Fraternity-Testvériség, 1958 (36. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1958-05-01 / 5. szám
6 FRATERNITY natural sciences, medicine and engineering. Many of those who had been interviewed by the Academy’s team in Vienna during April and May also began to arrive in New York. Still later, a trip to Yugoslavia in behalf of the U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service by Dr. John Gergely of Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Alex Mayer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology resulted in assistance to additional Hungarian scientists. During the autumn of 1957, the Academy found that it also could assist some of the Hungarian refugee scientists who had found only temporary haven in Western European countries. As the newcomers from these sources arrived at the Hotel St. George, they were formally processed by the immigration authorities, their respective sponsoring agencies, and assisted by the Red Cross. The Academy’s staff in the St. George, under the direction of Dr. Maria E. Steller, with the collaboration of the staff in Washington and the invaluable assistance of numerous colleagues at universities and in industry in the New York area, matched the newcomers’ individual personalities, aspirations, capabilities and numerous personal problems with positions in the academic or industrial world of the United States which would enable them to contribute their particular talents to the fabric of our society. In addition to the extensive interview by an Academy staff member, in most cases the newcomer was sent to an American colleague in the same special field for an “interview in depth”, counseling and an evaluation of his capability. Often the American colleague was able to suggest specific industrial or academic openings in the refugee’s field. At this point our staff member would discuss these specific possibilities with the case officer in the refugee’s sponsoring agency, such as the International Rescue Committee, or one of several religious agencies. The requirements for suitable employment were integrated with those of housing, initial community assistance, religious considerations and personal predilections. Then the appropriate person at an industrial laboratory or university department was contacted and a personal interview arranged. The Academy office made travel arrangements and financed travel costs, which usually were refunded by the industry visited. Typically, one or two personal interviews culminated in employment or acceptance at a university, although very often the escapee scientist was accepted sight unseen on the basis of the evaluation of him. It is noteworthy that in several disciplines there were many more offers of employment for highly qualified persons than there were refugee scientists to fill them. The language barrier was overcome in a number of ways: by industry, through locally arranged language instruction or utilization of German, through community and university projects, and by formal language fellowships for those of especially promising academic caliber. Frequently the Academy offered the newcomer an interest-free loan for 90 days to sustain him until he received his first paychecks. The early and unprompted repayment of the loans has enabled the same service to be extended to those arriving more recently. An important and greatly appreciated service to the newcomer was discussion directed toward planning his career; this covered such matters as salary scales, prospects for further training, the structure of academic and professional organization in this country.
