Mendel Mozes, chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency bureau in Warsaw, his entire staff, and many prominent Jewish writers and leaders are among the refugees from Poland who found haven here, it was ascertained today following occupation of the city by Lithuanian troops.
Mozes and his staff had not been heard from since early in September when he had filed a brief cable from Krzemieniec, in southeastern Poland, which had served as a temporary seat of the fleeing Polish Government.
Mozes confirmed a previous J.T.A. report (from Kaunas) that Chief Rabbi Senator Moses Schorr of Warsaw, who had been reported executed by the Nazis, was in fact safe in Soviet-held territory together with Deputy Emil Sommerstein and Deputy Henry Rosmarin.
Among the Polish Jewish writers who found safety in Wilno are: Noah Prilutzki, Lasar Kahan, I. Justman, David Flinker, I.M. Neuman, I. Trunk, H.S. Kazhdan, Sophia Ehrlich (nee Dubnov) Baruch Schefner, Schlomo Mendelsohn and Vladimir Kossovski.
Refugee labor leaders here include Noah Portnoi, Lazar Szczupakiewicz and Abraham Bialopolski. Zionist leaders among the refugees include Dr. M. Kleinbaum and Raphael Schafer.
Other prominent refugees here include ex-Senator Raphael Szereszewski, industrialist and philanthropist, and Deputy Simon Seidenman.
Meanwhile, the most efficient relief work for the refugees has been put into operation by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, under the direction of Isaac Giterman, head of the Warsaw office of the J.D.C., who has installed a smoothly functioning apparatus. Ten kitchens have been organized and are now supplying more than 4,000 meals daily. Clothes are being distributed and homes are being found for the refugees.
Among the beneficiaries of the relief action are many Jewish leaders, writers and journalists, for whom Giterman has organized a special home where are housed cultural workers, physicians and lawyers.
Registration has been started among the refugees, estimated at 30,000 of whom 75 per cent are believed to be Jews. Among the refugees are all the pupils of Jewish religious schools such as the Mir, Voloszin, Baranovicz and Grodno Yeshivas. Among the pupils are a number of American citizens.
Jewish leaders declared the relief work was only beginning and expressed the hope that American Jewry would generously contribute toward its continuation and extension.
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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.
