Jewish Congress Postpones Convention; Calls Relief Conference March 31

March 31st, the date originally set for the National Convention of the American Jewish Congress in Atlantic City, will be devoted to an all-day conference to be held in New York, to devise ways and means of meeting the emergency situation in Bessarabia and other East European countries.

A decision to this effect was taken by the Administrative Committee of the American Jewish Congress Sunday morning. To the special conference will be invited representatives of all organizations interested and willing to help in an effort to relieve the famine situation among the Jewish population of Bessarabia and the suffering of large numbers of Jews in Poland, Lithuania and other parts of Eastern Europe.

“Something has to be done immediately to present all the facts relating to the starvation of large numbers of Jews in several countries and to reawaken the generous impulses of our people who have on previous occasions responded so promptly to emergencies like the one that is now confronting us,” the Administrative Committee declared.

The representatives of the Bessarabian and Roumanian groups urged that the Congress should take steps which will bring together the Landsmanschaften and societies associated with these sections of the Jewish population in Europe and devise ways and means of meeting the present crisis. It was pointed out by several of the speakers that the separate activities of different groups will not at this time meet the required needs and that a mass movement is necessary in order to bring about immediate results. The biennial conference of the American Jewish Congress will be held in Atlantic City beginning May 12th.

CALL LITHUANIAN EMERGENCY RELIEF CONFERENCE

The raising of an emergency fund to assist the 65,000 Jews facing starvation in Lithuania as a result of the 1928 crop failure, was decided on last night at a special meeting of the Executive Committee of the Federation of American Jews of Lithuanian Descent, held at the Federation office in New York.

A conference at which steps will be taken to secure immediate relief for Lithuanian Jews will be held under the auspices of the Federation next Sunday at the Hias Building. Sixty Lithuanian Jewish societies have been invited to participate in the conference, it was announced.

The action was taken following the presentation of a memorandum sent (Continued on Page 2)

from Kovno to the Federation by Jacob Robinson, former leader of the Jewish Deputies in the Lithuanian Parliament, and Rubin Rubinstein, editor of the “Yiddishe Stimme” of Kovno.

Almost the entire Jewish population in the districts of Birzer, Mozeiker, Ponevez, Rakisker, Shavle, Ezerener, Keidan, Kretinger, Tavriker and Troker have been affected, the memorandum stated.

About 42 per cent of the entire Jewish population of Lithuania resides in the districts which have been chiefly affected by the crop failure. The Jews, who are concentrated in the cities and towns and depend for their living on trade with the peasants, have been seriously affected by the crop failure. Their income has been cut down to the point of disappearance and heavy taxes have added to their burden. In all the districts of Northern Lithuanian the Jewish People’s Banks show an increase of indebtedness of from 28 to 86 per cent.

The Jewish artisans have also been badly hit. The inability of the peasants to make purchases and the completion of new factories engaged in mass production have wrecked the economic life of the small Jewish tailors, shoemakers and other artisans.

Although a number of Jews are serving on the peasants’ relief committee and raising money for the peasants, the Jewish population is receiving no aid from the Government. The Finance Ministry has refused to extend the time for payment of taxes by merchants, who are chiefly Jews, though it has done so for peasants. The Jews are unable to obtain credit and the Jewish banks can get no credit from the official bank of the Government, the memorandum declared.