Half the Jews of the Ukrainian city of Zhitomir escaped the Nazi invasion and occupation of the city and have returned from the armed forces and from refuge in Eastern Soviet communities to rebuild their lives and their city, it was reported here today. Approximately 15,000 Jews have returned of the original 30,000, who comprised one-third of the pre-war population of the city. The remainder were murdered by the Germans.
Sixty-two present of the men and women of Zhitomir who are still in hospitals or are crippled as a result of war injuries are Jews. Most of them were awarded decorations for service in the armed forces. Great numbers of the Jews are employed in the furniture factories and printing houses, which were the chief industries of prewar Zhitomir. Over 2,000 are in furniture manufacturing cooperatives. Other returnees include famous doctors, teachers, and supervisors of industrial plants.
In nearby Horosten, 9,000 Jews have resumed their former occupations. They are assisting in rebuilding homes, the canal system of the city and the sewerage system. More than ten percent of the workers in the local crockery factory are Jews. The shoe factory, in which 92 percent of the workers are Jewish, has already surpassed its pre-war output. In Malian, another city in the Ukraine, same 1,000 Jews, 85 percent of the present population, have returned.
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.
