An increasing number of Jewish shopkeepers in the heart of the Jewish quarter of Warsaw, who used to keep closed on Saturdays, have now begun to keep open on account of the difficulty of making a living at the present time of economic crisis, and the operation of the Compulsory Sunday Closing Law, under which, if they observe the Sabbath, they have to keep closed for two days in every week.
This growing desecration of the Sabbath has created a great deal of feeling among orthodox Jews here, and yesterday (Saturday) a big protest demonstration of Sabbath observant Jews was held under the auspices of the Young Agudist Organisation, the Zeire Agudah, immediately they left the synagogues after service.
Hundreds of Hassidim assembled in the Nalewki, one of the principal Jewish streets, still wearing their Talithim, and held a meeting at which a resolution was adopted protesting against the Sabbath desecration. A procession was then formed and marched to the Jewish shops which were kept open to demand that they should close.
The police came up and dispersed the demonstrators, who then held a second meeting, at which speakers expressed indignation at the action of the authorities. The State is against us, they complained.
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.
