Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a Jewish refugee from Germany or Central Europe.

1900		Indianapolis Jrnl (IN) 22 Apr. 7/4: [from London Mail] A Kimberley refujew [...] just returned to his home and neighbors in the diamond capital.
1901		J. Ralph At Pretoria 82: So many of the refugees at Capetown were of the ‘most-favoured nation,’ that they were commonly known as ‘refujews’.
1938		W. Winchell On Broadway 31 Dec. [synd. col.] The U.S. [...] extending credit and loaning money in exchange for the Ratzis easing up on the Refujews.
1940		British News & Views 1-5 22: [heading] Arresting the Refujews.
1949		Stockholm Studies Modern Philology 17 115: During the last war Jewish refugees in America were called ‘refujews’.
1957		F.H. King Widow 152: An England brought to decadence and catastrophe by a small group of what he called ‘Refujews’.
1962		A. Stone Bible Salesman 102: Hiring lawyers, telephoning the Housing Authority, calling the Department of Sanitation, she beat the refujews complaining, thought Mr. Diamond.
[1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 29: [of Jewish landlords] ‘One time [...] they kept a dead wino for forty-eight hours so they could cash his check whenChekday came [...] Those dumb greedy refugees’].
2002		G. Shteyngart Russian Debutante (2004) 142: If Vladimir were ever to own a [NFL] franchise he’d call it something like the New York Yiddels. The Brighton Beach Refu-Jews.