Twenty-five Jewish youths trained in England as Chalutzim for eventual settlement in Palestine today volunteered as a group to work in English coal mines.
The Ministry of Fuel which is conducting a campaign for volunteers to join in “the battle of fuel” was extremely gratified at the offer of the Jewish group. Their willingness to aid in the coal shortage by becoming miners has apparently made a strong impression in British official quarters, as well as with the leaders of British labor unions, all the more so, as it is no secret that the Ministry’s appeal for volunteers for the mines, generally speaking, has met little success.
The Jewish group is composed of sixteen young men and nine girls, all members the Hashomer Hatzair and all British subjects. The young men will work in the underground of the mines while the girls will do household service in the hostel, assigned to the group at Stalybridge near Manchester.
The London press, reporting the volunteering of the Jewish youths, notes that his is the first case of collective volunteering for coal mine work by any Jewish or non-Jewish group in England. The Hechalutz organization hopes to be able to supply additional groups soon for the same purpose.
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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.
