For the first time in many years, a year passed without violent explosions of anti-Semitism in any country of Eastern Europe, even Hungary and Roumania, states the annual report of the Anglo-Jewish Association made public here today.
To assume that this gratifying situation will prove permanent is perhaps premature, the report warns, but the goodwill of the governments concerned, the pleasant relationship established between the governments and the Joint Foreign Committee, and the vigilance of the League of Nations, substantiates the hope that a turning point has been reached.
However, the outlook is not entirely unclouded, the report declares. The condition of Russian Jewry has again stirred the sympathies and anxieties of their western brethren, who, after a searching examination, have found ample ground for misgivings. The widely expressed inability of Russian Jewry to adapt themselves to Soviet economics has resulted in complete impoverishment. Also, the religious position, which is nominally uniform for all denominations, aggravates Russian Jewry more because of the atheistic fanaticism of the Yevsektzia, Jewish section of the Communist party.
Much, however, may be done to help Russian Jews toward agricultural colonization, promotion of artisanship and by providing funds for charitable institutions, whereas in the religious sphere the problems seem hopeless, the report states.
With regard to the deplorable situation of the Yemenite Jews, the report states that it is hoped the position of the Jews in Yemen will improve after negotiations now being carried on by the British government will be successfully concluded. The British agent who will be accredited to the Imman will possibly be in a position to help the ancient Jewish community of Yemen.
The Joint Foreign Committee, the organ of the Anglo-Jewish Association and the Board of Jewish Deputies for work among Jewish communities in other countries, closely collaborates with kindred societies abroad, the report pointed out.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.