The Foreign Minister, Count Zaleski, has promised Dr. David Lvovitch, member of the Presidium of the World Federation O.R.T., who has arrived here from Berlin, that he will give favourable consideration to his request that the Polish Government should release from customs dues machinery and raw materials sent to Poland by Jews living in America or in Western European countries, through the medium of the O.R.T., in order to enable their relatives living in Poland to engage in productive work as artisans.
An agreement under which the O.R.T. is able to import into the Soviet Union without payment of any customs dues machinery and raw materials provided for the use of Russian Jews by relatives living in America or the countries of Western Europe was signed in the summer of 1928, between the Soviet Government and the O.R.T. World Federation.
The agreement is of great value in the work of improving the position of the declassed Jewish population in the small towns of Russia, Dr. Lvovitch said to the J.T.A. at the time. Home industry appears to offer a way out for them. There are in White Russia and the Ukraine about 200,000 Jewish artisans, who, with their families constitute about a third of the Jewish population of these countries. Their position is very difficult. An artisan earns on an average only 20 to 30 roubles monthly. The smallness of the income is due to the fact that most of the artisans lack machinery and tools and those machines which they have are worn-out and out of date. There is also a great shortage of raw materials. The inferior quality of the finished products makes it difficult to dispose of them, even among the peasants.
The agreement now concluded between the O.R.T. and the Soviet Government opens up big prospects for transferring declassed Jews to productive activity. Every member of the declassed population who has a relative or friend abroad who will pay for a machine for him will receive the machine free from customs and other dues. He has only to show that he himself will work the machine. Co-operatives of former declassed Jews have also been formed for collective work. According to the agreement with the Government, the O.R.T. will provide these co-operatives, too, with machines out of the funds of the O.R.T. because the members of these co-operatives have no relatives abroad. Not only people living in America, but also such who live in Europe, South Africa, and the Argentine avail themselves of this facility. Since one machine often costs a considerable sum, an average of about 200 dollars, the O.R.T. allows the relatives to pay off the cost of the machine in instalments. In order to finance this relative-aid work, the O.R.T. in America has formed the O.R.T. Credit Corporation. There is need of such a financial institute also in Europe. People who have hitherto assisted their relatives by sending them 10 or 20 dollars, are now able to send them instead a machine and raw material enabling them to work and earn their own livelihood.
Such constructive relative aid, Dr. Lvovitch added, is needed not only in Russia but also in Poland, Lithuania, Roumania, Palestine, etc. We hope that the Governments of these countries, too, will find it possible to grant privileges similar to those which the Soviet Government has given in order to facilitate the work.
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