Hundreds of Polish Jews and Jewish refugees from Central Europe today volunteered for army service in behalf of the Allies as the first reaction to the Anglo-French declaration of war against Germany.
Jews of Polish origin besieged the Polish Consulate yesterday to offer their services in the Republic’s defense, and by noon 500 had registered. Refugees and “stateless” Jews calling at the French and British consulates to volunteer. Although Bolivia is neutral in the European conflict, newspapers commented sympathetically on the volunteer movement.
Polish Jews here formed a “Polish Committee,” which called a mass meeting and adopted a resolution pledging that “all Polish Jews will not stop at any sacrifice to defend the independence of their fatherland against Nazi barbarism, the greatest enemy of the Jewish people and of Poland, as well as of all European civilization.”
The committee launched a fund-raising drive with the slogan, “Milk for Warsaw Children,” to which many Bolivians contributed, as well as immigrants. The committee also is distributing information to the Bolivian press about Poland’s history and the present situation.
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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.
