The “Idgeskom”, the Jewish Communistic Relief Committee in Soviet Russia, which ceased its larger activities last July, will be formally liquidated shortly.
For this purpose a conference of the Communistic Jewish Social Workers, members of the “Idgeskom” was called to meet in Charkoff. The conference is in session now.
The “Idgeskom” was formed in 1920, the year of the Great Famine in Russia, when the American Relief Administration and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee began relief activities in the regions affected by the famine. The initiative for the formation of a local Jewish Relief Committee having come from the Jewish Communists, the “Yevsektzia”, they have since jealously watched over the Jewish relief activities in Soviet Russia and although the funds were forthcoming from all Jewish classes, they insisted that the distribution and the administration of the relief should rest entirely with them, often at the risk of making relief work impossible.
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.
