Friday, June b, MU i
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS •
HIAS Aid to Cuban Refugees Reminiscent of Earlier Era
By JAMES RICE
(Editor's note: James
Rice was executive direc-
tor of HIAS from 1956 to
1966 and was executive
vice president of the
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Chicago
from 1966 to 1979.)
CHICAGO (JTA) — A re-
cent article by David
Friedman about the current
resettlement of Cuban refu-
gees in which HIAS is play-
a key role brings to-mind
pollt original exodus from
Cuba which took place in
the early 1960s at the be-
ginning of the Castro re-
gime.
At that time, during
President Kennedy's ad-
ministration, resettlement
assistance in the United
States was under the super-
vision of Secretary of
Health, Education and Wel-
fare, Abraham Ribicoff.
HIAS, together with
the non-Jewish refugee
agencies, was requested
to establish an office in
Miami. Its activity was
primarily concerned
with assistance to Cuban
Jews, who along with
non-Jewish Cubans,
were fleeing to the United
States as well as to cer-
tain Latin American
countries and to Israel.
At the beginning of the
, exodus, the Cubans fled by
small boats, either directly
to the United States or to
some of the Caribbean Is-
lands, just as is happening
now. To avoid the serious
risks involved, HIAS set up
a network of offices in the
Caribbean area, with the
help of the leadership of the
Jewish communities of
Curacao, Jamaica, Mexico
and Venezuela, and ar-
ranged for visas and trans-
portation for thousands of
Cuban Jews.
Gaynor Jacobson, then
HIAS director, for Latin
America (now HIAS execu-
tive vice president), played
a key role in these plans.
Upon arrival in the transit
countries, HIAS staff
helped the refugees fulfill
U.S. immigration require-
ments.
Later, when an agree-
ment was worked out be-
tween the Castro govern-
ment and the United States
for regular migration proc-
essing and transportation
by Pan American Airlines
directly to Florida, the
Cuban Jews became part of
this stream of migrants.
Of the 10,000 Cuban
Jews living in that coun-
try when Castro came to
power, approximately
7,500 to 8,000 were able to
leave with the help of
HIAS. Most came to the
United States where they
were assisted in their re-
settlement by the local
Jewish communities,
with a small subsidy from
federal sources.
community.
There were two basic rea-
sons for the Cuban Jews
leaving that country. First
it should be remembered
that a substantial part of
the Cuban Jewish popula-
tion consisted of Jews who
had fled from the Nazis, by
obtaining Cuban visas
through one means or an-
other, but with the primary
hope of eventually coming
to the U.S. Because of the
restrictive U.S. immigra-
tion laws, they eventually
had to settle down and ad-
just to the economic and so-
cial situation in Cuba, with
help from the Joint Distri-
bution Committee.
Secondly, as Castro
changed his regime to a Miami, creating new jobs come a flourishing Latin
strict Communist society, and prosperity, and helping American economic and
the vast majority of Miami and Florida to be- cultural center.
Jewish families did not
wish to live under such
circumstances, and espe-
THE FINEST AND
cially did not wish their
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children to be indoctri-
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IN THE MIDWEST
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Almost a quarter of a century of
tem.
supplying discriminating buyers has
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Within a few years, the
Miami Pools.
Cuban refugees (including
And, if you purchase a pool from Miami, we'll give $150.00
Jews) took over and rebuilt
to your Temple or Synagogue.
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Castro was apparently
puzzled as to why the Jews
were leaving, and on one oc-
casion, it is reliably re-
ported that he asked the Is-
raeli Ambassador why Jews
felt it necessary to emi-
grate, since he had nothing
whatsoever against them
and would have been happy
for them to use their talents
to help develop the new
Socialist regime.
It was only after the Six-
Day War in 1967, when
Castro followed the Soviet
line of breaking relations
with Israel, that he eventu-
ally became violently anti-
Israel and anti-Zionist.
Even so, Castro has never
interfered with the reli-
gious practices of the re-
maining small Jewish
Refusnik in Leningrad
A Visit With Lev Furman
By FRANK WUNDOHL
and RABBI HERBERT
TOBIN
(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)
- (Editor's note: Frank
Wundohl, editor of the
Jewish Exponent in
Philadelphia and
piesident of the Ameri-
can Jewish Press Asso-
ciation, and Rabbi Her-
bert Tobin, associate di-
ector for community
ervices of the Jewish
...., . tommunity Relations
Council of Philadelphia,
recently spent "10 tern-
estuous days behind the
ron Curtain.")
During our stay in Lenin-
grad, Tobin and I had met
with Lev Furman, a radio
engineer who hasn't been
able to find work since he
first applied for an exit visa
in May 1974, and his bride
of only a few weeks. An invi-
tation to dinner was ex-
tended.
It was a most pleasant
interlude with the Fur-
mans, Lev recently married
Luba, a graduate student in
library science, and both
blus'hed when Herb kidded
Lev about finding himself
s
*
"a child bride." Lev is 31;
Luba is 21.
Lev, one of the leading re-
fusnik teachers in Lenin-
grad, described the general
situation that the refusniks
face. He noted that while
the number of refusniks was
growing tremendously,
especially in the last six
months, by and large it has
been a quiet time for the re-
fusniks.
The Soviet authorities
have allowed them to
keep teaching Hebrew
quietly. No meetings
have been harassed and
none of the teachers ar-
rested. When asked how
long he expected the calm
to prevail, Lev shrugged
and gave what we had
come to expect as the re-
fusnik's characteristic
response:
"It could all end tomor-
row.
Once more, we were re-
minded that the refusniks
live a day-to-day existence
in Mother Russia.
Lev asked for continued
support.
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