The Jews of 22 towns in the Bialystock area are in a state of constant terror resulting from anti-Semitic agitation and boycott activities, it was revealed today by two American-Jewish relief officials prior to their departure for Paris after a three-week survey of conditions in Poland.
The officials are Dr. Bernhard Kahn and David J. Schweitzer, European director and vice-director respectively for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, who during their stay visited the leading trouble centers in the country and conferred with many Jewish leaders.
Delegates from the terror-ridden towns came to Bialystock to relate to Dr. Kahn and Mr. Schweitzer the dangers of their situation. They emphasized that life and property were in constant danger and appealed for urgent relief by American Jewry.
The delegates wept as they described the horrors perpetrated by local pickets and anti-Semitic thugs imported from surrounding districts.
They revealed the Jewish population of the entire Bialystock district had been officially warned not to appear on the streets on Sundays or Polish holidays “because the police cannot guarantee safety on such days.”
The American officials said they were returning to Paris with plans for extension of Joint Distribution Committee work in Poland as the only way to maintain the shattered Jewish economic position in Poland.
During their tour they conferred with Jewish leaders in Warsaw, Lodz, Lwow, Wilno and Brzesc (Brest-Litovsk), scene of the May 13 pogrom.
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.
