We guarantee our entire possessions that all deposits will be paid in full, and we want to point out that our possessions are in no way burdened, says an official statement issued here by the Berkowitz Bank, which a few days ago closed its doors, because it was unable to meet the calls made upon it by its depositors.
A meeting of the principal depositors has been held here, at which a report was presented on the terms agreed upon between the representatives of the depositors, and the Bank, for the payment of the deposits.
A list of the immovable property owned by the Bank and by its directors, the Brothers Berkewitz, was read out, showing that the Bank has over 135 million lei in immovable property, and that the two Brothers Berkowitz have another 470 million lei, making a total of 605 million lei. In addition, the National Bank is giving a credit of 130 million lei. consequently, it has been arranged that all depositors with deposits in the bank up to the amount of 150,000 lei will receive their deposits immediately. Depositors whose deposits exceed 500,000 lei will receive payment in the course of one year, and depositors with more than one million lei will receive their deposits within one to two years.
The Yiddish daily, “Unzer Zeit” of Kishineff expresses astonishment in an editorial that the Berkowitz Bank should have ever been allowed by the National Bank to get into difficulties, and suggests that it was not given assistance immediately, which would have averted the closing of its doors, only because the present Directors of the National Bank were unwilling to help a Bank owned by Jews.
The Berkowitz Bank, it says, has existed for 60 years, and was one of the most solid financial institutions in the country. The two Brothers Berkowitz were in addition, among the richest men in the country. The Berkowitz family has owned not less than one-sixth of the shares in the National Bank, the paper proceeds, and yet when this big share-holder required a credit of a hundred million lei to pay the deposits which its depositors were beginning to draw out, because of the panic that had been created, the State Bank demanded that the Berkowitz Brothers should cover the entire amount with their personal fortune.
The State Bank, it says, has not always acted in that way. Other banks have had such difficulties, but the National Bank came to their rescue with hundreds of millions of lei, and pacified the depositors, so that the panic was soon over. It is true that there was a different Governor at the head of the National Bank at that time. But we feel, the paper concludes, that the real reason for the attitude of the National Bank is that the Berkowitz Bank is a Jewish Bank, with a Jewish name, with Jewish founders and Jewish Directors. They got this slap in the face because of their Jewish origin.
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.
