EMILE VANDERVELDE, AGED FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER, SHARPLY CRITICIZES THE “GHETTO” SYSTEM IN POLISH UNIVERSITIES IN A LETTER TO THE UNION OF JEWISH ASSOCIATIONS.
HE WRITES: “IN THE WESTERN COUNTRIES, WHERE EXCESSES ARISING FROM RACE HATRED ARE UNKNOWN, ‘GHETTO BENCHES’ SEEM AT FIRST GLANCE MORE RIDICULOUS THAN DANGEROUS. HOWEVER, THE EMOTIONS AROUSED AMONG POLISH INTELLECTUAL CIRCLES SHOW THAT THE MEASURE IS TO BE CONSIDERED SERIOUSLY. SINCE YOUTH I HAVE PARTICIPATED IN PROTEST ACTIONS AGAINST JEWISH PERSECUTIONS IN TSARIST POLAND. IT IS PAINFUL TO STATE THAT THE OLD SPIRIT OF INTOLERANCE HAS NOT BEEN EXTINGUISHED IN REBORN POLAND.”
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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.