Pilsudski Brings Coup in Poland to Successful Conclusion

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Jozef Pilsudski, leader of the Polish Legion during the war, the Prisoner of Magdeburg and first chief of state in the resurrected Republic of Poland, is again master in Poland, following the resignation of Stanislaw Wojciechowski, his one time friend and co-worker in the revolutionary movement, from the presidency of the republic, and the resignation of the Witos government.

Although actually in possession of dictatorial powers, Pilsudski apparently declined to exercise a dictatorship, and, in accordance with the provisions of the Polish constitution, the speaker of the Polish Sejm, M. Rataj, became temporary president of the Republic. Rataj empowered Professor Casimir Bartel, leader of the labor party, to form a temporary cabinet, pending the election of a new president. The cabinet, which was termed by Professor Bartel “a cabinet of pacification” will resign after the election of a new president by the National Assembly which is composed of the Sejm and the Senate. The National Assembly is to meet this week.

Jozef Pilsudski assumed the post of War Minister in the new cabinet which consists mainly of non-partisan experts of the respective departments.

The Polish Socialist Party (P.P.S.) conducts propaganda for the election of Pilsudski by the National Assembly as president and the dissolution of the Sejm immediately after the presidential election.

Complete order prevails in the capital. All shooting has ceased. There is a sufficient supply of food in the city. The electric works and the power supply are functioning normally. All the stores and offices were reopened. Only the public schools remained closed. The city government was taken over by the Pilsudski forces. The general strike proclaimed Friday by the Polish Socialist Party and the Jewish labor parties, Bund and Poale Zion, as an expression of sympathy with Pilsudski, was called off Saturday.

Tadeusz Dymowski, president of the anti-Semitic boycott organization, Rozwoj, was arrested, presumably on a charge of conspiracy.

The correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency declares that all reports circulated abroad concerning anti-Jewish excesses at the Warsaw depot are absolutely untrue. It is not true that the Club of Jewish Deputies issued an appeal to the Jewish population urging them to observe strict neutrality during the conflict. The Club has not issued any appeal whatsoever. It must be declared that during the three days fighting no specific anti-Jewish tendencies came to the fore. The Jewish, as well as the non-Jewish civilian population, did not participate in the battle.

During the street fighting on Thursday and Friday four Jews were killed by stray bullets. The were Adolf Sommermann, Solomon Djialowski, Israel Schmuklerowski, Simcha Eisenmesser. Seven Jews were wounded. They were Elias Loew, Mordecai Hofleiser, Dora Tannenbaum, Pesach Mandel, Abraham Zuckermann, Rachmil Kronenberg, and Isaac Alexander.

Impressive ceremonies took place Sunday when thirty-one Jewish victims of the uprising, including the civilians and Jewish soldiers, were buried in the Jewish cemetery. A military funeral was given the Jewish soldiers who died in the battle.