The Federation of Jewish Small Traders in Poland has after repeated complaints from Jewish traders and pedlars in the Provinces of Posen, Pomerania and Upper Silesia, that they are being subjected to severe antisemitic discrimination by the local authorities, submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of the Interior, setting out the grounds of complaint and demanding drastic action by the Government to uphold the Jewish traders in these provinces in their rights as Polish citizens.
In the town of Grodzisk, in the Province of Posen, it is pointed out, there was an attack of hooligans made recently on Jewish small traders and stall-holders in the market place, and 162 Jewish pedlars suffered loss, and several of them were also injured.
In Nowe-Miasto, in Pomerania, the memorandum proceeds, there is a campaign of antisemitic boycott terrorism carried on by the local press, which publishes violent and poisonous articles inciting the population not to buy anything from Jews. Boycott leaflets are also circulated there, with ugly Jewish caricatures.
The Jewish traders and pedlars who live in Upper Silesia are, moreover, being discriminated against by the municipal authorities, whose attitude is completely in line with the activity of the local Jew-baiters. In Novoiesz, for instance, the Executive of the Municipality recently issued an order prohibiting traders coming there at all for the market days. The order is being applied, however, only against Jewish small traders, and non-Jews are allowed to continue to trade there without any interference. The result is that a Jewish small trader who wishes to do business in the market place of Novoiesz must hire a Christian partner, and pay him to pretend to be the owner of the stall, so that the Jew should be able to carry on his business.
In the township of Szwentachloviece, things are even worse, it is stated, because Jewish small traders are not even allowed to set foot in this town. If a Jew wants to open a shop there, the Municipality refuses to register him for the purpose of receiving a permit. Jews are in this way forced to hire Christians to act as the supposed owners of the shops, because Christians are given permits to open shops without any difficulty.
The Municipalities in Upper Silesia are invoking old German laws for the purpose of their anti-Jewish discrimination, and hundreds of families of Jewish small traders in the Province fear that if the Government does not intervene on their behalf they will be displaced and prevented from engaging in their occupation.
A delegation from the federation of Jewish Small Traders has also had a long interview with the Assistant Director of the Political Department of the Ministry of the Interior, demanding the punishment of the hooligans who attacked the Jewish small traders and pedlars in Grodzisk, assurances that the Jewish small traders will be permitted to trade inpeace, and carry on their businesses and that instructions to this effect should be issued to the local police.
The delegation also demanded the suppression of the antisemitic newspaper “Drvenca”, in Novomiast, that proceedings should be taken against the editors of this newspaper and that steps should be taken to free the Jewish population from the boycott terrorism.
With regard to the discrimination against Jewish traders in Upper Silesia, the delegation demanded the suppression of the antisemitic paper “Da-Czinu”, whose editor is a notorious Jew-baiter, and that proceedings should be taken against him on the ground of his antisemitic agitation, that an order should be issued to the local authorities instructing them to permit Jews to trade in the market-places, making no distinctions in this regard between Jewish and Christian traders, and that the nunicipalities should be instructed to register Jewish traders who are residents of Upper Silesia if they with to open shops in the same way as they do with non-Jews.
The Assistant Director of the Department declared in his reply to the delegation that the Ministry of the Interior will do everything in its power to put down all attempts at hooligan outbreaks and terrorism directed against the Jewish population. So far as the attack on Jewish traders in Grodsisk was concerned, he said, the Ministry of the Interior has already through its subordinate bodies carried out ah investigation there and several hooligans have been arrested and handed over to the Public Prosecutor. With regard to the antisemitic terrorism conducted by the newspaper “Drvenca” in Novomiast, the Ministry of the Interior is conducting an enquiry aiming at putting a stop to this terrorism against the Jewish population. With regard to the discrimination against Jewish traders in Upper Silesia, he said, the Ministry of the Interior will investigate the matter from all aspects, bearing in mind, however, the fact that Upper Silesia enjoys autonomy rights. Nevertheless, the conditions there must be brought into line with the conditions in other parts of the country, he said, and the Ministry will take a definite stand in this direction.
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.
