Thousands of Polish Jews will spend their Passover under Soviet artillery fire digging trenches for the Nazi army on the Taganrog-Kharkov front as a result of the mass-transportation of Jews from the Lublin and Cracow districts to the front lines of the German-Soviet battlefront, a report reaching here today from Nazi-held Poland reveals.
The shifting of Lublin and Cracow Jews to the front in the Nazi-held Ukraine started several days ago as part of the final preparations which the German military command is making for the contemplated Spring offensive, the report states. While on one hand the local Nazi authorities are mobilizing more and more Jewish skilled workers for the German war industries the military authorities insist that all Jews who are not fit for factory work should be rushed to the farthest points of the German-Soviet front to build fortifications there under fire of the Red Army, the information discloses.
As a result of the pressure from the military authorities, the Jewish Councils in Lublin and Cracow districts have received orders to deliver able-bodied Jews for transportation to “unknown destinations.” The first transports, which left this week, led to the tragic separation of many families, the report states, since it is almost certain that none of the deported Jews will ever return to their bemas. In the meantime, the Jewish Councils, already overburdened with relief problems with which they are not able to cope because of the acute shortage of funds, are faced with the new problem of caring for the women and children whom the deported Jews left behind without any means of support.
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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.
