Polish Military Authorities in Russia Discriminate Against Jewish Soldiers

Reports that Polish army officials are dismissing Jews from Polish military units in Russia in order to deprive them and their families of the opportunity to leave Russia, reached here today from Dzalalabad, Kermine, Guazar and other remote Russian cities where Polish divisions are being trained prior to being transported to the Middle East front.

Each member of the Polish armed forces is permitted, in accordance with Soviet regulations, to take his family along with him when leaving Russia for the Middle East. On the pretext that they are no longer physically fit, more than 500 Jews were dismissed from the Polish army during July and August, thus depriving 500 Jewish families of the opportunity of emigrating from Russia.

In Guazar, where a Polish platoon of engineers and technicians consisted mostly of Jews, the unit was dissolved. All Jews were dismissed from service, while twelve Poles were transferred to other Polish military formations. At Kermine, when Polish soldiers were put in military trains for transportation to destinations outside Russia, Jewish soldiers were removed from the trains even though they had already been included in the transport. Discrimination against families of Jewish soldiers serving in Polish units in various Russian towns is similarly reported here.

The representatives of the Polish embassy have no influence with the army leaders and are unable to prevent discrimination against Jews. It is obvious that the Polish military authorities are primarily interested in bringing from Russia as many Poles as possible and thus prefer having Polish soldiers replace Jews in any transport that leaves Russia for the Middle East, the report says.