Sergei Tchuzkajev, an old Russian revolutionary, former president of the Soviets in the Far East, was appointed today chairman of the Comzet, the government committee to settle Jews on land. He succeeds the late Peter Smidowitch, vice-president of Soviet Russia.
The appointment of Tchuzkajev to the post vacated by Smidovitch is considered here as a direct indication that the Soviet government intends in the future to concentrate the work of the Comzet on Biro-Bidjan and on Jewish colonization there.
The Commissariat of Agriculture today approved a project of draining 8,000 hectares of land for Jewish settlement near Birafeld in Biro-Bidjan.
M. Tchuzkajev, 59 years old, is considered among the most energetic Soviet organizers and is well posted on the situation in Biro-Bidjan and in the entire Far East.
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