A $ 1,000,000 campaign to aid the Jews in Poland was launched today by an American Appeal Committee of prominent Jews and non-Jews at a luncheon arranged by the Federation of Polish Jews in America at the Waldorf Astoria.
Former Secretary of the Treasury Ogden L. Mills, who presided and was the principal speaker, emphasized that increased nationalism after the war had aggravated the problem of the Jews, adding that “a problem of group relationships is involved in the Polish-Jewish situation which cannot be solved by slogans.
” In the competition between hard-pressed Poles and hard-pressed Jews, ” Mr. Mills continued, ” the Jew suffers from the majority’s mass decision to trade with… their own people first of all. This means that the Jews, who historically in Poland constituted the trading middle class, find themselves reduced to actual starvation. We cannot view the starvation of 2,000,000 human beings with equanimity. We must help them.”
A program was presented for ameliorating the condition of the Polish Jews. It provided for credit facilities to business men, establishment of artisan schools, helping those with Palestine certificates to emigrate, strengthening Jewish farm cooperatives and establishment of new industries.
Benjamin Winter, president of the federation, warned of mass starvation in Poland. Other speakers were George Gordon Battle, Professor Morris R. Cohen, George E. Sokolsky and Z. Tygel, executive director of the Federation. Messages were read from Governors Lehman of New York and Horner of Illinois; Senators Borah, Wagner, King and Hastings; Dr. Albert Einstein and Sholom Asch.
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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.
