The story of how the personnel and cattle of a Jewish collective dairy farm in the Ukraine trekked more than 1,800 miles from a war zone to the safety of Kazakstan, Asiatic Russia, was told here today for the first time by the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee.
When the Dniepropetrovak province was invaded last Fall, it was decided to evacuate the farm, considered one of the best in the area. Their destination unknown, the roads clogged with units of the Red Army moving up to the front, but spurred by the thunder of guns, the entire farm took to trucks and foot and started on a journey that was not to end until two months later.
On the fourth day out, calves began to lag behind the herd. Someone suggested that they be killed, but the majority overruled the suggestion in keen realization of the value of the calves. Determined to bring the entire herd to safety, the men went for days without sufficient food or sleep but carefully tended every calf, even carrying the weaker ones in their arms or placing them on trucks. The farmers walked at night and took shelter during the day in the woods.
The farm finally reached Kazakstan, where it was re-established in an area specially prepared for it and where it is again producing its quota of dairy products and livestook.
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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.
