A new blow for the thousands of Jewish declassed in Russia is seen in the announcement that the Soviet government will collect from ex-traders all taxes due since the Revolution and confiscate the property of those unable to pay. A special commission has been appointed by the Finance Minister to revise the income tax accounts due, and if they are too small, to increase them.
Many former traders, who for many years have been engaged in productive work as artisans, now face the danger of confiscation of all their property, including household goods. Raids have been organized throughout the Soviet Union by income tax inspectors during the night, confiscating and sealing everything, thus over night turning productive artisans into beggars, and leaving them only their machines, if they are able to prove that they received them through the Ort. They will then be immune from confiscation according to a government agreement with the Ort.
The new law has tremendously alarmed and depressed the Jewish artisans, who feel themselves to be unsafe.
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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.
