Going on to review the situation of Jewry in other parts of the world, Dr. Sokolow devoted a large part of his address to depicting the plight of the Jewish masses in Poland and in Eastern Europe.
“In Poland the economic distress of the Jews has reached its lowest depths,” he said. “Its enormous volume defies even the gigantic schemes of charity. It is impossible to cope with the great masses of the proletariat or impoverished middle-classes, all class distinctions have become fictitious. the vast majority of the Jewish population consists of rapidly increasing masses without means and earning only the most precarious livelihood, and is not dependent upon public charity in the matter of food, but is also to a large extent homeless.”
Declaring that Zionism is the only hope for hundreds of thousands of Jews in Poland, Dr. Sokolow emphasized that “Zionism in Poland is not only a great longing for a better and more beautiful world, but it has besides, in recent times become the last resource — through money coming from Eretz Israel — for the support of bare life.”
Concluding his address with the question “what is to become of our unhappy brethren?” Dr. Sokolow said: “We Zionists do our share through Eretz Israel, but the question as a whole for the immediate future is unsolved. It can never be solved save through Zionism, for the wings of old-fashioned Jewish philanthropy are growing weary and will soon droop.”
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.
