The Joint Distribution Committee has shipped 270,000 pounds of matzoth and other Passover supplies to eight European countries to enable needy Jews to observe the holiday appropriately, it was announced today by Edward M. M. Warburg, JDC chairman.
The 270, 000 pounds shipped this year compares with some 257, 000 pounds distributed last year, Mr. Warburg said. More than half of the total, 171,265 pounds, was shipped to France, where the Jewish population has increased in the past two years from 350, 000 to over 500, 000, mostly through immigration from Algeria and other North African countries.
The other supplies were distributed to needy Jewish communities in Albania, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain–including Spanish Morocco–and Yugoslavia. In Poland, matzoth are baked by the official religious community, with equipment provided by JDC. Needy Jews in Poland are given funds to purchase matzoth from the Jewish community.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.