Polish Government Alarmed over Increased Mortality Among Refugees in Siberia

The Polish National Council today considered alarming reports of increased mortality among Poles and Jews who are held in Siberia as Polish refugees stranded in Russia. The reports state that the situation of these refugees, who consider themselves Polish nationals, is extremely grave because of the shortage of food in Siberia and the lack of warm clothing for the winter. The Council decided to empower the Polish Government to appropriate additional funds for their relief.

Samuel Zygelboim, Jewish member of the Polish National Council, today estimated that the number of Polish Jews in Russia at present does not exceed 300,000. The majority are in the Turkestan section which has a climate similar to that of Palestine. A considerable number of Jewish refugees from Poland are, however, in remote parts of Siberia where the winter is very severe. Mr. Zygelboim, who spoke at a reception given to him by the Polish-Jewish Center in London, gave it as his opinion that there are no more than 1,250,000 Jews left alive today in Nazi-occupied Poland, including some 500,000 Jews who were deported by the Nazis to Poland from countries in Central and Western Europe. There were 3,500,000 Jews in Poland before the outbreak of the war.

“Should it come to pass that Polish Jewry will perish before we achieve victory, then I feel that I, as their representative, have no right to survive,” he said in his speech. He emphasized that according to information reaching him from the underground movement in occupied Poland, the Nazi massacres of Jews continue. “It is hopeless to expect that Hitler will release the Jews,” he said. “He does not want them to leave Nazi-held territories. He wants them to perish. He even prevented Laval from permitting Jewish children to leave France. Only actual reprisals may deter Hitler from completely annihilating all the Jews of Poland.”