omen 1 s .Anti-Fascist IJ.;:ague . 'l'hese latter provide supplies and staff and sometimes operate a hC'me com:oletely. l'herG arc now in Jugoslavia 1245 children I s homes caring for 130:908 children, 360 nurs ery schools and school chil­dren's home11 f r-r 30,j24 children, 12 hom6s for 860 physice.lly and mentally d0fective children, 11 homes for 1635 childrun whose cclucction has· been negl eeted, 39 f'or 2[+-95 tsppratic.es, 227 day nurseries for ·j 1,021 children o.nd 598 school kitchchs when,, 61+- 141+0 children ar·e fed.

In additirm _to group care for children 19,291 are placed in foster family homes. The greatest losses Y,8re felt in Bosnia und Herzegovina and many children from these; o.reas hnve been cnred for in iiontenegro, Slovenia ., and Croatia. Bulgaria cc.reel for 11 , /34.5 children for n period of 6 ;.10nths, 1560 of the se children sui'fored from tub8rculosis c..nl w0re en.red f or in hospitals , Serbia £0 lso cured for over 400(' children f roL1 other areas . Dur­ing this year plans have bwn i11ado to s ,.md 3000 handicraft apprentices to Czechoslovakia ,

The credits of the Hinistry of :B'inancc of F~P.R. of Jugoslavio. for the support of children begirming April 1st and ending Dec0mber 31 1 1946 are:

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1000 dinars monthly per child sm ltored in children I s hoines and 500 din~rs per child c&rod for by a fmnily Yvi th a yearly addi-tion of 1500 dinnrs per child for clothing 8.Il.d foobvear, medical supplies and teaching 1imterials. In addition to this;, plnns are under­way to utilize a social credit of 38690000 dinars for the reconstruction of children's homes and otl':er social care.

In order to insure qualified :rersonnel for children's homos, each federal state ha.s organized training courses. To date 15 such courses have been held, nnd this is a continuing program. My O'im

impression that good physi.-,al care is given the children, and that staff members, though usually not specially tra:i..nod arc Yvann, under­standing persons , was conf:i.nned by the .American. Red Cross representa­tive , rfr. Jacob Heppner, ·,.iho has visited a.t least 100 children 1s in­stitutions.

6, ZAGREB.

Upon arrival in Zagreb, I reported to UNRRA Regional Office, The Director, Hr. Ross, made an. appointment Yrith his 01?:,osito 1:1ember in the :iiinis try of Supply, who went vrith us to the Ministry of '.ielfare , There I presented my letter of introduction from tlte Committee of ',!elfare in Belgrade , The M:inistry in Zngrob vms expecting me and sc.id thr.,t they would make any nrrangements for visits to institutions or fami}y homes vhich I vranted to sec. 1?£:: had a brief discussion of their general pro­grrun. They have n. total of 27 , 01+0 children in their co.re . ( Sc-a c.ttn.ched chart 1st copy) . They hcwc about 50 institutions under this ;~inistry. Under t1ie :;'1inis try of Culture v.nich is responsible for children over 14 are students homes and a'c-1prl.mtices homos. Tho 1-iinis try staff vas very much interested to know of Jugoslav rfuildren in Austria, a.nd i.Ti.::cdic::.tely asked how soon they could expect thc;m to be returmd. 'i'hey hc.vc had a tre­Lll:.mdous 1nss of children Yrho uere killed during the war. In th~ area, particularly, they ·,rcre killed by the USTACHI. Although the USTACHI fol ... lowed the practice of the Gerraans in establishing N.S. v. homes for selected children (such as group now at Ro..fll.:luu, Austr;i.a) , they also in their camps both sta.rvcc nnd killed tremendous numbers of children. 'l'he Ministry had pictures o:f such children taken in USTACHI cllrnps end I also had personal lmoYTledge of this situation been.use -vrhc n I W['.s in Be;Lgrade over n. yen:r ago, the bodies of the people kilkd in the camps floa.ted down the Sava River in large numbers and they included mnny children. l'1or this reason, con­corn about the welfare of the children who noYv rema.in in Croatia is very great.

I visited three children's homes in Za13reb. One for small chil­dren, one a kindergarten, and one a training school. These ·;.ere all adjacent to eachotrur in a suburban area with JJ::l.rge and beautiful gardens. The train­ing school was a. former children 1s institution, one 0f the most modern I hnve ever seen. It is of concrete tile and glnss construction. The dining

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room which is semi-circular and almost entirely of glass ,rindows facing a yiew of the mountains Yrould be ·,,rorthy of a country club. The kitchen and bathing and washing facilities are exce::llent . There a.re terraces for eating out-doors and lnrge upper-terraces for a. gymnasiilll1 and play space. Since one of the great problc1t1S they face is a lack of ndequc.te staff, this institution is used as a training school for children 1s workers , There were 70 girls in

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training while I was there ond the person in charge of the training school is the uome.n who wn.s formerly Director of Child ':ielfare in Croo.tia. She o.lso ·;ms in charge of all of the children in the rroods during the war . The type of training is modtJrn although the bo.sic education of the girls is not as much as they nould wish. The present group is tD.k:ing six months trnin:mg after vrhich they will work for a period and then retur::1. They take ordinary school subjects as well as those rc;lated to Child. ·01fc.re . In this home I sf'..W some really remark­o.ble examples of finge r paint:ing v,hich very small children ho.d qonc o.nd also a handi,.:ork of va1·ious kinds mostly po.per o.nd clay. The staff was alert and eager ..

A necond home Yrhich had been open only two W"<::Juks is a large log en.bin structure forr.11.:,rly owned by PAVELIC, the qufozling of Cron. tia. This home is for children froL1 3 to 5. Across th0 gardens from this is a kir1dergarten nnd e.nothcr home for children from 5 to 6. They nl.so showed me other buildings Yvhich will soon bo opcn6d making a group in this ii~llned­ia to neighborhood of' s '-='ven hor.1es which will constitute a children I s village or o. unit for children. Each builcli.ng ·,r.Lll house no nore thun 50 childrc::n .. The institution described above ·rrill continue to be used c.s a training school [end there rriJJ. be a sp ,.::cial institution for children who have been maimed and croppled.

The childrs n n.re fed in accordnnce \iitlh 8. plc .. nned nutrition pro­g-.,rrun. ~hey receive 3500 calories o. day. The cost of food is 17 dinars e. day, and the cost per r.1on th per child approx:i.ma tu ly 1600 dinars . The people I met in the l'.1inistry of Welfm-e in Croatir.. were educated, inter-ested _f_)eople. They nre d.oine a professional job which is evidenced by reco~ statistics , and cherts shov.'ing their problems in the area. Their :program includes aid to families , foster home care, and adoption, The actual number of children in the institutions in proportion to the t otn.l orphan or half­orphcn children is lov1 , 'l'hey were en:.:;er to cliscuss methods of care and responsivd to suu~esticn end co.r.:ent .

7. Iv\J?.LOVAC.

It Yras decided that vre ,.,rould try to visit some frunily homes and some institutions in the m:.rlovcc e.ren~ Our first stop was , 1e .. de· at a registry office in c.n 0ffort to find the families of sone of the children at R1:unso.u who ·i,ere re}Jo:dod to be there . Ki:.rlovec is a fo.irly ln.rgc, vi:;ry d0vastated city. I h,_d --risi ted an institution th3l'G a Y8ar ago ..ri th the former Minis try of ./0lfaru. It was ir. e~ctr'-':wly had condition end ,;hen l,e saw it , he said he would not leo.ve the children there £nether ·,:-.::de, 'l'ho institution which vm visit0d in the tmm is a f'onj1r:,r school buildin,G, very l:, rr.:e. It houses 240 elemen tc.ry school children ond 250 oldu.r children., '.I'hey F.;.re housc::d sepo..ra te ly o.nd the you.,."'lger group is UJJ.dt:::r th(j idi.nis try of Welfare n.nd. the older group under the; Ministry of Cu.lturo. The children ,,.ttend public school in the to·;m .md·,rerc r.ot there c.t the time of O"i.ll' visit . •rhe general ir:rpression I had ws.s one of physical ade qu.:i.cy. However, th~ Ministry :r-cpresentativo aa. well as I , dis liked to soc such a lo.rge nunber of children ca.red for in one plo.ce.

On th0 wo.y to Ko.rlovec, we ho.d stopped to see nn institution at

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at Jastrebovska. This e.l:;o I had visi tea a year ago., It is an old castle which "1.as a Cn.tholic institution before the war, a UST.A.CHI home du.ring the war, nnd was '.~ibera ted by the Partisnns in the Spring of 191+5. When I first saw it, the children were still the same who had been gathered together by the USTACHI. At the time of this visit I did not see the children who were in school except the few who were in isolation, The building is being completely done over, c~rpenters, painters, and plumbers vrere working. At the time of my first visit, there were 250 children there, The present capacity now is 50. Although it is hard to modernize an ola. castle, they seem to be doing a good ·',Jb of this. Tho grounds are extremely pleasmt nnd it should make a very suitable home for children ..

While we were waiting for the registry to report on the children who presumably had frunilies in Kcrlovec, vre made a visit to an institution for srrnll children which was quite away out of Karlovec . The rcpres,:mta­tive of the Ministry was particulo.rly inter\jsted in this home beco.use t:his group of children have ntJver b0cn separo. ted since £ls babies they were cared for in E'n underground plE'ce in the hills nearby, Their present home is a kind of hunting lodge or country plc.ce not very lr..rge with beautiful grol.Ul.ds. It is approached by taking a ferry across the river. Although it is en old building, it is fairly ~ell moderni~cd~ The staff s~cmed very good :md the children happy. They had ·just been for 2. ,-ralk o..rid came hor.1e singing.

Upon returning to Karlovec with barely time to catch the train, ,re found that the registry office had finally located the f~11ilies we had hoped to see. The represento.tive of the Ministry said he would visit ther:: before returning to Zo.greb e:nd would send a report to me in Belgrade in cure of Mrs, Sedjer. However, it has not arrived before I left. (Later reported all l+ fa­milies found,)

8. S P L I T :

The Minister of Welfare in Croatia had added to my letter from the Central Ministry in Belgrade a note to the welfo.re representative for Dalmatia, This I presented upon my o.:-rival. I found I wo.s expected and Dn

English sp.,cicing Red Cross worker ,-rn.s n.ssigned to take me wherever I vvanted to go . We visited all of the homes in SPLIT, I particularly asked to see a home on the seaside which I had seen ih April , 191+5, when it hnd just opened to receive the children from Italy. At thnt time they used two adjoining bui)A- --...._ ings and housed ·1500 children. They had no beds, but slept on blankets on the floor. They a:1-:e from plc.tes made of the bettor.is of tin cans. They had no chairs or benchus on vmich to sit. Inspite of this, the general atmosphere of the home at that time was excellent . P..lthough most of the children were in school, there ·were two clnsses being held out of doors . These were pri-marily study classes since the c hilclren go to schoo.1. only half a day, and study during the other half . The location of this ho~e is beautiful on a little inlet of the Adriatic whic,h is shallow enough for ,mding as \7ell as svd.rnming. One of the adjoining buildings is now being used for a hospital. There is now adequate equipment nnd they now house only 50 ch~ldren.

I was not well impressed ·with the other homes whioh I sai.,, al­though the children were at school end it is hard to judge in thei.r nbscnce~ T'vvo of the homes were .:'onncr c::..tholic insti_tutioru, n.nd in :-i.l] r,£' them

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there,, were ::;till Sisters working. 'r,i,o are for older children, one for boys and one for girls and one was a new home foe:- small children wbere they c1.id not seem t0 have cl sufficient :::; taf'f.

At noon I visited a Red Cross feeding center '.rhere 600 stu­dents from the surrounding areas are fed two meals a day. Here also there were Catholic Sisters working. 'l'he diet seemed adequate and it was to me one of the most ~..nteresting and useful projects I sayr. These stuients come from small viilages in the surrounding mountainous area Md by this means they are enabled to attend school.

The note :i.11 regard to these boys ,mich was r;iven us from the in­stitution at Ramsaw stated 11Pather died after severe lillness a natural death . Is unknmm if the mother is still alive , not heard of again. 11

When Franjo who is -15 was intervievmd, at Ramsau, he stated that Nikica is his only brother and that there are no sisters . He spoke for his brother and said they would not be interested in returning to JugosJ..avia,.. He did not l:nm-r ,,hether his mother v7as alive.

' We vent to the Secretary of the Obbor in Sibenik. This man stated

that he cam:: from Vodice, the villar;e where the boys lived and that he knew the family , He said the father of the boys had been with the U.'.3TACHI, but that this would make no difference in the care the boys 1rould get U:?Jn their return whether they ,;tent to their family or elsewhere , It later developed that he spoke of their uncle and not their father who died of tuberculosis . We uent to Vodice, a village on the seaside . The Secretary there did not know the family but '•ound them by going through his reeistra­tion book. Ylhen we c2Jne to the house, a w01.1a..'1 was just coming down the stairs . \le asked her if she vras the mother of these bro boys . At first, she seemed stunned to know tlla t we lmew a..YJ.ythinr; about them~ Later she cried a.nd kis:::;ed our hands and c&lled in the neighbors to tell them the good news , that her children had been found ..

Tl'wrc are a smaller brother and sister , Ante and .Ana, and a grand­father in the familyo They lived in a neat tYro story stone- stucco house \Tith a valled garden practically on: the seasidr],. 'I'he mother is a hard working pea­sant ·woman who has been bea:utifulp She told' me that in the Spring of 1945 she received a post- card which only said: 11 Your children ar-3 alive . 11 She had no i dea vvhere it came from. She said the uncle of the boys who later was killed on the Hussian front, had taken them to Zagreb to a hospital beC1ause they ,rere ill in l:.i42Q She has nevar seen them since . She wants very much that they come ho:nc as soon as possible o.nd sent a message to them that the family is well and anxious to see themo

10., DUBROVNIK • •

There are only two instituti ons for children in Dubrovnik. One is a Cat holic institution for thirty small ~hildren of schoo l age . It is in the cen ter of to,,m in the old walled city and isavery old building. Howeve:r; , i t was spotlessly cle:m and scrubbed. The play space for the children is an en­closed concrete area not as adequate as one would like, but anything else would

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be :impossible inside the 0ity. The Sister-in-charge vras pleasant. 'and the general atmosphere of the place vras good.

• I "

There is a large recr(;ation and study room .rhere the children could-go to school half a day prepare their lessons. A Rod Cross worker is assigned to them as supervisor of study. The Sisters do not partici­pate in the education of the children. In this room was n mixture of deMration including banners and slognns, pic>tures of saints and a pic­ture of Tito . ·In aJmost every children 1s home is the slogan rtrito je nas, _misrne Tito vi 11

, ( '1.'i to is ours, ...-ve are Ti tors), and there are usually old n,.tional proverbs of ve..rious kinds also on the vralls,

A second hoi!le is on an island in the fuy reached by motor-boat . The institution is a former monastery, n part of which was remode_lled by the Emperor Maximilian and the gardens, uhich a.re extensive, vrere planned by him. The children are in one end of the building. Th0re are five beds in each of the former monk's cells and the usual dormitory system is somewht§lt avoided. There is adjoining the main building a nursery school for the smaller children. J'_»is institution was clean and as attractive as such an old building coul@made. The grounds offer a great n.a.vantage m1d they have a very large vei:;otable garden. The Nur~ery School Supervisor seemed to be' a very copipetent young woman n.nd the children n.ppeared to be happy and vteJ,l en.red for . The Tuiinistry plans to erect a new building on the main land in the nen.r future m1d this isln.nd ,vill then become a national park,

11. Genern.l Tinpressions in Regard to Conditions Affecting Repatria­tion.

a. The economic situation hn.s definitely :i.mprovud during the year I have b(:;en ar,ay from Jugoslavia. There .is an air of purposefullness D.l'ld people st:em to be busy. There are shops of every kind open, the largest number are .private businesses ; although the nevr government stores "Na Ma" D.rc most :impressive . They are a combination in .American terms of a Wool,mrth 1s Store ancl a J . C. PENl'rY and sell every conceivable item of mor­ch:.·1.ndise. The details of the ration system has been made a subject of report which is on file in this Hission Office. rt varies from time to time and place to place but on the ½hole there seems to be more goods on free s~le tba.n on ration. There are prefe~red categories not necessarily related only to the need .of the individual but also related to his service to his country •

. Food appears to be plentiful. Host of the markets except those on thb coast are over-flowing with every kind of food , ·mm.HA Sl4)plies are very 1:iuch in evidence . Although the prices a1::,pear to be high, I was told this was an effort on the part of the govern~ent to drain off Sut:?lUS funds for the Relief nnd Rehabilitation Fund. '.le met Ee convoy of trucks in B:>snia whore there is a problem of getting food to mountain villages before 1.7inter 1-ihen the roads close.

b. Rehabilitation: There is a groat deal of viork in progress in building ·up dt..::vastated areas. Th0r0 is little left in Belgrade to show the effect of bombing . The railroads have been extended and are opero..ting in fairly good service . '..:'here are many UNRRA engines in the yards . There is sleeper service from Zagreb to Belgrade and from Z.'.lgreb to SPLIT.

..

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.. l.

-11-

A stretch of railroad is buing built in Bosnia by 1400 youth, These are not only Jugoslav young people 1 but include r<.;presentatives of many other countries who hwe volunteered their labor for the Summer.

There is a great deal of work being done on the roads, In Herzegovina, I saw miles of road with neat piles of crushed rock along the side, I had not seen 2.ny trucks fu!t-.,.ling rock, but finally we came to a stretch where literally hundreds of boys end girls, men and women, ,7ere sitting oracking rock by the side of the road. The rock was car-ried from the adjacent aren. since this part of the country is practically nothing but rock. Although this program has been cc.lled b~r some forced le.bor 9 it is considered by the people voluntary work 1md my impression from observing those vrho vrere working .-.-as that the latter was true. Thuy were a very cheerful busy crowd although a bitter wind ·was blowing across the mountains. 'l'here is a limited amount of road machinery and paid labor, but a great deal of the work is being done in this way.

'rherc was considerable evidence of the rebuilding of dwellings, especially in rural areas. In Croati:' . new tik roofs shoYred red in all the small villages which had been burned, In the poorest part of the Dalmatian coast; new thatched roofs had been p-1t on the shells of old stone buildings~ In P.osnia, the lumber industry w-as extremely busy and for JY1i_les most of the villages and fann buildings are completely nevr,. This was also true of Serbia where the houses are u. -~ tractive square white stucco structures Yri th steep roofs of thick \Woden stakes.

There is a plan for fann resettlement f'rom the least arable parts of the country to the vrivodina, which is a v0ry rich area. There are also plans under ,-.-ay for a better control of agriculture in the interests to the total economy of the country. There is improv(t'ffient in cattle breeding , largely due to UN1-ffiA assistance . I saw a large cattle market on the border between BJsnia and Serbia.

e. C~ot~.: The general clothing situation has improved very much, The children in Belgrade in particular appear to be very vell dressed. It is noticeable also that a considerable number of peasants are wearing new home-spun cloth:.ng, There are a few places -;-rhere the clothing situation is still bad. I especia1ly noticed the :r-agged state of the people in Ki.1[[N. I was told that considcrLble amount of UNRRA usod clothing had gone there, but it is probable that the peasants cannot use it. The women here 1 for instance, wear extremely full skirts and many of them, r-md there is almost nothing in American clothing ·which would be suitable. There is a great deal of woolen material and shoes evid,mt in the windows. Most of this is rationed although I saw in a window sorne home-spun vroolen goods which vm.s not rationed.

d, _Qatl?tl~..£.Ci.:.: The trial of Arch Bishop Stepanie was in process. I talked with Pather Do.iley, Secretnry of the Papal N\mcie, Bishop Hu:r-ley. He told me that it had be,..:n estimated that 15;s of the priests had been executed and 10% of the remainder are in ;,rison. :i-.:any of the conwmts and institutions have been closed, Since some of the mother houses Yvere Jugo­slav, the Nuns in these instances have rc:turned to their OYm family homes, Some seminarios have been closed, but there is still one open in Zagreb. He did not have information about Catholic children's Homes, but was of the opinion that most of them would soon be closed. I was in Ljubljana on a Sunday

J "'

-12-

and .it was no-!:.ir:en.ble tl.nt the Catholic Churches were packed with poo_·, le~ I -;ras t o l d. t:1t·.t W) ry ofter government mc c tinr-s arc cal.led at the hours of' church 2J:1d t.'::.at o:n chur ·11 holido.ys the children m'ly be gathered together for r.i. spucinl mee ting.

I discussed the ·)osi tion of the church with a representative of the Ministry of ·.!olfar0 in Croatia. He mlcl mo there a.re still independent catholic instit utions ::'.'or children operati...--ig. 'l'he govcI"1Jne nt does not novv place a repros 0nt !'.t.ivc in -~hem as they did v;hen I -;1as there a year ago 1 He s&id they fo und they WGre ~oo short of staff to do this, Ho -vms interested in discussi:nr; u i th me a ls1cthod of licensing Md stnncl.ard s o t°ti..."lg ,vhereby a gov<:3rnmont may control pri v n.te effort , He s't~~ tod that C~L tholic children may continue their r 0ligious observnnces upon the r t3 qmist of their pn.rE-nts in whatever institution they a.re , or if the parents desir'c it , t~1ey may attend a Catholic institution. Later in Split and Lubrovnik; I saw Catholic Sisters in nearly eve ry institution . I visited, o.lthough in only one was c.. Sister in charge. '.L'hEly we re likc\--_rise working in n. Red Crosa feeding centre for chil­dren, It se er,.s to be a ccns· . .msus of cpinion that the l eaders of the Church pln.y,-:d a most unworthy part in the war and supported the UGTACHI, although mony individual priests were brc..ve c..nd patriotic in the defense of their . country. Some of them are · now participll ting in the government . I was told that the Socretary of the H·:.ribor Odbor is a priest, and the Chief of Wol­fo.re in Bos~1ia is 2-11 Orthodox Priest.,

o, 1:iucatioci: A treuendous effort is being made to educate the ch.ildre:D. ,rho haw.lost-so mo.ny years rt school during the war. Children go to school ft half' d8..y nnd in each institution is a teacher supervisor for the other hc.lf clay study pe riod. Teache rs are r e quired to t each only six hours a day but volunteer for more time in order to rnt:et tht.: need r:.s teachers are sc,'lfet~. I visite d o.n 0ducational exhibit in Eclr;rado ,1hic..1. y;as beautiful and mcst int,JrcsHng. It 1:T"J.n held in n large room at the ortrl of l.".n A.r~.de. The Ar,::.ade was li·1~cl ,, ith morc than l ife- si;:;cd dri:..wings ,.,f old n"..tionn.l heros , lnr3e ly pcc..sant £nd pu.rtisDJl lead.ersp In the main room was n. "rnaze II which d<..!lightcd the children as they found nev thines c.s they ,:cnt through tunneJ,s or climbed stitix·:c;• . In the mo.in ,.re a, there ·,wrc three lo.rge po.intings of Ll..'NIN, TITO, D.nd ._STlU,Il'T ,:i th quotnti,,ns f'rom e &ch. 'l'he em1)rH:::.sin vr::i.;_; on lear·uing 2.11d the i'r;.ct tha t knovrl edge i& po.rc r c..:1d only knovrledge will effect the free a.oD of the p0uple. '.i'here Yrcre large poster pc.intinss of the ·,rorks of c.uthxcs inclucJin g Engl-ish, .Amt:ricnn, Md French t0~0thcr -rrith their :~Jortraits. The posters inGl ud"ci lit tle Ev.:1 teaching Uncle 'l'om to read, /!';ullivers I Travels ~ Hucklebe rry Pin, otc. :;:'here wurG some bcoutiful det.:iiled cyclornmas of fniry stories m1J 2.11 ,sxhibi t of' clolls in nntionn:l costurnes. Thero Ym.s a consider­nble library and mo.:,iy p c.:ip.t:i11gs by children. It ',;·as inte r esting to observe tho.t the n01r wDrk of the children does not relate to ,var theme::; , but n.re nimplej.: things of n.nimc.ls, flowers , and farm pictures" Th.ere ·,mre a few horri­bl8 pichi.ros rfone by children ,·,hich could only refle ct Y1hnt they i1.acl actually seen~ Tho Pi.once r Organization~ somewhat simil3.r to Boy Scouts , was in evi­dence and the children themselves vrere acting os ushers and showing visitors th8 Exhibit.

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TO:

C -Chief Repatriation office, Vi •

Copy: · D. Dodds, Area lfare Officer, Salz bur Ool. }cyan, USFA Linz, tria.

dioal office.

Report of' Polish D.P. Rep tri tion tr Pol October 9 - 15th, 19l,.6.

f ela, Auatri to Dziedzice1

Rationaz

: E.L Hamett, elfa.re Ofi'lcer L V'. ~ joimcl train t Sal.J:bur o

: Oet. 9th• 10th, frca el.a to Salsburga Capt.+ 3 1.• ••

t. 10th • 15th, 1at Lt. Train OCll'ltmallLd1er,

Bet• + .ft. I.'•• asion in Lins.

10 dq Amtrien Ration tram Wela • 400 peop1-10 clay- Austrian :tion fra:u Salzb,., 250 people 400 Imian n.d Oro a parcela tram ela. 250 In.di ~ Cro • parcel.a t'ro Salzb.

4J+. erican Red Cr. • f Salzburg.

533 DP'• incl ..... ~ 21 J?riao rs. Box ona, with toft •

22 people per w•JJ;~

W dneada;r Oct. 9th4 19¼§.

Joined te at le - Train sch uled to leave at 10 but much delq caused by lack of co-operation be een y - ui.u=

Austri uthority. Wago an-1: early in the day - but no stovea , in waa found uring the roofa of s r l wagons,

to be e fecte •

:wstri R tiona re late in arriving Army guard did not appear to ta.a over prison ra f .Austrian police, until 11 lie

Lack ot 1i iaOD - or eratio - between. UNRRA arid Austrian uthorit1ea 'Qffcl ch tation- rk, de and umMtce••"''- frustrat:lan

•

ong tiw ot tb9 prisoners tbe:ir t. liea. •• five men cla. t bocq bad notit'1e4 •ir wi a that they re to return to R>land, oon-

tly o the dq ot departure at ot rq time spent, contacting tamil-iu d wi.Teao t liea t the tr at Salzburg - -. came troa Ebcaee - and one tro r 59 LiU.

coneiderablA cli.ff'i lty -waa experienced With one an whose wife wae liv privately' in Lin& - he cltd.m.-4, that be was not Poliab aeyw, ,

d had no idea. 'Why he had been put o the train. The an eventua~ contact through P. civilian Police channel.a am. she joined tblt train

at Sahburg.

The Polish rr sion eventual~ bad the man turned over to the oiTilian Police authoriti • in alzburg.

DP'• were entrauwd ar]3 morning, and at 11 a deputation cam t the Direct r of Wels te asking that the No. 0£ people be reduced on thia transport as 25 people plua baggage waa too many per one car. 11wo more

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cars we eventually e ed f uoing th numbers a ewhat to 22 p ple. _ train left e t 3 ,4-5 am to ed in anot r iding outside

la for a ri a. of 2 1 • The train waa ready' to leave at 5 .30 P• • , but layed for a furt r 2 hr bee • o ot the G. I. guard.a - unknoWn to

the Cpt. charge had ne of the prisoner into els in earoh of liquor.

Thur y Oct, 10 ration join di train.

tz-ansport. der and hia

1 at Piding an inap ction of all go do by the 66th Co.natabulary. to fa.ct that th truarda re x,r.ie ard had fixed ba,on ta era became abusive an refus d to return to the wagons. A :inforo t of Constabulary arrived - the people re force back to the we.go , too ving lightly inj b bayonets. Thia ca.us d uch h teric amoDg

bo of the pectio -

....... Yuaa...,lD i f:f'ect f tbs raid on the p le , conseql.¥3ntly •ftll!Mle they wre nenoua, dis ttul., aucoatented and absusiw, d xtreme~ dif'f1cu1t to benclla for the tol.J.Olfinl aa.,a.

t.o. took details or the raid and aske4 5 ut th att.er.

:t 2 • the train had to be held up fi r en bulance to take oft was in her aintb. nth ot pregnaney.

IA r day - 100 tro the Poliah bor in pregnancy tell, am. local doc or had to b called. lea: the train, talc o the border n

_.,_

:Uoh trouble and discont ntment xpex i nce.d throughout e jo y continuall;r ,7ith tlu, dis tributi fooa.

In pi te of m::, continued te le-phoning in e.dvonee for food to be prep• ch duled st ping place , noth:Lf!Z was obtained until e reac

• five da fter tne c · nc nt of th! trip.

held in iding • near station. ue identity

There is a team of 12 UN.U n which has been ~ erating on~ 3 wee in Dziedzice for the pw:pose of· suing r tiona.

The 60 d y ration that ev rybody reoe ·v a cons· t off:

••. 2,81 , Flour ••• • lr9,09 Il , Oat •• ••• 3,75 lit 29,02 LBS (32 t ), Salt •••• 1,&8 Im, i8h .... 1+,54 LBS {22 ti:: ),

Pulaea ••••• J~75 L'BS.

le re th giv Rail ticke to th ir respective de.sti-

tio •

40 Indo Rea Cross ... ela to be returned. to tJlfR eceipt a~tached. Turned over to Lt. Wendell, train COllm&:DIUlir•

• H.arnett UNRRA el.fare Officer.

-· Prosent: _ ..,_

In the chair:

UNRRA:

I

Ul'ffiRA Polond:

Polish Government:

Pg_l,J.,.sh _J,in:ison Officer~

UllfRHA MISSION TO .AIJS'L'RIA -...~ ........... ~ ........................

Miss Dn.rton (D. Director, Relief Services)

O)lonel Millar (D. Chief or Mission) Mr. Ibddinott (Publie Relotiuns) Mrs. 'Nest (Chief Welfnre Off'icer) Mr. Lindsay (Repatriation Officer)

Mr, Der8er (Rep~trintion Officer) Mis.3 n~C\.kowska ( .Ass istnnt)

Mr. J. Dieszk• 1st Secreto.ry, Polish Consulate Mu.jar Po.no.siut, Repo.trio.tion Liaison Officer.

Hr. Berger stn. ted tho.t it wns his considered opinion tho.t a grent dco.l dc.,']?enJ.0d on the quality of lia.ison officers o.s to suc~szful repatrio.tion of D,I?s. Hr.jpr Po.nnsiut stl'.ted thc,t they were short of L:i.o.ison Officers in Au.stria., the ,ain:lmurn ruquirement '\,Ls three in ea.ch Zone, the Prcnch ond U,S. Zone still .require one 1•}1'.)re (;O.ch. He so.id thc.t ' . .'::rsmr ho.d been o.sked to provide thcne personnel ond. he hoped they would c.:::rive soon. 111.r. Berger soid tho.t it WM im.i?orto..nt to strengthnth0 Polish stuff in the u. S. Zone: Mc.jor Pimasiut sr..i.id his Guvcrnment were O.Ylt'.re of this and roped to re..rn.edy the si t·un.tion. •

A discussion took }.Jln.ce on the definition of duties of tho F\:.)lish L:i.c-ison Officers , UNRRA 1:-.:..1d the Militory in conncctiun with tronsports; it YiO.S decided, ham:rvcr, to try :md urrange n m.oc ting on Friday of this W<;lek and thrash out the 0xo.ct duties of' these three bou.ies,

11r. Berger said thn. t the r.1ili tary o.uthori ties were dis euss :inp, w q~stion of searching D.Ps. n.t the present time and ore :promising t o limit the neo.rching. The Polish Governnent .represe:1.tative sc.id thut there vro.s no objection to searching tn.ld.ng plnce but only to the nothod employed. It ·.-mo o.greed th11t this could be mor e us ef'ully discwrnod. ::1.t the ,:1euting Yd.th milito.ry.

!Cr. Berger explained •;/ho. t o.rrnnge1~1ents ho.cl been ma.de in German:,}' c...nd so.id n c:)!.uittoe in P::JlMd ho.d been s et up to hnndle the publicity so thc.t c.11 n.g1::ncius concer.accl should sponk Yd.th one voice. S<.J;·.1e of the inf'on.111tion sup~_)lied is rE::q_uirod not only f'or the D,I's. but for TJNR.1-l.f'c staff in the en.raps ·1/ho rtre in c l,)Oe c,mto.ct ,,-;i th Yroula. be r<iturnin[; D.Pi:1. Mr. Bcrr;0r went on to explain the r:iethods h.d.!)8 o.dopted: ( 1 ) the innue of' 0. sories of leo.f'lets on Polish life to-day; ( 2) o. weekly Ho..''.ic , foe. turo pr e1:;:::.red ,;mich c:::n re lis tenecl to by people in cc.n~s; (.3) Filr:i BJ lski " ill ias 110 f'i1Ll5 p;.1 current ev.snts in Po knd to-do.y J (4) o. c"mtinun.l review tb.r.t all infum.,'-tbn -put out to rep~tria.nts is concerned ,nth thin.ss which coucu'!1 D.I-s.

-· -2-

Hr. Be r[_:,er sr.i.id it -.;ms difficult to kno,r Yih.o.t kind of questions vr0re bei~ asked in every country, such o.s J.ustrin., Ito.ly, 1'1idC:~le Eo.st, etc., n.nd he vrould o.lwo.ys be glad of inforr.10.tion to n. :: sist in this res~,?ect. iir. Bicszk said in his o~;inion tha.t cn:y-t;hin8 D.Ps. hen.r c.bout Polr.i.nd they think is ~)ropc.t3ondn., but if corr0s::_:>undencc is r<foeivcd fror.1 their fn;·.1ily then they c·re uo r c likely to r<..:turn.

Mr. Bicszk sw:cust ed th:::i.t c. J.ist of n.11 Poles returning t o l v lnnd should be nade ; it Yras s t c.ted thn. t this lw.d o.lreo.dy been a.sked for fror.1 ctJ:1j,)S but for soue r eo.s ,.m the D • .f's, do not winh to 0ive these lists. !Ir. Berger scid this point uas cliscussecl at r;enevn. in resj_Jcct of Polish, Ru.ssin.n n.nd Jusoslavs but the UNRRA Ccnmcil decided this ,;ras :riot to be drme, 'b.lt Hr. Eer[J;e r :1ointed out that so loni:s D.s the D.P. is n.r,reo6lble for his no.L1e to be :.:)ut on the list it can be resistered in the Nationn.l Tracing Bureau in Warsa.TI' and then any relo.­tive in R llana. cnn traoe vm.ere he is. Also if D. P. has relatives in Poland they sh<Juld 0 ive their nane and their last kn1) V/U address and UI'f.Kllli Poland would try and trace them and. send news through to the D. P. here. 1.1.'ljvr Pn.nn.siut st n.t e d that raany D. Ps , f en.red to do this.

UNRRA Sta.ff. ---:Mrs , West said that she had held n. mec tins with UN.RR~:~ Welfare Officers

that dc..y nnd has discussed ways and means of assisting the problem of rcpo. tria­tinn:

(a) .e,er.:r:ea~• The Polish representnt.J·-,...s considered thn.t segre­sation of .Poles no t ,rillin['; to retux.n ':'rom the others Yrould assist in the eenera.l r.10ve:-.1ent.

(b) .El.~'.3-re..tion of Poles fron oth~t~l.~: TlIB Polish r epresentatives acreed thnt sep~ration of Poles from other natiunalities, and espe cio.lly fron 1.Tu:rnini~s was c3sentia.l.

(c) Coumittees for re-.10.triation in co.,;ns . Uajor Pnnesiut sn.id he 1care·IT~GP.1i•-m of to .., r:i:-i.ny cot;ii tteea as these raight have the r,3verse effect, i . e, a D. P . mi[;ht stay in order to serve ,m th..., com:,itt ee . He continued to say that a.11 cr.iDps hnve cO!ll!7littecs ( o.s nlso the D. l)s . Ev:.ini outside the camps) , Hiss Barton s c.id she considered it ·.nulc7.. be useful of these c onrnittces contu.eted UrJRRA Welfn..re Officers as they vere W'io.ware of the existen re -of · these cor:ui ttees .

...

Major PD.IJ.asiut r c..ised the difficulty of D. Ps taking back '\lith theu uoney either brous h t hero, or s aved o.ncl earned here 1 o.s t he Austrian Go­ve m.r.1en t only pennit l+072i to be r e l eased from the Bonk to c.ny ,~ne D. P. Miss Bnrton made the sugsection tho. t the Polish Poli tical Mission should be able to assist by r,1nkinr; arrnngeuents with the Austrinn Govern□ent ,·rhere­by funds required f or fino.ncing t h eir :Mission here could be raised from Polish D. P. money D.IJ.d credit given the D. Ps . by the F\Jlish Government on their return to Poland. Mr. Bieszk so.id he muld take this point u:i_J Ylith . the 1-i.us trin.n (',ave rnment. It YfD.S stress•~d that this wo.s n. Polish Government probler.1 but that UNRRA would do anythinr, they could . to help : Miss Barton considered this j..JOint nhould be raised at the meu tine; to be held Ylith the mil.itary authoriti es .

group re- settlement.

11r . Ber ser ox;_J ln.inecl that th e Po lish Governmen t were taking syn-

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pathetic c.ction in regarcl tu r;ro-µp re:...settlcment of ·Poles fror.1 Germany uncl he asked if similn.:t nction ,-.roula. promote repn.triation her e , J~part froo the one group at ifer,schiod, Linz, the Polish ReJatriation Officer s aid he knew of no other ;:,roup. :Mrs. West said she he.cl llsked UNRRA Welfa:r'e Officers to subni t rcJorts on this aspect.

Sixty dn_;zs r nt~~:!E.•

His s Be.rton cx:;_.1lllined that in Gennany 11s fron October 1st 60 clays rations Yvill be given to all roturnine Poles. In 1~ustria the U, S. r:iilitary a.rE> r eady to put the same i)lan into action but arc wni ting for the Bri-tish Dnd Prench Elements to nake their dec ision. '.L'he drill followed is that ·when the D.P • . turns in his ident ity card on leaving he receives a card ·which entitles him to drl:l.w food on arrivr.l in ]2olanc1, ltiss Barton went on to say that it is uncertain whether this scheme wil'i be put into effoct in til;ie for the next trans:;:1ort on Octo1Jer 10th.

nn.jor Pnnf'.niut so.id he was ho.ving diffieulty in sending Polish new~pfipers on from here to Italy n.nc1 asl~cd if' any assistanee eould be Biven in UNRRA. Mrs . \7est promised to lo,Jk into this.

Support for _ _£~p :.:i. trio. t;=:s fror.1 Russ i~i_,!_921G n.nd Vienna.

Major Prnn.siut rn.ised this question and the difficulties involved for Polish repD.tria tes fron these ar eas , Mrs, West asked h:ir.1 to ~mt n.11 po ints on pa1)cr and UNRRA would look into the Y,hulo probler;t•

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• ~i_i''L:f.:.\?-E.J~~r rnG_ ON REPATRIATION OF POLISH :g_r_~,

Wedne sd.ay_2 __ 0ctober 1946~t 9,15 a . m.

Present:

In th0 Cho. ix-:

UNRRA Po.dsh l\ii ssiori:

'!NRR.\ !l.u.;;trian ldss ion Nelfare Officers:

Pub lic Rela tions Officer: Repatriati2n Office~:

I. _Introdu.ct j_.m of _ Mr._ Berger

Mrs . We s t

Er. Roland Berge r) Chief Repatriation 0-:. fie er h iss Krakowska, ivelfare Officer

Miss Dodds Miss Lerrigo l\liiss .. ie:cz Mr. d'Anclrea Miss Kamil Liss Otteson lVirs. Carner,Jn }iirs. J~richson lViiss Ross .; iss Prentice ~.' ~s . ~:·.1llen Mr. Lindsay

a) In introduc ing lu:· , Berger t J those Ielfare Offic ers who had not already met him, the chairman pointed out his interest in the repatriation of Polish DPs and t he fact t ha. t he was l a r gely responsible for arranging the two months 1

food. supply to a:..1 Pules who were being repatrio.tion from Germany, as well as for the intensification of the camps.ign on repatriation in Germany .

b) Mr, Berger made t he following points:

1) Ficture of ,.-o la.nu at the present time: ., h 1 ; T e a11u-1z ir1g speed of recovery ii ) Pol and vvith i t s present bouuclaries) is a satisfaftory economic

unit, showing a he a lthy b£ . .'.. n11ce be tween industry and a gricult ure iii) With reR. s_c nable op,_,ortu11-ities Poland can get on its economic feet . iv) The 1:.1a1n export, coal, is bei:rig produced in substantial qua ntities

and expor t ed.

2) '.!.'he UI'{i,RA J:Jrogram fits into this economic pa tten1, being less conc erned with relief t h&n with rehabilitation. Supplies br ought in are for the greater p3.rt made up of machi nery, toois etc., and fo od talces only a s econdary position.

3) Government pol icy in '7elf are services proper pursue two main lines " :1.'?lish welfa r o se.rvic0 s ,-,ontinue on the same line,s as before the war. ii) The fu t "L..re s c.1oi~l services are :)Oncerr.ed mainly vvi th the general

r a i s ir.g of s ta.nu.a.rds of living by full employment and exte nsion of the s ocial in surance scheme.

4) General Repatriation Position: Out of 23 . 9 milli-::>n peop le ii.1 .?oland over l+ mill i ~n are DPs .

From analysis of t he prob:J.em in Germany it is felt there is a large ;na::;s ~f Poles who, in the :past, have been infiluenced ·ty a s ;:i2.ll -;; rganised group . :r.na.11cei·,1ents like a 2-rnonth f ooa p rogram and o. r e al knowledge of posi t ion in ::ul and are necessary, and there is every chance thn. t t :1 is job can be nraoked i nto within the n ext two or three 1.,onths. The psrho& ~gioal attitude of DPs

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has •l'la.nged somewhat because:

a) 1hey now relaise that resettlement is not so easy or advantageous as they had thought

b) They are obliged to work;

This, together with the attitude of the Polish Government which is now very co-operative, combine .to make this a particularly good time to do the job in spite of adverse weather condiitions. Taking all these points into consideration there is a very good chance of repatriation three-quarters of the DPs by the end (")f December.

Discuss~?n on p~ns to encrurage reEatriation:

The chairman pointed out that this meeting had been called because the main job of the Welfare Officers at present is to bring about the return of the DPs, which may require a case by case approach . The chairman then called for reports on the plans of welfare officers to encourage repatriation, . N:iss Kamil and Mrs. Cameron were asked to make a statement on repatriation efforts in Villach camp.

Niiss Kamil emphasised two points which she considered had much to do with the return of so many Poles from Villach camp:

a) The Polish Mission in Villach had opened up a channel of direct communication between crunp inhabitants and their families at home. Before this the DPs felt very strongly that they were cut off from their own country'-'

b) Polish newspapers from Poland were received and distributed in the camp.

Ivri.ss Krunil stated further that although the Polish Iviission was unwelcome at first the DPs grew. t0 have confidence in them. They gave a clear picture of what was going on in Poland, without any over-optimistic attitude, emphasising the fact that anyone returning to Poland will have to work hard, but as long as he works hard he will come out on top. The combination of excellent workers of the Polish ltission and accurate information considerably helped the repatriation movement.

In reply to a question from the chairman, Miss Krunil stated that she found that those who decided to return were those who hc.d. been in the camps for a long time - they were beginning to feel the restrictions - less food, aompulsory labor~: 10 km. travel limit etc. At this point Idss Dodds stressed that it wa:s important for repatriants to go on a positive rather than a negative basis .

iuss Wietz emphasised the importance of receiving mail from home. Mr. Berger stated that when he visited Hellbrunn the previous day he found tha t letters had already been received from those Poles who wont on the transport leaving Salzburg on September 10, indicating that postal communications were becoming more rapid. He agreed on the iIJj.porta:nce of mail, which is no longer censored in Poland.

The chairman asked for observations: Mrs. Cameron stated that 100 people were g0 ing sou th through Italy, probably helped by the Polish 2nd ():)rps, on their way to England, This was a very recent movement, started in the last two days, and FSS were concerned about it.

a) Liaison Officers - Polish Red Cross (2nd Corps)

On a question re the Polish Red Cross (2nd Corps), 1vi.1.ss Kamil said that officially they are au t in the llri tish Zone, but members are coming agro ss t re frontier from Italy with passes as red cross workers and have been getting into the camps.

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The chairman asked for i :1.forrrati,:,r. 0n the sit-uation :::..n the Salzburg area with regard to tho P01ish Red Cross. =~ids Dodds str.d,cd ·cha-c the Polish Red ()Joss (Vfarsaw) had arrived too r0cen+,ly (at the begin:iing of Septernper) to be able to judge. She :: clclu.d that the effectiveness of a liaison officer depends entirely on the ir . ..-:J.ividne.l ar.a. that oosn:'..'b]y the members in the Salzburg area were not strong er.c:J'c13h , 'l'he chain::a11 sh·essec3- the very grea·c need for more qualified red cross wo1·kors from Polo..n'io

M.iss K:.-unil stated faat in the B!'itish Zone ·;there was only the Polish Mission, and that they were still vmi ti1,g for Red Cross (Warsaw) workers.

Mr, Berger sfa.te:!. ·f;hat he would. to.ke up the q1.testion of more personnel from Warsaw.

l'vlis~ Wietz stated that in the F:r.ench zone the 2nd Corps are just closing down. In 0v-cry t·:-iwn in Vorat'lberg an:1 Tyrol there is the "Association Polonaise" who seem to be fairly co-o;;,erative with rego.rd to rcpa tria tion. There is a Polish Repatriation Miss :i.on ccnsis ting of 'cwo people in the French Zone, locat~d at Kufstein. This mission comploined that they had trouble with military censorship: newspapers etc. coming from Paris were not help up but those coming from Poland were considepab+y a clayed,

The chairID.b.r.. :-oquestccl thn.t a careful check be made on the Association Polono.ise a"1.d on the Polish J\mo:::-icQn Relief Cornr;1i ttee.

Wir, d'Andrea stated that in the Linz and Ebensee areas the Polish Red Cross (2nd Corps) ho.d left entirely.,

Mr. Berger promised to take 1,1.p the following p~ints in W(fr'saw:

a) Strengthening of Polish .Li aison Officers

b) Au.gmenta-i:ior. of reprosen-c:.::.tivGG from Po+ish Rea. Cross (War.saw).

Lb), Barracks Lc:1c'~c rs_:

The chairman asked 'GO w:Et.t cxten:~ h ~e barracks leaB.e1·s were cleared as to whether they were favourab:i..e to repo.tr2ntio!1. Er. Berger described the situation at Hellbrunn whore he spent some time yestorcay, There, the proportion of the edu-cated group in the car.tar ir:d'lu8::.cing the othe1.·s ago.inst repatriation is about 5%­Whil.5 it might not be possible to locate all those working against repatriation Mr. _ crger felt fu3.t it would be possible ,GO pJ.c!c ovt tv,ro or three who were the principal agitators.

L c). Camp Repat:r::0- tion C_~mr,1ittees: Discussion took place on the value ,;,fl organi­sing Camp Repatria tL:.1 Ccnu.1ittees took place, Their p:-incipal value would be to sell the idea of repatriation. They c ·:mld mt be static committees to be effec­tive; members wou2.d have to change from time to time, say 50/o gaing off on each transport; they wou2.a. ro r.tinue the i::-· work when in Poland by writing back to the camp to give first ha:1.a accour..ts . ..f ~~ife i .n Poland for the returned DP.

Miss Kamil sfo:G'3d tho.t 7illach h').d. something comparable. However they had found that one of the C:.1:.er r3.0t0rreri.ts to ropn.tria~ion is the actual transport; when a trarspor-t is :;:.,os\;:,c:r.ed fo:,:- days or weeks the DPs have time to change their minds, particularly as certain eJ.emcn-cs influence the would-be repatriants. Another deterrent is food. s-o.pplics on trains, especially for children. Proper food was not available on the last transport.,

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It Y/o.s agreed unn.nimously that iE1me:lia tcly a DP G..ecid€s to i-eturn POli}e 'he should be re. ,oveu to o. trc:.nsi t center.

Mr. d 11-.nclre2.. presented tho method used in .=:bcnscc canp to oncru r c·.gc

repc..triation :

1. dcekly news1;0.:::Jcrs and bulletins c0.re circulated with r.11 infonJ£, tion receiveo. from uv<:; r y source on conditions in ?oland,

~. Leaflets a r e printed. in w:1j,ch extrs.cts from l ett ers recei vcd. f':rom returned DPs Rre presented. .

3. C?.mp meetings arc held , vr i th the co-operation of tho C2.1,1p Cbmfoar.dor.

4, Just before tho transport is. due to leave, s.. roo1,1 to roou check is r;nde, wl1 ich usu2..lly results in h2..lf .:c.s many people ri1o re deci9,~ng to go on t he trans-

port,

.j. Lette::rs from home , 2.s r.l rcaa.y stated, provea. the E:os t i Etportant f o.ctor ofl c:.11.

11..r, erger sugg0sted that all Pol es could r egister wi th the Lc-,tiona l Tracing Buren.u , so thcct anyone in Pole,nd could tr2.ce a rel:.ti vo. In reverse, a fon1might be initin.tod the nhilC and P.ddr ess oi' tho DP to6 c ther with the name and 11:,st krmmn n.dc1.r.q.ss of th0 person he: seeks ['.. Y'D they ·will be traced and cOifa.,unica te with the DP.

Mr , d ' Andrea rnC;ntioned that ,;;lien tho ce.i:\O b roke up a nd tho DPs were to be moved to a less comfortabl e one , one third decided to return hone .

Inforn.a tion on the situ::: tion of unuctrriod. r.1others and Yv idm-.·s wi thou t income, also the care of the uisablcd ,,_ncl b lind, is urge::ntly required,

Returning to t:·1e subject of Rep.-'. triation Crn;Ji;1ittees, Miss :Jodds suggusted th&t their duties shoulC:. be r::.s f ollows:

1. Dissemination of infonntion,

2. Preparation for trans:ports and special problems.

3. Reports frori1 DPs ,,.lr e;s.cly returned to J:'o:.. ·.nd,

These· three points would gradua1ly ei1courngo re:p a tri i.l tion.

Mr. Lindsay stator} that it ·.vas c~::.ngerous t o set up a repatrin. tion cmJr,1ittee in some CaiilJ?S, but under anoth0 r n3me it woulc1 be successful. }l{i. ss Dodds suggested 11 LiL.ison vri -f;h the ho,:·,e country 11 which •,7as uncmimously &pTiroved . All workers we re urged to implcL:ent th:.s suggl-stio,1 in so;-,io ·,7e,y in co.ch ca;:1p .

L e) ~egreg~ ~ion of i_ntelligcntsia f1:0£....P.o_asants:

I.hss Ka.mil, e1:1phe.sising tho importance of this ~ove, stn.ted thnt in the British Zone DPs living out of c2T1p and not subject to ::.dvers0 inf'lucnce never bc.ck::..d out at the 12..st nor:,cnt . 11,ir . Berger stated th2.t Co l. Raleigh, in tho -U. S . Zone, had agreed to co - ope re. tG in ·Ith is s(:.gr0gE. tion. On J,;r. d '.Ln drca' s suggest ion th c:.t DPs should be scr eened for a final decision c,ncl faose who said they would ;_1cvcr return put in c scpc.n·.te camp, I\:X, Berge:r pointed out th .:-1.t this v,c.s too strong, because they can still clw.ngc their minds. l!

7

or ex2.mple, c.t Hellbrunn during his visit, seven of the ~'\.:1ti-repatri:.ticn group hf:..d ch[,nged their minds. He felt thc.t only the agitators shou:...c:.i. 1), scpan:,ted,

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I' F) Sc;earation of Ukrainians from Poles

Mr. Berger said that the Polish Government representatives at Geneva had said that statistics of Polish DPs should not include Ukrainians. There is great conflict between the UkrainiLms c.nd the Poles. Under the new frontiers the bulk of the Ukrainians are in the Soviet Union and the Ukraine. The re are still some in Poland west of the Bug, who ;:,.re being systerne .. tically transferred into the SoviGt Union so that in time there will be no Ukrainians left in Poland, The :Polish Government will not accept Ukro.ini2.ns as repa tric.nts. UNRRA has asked the Polish government to give a clear-cut definition cf o. Ukrainian, to-gether with their interprcmtion of Ukrainian-Polish nmrriages. This will be issued to all DP Missions.

Miss Dodds drew attention to the fact thD.t, unlike GerE1any, micb.itary Government regule.tions will not allow UNRRA to call those people Ukrainians, they are Polos. The chairi:..:i.n said tho.. t ilhis point would be brought up in discussions with Col. Welker h.ter in the day.

L g) GroUJ2 Resettlement;_

Mr. Berger said that in Germany, largo groups fro~ the Lwow area have wished to return together. At the moment a.rrangements are being ;,.nde for 250 families (800 people) in Poland. The leader of the group will go to Polc..nd to see con­ditions and then a spearhead party will go on ahead -bo prepare for the rest of the group. This idea was welcomed by all welf o.rc off ice rs, and Mr. Berger said that the s2.me thing could be done for groups from Austria. The chairman suggested thn. t this vvas perhaps one way of' dealing with the hard core. A group of 100 people of all types ~nd trades would be ideal.

II a) Effectiveness of present publicity receivea. from Polond:

The chairman asked o.11 present °b:) hi:md in lisb of points on which infor­mation wo.s desired from Polo..nd, p&..rticularly points raised most often by DPs •

.Jj

:Mr. ergcr stated that in Germany Public Relations and Relief Services were working closely together, and that a whole progrr..111 of 1na teric.l f rora i!:1e Polish Government is to be prepared for all countries, inc~uding leaflets, radio features, newsreels of everyday life in Poland etc., but all this could be much more effective if those preparing the material can be supplied with information on what points should be covered. A Publicity Con1mittee has been set up with representatives from the Polish Government and the UNRRA ivri.ssion.

The Public Rel~tions Officer stated that she felt that in addition to this progrn.m, n greo.ter ir:rpr0ssion would be made on Polas if they go1 information from British or .A;-,1erico.ns in the country, i.e. a P.R.O. might be sent to Poland to observe 10.nd report. In addition stores from repatriated DPs would be of considerable interest. Further, UNRRA officials in the Polish ~ussion could give stories of their ~npressions of Poland.

I\IIr. berger sto. tecl that factun.l inforran tion mo. terial is now being produced weekly by the Wulfare Division in Pol.s.nd for UNRRA officials in other countries. Mrs. Cullen sugg0sted that D.S 1,mch material as possible should be published in cD.r,!) newspapers. 11/ir. Berger stated tkt with regard to the 60-do.y food s~heme, the military, UNRRA in Germany and Polo.nd, and the Polish Prime Minister all released their inforrna tion c.. t the srune time.

b) Future plans.

1) A se;ric::s of leaflets on spefial thor.1es will be available.

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3)

4-)

5)

6)

7)

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Inforr:n tion on rocoverod tcrri torios and programs of resettlement is forthcor.:.ing.

Voca t iorw.l op1)ortuni ties - inforrnc. tion ·will be supplied..

Agrarian prograr:i - infonnc.. tion forthcou.ing.

EJ.uca tiom,l possibili tics - inforLU tion to be supplied,

Infon.ir~tion on opportunities ..i.ri,1 care for ·,1idows, unmarried mothers, is avc.ilablo.

Up-to-dD.te knowledge of Poland on part of Liaison Officers: i1ost 1 iaison Officers are now travel} ing bo.ck and forth to Poland and cc.n supply first-hand informo.. tion.

8) Return of Polish DPs for ·visit: all present agreed that this ·;muld be valu:,blc .

9) Use of DPs on rc,dio broadcasts: Radio Polski has agreed to broad­co.se a ';rnd:ely feature, probably on Wednesday evenings at 8 p .m., covering <"1. wide ru.nge of subjects including 1:i.usic etc. The, chairman agn,cd to check up o:g -tho :cecop-:ion 'Jf Polish broadcasting stations in Lustria when Mr. orgcr has supplied u list of stations to be used.

10) ExchD.nge of reports on experiences of tfii;frnA personnel between Gcrnnny 2.nd .t.ustri::i..

11) I•i,il - the.; i::,porto.nc0 of this had already boon discussed.

12) Definition froD A_-, lish Government on Ukrc.inians etc: - this had already been discuss(f.d.

III. Gurr ency Pmbleus .

Miss Kumil sb.tcd th1:.t up to now, the Nationo.l BD.nk in Vienna had agreed to give a check to D?s Nhich could be changed into zlotys in Poland, and this had been done . Lpart fror.1 this, DPs huve had aoncy in different bunks, and transfor to the Na tiornil Bank is diff:Lcul t. j\ow a directive has been issued thc.t the 1::ioneywill be pD.id out to theD, but tho tro..nsfer from their own banks into ccmtralizcd bc.:i1k is still difficult. DPs arc ctllowcd to draw 150 .nustrian Schillings per i:,onth unclor Austrio.n rogula.tions.

Mr. ~erger r.'.sked for a copy of the directive issued in the British Zone. He pointed out tho.t in Poland .: check cannot be converted iL!f-1odio..tely into the total vE...lue, since only a. ccrto.in nun~bcr of zlotys can be dr8.Yvn per non th.

IT. Child Search

a.) The cho.irix.n asked lvir. B0rger if he wished to rc..ise any questions on this subject , He sto.tccl th:.t the :.: ·olish Governuent is concernec'.. Qbout :

1) the abduction of chi10r4l1 by the Pmlish 2nd Co:vps - possibly as 1.:.c..ny as 1000 children have beo"1 c,bducted.

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Laxity in th(; s0r:i.rch for PClish children. In Gcrruny the search was not being conducted so intensively. Tho Polish Govorrnent have s2.id that they must have evury Poli~h child sourchod for and brought homo. Ono apparently now dcvolopnont 11Jr • .tlcrger ho.d heard of through IV"riss Kain, Child Welfare Supervisor :f.n tho U.S. Zone, was th2.t some children taken into Switzerland o.re novv being brought into Innsbruck c..nd it is not clet~r whose care they Yvill couo under. Miss Wietz D.grocd to check this 1::c .. tter with M:i.ss Kain.

Mr. ~crgcr stated tho.tho had a list from the Polish Government of 210 !'.'hildron who wore allegedly o.bducted . · "iss Kain ho.d ,lrcady supplied r:.. list of 167. The chai:n,nn sta tcd tho. t the 1..ili t[l.l'y ~.d alrec.dy :-.sked that these 167 childrun should be re.turned. Iviiss Kain he.d said thE .. t the Polish IvI:i.ssion or UNRRA Italy were to take this up.

b) Tho chc.irno.n CDph:;sisod u1other point in this connection: in o. rnmb0r of car.,ps v,here there i:.rc un ;ccor:rpnnied children they be come o. ttachod to n. f o.r.1ily who clo.ir1 to bo their gun.rdit.n or oven to be blood relatives. In one crurrp re­cently there were supposedly sornc 90 such children, but investigation .displosed one. Cc .. reful search nust be un.dc for the other children, been.use in all proba­hility this is o. clonk to hide the child and prevent rcpn.tr±o.tion.

Tho chnirmr .. n stc.tcd th·,t she wrts holding a mueting on October 3 with the Welfo.rc Officers froL! the French "'nd British Zones nnd would discuss the 1x~ tter furt:tCJr. She askod c .. 11 \,clfc .. re officers to make .. "t specio.l note of Administrative Order No. 189, Jmstrfan Eission Series, on Policy on Rcpl. trfo. tion, Displn.ced ihildron. Welfaru Off'icers ~tro responsible for seeing tha. t every child is re­gistered so thnt there .'.:\.re complete records.

iVf:i.ss Wietz enquired how quickly birth dcrtificc'.tes n.nd other such documents could be obtained fror:i Pol::md for whoso who ho.a. lost o.11 tho ir papers. j\/Ir. Berger s&id this wc.s a.if'ficult mving to the ir,cooplcte state of suoh records. He i~sked thr~t defo.ils of such c,,ses be sent to h:i.1:1 in order to test Y;hethcr it wc..s possibl·) to c~,rry out such vvark.

V. Voc~.tionnl o.nd. Educc .. tion problems r,nd their rulr,tion to repatriation •

.Iv1r, Berger said th, t he would lil<:e to hnvc.: det2ils c..bout tro.ining schemes in

.\ustria so th,'..t they um be discussed with the Polish Goverrn,10nt, who ccn indi-c::ttc w:hc.t arc the best vocntioni.1 tre.ining courses to give . He offered to send the sylln.bus of r ,gricul tur,~l tr.,.ining in Poh.nd so tho. t DP tra.ining can be geared to it. If the returning DPs have a certificate of training of '.vhich the Poles are cognizant this ,,ould bo c.. grca t help.

The ch:::.irr.10.n suggusted .:mother conference in n.bout six weeks ' tir,10 to discuss dovelopnonts.

The ra0eting was L.djournucl n.t 12,30 p.r.1.

-efa c: t h~ train left Salzburg on 11th D 10. for Poland.t I arranged for the

Aed Crose oach to be u as a hospit 1.

he mattreas~s were wet but ged to dry the Blankete were vailabls and eds re ma.de ree.d;y.

One of the . Pa, a young man, was ap inte4 s medic 1-assistent., and he

remained da,.y end night in tl e ho ·oital-car, k epi.ng it wum.

,e had about 600 eo le, ot whom 5 ere children Wider 3 y ars old.

he first ~ the moth.er.3 as ea or aby-milk., ut s th :y hai o

partioulara., I coul ot control ito

ext dey I went with the aasistan-t along the train to £ind out and

diatribute .milk., t the same t inspeetina conditiona in the carriages.

All carriage■ w re suffioie t~ heated and enough food as available.

Sick peo le ere sent to the dootor at once.

hen the train topped for re than one hour, some ou:p, tea or cocoa ·

was di•tri ute.

The kitchen looked quite ft1cient 0

er.vbody was .uiet and in ood t .... r, no dis"" e e r corded. ~.

ly one l:i ttle oy wi t..li mental de icienoy was found, but h ;as well

looked a.ft r.

• s :no atient t urned u-. we ut some mothers with ie in the hoeni tal •

.5om. ba ies had xcema, others cold.

there. Also 2 preen.ant WOlll n were accomm.oda ted

The 101 triu wet very 11 and on the 13th we ad alr aczy passed the

olish border ( ziedf;ic ) •

ur co:.r: on r oot: was ell ne ted and leeping accommodation ne fair.

hen we arrived in Dziedzic, a ted ross o ~icial took charge of our one I

T . 3. patient of' e n rv u boy. T1e ed Cross lso of ered u le ping

accomaodation in their uuilding, this, owever, should e discouraged as t h

eds were far t'rom cl an.

enerall:y spe d.ug all ,,,ent very well nd there were no c plaints whatsoever

It 1Ust be pointed out that the new telephone nl..ll:lber of UNRRA HQ. Prague

no is· 64.955/6-7.

J. s 2ls t ~ ecember 19 6 •

urse.

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UNITED TI RELI AND REHABILITATI

----Lt Poe laki ll at thi office at 10.20 aa to report

that there as a train in alzburg atati with 600 Polia p raona t t e )ti e East, Pal sti e, t, t y w.~J.aii.1& Pol • • tea that 40 w re ill. The train was e up at Villao ,British Zon Austria.; there were approx! ly 16 p ople to h ox car.

Lt P hal.aki statei t t the cars wer l akin&, ani h de th tollowi.na r quests:-

tol irst th train know where it s an to fin out what the

arpaulin tor box Poal for 600 ers ( tor t y- ha onl7 too& tor thre :ya) Hot drink• or food. for all eraona on t e train Kilk tor the Children aa JDall3' were iok with col •

en Lt Pocbalaki left the offio w calle RTO only to e left, ani then se ondl7 that it wa still there but ti4'nt

could not en4 a eone to loo • It ae a :ti ble for ituation was.

Nichols ( u1oul.llA

Villach - ha c le this office early int e min& reque ting n I aaw her she waa quit ca.lm

opWon that a tio:nal milk tor the ohili.ren wa n cessar;r supplies.

I t Lt Pocbalski an au aeate h nLJJJ[c:w~nt to fin4 tarpaulin - he sai he ooul •nt. I th su estei t t io p o le be moved fran t leakin& ox cara to iry' box cars - he point a. out that this was

ractical since there wa 16 eople in ch with all their l ge. H thouaht h ooulcl o tain a tn a di tio 1 ox ca.rs tr

RTO - I s st he try'.

Dr dical kit tor 600 persona which should 1 st for the r nci r of the .-Journey, this a ban e to olish D Doctor who was in charge of medic 1 oar of the train.

a1azine , candles tch a wer obtain a fro Parse ar house .

390 tin e tlea 'lk were aent very ro tl;y .b7 Groc1i with the a w·anc that auth0rizati coul. a.pprovei by eli f ervicea.

It houl. be ntio tha.t whe th train pulle in fr Villach, elr ryone waa ve hot cof by th Austrian ea Croaa.

The train wa 1 yed b c use the oh 7&X' wer tille RTO er a in tructe to hol the train, it see d wise t t we provide ao of the essentials requ te ~ ther than t lephon lioh.

a a Briti h Soldier.

Th u,uu>n. person in obarg was a llr chwartz fr Ital • He d obviously li ttl xp rienc i th patri tion trains and coul not under tan

the lon it in Sal&bur • o ever, I believe ic ol woul be most el ful and understandin on· thi trip with p opl who had aJ.rea been trav llina for two weeks and ho r naturally wear7 o tr v llin&•

In conclusion, it ia s ge ... te that if po aible a hot drink b a rved to rep triation train wher p ople bav been trav llin a lon ti fr distant place - uch aa E&1Pt , al atin , It y. The train of ept her 20th a 100 exampl of thi - hen same ople ha been travellin 2 eeks -affecte by c ~ae o cl ~ - rain in non-w t r proof b x c s.

REPATR RT AUG~S 1946 ~-=--=-=======-======-==-=-=~-==

tion• from Poland. l rg nunibers of ol1sh

tion Offi r of th olish ission to th 1r nt tiv s t

faun in u tri on t 8th a Po-

ing to

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.. i s io u u~

( )

V

TlL Ore k Li ison is no r un p th f v, r nininn- reet n tion 1 o ee rep---tri ted, o.n;y- re·· 1G.ue · ill not be allo~· d G r-emai. n · ·- tJNRIU i~~~ ;gn'"' rl.½ere0m&~8f;t 1 ·.01db &Fet1itRe ~ . ! x;f'i-·c P. s ...

--;)

ir,. the "n:me ,my those v ho csnnct be e.ccep tea l;~'" him a:n. ~ r'::'.:Usc be repatri,.,tea. wil than be oxcluclec1 fron.t ~- lf c .... ,., e ..

t Peturning

Polee

ly.

REi:-CRT i TRP_ S RT 'fO ~ OLAND OH UGUST 6, 1946 =----=-------=--=~-=-===-====-=-======~===-====

1. 2. 3.

4, 5. 6.

Orwanization of train Journey via repatriation trans art Recent ion:

a)· Zebrzedowice b) Dziedzice

:r. ]$;sis o trans_ ort conditions Processi11e, Reco 1JI end.a tions

1. Orp:anization of train

The rep' tria tion train v;as a .ri t.i.sh train origin . tine in VillGt.ch, and .merican Zone sections were attached. at Salzburg, here tne IB,RRA personnel accompanying the tra:ns_ort joined it. ~he trans ort was one of the large,,t ever to leave ustria. It coi.1sisted of 65 cars, carrying 1050 repatriants, with all tr.eir posseusions. 'l'he repatriants inclua.ed some 250 chil ren, of which nineteen v,ere u1u.cco1 !)a.nied, riding in a third class passenger coach arra.iged for jointly through U ffiRA Central -eadqoorters an~ Colonel elker, DP Division USFA.

This trans:-ort included a rail m • kitchen car as well "' a first aid car and special coach for tra.i.n commander and escort who ware British ari.,y perso el The military perso,1r:el :'Jlclud.ed the train co :ir:..ander, v:ho regularly accompanies such trains from the British Zone, and three ritish lrIDY pr~vates - one assuning the duties of an orderly, another that of a

cook while the third acted as guard. .either a aoctorror nurse accompanied the transport.

The train schedulea. to leave Salsbur0 at 9 a.m. _u,led out of alzburg railway station at 3.15 p.m., acriving at the ~ustro-German border 15 minutes later. :J2on reaching tbe corder {I<'reilassing) the American bor er guards channelled the train to arrive at Peid:ing for delousing. Through ruuch wrangling b UNRRL and tra.:.n crew, this proceuure was given up without de­lousing taking place. l,.eanwhile three hours were M:tsted,. al though if de­lousing had been carried out it woulu have meant n delay of eight hours.

2. Journe via repatriation transport

The journey toolt three c.a.ys and four nights. One day was wasted due to the RTO channeling the transport to an incorrect border crossing in Czechoslovakia. ~his meant a useless journey of three hunclred kilometers an considerable anxiety among the repatria'.lts, because they feared crossing into the Russian zone prior to reaching the Czechoslovak border.

hot coffee ana. bread were servecl by the :tled (ross during the stop in 1Jrague .

3. Reception: a) Zebrze~owice.

Eventuall we reached Zebrzedowice, wl ich is the first Polish customs t9·vn. Eere the repatriatiou l:i.sts were checked and the acccmpan -in.g personnel documents ·nspected pr·or to departure for Dziedzice, the Repatri­ation Reception Center. Our arrival at Zebrzedowice, at approximately 2400 hours, vw.s a1mounced by blari 1g loudspeakers welcoming fuhe repa triants with speeches and Polish music,

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b) Dziedzice

ter all Pormalities of tle border crossin, were co _leted the trans ort roce~ed t Dziedzice. t 5 a.m. the repatr~ants began to unload their o.,sessions onto tl e platfon. and by 9 a .• the train , as free to roceed to the yard for cleaning and to be prepared for use on its return journey with Sucteten departees from Czechoslovakia to Germany.

The train was met oy an \Jllerican sergeant who ao.vi~ea. us he was one of a unit of four who were res onsible for the return of the rail transport to ustria. He refused tu allow the children's coach to ._)roceed to Kosle.

4. .Analysis of trc1.ns ort conditions

a) Space. 'rhe British unit was overcrowued, with a number of cars holding as many as 28 - 30 people with baggage in a coach, while the erican section contained as few as six persons to a car, and in no in~ta.nce more than 16.

b) Food. '11he British unit had Austrian rations, while the Ai,erican unit had their DP rations of 2,000 calories a ds.y for a period of seven days. During the journe, the A.Irerican section received

c)

5.

Folish Red .Cross parcels, and additional su~ plies from this sect:on I s stocks uere turned over to the ritish section during the trip. These inc:.uded:

130 olish Red Cross parcels 30 k.:.los fresh ustrian snusage 120 loaves of bread 3 cases of cvnaensed milk Candy

Coffee for adults and milk for children was prepared twice daily in the kitchen car.

Comfort faclli ties. The train bad no toilet fe.cili ties except in the coach for unaccompanied children.

'Ihe train :mz...a.e no regular stops, and some ti..'Ues the period between stops was 3 to 5 hours, therefore affording no opnortunity for personal relief. However the train started slowly and usually the whistle was blown twice to give people wa.rni g the tra·n was about to move.

Sleeping arrangements were unsatisfactory. Bla'nkets were not sufficient. 10 blankets had been provided by Sick y. No beds and no straw. ma. ttresses were roviaed.

ater was diff.:.cult to obta~n due to irregularity of stops, a.d stops ma.de ·here it was difficult to get water.

Processing.

'l'he 'olish Repatriation Administration is responsible for this service and carried it out in an efficient manner.

Upon arrival at the repatriation centre at Dziedzice the repatriants are checked for documents, and temporary documents are jssued. They receive one month's ration coupons and a travel warrant for two weeks which can be used free of cr..arge on the national railways any place in Poland. 'Ihey receive 100 zlotys in cash. The processing was completed within 24 hours. Excellent records are kept of' the arrival, ueparture, and breakdO\rns ot' men, women and children repatriated. Cari tas and the Red Cross mail1.tain offices and services adjacent to the PUR. The employment service in -atowice assists the repatriant to find employment.

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There was no inspection of baggage, but persons possessing bicycles, , ,otor-cycles and radtos were as1rnd to report and have U em registered, when proper permits i\>r their use were issued t em.

The ,rocess·ng was carried out Ln an orderly, effective manner. Upon completion of processing people were free t0 proceed to their desired desti­nation. :nstances where people had o destination and for those who ,ere origina~ly from the lands incorporated into Soviet Russia, special arrange­ments were made to billet and provide them with food in a ~UR barracks at Dziea.zice, auring which period advice and arrangements are ,1ade for their re-location. This sometimes takes several weeks.

,,e had lunch at the reception center in the staff mess. ~·t consisted of a thick soup and bread and cof. ee. The rera triants may eat in a centra:.

ess or +a,ke t eir food to tbe 1,arracks.

The barrac s are crowu.ed and offer little privacy. Consideration is being given to enle.rging them, as 200,000 DPs are expected to arrive from Germany <luring the onth of Septembero

6. Recomr end.a tions.

a) Organisation of train. i) Official Transport clearance: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and ~uch misunierstandi1g with local RTO personnel along the routes, it would seem imperative that the trans ort co111r..1ander be issued with ro1thorit&tive stater ents providing route and clearance

of transport along the whole journey. Such a certi:f ica te would prevent unjustifiable delays and 1.1inimize the anxiety of the repatriants .

Instructions to nilitar personnel at border crossings should be issued along with the clearance certificate that the train is exempted from delousing.

ii) Sanitation: Steps ,hould be taken to provide proper toilet facilities. !tis a reflection on the organisation of the train when such rovision is made for only 19 out of 250 children, ard none at all for adults. _rovision could be maue either by providing facilities aboard transuort or by-frequent stops at suitable p:}..aces, these stops to be identified by a recognised signal. it warning should be given all repatriants to desist fro.11 eating green apples or other unripe fruit to avoid diarrhoea.

iii) ..... edical: It is ~erative that all repatriation trans...,orts have adequate medical facilities inc-uding a qualif'ied doctor and nurse . Proper medical sup:lies to take care of all eventualities should be carried.

iv) Crowding: .A definite policy should be maintained as to how many people should ·be placed in a car, ta.king into consideration the amount of their baggage.

v~ Food: It ·would seem advisable that in addition to t'1e dry rations being carried on the transport for the conswnptio '.1 of the repatriants there ought to be a fixed policy for the provision of at least one hot . eal a day at a givea time, this to be provided by mobile services, either Ulm.RA or other agencies . Such a service would maintain a better morale and prevent indispositions resulting from faulty feeding. It would also serve to equalize rations . I1tllllediate steps should be taken to get this i.rnplenented through UURRA Germany and C:,,echoslovakia. Proper ,,,a ter containers should be carried and regular stops rnadei1P refull them along the whole journey.

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vi) As it is the policy o:f the &ninistration to repatriate all persons desiring repatriation whether they are well or not, _roper provis on must be made to take care of such people with at least a minimum oi' comfort. Similarly as it is the otJl.icy of the .American Occupying authority to release prisoners who are scrvin.; ligpt sen­tences and who desire repatriation, • rovision must be made to ~rovide them with clothing and blankets for the journey as it is impossible :'or t em to make t ese arrangements themselves.

vii) It would help the morale of the repatriants :ii' an U1'lRRA re::_J­resentative iere to meet all incoming repatri.at:on trains at the border. Facilities are being set up by the ffiffiRA P.olish .ri.ssion to provide warehouse :facilities f'or the distribution of two months' food ration to all incoming repatriants from Germany. It is psyc' ologically · nd economically imperative that the sar.e service be given repatriants f'rom .ustria.

7. Behavior.and orale of renatriants on train.

On t.½e whole the morale of' the transport was good; people cooper-ated with the UNRRA personnel and the train crew. Prom observation morale was higher where travelling conditions were less crowded.

The policy of withholding the Red Crbss parcels until the ter:1 ination of the journey is justifiable in that black market operations all along the route within the Czechoslovakian borders is so prevalent that these p&rcels would be sold f'or goods such as liquor and other such useless con.111odi ties.

29 Aug.i st 1946 rm/nc

w _.JELL HEST O1ief Welfare Officer

Repatriation Reuort July 1946 l

The DP problem.

In sane ~uarters there has been a stiff attac on the continous pre­sence of large numbers of DP's in Austria. It~~lleged that their pre­sence is a terrible burden on the country, heavier than that of the tropps of occupation. It should not be forgottm that since May 1945 nearly 50.000 DP ' s in military and UNRRA centres or out of camps have been repatriated. The total remaining in UNRRA assisted camps in July 1946 was 47.143 and other camps 33.257 Austrian circles which attack DP ' s should remember that their problem was largely created by the government of the GrossdeutschesReich of which Austria was a part and she cannot dissociate herself completely from responsab-ility. Moscow Radio in English on July 1st refered to the DP ' s as 300. 000 foreign fascists,whose presence ran counter to the interests of the Austrian people. Really they contain large elements vn10 were strongly anti-fascists,Blmost the largest group being cared for now in tn-mRA canms is Jewish. The same radio talk stated there were loo. ooo German f'u -tives from Yugoslavia in Styria, British zone. The right figure is more like 12.ooo, these are Volksdeutsche who have been expelled from Yugoslavia,subjects of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire and the process of moving Volksdeutsche to Germany continually goes on. There were allegations of the presence of a large number of "foreign fascists

0

in Veissenstein and other towns of Carinthia. The military camp of Veissenstein is for Austrian Nazis who may be 11fascists " but are hardly "foreign" . The speaker went on to say in tl,le streets of' Klagenfurt German Officers and troops uniformed ~nd ~ith all their insignia is no uncommon sight. There are no such unffcnms ,except a few dyed ones and no insignia are allowed. The next allegation was that upwards of 5000 unbidden fascist guests rre e.t Treff'ling in Ee.st Tyrol. The number of Volksdeutsche there is bet,,een 3 n.c 1,.000

1 1!.°'o.J of whom are about to be sent to Germany and

there has been a high despatch rate in the past. I t was said they were armed. They are not armed. There have been fre~uehtand ~rough searches and very few arms have been found.The big problem of extraneous ele­ments is that of the Volk~deutsche and as stated,their movement to Germany is constantly in progress. fuile it 1s not suggested that. all persons residing in R. assisted camps are admirable people,every effort is made to eliminate ineligables and to encourEge those who can to return home. e are naturally getting dmvn towards the hard coi--e of irrepatriables and can therefore not exuect mass movements but figures-are not entirely discouraging. •

Screeni]};&., This has always been recognized by m RRA as of :primary importance to · eliminate collaborators and thus having direct bearing on repatriation

by removing elements hostile to it . On the other hand it is a function of the military but it was decided to set up advisory screening teams under Dr . Bedo to work under the aegis of the military. The aim was dual, first to screen out collaborators and any remaining Volksdeutsche second to exclude from UN care post-hostility ref'ugees,except in so far as these consist of persons or groups persecuted by the Nazis for racial or religious reasons ~ for activity on behalf of the u.N. Screening has just been coI{lpleted in the British zone,the results are not being published in full at the moment,but generally the number of ineligables was rather less than expected. Only in one camp was there

v a large majority of these which will entail handing the camp over to the military and dispersing the remaining eligables among other UN centres. The screening team has now begun wo"'k in US-zone.

Poles . A convoy left fo1 .. Poland on· June 30th/July 1st accompanied by r. rs . 1f]pHELL , Chief \ elfare Of'ficer , US- zone,Area II and by Miss KAMI L, \elfare 0fficer ,Villach. A detai led report on the trip and on con­ditions observed in Poland ,ms arawn up by Mrs . Mitchell and is being widely circula.ted for discussion and information.

2

~his convoy contained 250 Poles f'rom Italy andZffras an encouragement ~o repatriation to f'ind this group coming through as rumours were to ~he contrary. 23 children with Miss Kamil and 60 adults f'rom Villach went with the convoy and 250 persons f'rom the US-zone. A large convoy is leaving on August 6th,estimated members from the British zone are 500. It will be accompanied by Mrs. :IBST,Chief' ,ielfare 0f'ficer,Austriat1Mission and Mr.GLASEK, 1 elfare Officer,Hellbrunn. An account will be given in the ·next report. Inf'ormation has always been regarded as of' great irrroortance and the Polish military have begun their promised weekly deliveries of news­papers to CHQ. These are being sent out in sacks for csmps Hellbrunn, Ebensee,Linz 59,Villach and Kufstein. · Military Missions ~re always asked to supply as many sma11;.tovm newspa­pers as possible. ~ ading articles are regarded as propaganda but if' DP's see small notio:as of births,weddings,trivii details that show normality in the country to which they should return,it mey help to move the wa­verefJ the right way. A Polish Mission is now in the French zone on screening to decide which persons are eligable to be given the opportunity to return.

Yugoslavs. We still have about 11. ooo Yugoslavs in UNRRA assisted camps,but there will be a considerable reduction once screening is completed,possibly e. third. Among them are not wny true Serbs,most of those Zl!Dauaiixx~ iKJtlu who are nominally Serbs are really Russian emigre• s,there was a larg; settlement of Russian emigre• s in Belgrod af'ter the 1917revolution. · considerable p.umtter~. , of the Croats,the proportion of whom is per-,.,.aps a quarter of', our Yugoslavs,aretovms p~ple and have not the call of' the land to take them home,many of them semm st1,,ongly opposed ~o the present regime. The greatest number are Slovenes and perhaps f'ive:;:-sixths of them are country people with a strong feeling for the soil and it is among them that we have the greatest hopes of' repatriation. At the same time they are strong Roman Cat 6olics and many may be inclined to put church bef'ore country. The positi0n is not hopeless. The f'igures of' those who have returned f'rom April 15tP_-end of' June f'rom Spittal camp were 293 and during July a further 53. About 200 have gone oack f'rom Lienz during the same period. There \vas a small group which returned f'rom Asten in the US-zone in July and f'rom Kuf'stein,French zone, 7 on July 11th. There are only 63 1ef't at Kuf'stein as 56 have been screened out as Volks­deutsche.The simplicity of the mechanism of movement from the British zone owing to geographical contiguity is a help . Almost every week small parties go by UNRRA lorry f'rom Spittal direct to the f'rontier at Rosen­bach. Two conferences were held at CHQ between the Yugoslavs and Miss Barton and the Repatriation Officer on the implementation of resolution 92. The - ~reening should.~e much to satisfy the f'eeling of' the Yugoslavs that _ .. 1desirable elements are being harboured in large numbers. UN~RA proposed that a delegation of' DP ' s with two UNRRA workers should be allowed to visit Yugoslavia - a matter that the Repatriation Officer has nressed unsuccessfully on both the Yugoslav and Polish Missions since his arrival in March. They made the counter proposal,f'irst that a civilian delegation from Yugoslavia,containing persons who had previously been repatriated,should be allowed to visit Austria,second.ly that they should appoint a clerk to live in each of the camps where there are Yugoslavs,to act as a counterweight to anti-repatriation propoaganda.These proposals f/111, 1iMM are being submitted to the military authorities. As usual they were asked for newspapers and promised them,ro they may come at some time.

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To: Mr. Andreassen

Subject: Repatriati on Report for June, 1946.

One of our UNRRA workers who accompanied a returning group of DPs to Poland in April pointed out how easily many of them are influenced in their decision to go home or stay abroad. Their minds would change from day to day, the trend of a letter received from home would sway them instantly. Many have a deep-rooted desire to get back to their own (earth, mingled with fear of the hardships they may have to endure, and of the things worse than hardships which are alleged by anti-repatriation propaganda, all complicated by an uncertain state of' mind, largely due to their eX!H"iences in the last few years.

1. Information.

We have been striving to get this all along, tn d at last the Polish Repatriation Committee have been able to supply some newspapers fyom Poland, and it is hoped the supply will continue. We have a promise of papers from Jugoslavia.

Our Italian Mission sent us sane copies of a valuable report of a team directoP who went to Jugoslavia ,with translations into Serbe-Croat1 which we have circulated.

We are still nnessing on the Polish and Yugoslav representatives that it would be most valuable if they would allow a delegation of DPs accompanied by UNRRA. workers to visit the respective countries and report back to their fellow nationals in our DP cmnps.

2. Segregation.

The difficulty of removing elements hostile to repatriation is very great, as so nmch hostile propaganda is underground, but we can aim at getting those who have decided to go home segregated at a point where they will not be subjected to hostile influences.

The use of Wela camp in the U.S.Zone seemed to serve this purpose admirably, but ae it has been decided that the camp shall be given up, it is hoped that a similar staging centre can be found at Linz. The question of finding a similar staging centre in the British Zone is being gone into.

3. Improving the mechanism of movements.,by giving as long notice as possible to DPs of convoys and by trying to carry out the other recommendations on this subject embodied in the May report.

4. Screening.

It has been the policy of the Administration to urge the military to intensify screening in all three zones, but this has been hampered by the shortage of qualified personnel.

Teems of UNRRA personnel under the presidency of Dr. Bedo in the British Zone, Dr. Weinfeld in the

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U.S.Zone, have been appointed to work under the military in an advisory capacity, and assist and advise on this wox-k.

5. Technically ineligible DPs.

The considerable work of sorting out the DPs who are technically ineligible for UNRRA care, especially because of their having crossed the f'rontiers of the countries subsequent to the cessation of hostilities, is being attacked. It 1s expected that this will lead to the exclusion of a large number of Jugoslavs in the British Zone.

The fact that military units which have been disbanded as such and not as individuals can not be in UNRRA care has necessitated the handing back to the military of the Jugoslav camp at Markt Pongau.

Western Europeans. The British and U.S.Military recently issued directives that these persons could no longer be kept in camps, and the number now left in all zones is very small indeed, confined to a few cases of hardship, or re rsons awaiting sane permit from their home country, end one or two who are unacceptable by reason of their having-married an ex-enemy national.

Poles. 23 Polish children left Villach for Salzburg on 25th June for repatriation, accompanied by the Chief Welfare Officer of the crunp, who was to travel all the way. Convoys for Wela and Villach were due to leave for Poland on the last day of June with the Chief Welfare Officer No. 2 Area, U.S.Zone. Details will be included in the next report.

let July, 1946.

F.C.G.GOUGH, Repatriation Officer.

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• 14th May, 1946.

Report of Repatriation Officer on visit to French Zone

Colonel Thibaud agreed that he would inform Colonel Creusot in Vienna of any moves of Displaced. Persons which may be talcing place in the French Zone, in case there are groups frcm other Zones which could be sent at the same time. Ordinarily he co-ordinates his mbves with the French Zone of Gennany and allocation of trains is made by C.R.X., Berlin. It would be very useful from our point of view if we could have some direct connection <lllr' liaison with C.R.X. on this whole question of movements.

Concerning the complaints of discomfort of train accommodation, the Colonel said in the most recent movements that only one part of the train went to Kufstein. Another section was added later and that at least the women and children were accommodated in passenger cars. He agreed to review this matter further.

He underlined the practical impossibility of 1J¼eir security staff screening nationals of other countries with an,y degree of eff'ciency. When questioned specifically about Ukraine, he stated that a Ukranian delegate had visited him and that he had gone through the names of alleged collaborators mentioned in the speech to UNO by Y.r. Bajan, vice-premier of Soviet-mcraine, but not ope of the persons mentioned was in this Zone. I have talcen the list of names and details

and will try and get hold of the speech reported in "Pravda" on 3.2.46 which apparently stirred up all the trouble.

4. He will request the Yugoslav Liaison Officer to visit Kufstein at once for screening his nationals and arranging the repatriation of those few who have expressed their willingness to return home.

5. The Czech (Mr. Remeny) who nscreened" at Kufstein on March 28th is at present only a self-styled liaison officer, as he has not yet been appointed as such by his own goveniment. Final screening should be done by the Czech delegation from Prague which is expected shortly at Vienna.

6. He has informed Colonel Czernetzki of the Polish repatriation connnittee that he will be glad if he canes here for screening as soon as possible, beginning his work at Kuf'stein.

7. The Spaniards who wish to go to France from Kufstein must apply to Colonel Thibaud or to the French Consul for passports and documents.

8. ~ I discussed at length the question of representatives of exiled governments and the Colonel could supply no direct evidence of anti-repatriation propaganda by the Polish Red Cross. He praised their Welfare work and said that they supplied parcels to their compatriots who arebeing repatriated.

9. Out-of-Camp Displaced Persons. Each move of Displaced Persons is well publicized through the press, the radio and the Burgemeister in the French Zone so that he feels that such persons cannot be said to be left without adequate information on the · question of repatriation. This is borne out by the fact that larger numbers of out-of-camp Displaced Persons than inmates of camps take part in moves.

10. The Turkish liaison officer has not yet appeared and the Repatriation Officer will take this up at Salzburg and, if necessary, at Frankfurt.

(Signed) F. C. G. GOUGH

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To: Diro6tor, Relie~ Services

Fro : Rrin°triation O 0 fi.cex-.

Rof':

17th

.21

r' 1 116.

Tmu., i 11 thq_Jl.._S_!.. _"na _1 renc 1 ~o· es ",- 1 th - 16t 1,J.Qt'.16.

1. Att chea is fl re....,01 ... t of conf'erence it·: Col. T lib ud "t 111.!.7.sbruck, "rising :Cro m.y oonver2"-';ions

i th the C"' , D~.rector ,.,t rufstein, horn I t' ink I lei't in "' h"T)nier- f'rnr-,e or i1ind.

2. L,,ndec,: ·ill shortly be com---iosea. of ir1°e , .. triebles, if · e C'"'n tpr ce the · "<>"i 'll'>d 1 irk Li .... ison 01' . .'icer ~nd get 1im in to screen 1leged n tion .... ls.

3. I v;~si tecl St. il8nn in Pongau, t"'1e uA:o □ l'"'V c~ ·n

L!:.

bo 1t · 4 ch t':.0Pe has been so much t De. .J.; xioni ren"tPi~tion noint o~ vie· theGe is "lriost nothing to be oo ne there. It i"' "'.,... 1.1.r- rent rf>settle ent m .... ~tcr, s these neonle ~re nossible a c1:~1~er, or ce1"t~inly a i; tter f'o1., ant•."'oversy, as lon~ ns they "r8 in nroxi i ty of their .1'or, er country. 1°v h8ve hac. en"'llications for e. i:n.,,.,tion to U.S •• rejected. by t 1 ,elf re Oi'ficcr .... t S81 ~urg on the groutlds that no PO s coul( be accented. Thj_r is.-.

ersm1s concerned · ere

Poles , oved by U.S. ,ili t--rJr to_Goi-. r-in,r.

I recei veu. e L'ost u.n:f"vourflble re-;ort on this. L:oo n°rPons to be r nvec1 ere tole t 1ey rcre going <"\ ne CFIJ. n, :mt ~10-senburF trr-ned out to be ~n ex-concentrrtion cmnn, co1 ')lete · ,j_ th ere ntor•inms, ti---c ne- "' hnd n ri1ost aenressin · ef'fect .

The to

nd

~. Out of c~mo DPs.

The Fi.,enc11 r.:irt ori tics ssur-ed . e tr '.1.t l"lll 11oves o.r•e -ell-nublicized nd t 3.t .10:.1 0 out of cann DPe h ve ---lcen p'"\rt in tr em, t nn DPs ex carnus. The nress and

rr-cJ.io ~re used, ~ma. Burgom..,sters nlso inL'orr .. ed.

The emigrction to U.S. A. :fo-.,ms °\'8I'O cl:.rtr-i. nted to ··-i,e DP infor~ ntion centre in .. in..,. 8 d to -:1,.,tion8l com.,unities in the S"'lzourg are~ and DPs cont~ct other ,ise : .. eprest ~ ,RI c..., ·n . The AC::DC hcve arr•anged for cornor~ t"' af':fidavi ts in m"'nY ce sos, 811.e., I i 11 ask i.ise 1d8nelian to nnnror-ich 1... Thomas Fox l c~tholic)

t'l1d other org"'nis..,t:i ons.

-'-~-~·Y::t Re ~t•irtion Officer.

. --UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION

AUSTRIAN MISSION

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FRENCH ZONE

INNSBRUCK, ... 14.th .. lvlay~ ... l9.4.6 .•.......................... ELISABETHSTR. 3 - TELEPHONE 2663

R5iort of Repatriation Officer on visit to French Zone.

1. Colonel Thibaud agreed that he would :infonn Colonel ~fiWiii.&J: in Vienna of any moves of Displaced Persons which may be taking place in the French Zone, in case there are groups from other Zones which could be sent at the same time. Ordinarily he co-ordinates his moves with the French Lone of Germany and allocation of trains is made by C.R.X., Berlin. It would be very useful f'rom our point of view if we could have some direct connection or liaison with C.R.X. on this whole question of movements.

2. Concerning the complaints of discomf'ort of train accommodation, the colonel said in the most recent movements that only one part of the train went to Kuf stein. Another section was added later and that at least the women and children were accommodated in passenger cars. He agreed to review this matter f'urther.

3. He underlined the practical impossibility of their security staff screening nationals of' other countries with any degree of efficiency. When questioned specifically about Ukraine, he stated that a Ukrainian delegate had visited him and that he had gone through the names of alleged collaborators mentioned in the speech to U1 0 by l,1r. Bajan, vice-premier of Soviet-Ukraine, but not one of the persons mentioned was in this Z:one. I have taken the list of names and details and will try and get hold of the speech reported in "Pravda11 on 3: 2 :46 which apparently stirred up all the trouble.

4, He will request the Yugo-Slav liaison officer to visit Kufstein at once for screening his nationals and aTranging the repatriation of those few who have expressed their willingness to return home.

5. 'rhe Cl'(ech (Mr. Remeny) , who 11 screened" at Kuf stein on March 2eth, is at present oni~ a self-styled liaison officer, as he has not yet been appointed as such by his own government. Final screening should be done by the C ech dele­gation from Prague which is expected shortly at Vienna.

6. He has infonned Colonel Czernetzki of the Polish repatriation connnittee that he will be glad if he comes here for screening as soon as possible, beginning his work at Kufstein.

- 7. The Spaniards who wish to go to France from Kufstein must apply to Colonel Thibaud or to the French Consul for passports and documents.

8. I discussed at length the question of representatives of exiled goverrunents and the Colonel could supply no direct ;evidence of anti-repatriation propaganda by the Polish Red Cross. He praised their Weli'are work and said that they supplied parcels to their compatriots who are being repatriated.

9. Out-of-Camp Displaced Persons. Each move of Displaced Persons is well publicized through the press, the radia and the Burgomeister in the French Zone, so that he feels that such persons cannot be said to be lef't without adequate infonnation on the question of repatriation. This is borne out by the fact that larger numbers of out-of-camp Displaced Persons than inmates of camps take part in moves.

10. The Turkish liaison officer has not yet appeared, and the Repatriation Of'ficer will take this up at Salzburg and, if necessary, at Frankfurt.

• As PVi 1 sl r 0t ollt, t e DPs i: ou:.." c::1 DS '='Y be tho 1ght o·._' nnt0r the t _r o he,., ; ngs o. f'.

iJ r:i•-. C"'te o -.ies b tr~~ble D rsons C To--,-1.., ~t inble , ers ns.

Cl ,..s ,.., ) h s been uc"l dir i ...,i,... cd -oy -r'"' ""t --ct.; on in t}P. three ~ones "nd 8~ Po~ t ~ i itnrv 0 rsonnel n~e

t to ~t::1te t Pt it is co.nlete, ot ers o~e~tly S"' it is never rc,8llv cor."Jlete. T1e F e:ich. ..,,,t11orities fr•"nl{l: nointed out th"'t thnv h,.,c, no nersonnel rho :r.-,d 0 •1f:ficiPnt exnerj ence to tell r o · ere 11 coll~bo1 .. ,.,to1"'s 11

,

even if' t' P ter. rerp e::..,ctl:y defined, ane. t'"'e other t· ro . i: i t"ry RU tho,,.,i ties · lso ,...uffn·-. :f ·om 1~c1c o::' c\:ilJ.ed

rRornel. One cnn S"Y t t t --. . ov 1 o'f: Rtl"'"-: Hhtf01-.· '"'rd cx-ener y cntegories .; s no· -: t in sir:' t of cor:nletion, thm,gh the detection of collabo1--ptors r:iv never be entirely co ulete.

b) R 0 n~tr~ ble nersons.

C7,echs: .L• Pr"' are ore th0 n 100 children Rt Leoben in thA B"'i t.isl Zone of debntr:ible Czec ::.oslovp t w·-tionr.ilitv. T lP Il"l ~ of t1-, 0 D"rents h8Ve been sPnt to Pr,....g, nd check :.s be.; nsz · ede t· Al .. e 1d r-. lif't .,.,ren· _,..ed ·1nder thref' he r-: n s - C -"'C oslov 1{s, SudP.ten Ge> '1'1S • o h.,ve been de orted to :i-prr "n , S·1deten Ger. "'n'"' · ·· o i-•e to be deuorted. It is · .. or. isec th ..... t ,., delecr"'tj_on ·ill co e do -n fror:: 1"ng a·1rin2: "V to deGl -.; th ther: nndor the three he c.ings.

I.,.., ,.. ~ill tion it is honed that q deleg,:,t~ on rill come 6: 1r~ n~ the onth to deal v:-i th the 1:-e: aining Cz chs in thP t1 ee "'Ones, ~rubP.ring 100, ::rprrt fro. m·s . It is onea th,..,t verv "'n '/} 11 return.

Tur'cs:

' Turkisl... J.2.a1.son offic 0, .. is a,ic, 8t S"'lr,,:bi•rg, ,..,nd

i ~ i~ .. OTJeC •0 rill nY'r"nge f'or P8D'ltri tion of his nrt 4 onals, ro1ghly 90 in e J.S.Zone, 2 0 in th Bi--i ti sh ~one qnd 270 in the - 1rench ~one.

Gr eks:

convoy is exnected to le"'ve :i..---o;--. GrPece soon "11d it i c bein '"'rr nged i t'1 the ;_ it,.. _ .. y th,.,t the esui t

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b rr--cks f\t KJ.ag:enfurt s ~pJ_l be used ~s collecting: ceihre for fl s ff n s can be ersu.rided. to go. This co~1.voy -sho·1ld le,.,ve curin(?; l\ q ~ •

.,.etherlPnds:

D1: ing . '"rch · ost o-.:: the scEtterecl. fe v Dutch citizens 'rere sent be ck or ,,re bout to lenve, but there are still 30 "'t crurms in the British Zone. '.....1

1n Dutch li ison o~ficer hones to c~range fo t ir screening cci rirsz . .., • fforts r.:1re being 1 ade to a .. isnose of t11e others Jl nw~ers from,. variety of countries v.here no oliticRl objection to return exists

The n,..1 .es of L'"tin k. cricr-,ns qre 1Jein!t.: "l8 ssed to the U S. Cons1l tA for cnn~·ltction ·ith the rernective aovernments vi "'s ington.

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Poles:

5'; Poles !"-It Kufstein, Prench zone, have exnressed their ·illin~nees to be renatri~ted, ~nd q dJ.1 ive is bein~ . ~c1e elsev· ere - ever~ ef:ort is be:.nrr aa.e to rret inforr rition r.,na. ne ·sn ..,er~ f'rom hrn e to Polish nrtion<>ls. T 'e R0-"fl;Pi'"'tion CG. i ttee - ill try to send e car ·eekly to Glei 'it,..,. f:::-om Vienn to collect ne..,snP ePs and Dost from h01 e - this latte ... is very i. nortant. Any e 1thentic inf'orr. tion received b 1 28drunrters is ·. "'Psed on """nfortun~tely · ·e hi=we Pecei vea. none fro. -"• • O., "nd only a SI ~ l ru o ,nt fro1. our iiPsicn in Pol,.,nd.

ihe P lish Reurtri"'tinn Cr,il ittee has just been t. rough the British Zone, nd their• efforts · .:.11 cont · nue to be encour ged~

The i nlement<>tion of the obligRtions under the revised resolution 71 "to bring about the re. ovql of conditions 1hich 0 y interfere "i th renatrir-tion" is being well su11norted by the ri tish r-nd r nc 1 n.iJ.i tar:-r 0 nthor>i ties in their freely exnressea. r ish to dir..inish the influence of' renresentPti ves of t11e exiled GovP."'nt ent on Polish nation ls.

Ver shortly decision should be reeched on the nroryoscl to send a deleg 0 tion of' "'bout 7 DPs on visit to Pol"'nd ri.t ,.:-s . ]1itzrnndolnh, elf' re, Officer "'t Ebensee. he fact thc1t their en2tri "'tion C01, i ttee is inf vour of it is sho m by ~he f'nct tl"t they have nro-rosec 0 second rim off'icinl s 10 ·la. also 8Ccor:man:v. this TI8rt ·• This visit sho·J.d t~ce nl, ce du1"'ing .ay.

Yu oslr:ivs :

As l .rtvs these form t e hC'lr>dest 1,roble , "'nd the . i:l.i t:=-ry in botL the , ri tis 1 ~nd 11rench zones reg rd it "'S ~n a most hopeless one. 1e Yu osl:0v Ren tri.9. tion Co n i ttee st:-te th"'t their GovePru .ent have issued a decree denriving exuatri.,,tes in Ge~ any, ung ry "'nd S ·itzerl~nd of their nationr:1lit, but have )ro~ ised to tr.r ..,nd deley the 0xtension of this decree to 11stria. The Ren"'tria.tion Cor. ittee is ready to visit the British Zone rind it is ~1onec tl"at r:1rJ1 flngenents m ; b ~ade for ther' to do o l.;ost at once to 9.lze strong 1 st-r inute ttemnt . They "'ill nnturally receive every sunport f'rom the "one Director· .

c )~Re0--atrh,bles .

s to Je'l!·s, no def'ini te st, terient c n be n de until there is"~ of'fici~l one on the finaings of the Ans:i:J o--h 1eri can Commission.

The most imoortant recent develonment is the est, blishrnent of' a tert-oor ry . S. ConS11 l:::ir 0:fI'ice t S<>lzbur to deel vri t11. an lications for enii:rration to the T • S. A. T - RA h. s been asked to eln · ·i th the ini ti"'l ni ... ocessing, i th t,1e di ;:;trioution :md. f'illing un the f'orns issued. by the mericnn P 1 1 thori ties, end ' i th rr. ruriniz for a c11rsory . ,edic::,,l exp ·ination. iss Gisella ,einf'eld is a_e::-iling ui th this fro, I ·che :rRRA siae.

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Annlications re only bein.i:r Peceived t Dresent f1~om nersons resident in the T. S. Zone ( not incl110.ing Viennp) n ... evious to ~2nd December, 191.15.

Th"' Re ~tri1:ition B ... cinch lY•s s,-:.· 'fered greet :loss in the resiw:nation for beal th reasons of iss __ ;1r'1'.2ret Bond, the C-ief' Re"Y)atriation Officer, wnose energy, kno vledge and good hur .our de her such an "'dl ir~ble cnief' of thj_s section.

..c~~ Renatriation Officer,

~0th A ril, 1946.

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To: Director, Relief Services. 3rd Anril, 1946.

1. In her re-port for Pebru<1ry, the Chief Renatriation Officer defined clearly the three groups of DPs in our canms:

a) Volksdeutsch, Sudetens, collabor8.tors etc . b ~ "-on-re atriable persons c) Repatriable ~ersons.

2. As reg8rds the first groun above, the screening is nsturally in the hands of the military authorities and the nosition is stated to be as follows:

U.S.Zone - Col. Patrick at Srlzburg described the nrocess, rightly I think, as a continuous one, even if olksdeutsch and simil~r persons are removed, there is 1 ~ys the nossibility of finding collaborators. The military seem to be rorking actively on it, and I will try to get some actu 1 figures from them hen I visit SRlzburg to-morrow.

British Zone.There has been some very active screening in the zone, . rnd the process .,,, s stFtea_ to be comnlete . The Chief Renatriation Officer who is there !'lt the moment is under the imnression thst it \Vas rather superficial, and she will no doubt have details on return.

French 2one. Screening is talcing nlace during the handing over of two of our f'our camns to the m:_litary. I have contacted the French military several times, na. they assure me that Col. Thibault in Innsbruck has it 'ell in hand. The Chief Renatriation Officer is inq_uiring into this there.

3 . •Ton-renr-i.triable uersons: I have been in close contact ui th the ..,.. . G. C. renresentati ve, L.r. Lillard, and in connection ;vi th t~1is ouestion I would lil~e to o_uote the foll01 1ing on a memorandum I .rrote on 2nd April, ·hich shows what arrangements have been made concerning an licants for emigretion:

"Subject: Renntriation and Resettle11ent

I s.r anxious that the a_istinction between the above senarate things should be clear-cut, as this seems in accordance Ii t11 -,.,olicy •

.. e have become vaguely involved in the resettlement auestion, as vras inevi t ble. As you know, the C_1ief R,:,0F1tri~tion Officer was getting many in.di vi dual encuiries on this subject, and had a form a..ravm up for a:pDlicants to fill in.

It is nov1 clear tl1.f1t , e cpn only act , s a ch8Ilnel of cornmunicstion for ei11igra"-ion, but there still seems to be an imnression in various auarters th8t .,.,rRR h s at the .noment a definite responsibility. A relevpnt cRse is shovm on the at tac 1ed cony of a letter from the ~erican Consul::ite, which v·as sent to me by the Tr.s.•Jone Director, and .. hich I reg rd s rather mi sleaa.ing. Al though we re ::_n close touch 'li th the American Consulate, the I.G.C. and our Gern1cn oneration

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the addresses of' the a.gencies end releve.nt inf'ormation 112.ve not yet been su:oplied to us.

'fhe f'ile of' a-pnlications which V'e held has now been nassed on in the fb llowin12: manner: 1. ~u~lications f'or emi~ration-to the U.K. and

British controlled countries, including Palestine, have been assed to Mr. Berry, Controller, Visa 3rcnch, Politic2l Division, ACA. Further aunlicants ,, ill be ref'erred. direct to hii. .•

2. ~:r. Lillard, the I. G.C. representative at the merican Consula.te, 16, Boltzmanngasse, lien IX,

has taken over all a.nplications f'or emigration to countries such as Argentine and Iran, which have no full dinlomatic renresentation here or in Germ ny. -

3. It has been agreed to-day with .r. Lillard that the f'orms v-·e hold for a.unlication f'ori emigration to the r • s. A. will be taken over hy him, and that he will send to the individuals through the zone directors, if they are in camps, the new type of f'orm w:hich has apparently already been iasued in Germany by USFE'l1. He is contacting the American military authorities to try to obtain a supply of these.

4. Renatriable Persons: :.indeavours are being n ade to collect evidence of any nropaganda hostile to repatriation made by representatives of exiled governments.

Polish. A useful memorandum has been received from our Polish Mission in ,:arsaw covering an extensive discussion with the Polish Chief of Re1)atriation, !.Ir. Wolski. The Chief of the Polish Renatriation Committee in Austria, Major Czernetsld, is at present in Warsaw, and further details can only be worked out when he returns. A provisional plan has been made with his subordinate for getting as rrmch information as possible to the Polish persons in our camps about conditions in their country, and arrangements for repatriation. We have a promise of a large number of Polish newspapers for distribution weekly, and are trying to get these routed here via Frankfurt. There is also a plan to send a delegation to Poland of three Polish people from the Jarge Polish camp at Ebensee elected by themselves, and accom:::,aniea_ by I1rs. Pit:3Po.ndol:]h, v!l~ cf' 'elfare Officer of the camp. They are to report back to their compatriots in the camp. Arrangements have been made in the U.S.Zone that any letters received from Poland which are considered of general interest shall be distributed in the camps, through the Zone Repatriation Officer. The Polish Government have uromised to send us an official statement of arrangements made for reception·of' repatriates, and we shall be able to have this matter printed in Polish in Vienna for display or distribution.

Czechoslovaks. A registration card is being given to each of these ( and also the few Western Euro1')eans in the canl!)s) - i.e. persons who are not likely to have any yolitical reasons to ~revent their return. The Czechoslovak liaison officer here is expecting a woman from Prague in the middle of April, who will have full files in connection vii th repatriation, and it is honed that with her help we shall-repatriate the majority-of these.

•

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Turks. There are 275 of these in the French zone ·,·ho are, it is understood, anxious to return. A reauest ha.s bP,en made to : SFA that they ask Col. Sr ... i th at ¥ SFET :i:IQ to get the Turlcish Liaison Officer, uho is attached there, to go to Innsbruck. as soon as possible to deal with the re:9 tria tion of' these persons.

Jugoslavs. This is the' most diff'icult ouestion of all. I have contacted their Renatriation Corru .. i ttee on the q_uestion of sunnly of' useful mate1~ial to their nationals, end vre have hr:i.d a long gener2.l discussion. I have to v1ork out nlans in m:Jre detail after the visit I am just going to pay to the canros in the . S. Zone, ;here there are large numbers of them. I have arr~nged to have a co~1ference ,~·i th La jor Pirkovic on lllY return. I ns_ve [11S0

"rranP-ed rith their representltive in the French Zone, l aJor Lientic, thet he should be brought into contact with the Zone Director, s Iir . As'ller :2.s an.-x:ious to est blish rel~tions •~th him.

;.,.,.. {. C. G.Gough, ,~- Assist2nt Repatriation Officer.

Subject: R ,P A'rRI ld'I UN

e To: far. Andreassen 3rd hlRrch , 1Y46.

1. In my re ort to the Director in Chief', Austrian Operation, dated 10th Ji::inu ry, 1946, m d entitled '1'l'rensf'er and .Hepat-ri tion of' DPs in UN camps in Austria'' I def'ined the DPs in our camps as consisting o1' three nain groups:

a) Vollcsdeutsche, Sudeten Germr.ins, collaborators etc. b) on-renatriable nersons c) Renatrlable nersons.

I anRlysed these three grou-ps of' DPs with articular ernnhasis on our res1)onsibili ties towards them, ana_ made various suggestions regarding our nolicy towards these grouns of' ersons, Hnd what action was req_uired by fNRRA in Austria in

respect of' their trnnsf'er, re-settlement Bnd renatriation resnecti vely.

2. The f'ollowing are some comments on the nosition to-day, so far as the above-mentioned matters are concerned:

) Vollcsa_eutsche, Sudeten Germf1ns, collaborators etc.

Letters were adc.'lressea_ by Brigadier Pa.rminter to the British and ~1rench ruli tary authorities in Vienna at the highest level, reguesting a thorough investig­ation into, and sdreening of' the DPs in our crrnps in their respective zones, with a view to removing those DPs with whom we are not authorised to deal.

In the British zone, as a result, the military have moved a large number of' Volksdeutsche out of our camns, and a certain number of' United 1'fationa Nation8.ls have been substituted instead. 'l'he British military authorities have inf'oy,rned me that they c1re ne1)ared to nrovide nersonnel to screen f'or noliticsl refugees and collaborators, but that they rely on Tl r mA team nersonnel to investigate the net1.onal1. ty status of' DPs in our cmrps, since they cannot thei11selves )Povide adeouote nersonnel. In view of' the urgent necessity of' determining this nationality status of' DPs, 9nd mnce the British military authorities re not nble to undertake the job themselves, I think the res onsi bili ty f'or meldng this o.eterminetion must f'all on RA nersonnel.

In the US. ~one, the military security nolice have been conducting a thorough screening of' folksdeutsche and o:f Russi2ns. 'his is still in progress. As a conseguence a large number of Volksdeutsche have been moved f'rom our c~unps, Pnd this is continuing.

I have no recent inf'ormntion of' the nosition in the J?rench '7one.

Since my renort of' 10th "'nUi?ry, it h s been laid down

I

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that Jugosl8V {olksdeutsche Bnd Sudeten Germans, although declared stateless by their resnective Goveril'nents, re ineligible for ffiHRA assistonce as DPs.

b) Non-renatriBble Per_s..Q!!.§.

The situation reaarding this group of' DPs has not ch nged in the le.st -t:ew weelcs, and the i'Jatter 01· their eventual settlement is still one which re<1uires urgent consideration by the resnonsible authorities.

I have had several conver•sBtions with l1r. Weihs, Austrian re res ent ti ve of the International 1iigration Service, concerning the part this orgAnis~tion cen ~lay in assisting DPs who have relatives overseas, And wish to emigrate to join their relatives. ur. eihs has this week returned to 'eneva to consult his lie"'dauarters, na will bring ·back his nlF1ns to Vienna in about three

weeks' time.

c) Repatria~le Per~ons

The q_uestion of the official recognition of renresentatives of' exiled govermnents 0 nd their access to DPs in our camps has been under discussion. Hecorrnn­endations have been made to J.R.u. for these officials to be wi thdra1ivn, since their resence is in general not conducive to increasing the desire of DPs to return to their homes.

' emes of 811 .Allied Li::iison and ReDatri tion fficers have been sent to J.R. o. at the latter's rec1uest, together with an assess11ent of' their v lue in the DP Ooer. tion, as far as re~atrietion is concerned.

71-+ 'l'he French Military Rnd the Czechoslovak Renatriation authorities heve been nrovided with statistics and asKed to undertalce the screening: of the ,vest ~'uroneans and C:,,;echosl ovalcs res-pecti vely in e.11 our camus in Austria, with a viev, to determining which ct: these ersons can now be re-pAtPiAted, and which can not be repatriated, and in the latter case, why not. It is honed that this will assist in cler-iring such n'""rsons from our canros in the near f'uture.

'l'he British bili tary authorities have been reciuested to inf'orin us how soon they can nrovia.e trBnsnort facilities for the repatriation of 'lurks, :illgyotisns and other luiddle ~ast nationals in our carnos who wish to return home. 'l'he lt'rench t..ili tary authorities have been asked to secure the services of e ~'urkish Liaison Officer, in order to screen the Turkish DPs who have anplied to be repatriated from the ]'rench •J,one. -

It is honed that inl'ormation will soon be made avsilable by our Polish and Jugoslav 1, issions through ~.k.0. of' the conditions existing in Poland and .jurroslavia for re-oatrie.tes, so far as their rece1)tion and welfare, food, clothing, housing, 1:rork etc. are concerned. hen such inf'ormBtion is available, an educ tional canuaign will be nrenared to give this information to the DPs concerned, with a view to encourap:ing their return home, and reuovmg the rumours which are at present one of the chief' 1'actors

-le in nI•eventing their renatri tion.

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SPBJEC'.L': 'l'ransi'er and Repatriation of' DPs in lJ U-{HA Camps in Austria.

'l'o: Director-in-Chief·, Austrian Operation.

1 . /hen I set out to investigate the repatriation possi-biJ.i ties of the "'l')Ps in our camps in Austria, 1 had been given to understand by various "in1'orrnec:c" persons, rnili tery o:;:-1·icial:s end some 01· our 'l'eam Directors , tha't no 1urt.ner renatru~tion '..PS possib.Le ana. thatl all the DPs who wished to retu1~n to their countries had a.one so already.

On the surt'ace , this is true. '1.'hose DPs -.!ho have ex­vressed a ~esire to be repatriated have been returned to their countPies, with a f'ew excentions who are a- ·✓ai tincr transport. 'l'he D:Os who remain in our camsp are thepe because so 1·a:r• they heve not asked to be repatristeC. This, houever, does not mAan that all these DPs are not renatriable.

2. At the Dresent time , there are in rnRA crunns in Austria theee t 3) main groups 01· DPs:

a) Persons who are German or aho have pro-1.:rerman sympathies; i.e . , Volksdeutsche, Sua_eten ,iermans, col.Labora'tors, etc.

b) Non-repatriable persons; i.e., Stateless pe1~sons, ;; .. ing Peter'' Yugoslavs, 11Lonclon" Poles , etc •

c) Repatriao.Le oer sons .

3. UNRRA ras set UT,> as a short-term organizRtion and, so far as -r,he Displaced. PeI•sons Operations are concerned, to 'taKe cs.re ternporDJ.."ily 01· Displaced Persons "9ending t.heir re·oat::0 iat1on. l t is ~)resu...ned 'that in "the nex't year or so , ·; ,r:-.RA will cease to f'unction one. that the DPs remairnng: J.n our camos \Ii.LL be handed. over 'to I. 1~.c. or whatever organization is r8sponsible :for their event ual settlement. ·i"'hese should consist onJ.y 01· genuinely non­renstrian.Le DPs e.nd vre must taKe unatever action we can to c.LeaT' our camps or persons in groups 2(a) and 2 c) aoove os soon ns possin.Le.

4. ·vii th regard to Group2 (a), the Vollcsdeutsche, etc . , 1 suggest thct it is urgent to press the Military 8t 'the highes't .Level to remove this class or persons f'rom our c:=unps ss soon as uossinle . There A.re some thousands 01· such DeoDle s11eJ. terinP-: in our camps and they range f'·•o,n those who were· coJ. Laborating diPect­ly with the ~Tazis to those whose anti-Soviet 1·eelings are such that, al though they may not necessar1.Ly hi:we pro-Nazi synrnathies, they are pre·oered 'to f'.lly themselves with any o'ther anti-Soviet; ._'.' roup sna cArry on anti-Soviet activities . Apart 1·ro1n the f'act that Tfl'{RRA uas not set u:9 to ta~::e care of' such persons, their Dresence J_n our camT,>s is highly undesiraoJ.e becr=mse o:r the 1)011 ti­cal pressm e they exert to im·1uence re-paT,riaol e Dersons s.gains1:, return1n~ to their countries.

- 1n mos-r, cases, our Team Directors know or- can easily discover, who these T,>ersons are . In my memorandum of' l u th Dec., 194b on repatriabil1 ty, 'ream Directors were asked to subrni 't a renort by 31st December , .L<.:J4b, stating a1nonf{ other things, numbers 01·- such persons in their c8lnps. So :far, I h~ve only received a fe~ of these re~orts .

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-~-4. ( con 1 d) In some e:s:treme cases, 'l'ee.rn Directors have cal.Led in the Security Police and the DPs conce1ned have been removed. In one or two other cases, Team Directors, ':rho either are not unsym­pathetic to the views held by this calss or DPs or- \Tho have sym­pathy with 1..hem nersonally , are del1berately sheltering them. I would liK:e to discuss this lat·tcr nroblem vn t h you sometime .

In the US Zone, it is t.he policy 01· the m1l1 tary authori­ties to trans1·er Vol.ksdeutsche and Sudeten Germans to G-ermauy a s soon as possible and a screening or Yugosl~vs is proceeding at nresent. ,'hen this is complece, l una_erstand that the 'fo11rndeutsche u i.Ll oe t'orci oly trans1·erred t.o l:i-errru:n y ·vvith .:;he exce1Ytion 01· those \ll'lo ap-peal bet·ore snecial mi.Li "tG.ry boar, s set. un :ror tnis :9uPpose and who can prove thc..t they · ;er·e innocent of' 2n,y u1•0-uerman sym­pathies or collaborationist activities . I asked Col . Stephens, DP Ei vision, u. S . A. C. A., R.bout a 1,1onth ago ho'.'/ soon it woulc1 os- nos­siole .,o cleai· our camps 01· ro1,csdeutsche and Sudeten .:.rermans 8.nd he 1n1·orme6. me tha.t they ·:•ou.ld ,)e move P s c oon s -r,he sc:-eening 1,as compJ,e tea. . ·1•hir Pcreening ,·orl<: shou..Lc , ::..n my 01111110n, by ex­tended 9nd greatly speeded. up . One of' our l'eam Direct.ors, w·ho :=is..1:rnd r·or C.I.C . Pssistance , 1i"S tola th.cit not enough personnel were 8Va1lao.le pnd t.hP.t he ·ould h?ve to uA il,.

in the British Zone , a screening:: o:f the )Ps in our canns has ueen ca.r ied out by the nuli "tary 8.u--.::,hori ties and -che U-erm.ans -

i::md Vollrndeutsche determined. Hut they nevert.h-"!.Less remain in our camps. I discussed this \fi th lurs . Lub )O C.r.<:, rip Di "lSJ.on, ACA bri t . about a month ago and she exi)ressecl ::urprise thPt our camps con­tP.ined such 1.)ersons and said she ·would. loolc into the rnetter . l sug­gest tl'lf't the m1J.i tary be asked to take act.ion ·co remove thes e' per-

sons 1·rom our cal!lps :-o s soon as posf'i ,.Le. In the .b'rench Zone, J. am informed that one J:1

1rench o:t':i::'icial alone is carrying out screening in our C8n1:ps and "the l)rocess is therel'ore proceeding ve1,y slm,.ly . I sugges"G ·chc.t, tne 'rencn m1J.i ­t9ry also oe as.Kee.. to a cceleraTe their screening of' our DPs and to remove the Uermens and. ·'IoJ . .kscleutcche .

When l was in J:11rankt'ur t on 16·ch Decernoer, 1~4b, I dis­

cussed the nuestion o:t· IoJ.Ksdeutsche ana_ Sude·Gen u-e1"mo.ns w1 th Dr . Simon, Legal Advisor to G-en. hlorgan. .doth tl1ese grouns oi' :9ersors have been declared by their respective c oun-cr1 .. ,s to heve lost their citizenshin in those countries, nnd ~hey 1;here1·ore, 7 resumably, be­come state.Less . 1 t was not then c.Les.r whe"tl1er o r· not u.LLA ~w.s re­q_uired to assulile respons1bili r.,y :t'or looking a1·1;er· them as stateleso persons and Dr . Simon was re1·erring the matter to •!RO f'or decision. Do we •1ave any rulinr~ on this rnatter yet.';'

5 . iith regard to .u-roup ~~b) , the non-repa.tr iables , these consist 01· stete.Les :'. uersons and pej •sons V\l'l'lO ror poll tical or r·aci a l reasons do not desire 'to return to their countries.

J.'hese persons Y ill have to be resettJ.ec in coun-tries other- than othose of' the i r -pre·,1ous resid mce an< this reset tlement is not an m,Lv--'.A function. in this connection, J. would .liKe to mAk e the 1·01101,•ring obser•vations:

a) ·.ihi te 11.ussians , .8ston1ans , :i....atvians, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians, together •,yith "King Peter'' Yugos.Lavs anc ''Lonl on;' Poles, 1'orm a group of.' DPs whom, perhans with a 1·ev1 e::ceptions, we sl1a.Ll not be ab.le to r-epatriste. 'ihese pe1~sons are stolidly fine. f'ana"ti ­cally d.e'termined ·co resist returning to 1:;heir 1·ormer countPies of domic i le as they are hostile ·co the go rernments 01· the c ountries concerned. J:.l'r or,1 conver-sation ,nth some o:f these :peoule, I have 1·ormed the opL1ion that the great ma Jori ty of' them wish 1:;o emigrate to the uni tecl str, te ,. , .t:$ri tish JJom1n1ons or 8ou th Americ a . J. unL er­stand that the I. u- . C. wiLL be negotiatin.-'" arrangements .t'or resettle­ment 01· non-reoatriabl es ou t. so 1·ar I have not Deen atHe 'to meet any of' thell" representatives so I do not know vrlw t stage their negotiations have reached. I have recei vec eeveral reouests 1·ro1t1

/ 1.:ver.

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Team Directors and one pet1 t1on 1·rom a grou-~) .of' ihi te .t<.ussians as.1.c­ing whether any 1nf•ormation on this :11Btter can oe made av9ilable to the DPs concerned in order to give them some hope ror their 1·uture.

b) l have had various enq_uiries 1·rom DPs who have 1•elations or 1·riends in I'oreign ·coun-tries, 1r.ostly 1n the United States and South Ar.ericfl, as to whetner the: can auo.Ly to join their ,_.,e1.ations in those countries. As 8 resu1. t I. ·have - got ou't a r·orm wluch S,.tch !)ersons can r:t.11 up 8nd. return ·co me T,hrough channels and wlnch I can then roF·~rd to the consul concerned ror action if possible. Since there is a great 0eal of' this enq_u1ry an.cl since it does not constitute mass resett..Lement, 1 wou.Ld .L1Keto give this service to our DPs 11· you agree . \See rorm attached~1 .

c) 'I'he French P.nd .oelgr,n uovernrnents nave of'I•ered. to ta1rn a number ot· DPs 1'or certain c ategor:.es of' wori-:: in thei:: countries. 'i'he matter has been haniun2: i'ire some time m d some 01· our ..Jr'S ·,·ho ,,ere circuJ_a1•ised about -his of':t'er and wished to acceut 1 t are now losinJZ interest because the :natter hac not been ta1cen any further. 'l'eam -irectors have au-oroached me to take this up on behalf' of' l)Ps in

their camps. Arn I uthorized to ap·oroach the i<1rench Anc .1:>e..Lgian repI•esentatj_ves in Tiennc1 to discover uhere the ... at·~er. st8nds.

d) l understand that there exists some intention to try to settle as many of· our D:,s as nossiole on the Austrien economy by I'1n6.-1ng them '.'or.1.c 1'or {,hich they w1.L.L receive payment , :i:'ooa., shelter, clot111ng, etc. !'ioo:n -che Austrian a.uthori ties. ·J.'his may oe a good tem­porary so.Lution ror so long es th':re is a labour shortage in Aus-c;ria, but 1·rom the lo'"'g-term 1)01nt 01· view 1 t is, in my opinion, no solution and sooner o:: later vn .. U create a recrudescence 01· the DP nroolem in Austria. '.L'he hatreo which exists between most of' the DPs and the Austrians would rnruce this, at best, '3. m?.ke-shii't arrangement and 1 think it is prooaole that as soon as the control of' the occupying powers and UN RA was wi thc\rai;m 1·rom AustP1a , dif·1·icul ties and i'riction wou.Ld occur, resulting in the DPs Losing their jobs and f'inding them­selves homeles ' eaain. . uo or t 1ree .DPs , 'l th technical ouali:t'icat1ons nave to.Lu r.1e that - on nnp.L1cat1on to -che Aus-crian L bom· aut~1ori ties they have been 1nror•med that the Austrians do not v:ant "foreigners" war.King :t·or them.

e) 1,1r . 111artin .. eihs , the Austrian repr-esentative of' the lnter­• n tional i,.igration Service, called to see me . 'l'he International

igration Service has its heao..q_uar~e'"S at 1.reneva, WP._S 1·ouna.ea. 1n and 1s chiefly 1'inanced f'rom the United States. J.'he .... nternat1.una.L ,,.ir.rrat1on bervice has as one of' its Ill8.1n obJect:i.ons , assistPnce to nersons :-,1.shin.Jr to ~nigrate . ~his assistRnce is, .l gath~red, not t'inanc1a.L but consist~ in making the necess'"'ry contacts :for the nerson concerned throug~1 the 1.ntern8t1onal i. 1grat1on bervice repres ntati ves in otne-•' ·-,arts 01· 0ne worlcl . 1.L'he Inte1•nationa.L iigration Se1 vice ~.'ill assist 1-,ersons of' any nptionali ty. Mr . 1teihs, stprtec. that his Austrian o:f!'ice \;-oulc.. not begin to iunctio:1. I'or a.t .Least trao !nonths, and he uould then cal 1 and see me again to cliscuss in ha1., vray le .. 11ght assist each other's worK.

6 . -iath regard. to G-roun 2\c) , the rena-i:;riable DPs in our camps, these are •"'ersons \i·ho can establish c1.ailll to ci tizenshin in soMe countr:,.r '"Ind who have no :political or r ac1al reasons I'or not returning to that country. 'l.'hese persons J..nclud.e:

a). es tern .ti:uropeans, Italians, ·reelrn , '.L'nr1cs and.other nationalities not Having :politic al c mn:pli ce. ti '),lS in renect 01· their r-etur•1 home.

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6. tb) Po.Les, Yugos.1avs, Czechs, and other .. estern ""'Uropeans, ,ho do not :Call within G-roun 2 ~a) anc_ who do not hole_ 6.et·~r I ined political connections :preve11ting -:heir return to their countries •

. t is these n-1-Js that i'!e rrust atte11:p't to re")s.tria-ce by re­moving so :t'ar as possible the ressons .1h::..ch prevent the!-.. 1'rom a-o­p.Lying i'or repatri3tion. 'l'hese reasons are various and I have enu­n.erated theni in my memoradurn o:t lUth uecember, ..L~4b, as.Kin,? ·.L·eam irectors 1:.0 re-)ort on the re:patriatn..Li ty oi' Dl-'s in their cainps.

The DPs .Lis-ced under 6 a) ebove s.re not nurn.erous au their -presence in ou:> ca.mos 1 s in r_ost cases explanaole; e. __ • , n1arri9ge to a '1.on-repatr1able in the ca.LD, i:11 he2_l th, 1:.->c { of' transport, etc. These DPs do not constitute a problem and ';Jy the Bpring I thin.I~ the majority of' them \Till have aJ.ready returned or will be returning home.

'.L'he DPs listeC. under 6 ( b; aoove cons-ci tute our i)i-= :pr-o­bl em. They are our ..Largest group nrnnePically and their i'ailure to apply 1·or repatriation is mostly :pschychological.

There is no doubt that the factor -.,hich 1n1·1uences these 0Ps most against returning home is :rear and unceI'tainty regArd:1.ng the conc.:.1 tions existilll.g i:nc.. thein<respect±Nen<::ountrres _'fro41 tb.e. :901nt of' view of' their reception, settlement and relI'are; 1. e., housing, cood, clothi:ig, ::ork, etc. This fear is caused by:

(a) Adverse poli tica_L influences within the ca.mp deliberately worKing on them with a view -co persuading tnem not to return home. '.L'hese in1'.Luences have already be "'n discussec in para. 4 and I hflve suggeste,~ th2,t ,rn endeavour to remove the nersons concerned r·rom our canr.9s '.!here :possible. ,mere not possible, se mi:-ht endeavour to concentr8te them all together 1-n camps a!)a.rt 1·roin the others.

\ b) Poli ticA.l pressures externa..L to the cam:p in.f.'luencing D.l:'s against returnin:., :10~1.e. verts.in of the voluntary telfare s.__.:encies, e.g., Polish l<.ed. Gross representatives and certain AJlied Liaison Of_icia.Ls, e.g., Tational Con_ i ttee - •~1nzq_o~11 oI' ugos..LevJ_o \ \\.ing 1'eter" lugoslcvs) 11.ave been 1,~orted to me by '1•earr1 .Ji rectors !C"na. other l.I'ffi \. field personnel as wor..teing to inf' 1uence 0Ps noli tically against the governwents in their res_)ective countries. 'l'his is understandable, having regard to the politicaJ. situation of the ner­sons concerned, and if the military authorities decide to recognise these groups of 1·ic1ally ·.1e must preslUnab.Ly Pcce--ot their c ecision on this mpt Jer. I attach a list of' Liaison and ,,e11·are ?ersonne.L in the JS Zone off'ici:::illy a.-9proved by the military f'or visiting DP camps. '.l:1he last four groups mentioned and the "Tational Cornmi ttee ... inga_o.n of Yugoslegle may be oenef'icia.L :t'ro r: -che ueJ t'are Doint 01· view, bu~ as reg~rus repatriation activities, their ort'1cla..1. recog­nition is not desirable.

( 5) Lack of accurate int'ormation obout conditions in the c .Jun­t:."'ies concerned. So much rumour S!li exag ··erated talk floats about the canr:9s concernin; conditions in fluland.and Yugoslavia that it is natural that the DPs of' these countries are reluctant to apuly for r")uatriation. On 12th "'Tove1t1ber, 1945, ··:e asked JRO to contact our ~issions in Poland and Yugoslavia to see if Ne could get tnY accurate i:nf'ormation about co·1d1 tions there 1·rm:1 -che uoint of view of the rece-ption and resettlem~nt of repatriates, but- no do1 1ot the 8nswer will ta.Ke a long time to get here. I hope t J be able to ar-1 .... ange a short visit to 1:>elgrade and , arsav1 to contact our .. ·dssions personally on this subject and to see if' it is possible to ar~enge v,ith the authoritj_es concerned so~1.e 1neans hereby it is possible to ass".1.re .Jrs thPt 11· t:;_1ey return to these cou:1tries ~he;r inll receive a square deal and be treated asordinary citizens . ,eanwhile I will endeavour to get whatever o'ther eviclence I can :t'ro the Liaison Ofi'icers co:;.1.cerned, press, etc. on this subject.

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'l'l3.e :procesb thus req_uirec. in order• to get these DPs to auply f'or repatriation hrs two stages:

ll~ 'l'o remove the uol1 tica.L inf'luences reI'erred to under \a) and tb) above.

(2) 0

.J..'O .r..ake accurat.e in.:t'or:nation avaiJa i)le in pl2ce of' rurnour.

Sgd) Tuargaret nond , vhief Repatriation 0f'f'i cer.

January 10,1946.

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.,\USTP·,·;~ G:E:ii.._JT" ( Oesterreichicche :Iission)

AFPLICLTIO. - FOR : a) Emigration to : GESUCH FUER : .'...usYnuiderun,s nach :-

b) ...'r:1 1sfGr to : Versetzung nach :

FATro=,T~\.LI TY :

1. HJ:.l.iE EJ FULL Clock lettE..r.3 - fmr:ily 11e1 ·,e first) :Nl1HE (Blockb'u.chstaben - l<'o..mili(mnwho zut. rst)

2 . IJATIO:~.LI'.i:'Y : 2.) Present : zur Zei -c :

b) HO':, & wh:. .. i. .s.cq_uin,d : ·.:ri,-· '· ,l[Glll crvrorben :

c) ~-.t bir1,L : 1:8i 1-~r G-cburt :

3. Vfuere wo..s your ~01_;rmun0nt i1ouc bd'or J th, -,,-8.r'7 State country and full c..dcl.ress. 'No :·ar ihr stavnd.i['r:;r Woh;1si tz vor ck. ·, 1..rie~? Sta ::i.t unc vollc .. drcssc,

4, Date of birtn : Gcbur tsd.at1Jrn :

5. Place of birth : Geburtsort :

6. Religion : Religicn :

7. Educe.ti on ~~- · quci.lif_;_c ... tio;1s . ( Sch::,cJ.. ':Liv, :-r,.i. ty, :Jrof ~3 'i,: •• ~cl or tech, .,_en). qualificG.tions , languc. ps sp"k'-'r., ;.rri ti.1r:r:, \., tc.) i:..usbildun_:: u~·1d"e:n.~,rt, ,1,; \.o..llti:.i:c;:.;G . (Schu.bilduL._;, Univc~..,it.'.l0t , Profession oder tcchni sche ,.usbildunu, SY:)r.'..Lcl'i.kont.f,_s,;c , 2riograp1.ic 1 ;_,s . ':r . )

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8. Occupation and where carried out : (:.ufenthc.l tsort Y:.s.chrc1id der Bosctzung und weitercr Vorbleib) :

a) Before the Yfar: Vor dera Krici;:

b) During the Wo.r: Vlaehrend des Kri0ges:

c) .:_t present : Zur Zeit :

9. 1"ue you in possession of Pn.ssport or other docUJ11ents of iclo,1ti ty? If so, give particulars, sta.tin6 dn.tc c .. nc1 ~)la.cc of issue and by -v:hoi;1 Sind Sie im :Oesi tz ci 1ic:s Pc,sses od-.,r sonstigcr ;.u;;;·i,-ois p::tj,,icrc? Gcbcj_1 , sic gcnauc _(_ngaben uober, de:;.1 .·.ustollungsort-Lc,ttu:1 und von 1.co._p .. us__:cstcll t,

10,:i:Jru:ics, nationality & o.d.d.ress of both m1.rcDts: .,GI:lc, J\Tationalib.et und .·.c1rcssc bcidcr Eltern :

11.Marricd or single : Verheiratct od0r lGdig :

12, 7ifc' s or Husband's ( c..) Full :rm..1e : Eh1.3fro.u oder Ga tte ?;:::r,;c :

(b) -2,tio:-.. o.lity a.t prcse,1t : Gcgex:.vmurti6o !-,c tion2.li b.ct :

(c) .:~C1.tio~1'.lL.ty at birth : :Tc.. tionn.li t:--.ct bci der Geburt :

1_3. :tcu-,1e:s, plc..ccs of birth 8: nc .. tio:1::.:.lity of children ai1d prcs~i1t o..ddrosscs : Norne, Geburtsort und ·~c .. tionc..litact sovric 1;0scnwc..ertigo :.drcsso dor Kindc·r :

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• e 14, When clid you come tn _.ustriz:. 2.,, -,. v;i{y·~

Vfo..m1 sinc1 3ic nach Gt:sterreich gckoi'Lcn Ul"ll, ,1C1.rt.im:'

State place of resideDcc ~ u"0res3: L.ngabe des v:olmunrsorttJs mi t vol] er ,. r-.,,:;;;c :

15 . What 1property or invc_,·Grr,. 1..,s do you h: v'-' in _.w,trh--.. 02 country of orit: '?

Hab1.;i1. Sie Besi tz odct."' Ei..i-~ ·. en i, Oc::rcerre;icl1 O'~.er in ·;J- -e.-.1 :Ici. J,f2.. tsort?

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- 16. Which country do you '.l:c, to _;o to? St·.t r~G.s,,_··. I:n vrelchcs Lc.:1ct wu .,d:e:, S.L::; (ms:.,mn~r 1.cra? G-Lhcn 3iG ti .., G-ruc;·vk, do.fun ::m.

-17. Have you any r,,lo.tivc,s or fric110.s i:1 .,he cou,i1;1·,, "'-' ·Ju n :rou ·,.i.sh to __ f;o?

Give no.mes, ado. ·es.=,es and full pc-trticul.irs : I-Iaben Sil; V0nv2.ndte oder Frew1de u1 de., L~s1de, nc.ch we1crn ... 1 Si'-' o..us~;::i.nc}_cr_1 wollen? Geben Sic Jc.mo und vo.1le ~c'ln ... sscn U!l J E.:Oc1s '·i,·e :Si·,z-::.hci tc:1 £.'L1 :

18. Wlmt property or investr'.1cnts clo you lnve L1 the countc-y to 1·rhich you '· ish to go? Ilaben Sic Be;:,i tzteumer c ,.le:r sonsti~e Eil1l2.gen ind C.cn U:.J."ld nr..ch welche-.. Sic ;.uswandern ·wollen?

J

4 • 19, Rcmo.rks : (Sonstigc

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Date : Datum :

Present ,~drlress : Gcee,1wCcertigc ,'i.drcsse :

Si 012. ture : Untcrsclrrift :

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ZON.t'..i,AOS·.uUA.

18 .Jecember,1 J4b.

·1'he 1'ollmving Liaison 1:mct velf' t1 1,..e personnel are operating J.n the united States ione of Aus ,ria with the arrorova.l of' Headn_uarter f, , uS) A:

NO . V.tt' NA1r o~TALITY .I:-' ~.RSu E

l.izechosl.evaldan LL

Dutch

British

.,}rench

ll-reek

,. e-sian

Yugoslavian (.'l i to)

Yugoslavian ( ational vom .. i ttee -,\,irn.:do:n 01· Yugoslavia)

Hungarian

Rumanian

Polish ~' e.rsaw

om: .it tee)

Polish \:London)

4

4

4

8

3

7

20

Polish Ked Cross 14

Central Committee 8 of White .tru.ssians

Latvian tted Cross 5

l .L SSI ON •

.L . --?.e-oatriation '.l! .. eJ.f'are o:r Gzechs. 2 .Recovery of pelO]_)erty of Czechs.

.ttepatriation & ,1 eJ:fAre of' .UU.tch.

1 . 1.., iaiso:1. '.'!l th JS A 2 . ~epatriation ~ ,Welfare of British

l. Liaison Ii th JS.i!'A 2. Re-patriation . elfare of' -'rench

Repatriatio~ ~. elfar e or ureeks

.rl.epatriation t~ .. eJ.rare or Soviet ~ussians.

H.epatr~iation & \veJ.:t'are of Yugos1a vs.

ResettJ.ement .. . ,el1'are of .1 .P. .fugoslavs.

Repatriation & Welfare of Hungarians .

Repatriation ~- .velf'are o:t· .:.{wnanians

~epatriation of Pol.es

B.epatriation ,3:: velf'are of' PoJ.es

Hepatriation 1el1'are of Poles

. esettle nent ~ 1elfere of .,hi te .tmssians

Resettlement & • el1'are o:t· liat"vians

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