Now that the floods from the Vistula have subsided, it has become possible to estimate the damage done by them. Six hundred Jewish families in Praga, on the right bank of the Vistula have lost most of their possessions and suffered great hardship.
This calamity of nature did not fail to provide the Polish police with an opportunity to display their racial discrimination. Although voluntary citizens committees were organized for the purpose of aiding the flood victims, the police found it necessary to make raids on the streets, to gather up stray passers-by and compel them to perform the hardest part of the cleaning up work-All the captured “volunteers” were Jews, without distinction as to age of sex. Many Jewish citizens were mistreated in the process of being enlisted.
This matter has been brought to the attention of the Sejm by an interpellation by the Jewish Deputies, and an investigation has been requested into the discriminatory actions of the Warsaw police.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
