The postponement of the intended establishment of Bira Bidjan as an autonomous Jewish unit by the end of 1933 was indicated today in the declaration of Bergavinov, the Secretary of the Far Eastern Communist Party to the Plenary Council.
Bergavinov, who is the highest Soviet Executive in the Far East, in discussing the enormous political significance Bira Bidjan will attain should the national region be established, declared within a year or two it will become clear whether a Jewish unit or a Jewish republic is to be set up there.
Bergavinov’s declaration, while indicating postponement, is also interpreted as meaning that the idea of establishing an autonomous Jewish region in Bira Bidjan has not been abandoned and will ultimately be realized,
The possibility that a wider immigration to Bira Bidjan with more workers will shortly be inaugurated is seen with the discovery of iron ore of a high quality there.
ing to the latest decree, carries with it the penalty of death.
The leader of the group, Tolkatch, is accused of both anti-Semitism and of having a counter-revolutionary past.
Among the Jews arrested are Herzalies, a former member of General Kolchak’s army; Gedaliah Pollakoff, a former householder; Sholome Malchis, a former trader; Jeruchim Pokrais, a former industrialist. Other Jews arrested are generally classed as enemies of the State.
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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.
