Charges that “the Polish government is condemning 3,000,000 Polish Jews to annihilation” were made today from the tribune of the Polish Sejm in impressive speeches delivered by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Thon, president of the Jewish Deputies Club, and Rabbi Lewin of the Agudath Israel, part of the pro-government bloc in the parliament.
Dr. Thon, who opened the debate on the budget after Minister of Finance Ladislas Zawadaski presented his budget, complained bitterly that the government is “favoring the villages by burdening the towns with taxation. Jews are perishing under this system of heavy taxation for Jews and light taxation for the villages. Jewish distress is increasing daily. It is intolerable to condemn 3,000,000 Jews to complete annihilation,” Rabbi Thon Cried.
“Not only does the government fail to contribute anything for the relief of the Jews,” he further charged, “but it is actually hindering Jewish organization attempting to carry out relief on their own initiative. Our oft-proven loyalty in not bringing up Jewish grievances to the League of Nations under the minorities treaty does not mean that Jews are not suffering injustice in Poland,” Rabbi Thon declared.
He vigorously criticized Poland’s foreign policy of friendship with Nazi Germany and concluded by demanding that “Poland turn away from the Nazi inferno and resume connections with civilization.”
Rabbi Lewin, who speaks for orthodox elements which are customarily part of the government forces in the parliament, described the destitution and poverty among the Jews, citing the fact that one-third of Polish Jewry is dependent
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.
