The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

would “only be raising false hopes.” The decision to admit any alien would be based on
the likelihood of becoming a public charge and the demonstrable ability to prove that
they would become a “useful citizen.” 4
Immigrants from Britain or of British origin were
preferred and Jews were viewed as particularly unwelcome aliens. Jews who were
allowed admittance faced bigotry and mistrust due to their differing culture. Although
thousands (perhaps as high as fifty thousand) of Jews filed visa applications only 1,100
were accepted. Jews were not officially regarded as refugees but as émigrés subject to
the requirements and limitations of the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act of
1931. 5 The Ministry of Customs was authorized to determine eligibility for entry based
upon guarantees of employment, finances and the possession of such “knowledge and
skills” which would facilitate absorption, promote the national economy and not pose any
risk to the native population. Jewish refugees were advised by the New Zealand High
Commissioner’s Office in London that officially the Government was not “encouraging
immigration” of those lacking “British birth [or] parentage” and visas would be granted
only in “very special cases.” The mid-1930’s Comptroller of Customs, Edwin Dudley
Good, had declared that non-Jews represented the “more suitable type of immigrant.”
4 Ibid., 25.
5 Following an economic downturn in 1920 the New Zealand Government adopted a “White New
Zealand” immigration policy which restricted entry to those who possessed a British background.
Sanderson Beck, “New Zealand to 1950” available from http://www.san.beck.org/20-13-
NewZealandto1950.html ; Internet; accessed August 22, 2010; Ann Beaglehole, A Small Price to Pay:
Refugees from Hitler in New Zealand, 1936-1946 (Wellington, Allen & Unwin, 1988), 15. The policy
would allow entry of immigrants who were born in the United Kingdom or of British parentage and barred
those who were naturalized British subjects, the offspring of naturalized parents or who were an “aboriginal
Native or the descendent of an aboriginal Native from any Protectorate, Colony or Dominion who lacked
British birth or parentage. Overall, non-whites were tacitly targeted for exclusion. Such categorization was
extended to Jews and other non-British Europeans as well. “1920 White New Zealand Policy Introduced”
available from http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/timeline/9/11; Internet; accessed August 22, 2010.
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