–The World Jewish Congress is considering calling a conference of representatives of the tiny and far-flung Jewish communities of eight Far Eastern and Southeast Asian countries, it was announced here today by Dr. I. Schwartzbart, director of the WJC organization department. A proposal to call such a conference has been made by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
Since 1933, when the combined Jewish population of the eight countries totalled 34,000, the Jewish population of the region has dwindled. Today it stands at 2,900. Since 1939, when the second World War broke out, 89 percent of the Jewish population has emigrated from the area.
The decline in Jewish population by countries follows: China, 25,000 in 1939, 397 in 1957; Japan, 2,000 in 1939, 650 in 1957; Hong Kong, remained constant at 200; the Philippines, 1,200 in 1939, 250 in 1957; Burma, 2,150 in 1939, 100 in 1957; Thailand, 125 in 1939, 30 in 1957; Singapore, 1,500 in 1939, 800 in 1957, and Indonesia, 2,000 in 1939, 450 in 1957.
With the current difficulties in Indonesia, where the Jews as Europeans may have been identified by Indonesians with the Dutch, there is a likelihood that Jews will be forced to leave the country. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has already pledged assistance, including temporary accommodations, for any Jews forced to leave Indonesia.
The small size of the individual communities, scattered across vast distances, makes the convening of a conference such as is contemplated by the World Jewish Congress a difficult undertaking. Several years ago, a plan was under consideration to invite the small communities to a South Pacific Conference, but unstable conditions in the area prevented the implementation of the project.
The WJC report asserted that since the conclusion of the late World War the Congress has been the “source of Jewish self-assertion for these remote and isolated communities, giving them a growing sense of identification with Jewish interests and an increasing awareness of the unity of the Jewish people.”
The report also noted the profound changes which occurred in the political, social and economic physiognomy of the area since the end of the war, declaring that this caused most of the Jews to seek opportunities in other lands. Though Israel occupied a “significant” place in the goals of emigrants, they scattered to many lands.
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.
