The Gate to Palestine - A short visit to the Palaestina Amt (Palestine Office)
Source: Juedische Rundschau 23 August 1935.
The ΓÇ£evilΓÇ¥ Palaestina Amt
All roads lead to Rome, but not all of them lead to Jerusalem. For the average person, the gate to Palestine is at 10 Meinecke Street, or more accurately at the Palaestina-Amt, which is an utterly reprehensible institution. There are waiting rooms and numbers. One has to wait for one's turn, fill out forms, answer questions for strangers sitting behind desks (when one actually wants one's own questions to be answered). They want you to answer the strangest questions. What business is it of the gentleman behind the desk what I want to do in Palestine? I want to get there, period…
What is it with the Palaestina Amt? It is after all not an automatic dispenser of certificates. It also is not a ΓÇ£green tableΓÇ¥ behind which sit evil men who wish only to draw a thick ΓÇ£rejectedΓÇ¥ over your application, with hostile pen strokes and a look of obvious satisfaction. So what is it? It is - see above - the gate to Palestine. Naturally, there are guards positioned at this gate to oversee those who wish to pass through. They examine those who wish to make a hasty passage, and if they qualify, the guards not only open the gate but point out the best way and help the emigrants. These guards are placed by a higher authority - the Jewish Agency - recognised by the League of Nations as the body in charge of safeguarding the rights of the Jewish people in Palestine, and especially the right for emigration to this land. Unfortunately they do not have a magic box from which they can take a certificate [enabling emigration] for every suitable person. They have to be dispassionate and prudently manage the quota of certificates allocated every six months by the [British] authorities in Palestine. They must examine the people. This means to inspect, and to use the best of their ability and consciousness to reach decisions. They must check all aspects: is the applicant suitable for the country, does he have the right profession, the appropriate knowledge, is he not above the age limit, is he culturally suitable, does he have basic knowledge of the country's language. There are many questions that call for an answer.
The Palaestina Amt then and now.
Formerly, before the 1933 seizure of power, the selection was not so difficult. In the old days, the office was merely a distribution point for work permits…This was the time before the rushing and squeezing in the waiting rooms, the shelves overflowing with documents… Now look at the Palaestina Amt of today. The telephones ring, the typewriters hammer. People are being registered, indexed, numbered and selected. People with maps race through the hallways. Forms are handed out, information is given counsellors hold meetings with applicants. A whole business is going on with all the positive sides of bureaucracy - yes, also with the negative sides of it… On Citrus growing and window shades. Can I take my garden furniture along? What kind of electric power do they have there? Will I be able to use appliances that work on 220 voltage? Do they produce gramophone records over there? Do you think that an air pump business would be profitable? What about import of beer? Is there any opportunities in the manufacture of window shades? Thousands of such questions are being asked at the Economic Department. This is where contacts are being established, market analysis is being made. Experts submit reports and supply data. Long briefs with statistics and other information are prepared by the American Economic Committee for Palestine, the central information source in Tel-Aviv…
A rush for counselling
Do you know that in the spring of 1933, approximately 270 people daily, each with dozens of questions, queries and worries, came to the Palaestina Amt? Do you know how many people since have sought advice here, at 10 Meinecke Street? No less than 45,000 persons. This means forty-five-thousand questions and answers. And about the same number of applications were submitted to the 400 representations and branches of the office all over the Reich… Projects for settlements were prepared, technical problems of emigration were discussed. Vocational training was conceived and executed. Lawyers were trained as farmers, clerks received formation as builders. Emigrants were assisted in their relocation and contracts signed with moving companies to the emigrants' advantage.
