(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The further plans of the Soviet government concerning the Jewish colonization work in Soviet Russia were outlined by Smidovitch, vice-president of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, at a conference of agricultural experts called by the Comzet, the governmental department for Jewish colonization.
Mr. Smidovitch stated that the Jewish colonization work is a part of the reconstruction activity of the Soviet government and of its national policy. The colonists should be given absolute freedom. It is necessary to encourage educational activities among the Jewish settlers because the Jews have always been a People of the Book and will never be illiterates, he said.
The Soviet government still adheres to the program of settling 100,000 Jewish families on the land. Mr. Smidovitch declared. Since there is no more free land available for Jewish colonization, it is necessary to find sufficiently large areas for this purpose with a view to later forming a Jewish autonomous region, Now, however, it is unnecessary to adopt Autonomy as the slogan of the colonization, in view of the fact that the conditions are still unfavorable, he declared.
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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.
