[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.–Editor.]
The complaint that polish Jewry is being neglected in the distribution of the relief funds of the United Jewish Campaign, was dealt with by Dr. Bernard Kahn, European director of the joint Distribution Committee, during his recent visit to Poland. Preceding Dr. Kahn’s address, at a meeting in Warsaw on Aug. 9, M. Grodzienski, who is at the head of the Jewish reliet committee in that city, describing the state of affairs, pointed out, we read in “Der Moment” (Aug. 13) of Warsaw, that there is such a shortage of funds that his committee “has been unable to offer relief in the case of thousands of destitute Jews.”
Replying to this complaint, Dr. Kahn stated, according to “Der Moment”: “The J. D. C. ‘drive’ in America has been scheduled for three years, so that at this moment it is impossible to say how much money the ‘drive’ will bring and how much of it will go for the Polish Jews. Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that the funds of the ‘drive’ are to be distributed to a number of countries besides Poland, hence it is difficult to make any special promises. On the other hand, the charge that Polish Jewry is being neglected by the present ‘drive,’ is utterly false. I personally never underestimated the needs of Polish Jewry. On the contrary. I understand your difficult position; moreover. I believe that the present crisis may last for years. The idea of credit Kassas must be given full support, as it is possible through the method of non-interest loans to rehabilitate the impoverished Jewish masses in Poland.
“The work of the relief committees has my strongest sympathy, and on my visits to America, I convinced my American friends that the assistance to you should and must be increased, especially since Polish Jewry is the only great heir of the former Russian Jewry, which has now stepped off the arena. For the present, however, there can be no increase in the relief of the J. D. C.”
There are a million Jews in Poland today whose condition is completely hopeless, declares S. Rosenfeld in the “Day” of New York. Writing in the issue of Sept. 13, M. Rosenfeld, after depicting the tragic plight of Polish Jewry, concludes thus:
“Emigration! This must be the fate of a full million Jews in Poland. This is the second million of destitute Jews with no foundation under their feet. The first million is to be found–according to optimistic figures–in Russian Jewry. But this million has those in Russia and America who, thank God, have taken it under their care, and it will no doubt be helped. But how about the million in Poland? These indeed are real orphans, who rely on ‘Klal Israel,’ Jewry in general, without a specific address. Where, then, can the Polish Jewish misery turn? Who will succor it?”
A NEW “VIA DOLOROSA”
That Arabs have recently been attacking Jews in Jerusalem, as part of a conspiracy on the part of the anti-Zionist element among the Arabs, is the complaint made in an article entitled “Via Dolorosa for Jerusalem Jews,” appearing in the “Davar” (Aug. 20 issue). Tel Aviv Hebrew labor paper.
“Somebody has apparently decided to convert the road between the Yeshiva building, Torath Chaim, and the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) into a new Via Dolorosa,” the paper writes. “Lately there has not been a Jew who passed on this road who did not suffer. We hear daily of attacks and acts of terror. At the beginning they were satisfied with throwing stones at every Jewish passerby. Later they began to use their fists and sticks. To this were added insults and vulgar and low behavior toward old and weak men. It even reached the point where knives were used. Last week a Jew was mortally wounded. This week a forty-year-old Jew, who walked to the Wailing Wall with a book under his arm, was hit over the head and his skull fractured. These acts are being carried out with unusual cruelty in full daylight.”
These acts are not perpetrated for the purpose of robbery, we are told by the paper, which believes that “an organizing and encouraging hand is visible,” and declares “it is thought that the intention of those who organized these attacks is to ‘convince’ the world that the opinion of Col. Symes before the Permanent Mandates Commission concerning the tranquility in Palestine. from which it is evident that the Arabs have reconciled themselves to the status quo, is unfounded. It is also possible that they purpose to frighten the Jews in the Old City, to make them move and to reduce their numbers in Jerusalem as much as possible. However, whatever the reason may be, one thing is clear. The scores of accidents which occurred in the last weeks are not accidents.”
In conclusion “Davar” charges that the police are not taking any energetic measures to stop the outrages. “The attitude of the Arab policemen to the Jews who submit their complaints to them is evident from the Jerusalem police reports; the insignificant number of the arrested assailants, the release of those who used knives under a bail of £20, the persistent refusal to station a few Jewish policemen in that neighborhood, whose presence would compel both the inhabitants and the Arab policemen to behave differently, the lack of any special steps in this matter, despite the increased number of attacks. The indifferent attitude of the police encourages the hooligans. It is, however, clear that such acts of terror can only bring forth similar acts and the danger will grow greater,” the paper says.
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.
