Source: Report of the Central Committee for Relief and Reconstruction of the National Representation (Reichsvertretung) of the Jews in Germany for the Year 1935. [Berlin, 1936] B1. 8-14
… All organisations involved in emigration are represented in the Emigration Committee. Its job lies in discussing the basic questions of Jewish emigration, taking upon itself the planning of the emigration trend, deciding on the main issues of emigration and co-ordinating... the Jewish emigration organisations... The act of planning requires the determination of the yearly prospective emigration numbers and the creation of possibilities for integration in the countries of immigration. On the basis of the statistical data, the Emigration Committee has attempted to provide a numerical foundation for the planning of emigration. According to the results of the 1933 census, there were 499,682 Jews in Germany. By 1.9.1935 this number fell to around 420,000 due to an excess in death rate and due to emigration. Since many of the Jews who emigrated are in the age group that is capable of reproduction, the Jewish population in Germany will naturally decline progressively, due to a rise in the percentage of the elderly in the population, an excess in the number of deaths and a decline in the birth rate. In the near future, one will have to contend with an extraordinarily sharp decline in population.
Regarding the present emigration situation: The following may be said of the current state of emigration: Approximately 30,000 Jews have emigrated from Germany to Palestine and have been integrated there. A large portion of the emigration to countries other than Palestine took place mainly in 1933 in an irregular fashion to European countries, where there have been relatively few cases of successful integration. Overseas emigration to the U.S., South America and South Africa has encompassed approximately 15-20,000 people, only a small portion of whom registered through the Jewish emigration organisations. Up until now, emigration has primarily been a movement of individuals or families. The countries of immigration were freely chosen by the emigrants based on the presence of relatives or other personal connections. Palestine proves to be the only country that is in a position to productively absorb groups Jewish of immigrants.
Regarding new tasks in emigration planning: … In the framework of the planning of emigration, one must particularly cater for middle-class families. If possible, a connection should be established between the emigration of people with capital and the emigration of people without means. Emigration to Palestine will thus gain a special significance in two respects: First of all, the transfer of capital to Palestine will mean the creation of job opportunities for Jewish labour. Then the middle-class settlements in Palestine will facilitate the integration of families with relatively little capital and their productive absorption, providing that these families have the personal prerequisites for immigration to Palestine. In addition to emigration to Palestine, the overseas migration likewise holds greater significance than before, because hope still remains that these countries (especially the crucial countries of South America, the U.S. and South Africa) will remain open for immigration. According to the numbers and direction of the emigration-trend and taking heed of these fundamental considerations and experiences, one may estimate that the yearly number of emigrants lies between 12-20,000. One should aim at productively integrating at least half of these emigrants in Palestine, while working on the absorption of the other half in overseas countries. Three things are necessary for the execution out of this plan: a) the organisational registration of those wishing to emigrate; b) their preparation for emigration; c) the development of immigration possibilities.
