Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

[The purpose of the Digest is informative. Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.–Editor.]

An expression of the Polish government’s attitude on the Jewish situation in Poland, emphasizing that, “viewed in the light of our State policy–there certainly is no Jewish problem in Poland” and that if aside from this official aspect a Jewish problem does exist, “then it is a purely psychological one,” is contained in an article by Jan Ciechanowski, Minister of Poland to the United States, appearing in the Feb. 25 issue of the “American Hebrew.” The article is the context of an address delivered recently by the Polish Minister before the Education Forum of the Brooklyn Jewish Center.

Reviewing the history of the Jews in Poland and citing proofs that they received fair treatment in that country, Mr. Ciechanowski asks:

“What then are the reasons for the alleged racial feeling of which we have heard so much? Does that feeling exist? What is its extent? How far is it a menace to the future internal peace of Poland’s Jewish population?” Mr. Ciechanowski then proceeds to answer these questions as follows, in the course of which he seeks to justify the anti-Jewish boycott movement in Poland.

“If a hostile feeling against the Jewish population became evident in Poland during the first months or years after the World War, it is only fair to state that evidence of such a feeling was confined to specific cases, that it was of short duration, and that the Polish Government and authorities of the Polish State have worked to eliminate it and to meet the just demands of the Jewish population in accordance with the spirit and wording of the Constitution. I think I may definitely say that no collective racial feeling exists in Poland.

“There is a marked tendency among the Christian population of Poland to take up commerce, and a desire on the part of producers of goods to avoid the middleman. Hence a tendency towards cooperative selling and buying, which results in loss to Jewish middlemen.

“The cooperative movement in Poland has been growing steadily, and in order to gain customers, some of its groups have resorted to the slogan of boycotting Jewish shops. This may have reduced business conducted by the Jewish population, but the effect has been on the whole local in extent.

“This discriminating slogan should not be interpreted as a proof of hostility on the part of Christians against Jewish citizens as such. It was rather a somewhat primitive catchword calculated to impress the uneducated sections of the population to sell and purchase goods on a cooperative system. It should be borne in mind that the Jewish population has virtually held a monopoly of retail trade and limits its activities almost entirely to commerce.

The minister goes on to relate the steps taken by the present Polish government to settle “some of the outstanding questions relating to the Jewish population,” and adds:

“I can assure you most emphatically that–viewed in the light of our State policy–there certainly is no Jewish problem in Poland.

“The Polish State regards the three million people who constitute our Jewish population as Poles of Jewish faith. From a state point of view, this is the only sound definition.

“If apart from the official aspect of the matter there exists a Jewish problem in Poland, then it is a purely psychological one.”

Mr. Ciechanowski thinks the “psychological problem” is due to the fact that “where a ghetto exists, the demarcation of their group from other groups is made clear, and this tends to isolate them from the rest of the population.” As for the solution of the problem, the Polish Minister declares: “The solution of a psychological problem requires time and great tact on both sides. Such a problem can best be solved by the spreading of education, by the enlightenment of the masses, and by introducing a gradual process of sincere cooperation on the part of the Jewish section of the population with the rest of the nation.

“The Polish nation should have constant evidence that the Polish citizen of Jewish faith is as loyal a citizen as any other Pole, ready to collaborate in every way for the benefit of the state.

“The final solution of the problem rests as much with the Jewish population as with the Poles.”

JEWISH STUDENT SUICIDES LAID TO WEAKENING OF FAMILY TIES

The belief that the large proportion of Jews in the present suicide wave among students is due to the weakening of the traditional family ties among the Jews, is expressed in the “Jewish Daily News” (Feb. 24) by Dr. Mordecai Katz. Discussing the various possible causes of the numerous suicides, Dr. Katz observes:

“One of the sicknesses of our generation is the weakening of the family ties, which has of late made its appearance among Jews too. For thousands of years Jewish family life was looked upon as the purest and most exemplary in the world. But the process of weakening in this respect which has been going on throughout the world has finally begun to have its effects among the Jews. This leads to the estrangement of parents and children and frequently the children become somewhat spoiled morally. It makes the children indifferent to their parents, for there can be no doubt that if they were deeply attached to the family they would strive to spare their folks the suffering and pain resulting from a child’s suicide.”