The Polish Government will not tolerate anti-Semitic barbarities, but economic changes are unavoidable, Premier Skladkowski declared last night, winding up a long debate in the Sejm on the Jewish problem.
“There is no place amongst us for racial conflicts,” the Premier declared. “There is only a problem of over-population which falls into the economic domain. The economic battle we are waging is not directed against the Jews.”
He added a warning, however, that Poland would “firmly resist any interference by foreign Jews in our domestic affairs, a thing which could only harm the Polish Jews.”
Discussing the general relations of the Polish majority with various racial minority groups, the Premier declared that “no question of race hatred should trouble them, because Poland would suffer its consequences. The majority and the minority have the same rights and the same duties, above all the duty of loyalty to the Government, which works for the future of the whole Polish people.”
During the debate, Deputy Wojceshowski, Government rapporteur, demanded adoption of a program similar to Rumanian Premier Octavian Goga’s, calling for denationalization of several hundred thousand Polish Jews.
Current anti-Semitic propaganda is due mainly to the “excessive” number of Jews and the post-war “influx,” the Government spokesman said, resulting in a foreign element alien to Polish culture, which antagonized Poles against the patriotic indigenous Jews.
He demanded that Polish citizenship conferred on “these alien Jews” for humanitarian reasons be considered temporary. He protested against the intervention of certain groups in America and England, in the name of humanity, in support of the Polish Jews.
The deputy appealed to rich countries, especially England, to remove from Poland those Jews of Russian origin who had entered Poland as “temporary guests” by taking international action to regulate the problem of Jewish emigration. He also asked Zionists to agree that it was impossible to have two fatherlands, Poland and Palestine.
Replying to the rapporteur, Deputy Emil Sommerstein appealed to the Government to give the Jews the possibility of cooperating with the Polish people for the good of the State. He denied that relations between the Government and the Jewish minority had improved.
“We cannot agree with anti-Jewish emigration plans,” he said, refuting the charge of dual allegiance against Zionists.
“The Jews are ready to serve the Polish state with all their strength,” Sommerstein declared. “It would be sufficient to apply the Polish constitution, which provides equality of rights for all citizens.”
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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.
