Jewish Papers Throughout the Country Pay Tribute to Jewish Telegraphic Agency Services

“The Day”, New York, March 15th, 1933—When you read an item of news in the Jewish papers, whether the news is from Palestine, Soviet Russia, or Australia, you cannot help but being confronted with the short word, “J.T.A.”, the initials of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

This is the source of the news. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency collects Jewish news from all over the world, and transmits it to the Jewish papers, through which they reach the Jewish reader.

When a pogrom occurs in Poland, a series of persecutions in Roumania, misfortunes in Soviet Russia, difficulties in Palestine, the J.T.A. comes and telegraphically informs all the Jewish newspapers in the world about it. On the very next morning, the Jewish public all over are fully informed about all that has happened.

All this serves to create a bond of union between all Jews of all lands. No Jewish settlement is any longer isolated. Whatever affects the Jews of one part of the world, it immediately becomes the interest of Jews the world over.

On the basis of the news which the J.T.A. collects and supplies to the Jewish press, Jewish projects are undertaken and steps set in motion for the defense of Jewish interests.

It was so during the pogroms in Palestine, and it is the same during the present bloody dominance of Hitler.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is now celebrating its 15th Anniversary.

To the J.T.A., on this occasion of its anniversary, our greeting and our admiration.

“The Jewish Daily Eagle”, Montreal, March 16th, 1933— The Jewish press would be of considerably less importance without the J.T.A. After all, it is the task of a Jewish paper to inform its readers, first of all, regarding what is occurring in the Jewish world. The Jewish world is a world in miniature by itself. And in the same way as Jewish history is rightly described by Professor Dubnow as “the world history of the Jewish history of the Jewish people, Jewish news, too, is world news of a certain kind. Without a special Jewish news agency with universal ramifications, such as the J.T.A., the Jewish press would not be able to discharge its true function, and would be compelled to ape in Yiddish what the non-Jews think and write about Jews and Jewish problems.

No single Jewish paper is able to enjoy the luxury of setting up its own telegraphic communication with the whole world….

Before the arrival of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the Jewish world was either insufficiently or falsely informed regarding all kinds of occurrences in Jewish life.

All kinds of events, tragic and happy, have occurred during the fifteen years of the J.T.A.’s life. And if the Jews of the world have been regularly informed of these occurrences, they have only the J.T.A. to thank.

It was in 1929, during the tragic disturbances in Palestine, that the J.T.A. especially distinguished itself. Caught up in the “national fever” that seized on all of us in those days, the J.T.A. forgot all financial calculations, ignored the limits of financial means, and kept telegraphic cables between Palestine and the Jewish papers of the whole world busy for 24 hours in every day. At another time, that might have been regarded as terrible extravagance. But in those days, it was just a fulfillment of a national duty.

With a normal people, an achievement of that sort would have been rewarded with a decoration, or something of that sort. We Jews, however, have no decorations for those who distinguished themselves by their loyalty in a time of national crisis. But we inscribe such acts in our memories, and no Jewish historian who will write conscientiously of the tragic chapter of August, 1929, will be able to ignore the great role which the Jewish Telegraphic Agency had then played.

We greet the J.T.A. on the occasion of its Jubilee. Let us hope that we shall soon emerge from the depression which has weighed so heavily on the whole of the Jewish press, as well as on the J.T.A., which, as we have said, is an organic part of the Jewish work.

We greet also the editors and correspondents of the J.T.A. who do their work conscientiously and frequently with outstanding talent.

“The Real Throne Behind the Jewish Press,” says the “Jewish Journal” of Toronto — The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of its foundation. This is an occasion particularly suited for making the Jewish public better acquainted with this important Jewish institution….

The J.T.A., through its correspondents, pricks the eyes of the world with every injustice inflicted on the Jews, and arouses the Jewish world whenever danger threatens.

Fifteen years ago the Jewish press was dependent on the good-will of the wealthier non-Jewish newspapers and some of the wealthy Jewish papers which could afford the luxury of special correspondents. Jewish news, generally, was neglected. Only sensations and matters that could no longer be concealed were recorded.

Thanks to the J.T.A., the Jewish press throughout the world is now not only fully informed regarding outstanding events, but also regarding every occurrence affecting the Jewish world. The J.T.A. is the real power behind the throne of the Jewish press, and should be regarded as such.

“A Celebration in Which the Jewish People as a Whole Should Share”— Philadelphia “Jewish World”, March 15th, 1933—In the true sense of the term, the celebration of the J. T. A.’s Fifteenth Anniversary, may be regarded not only as a happy occasion for the founder of the Agency, but also for the Jewish press in America and the rest of the world, which has been so faithfully served by the Agency during the past fifteen years. It is a celebration in which the Jewish people as a whole should share.

It has fallen to the lot of the J.T.A. to serve sometimes as a night-watchman and sometimes as a bringer of good tidings. These tasks have been carried through by the J.T.A. with courage and resolution.

In every corner of the globe, wherever there are Jews, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency stands watchful. In dark times that have fallen upon our people beyond the sea, the J.T.A. has aroused the conscience of the Jewish people and made them mindful of the perils that threatened different sections of Jewry. This it has done by means of authentic reports.

With such a record of usefulness as the J.T.A. has built up during the years of its existence, we, too, celebrate the Fifteenth Anniversary. In the name of the Jews of Philadelphia, we send to the founder and his colleagues hearty good wishes and blessings that they may be enabled to continue their services to the Jewish press and to world Jewry.

“A Reliable Servant” says “The Jewish Press” of Omaha, Nebr.—In the swift-moving panorama depicting Jewish events marching on the modern background of political, economic and social conditions throughout the world, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency renders an invaluable service. This service has been so regular, efficient and uninterrupted that we have taken it for granted, as a matter of course. But with the celebration this week of the fifteenth anniversary of the J. T. A., we are brought to a realization of its priceless source of enlightenment.

Much of the bias and bigotry against the Jewish people in generations past have been due to misinformation, malicious distortion of facts, or failure to disclose all of the details of the news. This fertile field for prejudice has to a large extent been eliminated by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. In fact, anti-Semitic agencies actually fear the powerful, far-reaching arm of those three initials, “J. T. A.” The Polish, Rumanian and German governments, for example, have on numerous occasions shown anxiety about stories printed abroad concerning maltreatment of Jewish residents, and this anxiety has undoubtedly, in turn, made the officials try to stem such recurrences which would result in unfavorable publicity. Such fear of condemnation before the