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Numerous Polish Jewish youngsters go to school hungry, Professor Hermann Strauss, who has just returned from Poland, reported in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Dr. Strauss, who is connected with the Hospital of the Berlin Jewish Community, was summoned to Poland to attend Professor Simon Askenazy.
The professor said the health welfare situation in Poland is extremely pathetic, because while the need for assistance is great, hard times have diminished the funds at the disposal of the Jewish institutions.
“It illustrates the mass misery,” he said, “that many Jewish children go to school without having had a hot breakfast first.”
FUNDS ON DECLINE
The Toz, which is the Polish section of the Jewish health organization Oze, has been receiving less funds this year from the United States, Dr. Strauss said.
“Thus the fight against the disruptive forces undermining the health of the Jewish population has been much less than in previous years and the work has had to be considerably cut down,” he pointed out.
Dr. Strauss said the work being done by the Toz was more admirable than ever in view of the difficulties faced.
“I have visited the Toz House in Warsaw three times since 1924,” he related, “and I can say that they are maintaining the scope of their efforts as far as possible without diminution.
SERVICES GIVEN FREE
“In their welfare work—and in particular in school hygiene and in the work of convalescent children and of sending the children to fresh-air homes—the old status is being kept up.
“This has been made possible by the fact that the workers in the Toz are drawing the lowest possible salaries, and hundreds of men and women doctors in all parts of Poland are giving their services free.
“The Jewish Hospital in Warsaw, which has for some years played a very considerable part in the Jewish health system, is treating 900 patients at the present time. They are being treated by excellently qualified doctors according to the most up-to-date methods.”
HOME TRAINED 200 NURSES
Dr. Strauss said the Jewish Nurses Home, established by Dr. Bernhard Kahn, European director of the Joint Distribution Committee, is also doing excellent work. It has trained more than 200 Jewish nurses. The significance of this fact, Dr. Strauss asserted, is apparent when it is recalled that ten years ago there was not a single Jewish nurse in all Poland.
“German medical science is held in as high esteem as ever over there,” the professor revealed. “The question of doctors from Germany settling in Poland has not, however, arisen for the time being.”
The economic position of the Polish doctors, especially the Jewish doctors, he added, is such as to make rather unlikely the opening of the door in Poland to medical men from other lands.
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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.
