Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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But they were only a small number of these people. The Displaced Persons ' Camps in Europe are crowded with more of these poor unfortunates. And American Army officers say that if we don ' t act, if things continue in the present course, it is obvious that the useful and skilled people in these camps will be taken elsewhere. Great Britain has taken 25,000 workers, including many miners; France and Belgium have taken miners also. Norway and Australia invited some with special skills, as well as farmers. Holland got in an early bid for specialists and took 8000 artisans and nurses. A few of these Fluchtlings , as they are called by Germans, have crossed the ocean to Brazil and Venezuela to till the soil. And Norway has unselfishly agreed to care for one half of all blind DP ' s. No one who has seen these people can doubt that we could use them. Many impress you as the kind of people who made this great country what it is today. An investment in Displaced Persons as American citizens of the future would pay us dividends; those with families of bright young children particularly would be suited to life in the United States. There are others. For example, there are still trained nurses in the camps, and American hospitals are in desperate need of nurses and trainees in this field. Employers who have hired these people are highly satisfied with them. Seabrook Farms, Inc. of Bridgeton, New Jersey, has taken far more DP ' s than the average employer. The jobs in which this company has put these workers show their range of usefulness. Says Seabrook ' s personnel manager, H. S. Fistere: ' ' They are eager and willing workers. What makes these people even more valuable is that they have learned to improvise with what they have — the art of making something out of nothing. The fact is, about all they have is their will to work, and most of them make use of that asset — they want to show the world just how hard they can work, because that is the only way they have of winning their way to a normal life somewhere. A rather vociferous minority of our people, however, forgetting that they or their ancestors were once dis- placed persons, harbor many prejudices and misconcep- tions about DP ' s. Some believe that DP ' s who come to this country are a security risk. It may be answered, however, that DP ' s have to face such a rigorous screen- ing before they can enter this country that it hardly seems possible that many security risks will get past that battery. The great majority of Displaced Persons now in Euro- pean camps are refugees from Communist-dominated areas. The International Refugee Organization has made strenuous efforts to get them to return home. They have refused, almost unanimously, and there have been sui- cides among these people who anticipated a forced return to Eastern Europe. The restrictionists deduce from all this that the DP ' s have been sent out of satellite nations with the aim of getting them into the United States as spies. Their argu- ment does not, however, account for the fact that the Russians, in the United Nations and elsewhere, have used all sorts of tactics to have the DP ' s repatriated. There are others that declare that DP ' s are taking jobs and homes away from Americans. The view that a country ' s prosperity is in inverse ratio to the size of its population seems always to turn up during immigra- tion debates. This view assumes that a country ' s goods and services are limited to fixed quantities; it ignores the fact that new arrivals create wealth as well as con- sume it. If it had any truth at all, Israel, which has taken almost twice as many DP ' s as this country, would have gone under long ago. In any case, the argument is un- related to the DP situation. Under the present set up, every DP who comes to this country must have a sponsor over here. The sponsor assures the authorities that the DP has a residence and a job awaiting him. Since many sponsors are relatives, a large percentage of the new comers board with their families instead of competing for apartments. As far as jobs are concerned many of the DP ' s are women and elderly men, and they are not expected to make any impress on the labor market. The C. I. 0., the A. F. of L. ( and the Railway Brotherhoods have all recognized this state of affairs and have agreed that more of these homeless people should be admitted. A few more argue that only the worst of the DP ' s are still in Europe. They maintain that the best of the displaced persons have been skimmed several times over, and that only misfits, degenerates, and criminals remain. Actually there is a group of about 161,000 DP ' s who will be denied resettlement because of serious disease, but that is as far as the matter goes. Several persons who have made an on-the scene check in Europe during the past year, reported that DP ' s had a better record for good behavior than our own United States Army in Germany. If the DP ' s coming over now were really undesirable, one would find it difficult to find sponsors for them. But this is not the case; the Displaced Persons Commission reported that, we have no trouble ... as far as assur- ances are concerned. George Washington ' s words suggesting that this country become more and more a safe and propitious asylum for the misfortunates of other countries, ex- presses what is still the American tradition. We, ourselves, are able to see how much these dis- placed persons are contributing to the culture and life of our country, since many of them have settled in our own or in surrounding communities. From all reports, as future citizens they will be doing America a service to remain here and become, as so many of their prede- cessors in the last three centuries have become, — loyal American citizens, appreciative of the privilege of living in a free country. 17

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dent Truman, legislation was started early in 1950 for a new Displaced Persons Bill to remove restrictions and increase the quota. Early in April the bill was passed. There was a con- siderable amount of debate but only over a few of the minor provisions. All of Congress was for admitting more D. P. ' s and removing some of the restrictions. In this new bill the quota was raised from 205,000 to 359,000. The restriction of 30% farmers and 40% from the Baltic States and Russian annexed territory was dropped. But best of all the cut-off date was changed from Decem- ber 22, 1945 to January 1, 1950. Thousands who have fled the horror of Communism are now eligible to enter the United States. The four provisions requiring assur- ances as to homes, jobs, and transportation etc, are re- tained as they should be. The voting on the passage of the bill shows that the desire to help D. P. ' s is not restricted to one party. The numbers of those for and against the bill were equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. Our belief that freedom is the right of all people regardless of race, creed, or color is again forcefully demonstrated by this act. Freedom and liberty have been the watchwords of our country since its birth one hundred and seventy-four years ago. Our actions in the American Revolution, the Monroe Doctrine, and the Spanish-Ameri- can War are all concrete demonstrations of our love of liberty for ourselves and others. The passage of this bill and the taking in of these unfortunates and helping them back to the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- piness should measure up with our other deeds and for- ever be a milestone on the road to liberty. AS AMERICA SEES D. P.’s by KATHLEEN LANG The first boatload of Displaced Persons and Refugees landed in America on the twenty-first of December, 1620; some one hundred men, women, and children of humble means and simple crafts. They were not the first colonists here, but they are the most venerated in our history, because they were the first persons who had been displaced by political oppression and made fugitives by religious persecution, and thus remain a symbol of the United States of America. America was populated by Europeans who came to the New World in search of freedom: religious, political, and economic freedom. The famine in Ireland in 1840, which caused the death of thousands from privation, led many to leave the Emerald Isle and embark for America. The Irish were ambitious, especially for their children, and today we find many of their heirs filling political offices and other positions of importance. At about the same time as the famine in Ireland the collapse of a revolutionary movement in Germany forced thousands of bold spirits to seek safety in America. These refugees were men and women of lofty ideals. Many of these people from central Europe were university students or graduates, and those who lived from the soil were excellent farmers. Later on we find a surge of immi- grants from the countries of southern Europe; these people brought with them their music and continental customs and have left an indelible impress on our great nation. As we all know, many of these immigrants have be- come famous personalities. Thomas Paine, who was ac- tive in the movement for independence during the Revo- lutionary War, was previously an Englishman. Andrew Jackson, one of our most famous presidents, was born of Irish immigrants. And what would life be like today without the telephone, an invention of Alexander Graham Bell, a native of Scotland. The famous light opera com- poser, Victor Herbert, was an Irish immigrant. Arturo Toscanini, greatest orchestral conductor of this time, is a self-exiled refugee from Italy. Albert Einstein, the famous scientist, fled the fascism in Germany. And George Gershwin, composer of Rhapsody in Blue and many other famous selections, was the son of Russian immigrants. Those I have mentioned are only a few of an amazingly large number of displaced persons who have contributed in various ways to American civilization. Today we see the usual aftermaths of war — the blinded, the maimed, and the bereaved, who are, to a certain extent, remembered through government pro- vision. The forgotten ones are the one and a half million people, who according to most reports, are wandering around homeless in Europe — Displaced Persons and Refugees for whom there is no Plymouth Rock. There are obvious humanitarian reasons, in the American tra- dition, for acting in behalf of these suffering people be- fore hope dies with them. Several months ago a group of such homeless persons got their first glimpse of the first woman of the world; it was not until that moment that they realized they were free. Until then is had been a dream that not even the horrible realities of the concentration camps, the torture, and the hopeless feeling of despair, had been able to kill. And as the ship slid by the huge towery symbol of liberty and freedom, the dream was at last a reality. Only a few children, recognizing the statue, raised happy voices; the others stood at the rail clenching it tightly. Some who were very old wept silently, but the eyes of the young were bright with eagerness. And they uttered a silent prayer to God — these people who had some- how managed to survive. 16

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AS D. P.s SEE AMEHIEA by MARCIA CAVERLY Now that we have heard America ' s opinion of D. P ' s., let ' s consider for a few minutes what D. P. ' s think of us. Sometimes in our concern over our own problems we fail to see the other person ' s point of view. I thought it would be profitable, therefore, to assemble the reactions of D. P. ' s to us and our way of life. The thousands of demoralized refugees, formerly scat- tered helter-skelter over Europe say that in spite of a few difficulties their life is better and happier in America than in the old country. This freedom, in some cases much wider than they had known before, is an abrupt change for these D. P. ' s. Many times it is difficult to become adjusted to the habits of this way of life. In the Hotel Marseille in New York, a haven for D. P. ' s from American Occupied Zones in Europe, there are people who are afraid to venture outside the hotel for fear of the Gestapo. After a meal in the dining room some are found trying to hide bread in their clothing because there may be none tomorrow. Recently the young son of a D. P. family entered a a police station to notify the officers that they were mov- ing into a new home. You don ' t have to tell us, buddy, said an officer. You ' re in America now. Go ahead and move. We hope you enjoy your new home. Simple inci- dents like these happen everyday. While talking with many D. P. ' s I have found that some expected to find better jobs. Houses were imagined large and beautiful. What they found was, perhaps, not exactly the paradise they expected. Some of the homes were not as attractive as their former ones. Furniture, however, is much to their liking, clothes are better and cheaper, and money is more plentiful. The intelligent, skilled D. P. ' s, trained for a job in some specific field, are dissatisfied with farm and servant work. Some, however, do find work as tailors, stone- masons, miners, and lumbermen where there is a labor shortage. Working conditions are not always ideal; in fact, in some Southern states they are deplorable. Some D. P. ' s find it necessary to work in unhealthy conditions for very poor pay. Many costly purchases are made for these D. P. ' s and charged to them — thus putting them in debt and making it impossible for them to release themselves from these intolerable conditions. Several D. P. ' s say that our tempo of life is much faster. The American people do not walk; they run, said one — and we are also too much after the dollar. Also what is more serious; some find a lack of culture and spiritual quality in this country. So much for their dislikes. In answer to the question, What do you like best in America? the responses were quite varied. The children liked especially television, ice cream, corn flakes, movies, skating, and no school on Saturdays. The good food, the eight-hour work day, the money, and the beer are among the preferences of the adults. In Poland during the war there were no good times, no money, and no factory work. When the Polish people were taken to Germany by force, they averaged eighteen hours a day working on farms. The only food was pota- toes and sometimes a little celery and cucumber. Sunday for a few hours, they would go off into the woods to dance and play the violin. When the Americans entered Germany, their former freedom was restored. Here in America they don ' t mind working, for they are not forced to do so. These people are on the whole, happy, thankful, and optimistic in their new freedom. One D. P. at a New Year ' s Eve party, remarked, God love America on this New Year. Another introducing a somber note, said, There are others just like us, still waiting on the other side. In a recent article by Ewald Mand, a D. P. from Estonia, Rev. Mand stated, To be a stranger is a sorrow- ful and depressing experience. To be taken in is a Christian experience to be remembered forever. Rev. Mand gives an account of his family and also writes of some experiences he had before entering this country. He seems to typify the sincere gratitude felt by all D. P. ' s. We are, to them, friendly, light-hearted, gay. They ' re no longer displaced, a North Dakota com- munity writes of D. P. ' s. They ' re in the right place — • they ' re new neighbors. These D. P. ' s, naturally feel the loss of racial and family ties very deeply. However, there is some force which keeps them here in this country, and which inspires them to look forward proudly to citizen- ship, a feeling which Archibald MacLeish has so ably voiced in his poem, It Is a Strange Thing To Be An American . This, this is our land, this is our people. This that is neither a land nor a race. We must reap The wind here in the grass for our souls ' harvest: Here we must eat our salt or our bones starve. Here we must live or live only as shadows. This is our race, we that have none, that have had Neither the old walls nor the voices around us. This is our land, this is our (ancient ground — The raw earth, the mixed bloods and the strangers. The different eyes, the wind, and the heart ' s ch ange. These we will not leave though the old call us. This is our country — earth, our blood, our kind. 18