Tells of Hilfsverein Work in Fight for Jewish Rights

The work of the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden is explained in a long article by its Secretary-General, Dr. Mark Vischnitzer, in the “C. V. Zeitung,” the organ of the Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith. The idea of fighting for the human and citizen rights of Jews where they suffer under political enslavement and religious persecution could only have arisen in a country where the Jews already possess these rights, he says.

After the Alliance Israelite Universelle was founded in Paris in 1860 and the Anglo-Jewish Association in London in 1873, it was a significant act when Paul Nathan, James Simon, and Eugen Landau took steps in 1901 for the formation of the Hilfsverein,” continues Dr. Vischnitzer. “By 1903 it was so strong that it could start a big relief campaign for the pogrom victims in Russia. In 1905, together with the British Jews and representatives of the Russian Jewish Communities, it carried through the relief work in Russia after the anti-Semitic reaction following the Revolution. In 1907 it intervened in Roumania where anti-Semitic excesses followed the Agrarian disturbances. Then came its activity among the victims of the Balkan wars, and in the occupied German territories in the Great War.

“After the war the German Jews did not regain their economic strength, but they nevertheless responded warmly to the needs of the starving Jewish masses in Russia. In 1922 the Hilfsverein joined in the relief work in Russia, and is still active there. It assisted the famine victims in Bessarabia, the earthquake victims in Bulgaria, etc. It watches over the rights of the Jewish minorities, working in Geneva, together with the Joint Foreign Committee and the Alliance Israelite. It is also in close relations with the Ica and the Hicem in Paris, and the National Council of Jewish Women in New York, to assist Jewish emigration and to aid Jewish migrants passing through Germany,” he concludes.