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Dr. Joseph A. Rosen, head of the Agrojoint, the agency of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, sailed Friday at midnight on the steamer Paris to return to Moscow following a short stay in New York during which the new agreement with the Soviet government for the inauguration of the new settlement work in Crimea and Ukraine was signed.
To a representative of the Jewish Daily Bulletin, Dr. Rosen expressed his great satisfaction with the fact that the agreement has finally been put into shape. Although the arrangements under the new ten million dollar fund will provide an annual allotment for the Jewish colonization work in Soviet Russia which will be less than that which was expended during the past three years, it is important to remember that at least a minimum measure of expansion and settling of Jewish families on the land has been assured. Under the new agreement $1,000,000 a year will be expended out of the American $10,000,000 fund, to be coupled with a $1,000,000 annual allotment by the Moscow government. There is a great deal of work yet to be done in this direction and the normal development of this activity will undoubtedly increase the number of Jewish families on the land and serve as a stimulus, perhaps to further efforts in this direction which are not only possible but extremely necessary.
That the continuation of the work inaugurated in 1923 has been made possible, the thanks of Russian Jewry as well as American Jewry are due to the generosity and vision of Julius Rosenwale, Felix M. Warburg, Louis Marshall, James N. Rosenberg and a number of indefatigable leaders in behalf of Jewish relief work.
Asked about the frequent report in the Soviet press concerning the anti-Semitic incidents in Russian cities and towns, Dr. Rosen stated that the significance of these incidents is often unduly overestimated. It would be an exaggeration to believe, because of these incidents and the intensive campaign carried on by the Soviet press against anti-Semitism, that these facts indicate any serious danger to the safety of the Jewish population. To render such a judgment on the basis of sporadic events gathered by the reading of a number of newspaper clippings from various towns would be unwise and unwarranted. The full life of great groups is never lacking in unpleasant incidents. What is important is the (###) trend and in this regard condition in Russia have changed fundamentally. While there is no denying that anti-Semitism survived the revolution and will perhaps continue in one form or another, the great change which has occurred in Russia is this that the Russian Jew, due to political changes has lost his sense of fear. The (Continued on Page 4)
Russian Jew feels at home and as being there of right, not on sufferance. The Russian Jew feels entitled to live and to work in the country, just as any other citizen. The greatest stimulant of anti-Semitism is the Jew’s fear of it. In Russia this fear is dying out.
In a statement Dr. Rosen issued he explained his stand on the Bira-Bidjan project. “I regret to notice that some of the Jewish press has been quoting me with reference to the Bira-Bidjan project, as being of an absolutely negative attitude toward the enterprise,” he stated. “It has never been my intention to discourage anybody from giving moral support to this. What I wanted to bring out was that because of the great difficulties and tremendous size of the project, it is primarily a government enterprise. While the Agro-Joint, ICA and other organizations still have sufficient land in European Russia in proportion to the funds at their disposal and about twenty-five thousand families can still be settled in European Russia, this can hardly take care of the great mass of Jews seeking to go on the land.
“As a government agency, the Comzet must make plans long in advance and provide tracts of land for future settlement of much larger numbers of people. While conditions in Bira-Bidjan are much more difficult than in European Russia, still it is possible that after the government has invested there several million dollars and has improved roads, carried out preliminary work in preparing the ground, etc, it may become feasible to settle Jews there. I did not intend to disqualify the project. What I meant to say was that the government is entitled to the moral support of every one in carrying on this preparatory work.
“I feel I will be in a better position to discuss this after I have had an opportunity to acquaint myself with the Bira-Bidjan region which I hope to visit during the coming summer,” Dr. Rosen said.
Maurice Mandelbaum, real estate operator, announced that Harris & Maurice Mandelbaum, Inc., had paid $1,000,000 to J. Pierpont Morgan for the northwest corner of Second Avenue and 47th Street, New York.
“We bought the Morgan parcel on account of immense operations and building projects under way and imminent in that section,” Mr. Mandelbaum said.
The 500×100-foot lot for which the Mandelbaums paid $1,000,000 is covered now by old five-story tenements and a five-story garage for 600 cars, in which one floor is devoted to a gymnasium for chauffeurs.
The Mandelbaums have been operating extensively in the midtown area. Two weeks ago they paid $2,000,000 for the Hotel Cumberland on the southwest comer of Broadway and 54th Street.
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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.
