(By Our Geneva Correspondent)
Ten thousand Jews, who were forced by the exigencies of the late war and its aftermath in Eastern Europe, to abandon their homes in Russia and other countries, have sought refuge in Bulgaria since the liberation of that country until the beginning of 1925, the Record of Migration published here by the League of Nations reveals.
It may be assumed that the actual number of Jewish refugees in Bulgaria has exceeded 10,000, when we consider the possibility that many Jews were registered as “Russians” among the number of 30,000 refugees designated this way by the report of the Bulgarian Red Cross which the Record of Migration quotes.
In view of the fact that the total Jewish population in Bulgaria is estimated at 40,000, it is obvious that the flood of at least 10,000 Jewish refugees into that country has constituted a serious problem for the Bulgarian Jewish communities. The Record of Migration, however, does not concern itself with this phase of the situation, but merely gives statistics relative to the population and migration in Bulgaria in the last few years.
“As no migration statistics are at present available for Bulgaria,” the Record of Migration declares, “it may be useful to draw attention to some of the results of the last census taken on December 31st, 1920, which have recently been published.
“The total number of persons in Bulgaria covered by the census was 4,846,971, of whom 2,420,784 were men and 2,426,187 women. This total included 4,808,805 Bulgarian nationals (of whom 2,397,751 were men and 2,411,054 women) and 38,130 aliens (of whom 23,004 were men and 15,126 women), together with 36 persons of unknown nationality.
“As regards immigration, it was found that 49,180 persons (of whom 36,326 were men and 12,854 women) were temporarily in the country at the time of the census (‘temporary visitors and others’) as well as 142,307 ‘refugees, Russian and other emigrants who have entered the country since 1912,’ or 191,487 persons in all, representing the difference between the total census result (4,846,971) and the number of persons ordinarily resident in the country and present at the time of the census (4,655,484). Of the 142,307 persons classified as ‘refugees, Russian emigrants and other persons of alien race among the present population who have entered Bulgaria since the Balkan war (1912-12),’ 77,595 were men and 64,712 were women. Included in these immigrants or refugees were 1,741 Jews, of whom 936 were men and 805 women.
“The report of the Bulgarian Red Cross for the years 1923-24 and 1924-25, submitted to the 12th International Red Cross Conference held at Geneva,” the Record of Migration further says, “stated that ‘the number of refugees who have sought refuge in Bulgaria since the liberation of that country and until the beginning of 1925 was approximately 710,000. To this figure, which is steadily growing, should be added 60,000 immigrants of other than Bulgarian nationality who have sought a refuge in Bulgaria, namely 30,000 Russians, 20,000 Armenians and 10,000 Jews.'”
N. L. Dauby was elected to represent the Federation of Jewish Charities to the Cleveland Community Fund Council.
Mr. Dauby has served the Jewish community for many years in social service fields, and since the inception of the community fund he has been active as captain of one of its teams. He is one of the trustees of the Federation of Jewish Charities, a board member for Mr. Sinai Hospital, and an executive committee member of the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Denver, Colo.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
