United states Vice-Consul William Morton reported today that near-famine conditions prevailed in areas occupied by the Red Army as a result of flight of Polish shopkeepers, many of them Jewish, into Rumania before advancing Soviet troops. He had been stationed in Warsaw and arrived here after spending a week in eastern Poland.
Morton said Soviet officials at Zaleszczyki posted placards advising the public to “remain calm, continue your work and open your shops.” The signs said the zloty would serve for currency on an even basis with the ruble. “But most of the businessmen,” Morton said, “had already fled into Rumania before the arrival of Soviet troops, and food began to give out. On Sept. 20 my party could obtain only four pieces of bread, which we shared with stranded newspapermen.”
The vice-consul also told how Soviet officials received delegations of workers and peasants, many of them Jewish, to decide who should remain in Poland and who should be transported to the interior of the Soviet Union.
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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.
