Part III

Immigration and Visas

The Hotel Moderne housed the Vaad offices in Paris. There they worked on immigration and transportation with a staff of five: three women and two men. Rabbi Simcha Wasserman, the eldest son of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman and nephew of Rabbi Hayyim Ozer Grodzinski, temporarily ran the office. A man from a local yeshiva was also at the office to lobby for the needs of his institution. During a span of four-weeks, 40 people were sent from Paris to the U.S., and the Vaad paid most of the costs. At first, Stephen Klein secured 500 French visas for Polish Jews, and ultimately obtained more than 1,060 visas—allowing the Vaad to legally bring people out of Poland.

Because the American Consul was short of staff, he allowed the Vaad to process its visas at the Vaad office. Applicants visited the Consulate to receive medical examinations and have their fingerprints taken. Before Klein arrived in Paris, only eight were issued. After his arrival, he expected the number would increase to 50 per week. Klein also met with the Polish Consul to obtain the documents for American visa applications. When a group of students did not have valid passports Klein secured them, enabling the Consul to issue visas. To expedite the visa process, Klein also arranged for a member of the Consul staff to be assigned to the Vaad.

It wasn’t long before Klein ran into the roadblocks erected by the U.S. State Department to keep Jews out of the U.S. Visa applications had to state where the people had been during the past 10 years. As Klein noted, this was “a little difficult because they were in four or five countries … and if … the [American Consul] had to ask each Consulate in each one of these countries if the people applied for visas or [if he had to ask for] any other information … it would take a lot of time and expense, since all these cables had to be paid for by the Vaad Hatzala.”

Klein suggested that State Department officials be assured that they were morally upstanding individuals. Klein hoped that Irving Bunim would be able to obtain a “general ruling” for Vaad Hatzala cases so this obstacle would be eliminated. In the meantime, Klein worked with yeshiva students and rabbis who were in one or two countries during the war, and so was able to get visas quickly for them. Among other things, applicants had to offer officials proof of future employment in America.

Each Consul had wide-ranging discretion in determining eligibility of those applying to enter the U.S., using the restrictions stipulated in the LPC (“likely to become a public charge”) clause of the Immigration Act of 1917. Under LPC, a refugee could simply be denied entry, even if the Consul capriciously decided the candidate might become reliant on the U.S. government for sustenance.

Overwhelming Obstacles Facing Jews Seeking Refuge in the US

To appreciate the almost-insurmountable obstacles facing Jews seeking refuge in the U.S., the U.S. Holocaust Memorial provided a list of items required by the American government for all applicants seeking an entry visa during the 1930s and 1940s. (More specifically, the criteria represent those for German-Jewish applicants.)

Visa application (five copies)

Birth certificate (two copies; quotas were assigned by country of birth)

The quota number must have been reached (This established the person’s place on the waiting list to enter the United States.)

A Certificate of Good Conduct from German police authorities, including two copies respectively of the following:

• Police dossier
• Prison record
• Military record
• Other government records about the individual
• Affidavits of Good Conduct (required after September 1940)
• Proof that the applicant passed a physical examination at the U.S. Consulate
• Proof of permission to leave Germany (imposed September 30, 1939)
• Proof that the prospective immigrant had Booked Passage to the Western Hemisphere (required after September 1939)

Two sponsors (“affiants”); close relatives of prospective immigrants were preferred. The sponsors must have been American citizens or have had permanent resident status, and they must have filled out an Affidavit of Support and Sponsorship (six copies notarized), as well as provided: certified copy of their most recent federal tax return; affidavit from a bank regarding their accounts; affidavit from any other responsible person regarding other assets (an affidavit from the sponsor’s employer or a statement of commercial rating).

Irving Bunim and other members of the Vaad met with officials from the State Department on November 16, 1946. They were promised that the American Consulate in France would receive a cable informing them that the Department had investigated the authenticity of the employment from synagogues and yeshivas, as well as the rabbinical status of the applicants and were satisfied with the documents. They would ask the Consul to authorize visas, so the State Department could refer these cases to the Consul for clarification.

Bunim and his group also met with Ugo Carusi, the commissioner of immigration, and his adviser about student visas. For 24 years, there had been a rule in force: A temporary visitor or student had to provide documentation where he would go after completing his studies or at the end of his visit. Carusi and members of his staff were satisfied with the Vaad’s guarantee, but the legal department said that the American Consul would have to follow the regulations unless the ruling could be changed or amended. A meeting with the Attorney General and the State Department needed to be arranged and this required time. The Vaad was also told that if an individual had a Polish passport for only a short time, they would recommend that the Consul provide the person with a temporary visa for the U.S. for as long as the passport was valid. The Polish Consul would then extend the passport in the U.S.

Dr. Alex Grobman is senior resident scholar at the John C. Danforth Society, member of the Council of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.