A conference of the International Council of the Ort, Society for the promotion of trades and agriculture, took place here with the participation of the thirty delegates, from various countries including the United States.
The conference decided that the extension of the work of the Ort in the future will be along industrialization lines, particularly in Poland, Lithuania, Bessarabia. It was repeatedly emphasized that economic possibilities for the Jews are constantly being reduced, and the number of declassed is increasing at an enormous pace.
As a result of this situation, Ort activities, which hitherto have concentrated principally on colonization and technical training, will now include industrialization.
A budget of $981,000 was adopted for the period of July, 1929 to July, 1930, as contrasted with the budget of $450,000 for the last year.
Mr. Zegelnitzki, Ort manager in Russia, reported that the Moscow Ort has received hundreds of applications for machinery. The Central Committee has decided to use the $30,000 recently received from New York as a result of the People’s Tool Campaign of which B. C. Vladeck is chairman, to erect eight factories in the towns. Colonization, he stated, is developing satisfactorily. The economic ruin of the Jewish population in White Russia and the Ukraine is, however, far larger than the relief possibilities, he pointed out. Credit should therefore be given the Ort, he said, for its farsighted policy in arranging with the Soviet government for the importation of raw materials and machinery.
In the last seven months, the Ort office in Moscow has received 4,500 ap-of raw materials and machinery.
He emphasized the tragedy of the masses of the Jewish youth, who,
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trained in no profession, are without means of livelihood. He urged the immediate necessity of rendering the Jewish youth productive members of the community.
Dr. M. Silberfarb, former Minister of Jewish affairs in the Ukraine, described the condition of the Jew in Poland. The Government of Poland watches with indifference the economic ruin of the Jewish population, he stated, even quickening, with its policy, the economic collapse of the Jewish artisans and traders. The ruination of the Jewish people in Poland is accomplished so silently, he stated, that the world at large is unaware of it. Yet the Jewish conditions in Poland, are to less terrifying than the poverty of the Jews of Russia. Having had an opportunity to study the Jewish position in Russia only recently, he is able to make the above statement with a dear conscience and full consciousness of its import, he asserted.
Reporting on the Jewish position in Bessarabia, the Bessarabian agronomist, Feigin, declared that the Jew is suffering keenly from the tendency of the Roumanian Government to create concentrated syndicates and co-operatives. This policy will result in seriously increasing the proportions of the Jewish declassed, he forecast. Jewish need in Bessarabia has already achieved serious dimensions, he pointed out.
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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.
