Michael Kalinin, president of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent, today spoke with enthusiasm of the project for the establishment of an autonomous Jewish republic at Bureya in Siberia, within the Soviet Union, and of Jewish possibilities there.
“If I were a Jewish agriculturist, I most likely would have, myself, settled in Bureya, since there is nothing more interesting than the building up of one’s own home,” he declared.
M. Kalinin expressed his conviction that the possibilities for Jews in Bureya are great and made clear his approval of the work of establishing the first Jewish republic there.
Plans for the creation of an autonomous Jewish unit in Bureya, however, have not proceeded according to schedule Jewish immigration and settlement of the area has not proceeded with the expected speed, with the result, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today on excellent authority, that autonomous status will not be proclaimed until 1937, when it is expected that one-half of the population of the area will be Jewish.
Hersh Brill, former representative
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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.