Earthquake Victims in Southern Italy Aided by Jewish Groups

A ceremony was held this week in Potenza to inaugurate the first Red Cross day-care center for children in that earthquake stricken town in southern Italy. About one-third of the finances that was contributed for the center came from Jewish organizations.

The American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which sponsored the project, contributed $30,000. Other organizations, such as HIAS, the Jewish Agency, ORT and Jewish philanthropic organizations in the United States contributed the rest to reach a $100,000 goal. Funds were also supplied by the

European Economic Community (EEC). A total of 32 social welfare centers for children and the aged, including medical assistance, will be constructed by the Red Cross in areas devastated by the recent earthquake. The program is financed by the EEC and the Red Cross societies of Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Canada, Belgium and Poland.

The ceremony this week drew a large number of Red Cross officials, government officials and Loni Meyer, the Rome director of the JDC who represented the American JDC. A telegram sent by the JDC president Henry Taub and executive vice president Ralph Goldman, which was read at the ceremony, stated:

“The American Joint Distribution Committee, on behalf of the entire American Jewish community, extends its best wishes on the dedication of the community center in Potenza. Our hearts are with you and with all those who suffered in the earthquake of November 1980. We thank you for allowing us this opportunity to be of service.”

JEWS WERE AIDED DURING WW II

Mrs. Meyers said at the ceremony that the JDC contribution was given also in recognition of the help Jews had received in the area during the difficult wartime years. A little boy from the village presented her with an orchid, Mrs. Meyer told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and she in turn kissed him.

She said several people talked to her later of their wartime memories and of Jewish friends who had been interned in towns in the area. The representative of the Bishop of Potenza said his family had hosted several Jewish refugees in their homes and he had saved the many letters he subsequently received from refugees after they reached freedom.

Potenza, which has a population of 56,000, has a section of Jewish graves in the communal cemetery dating back to the period of forced internments during the war. The councillor of the town’s Red Cross told Mrs. Meyer that he has been in charge of caring for the Jewish graves.