“Poland is like a big cemetery. When two Jews meet eash other on the street, they are both startled to find themselves alive.”
That is the report brought here today by Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European Director of the Joint Distribution Committee, upon his return from an extensive trip to Poland during which he made a study of Jewish needs there.
The repatriation of 150,000 Polish Jews from the USSR, he stated, is now going on. The repatriation is not compulsory, and the Jewish refugees will be allowed to remain in Sovict Russia or to return to Poland.
Dr. Schwartz was not able to determine the number of Polish Jews who may choose to return from the USSR to Poland. He said that it is expected that the Polish Government will encourage the settlement of these repatriated Jews, as well as other Jewish survivors, in Silesian territory acquired by Poland from Germany.
Jewish settlement in Silesia, Dr. Schwartz declared, started spontane ously shortly after the liberation of surviving Jews from extermination camps located in the German part of Silesia. The Silesian province, he added, is one of the rare sectionsperhaps the only section in Poland – where housing facilities are available. Polish authorities are removing the Germans and are putting the houses at the disposal of Jews.
Dr. Schwartz found the food situation in Poland not too serious, and even somewhat better than in France. However, he stressed the huge needs of the Jewish survivors for clothing and medical care.
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