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American Jewess Leaves $100,000 for Poor Polish Jews

September 9, 1924
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The sum of $100,000, bequeathed in the will of an American Jewess for the benefit of “poor Jews in her Polish home town”, cannot be used for that purpose, because of the assertion of the trustees that there are no poor Jews in the city.

The money was left by Mrs. Lena Cohen of Pennsylvania who died September 15th, 1921. According to the will the above mentioned sum had to be used for the benefit of poor Jews in the city of Bromberg, Province of Posen, which formerly belonged to Germany and is now a part of the Polish Republic. In her will, Mrs. Cohen appointed the Municipality of Bromberg as the trustees of that fund. She also left in the trust of the same Municipality, a gallery of pictures. The Municipality accepted the Art Gallarg, but refused to accept the legacy, declaring that there are no poor Jews in Bromberg.

This decision of the Bromberg Municipality is however, in striking contradiction to the opinion held by the Jewish community in Bromberg. In spite of the large emigration of Jews from that city, owing to anti-Semitism, there are still many poor Jews there, according to the Kahillah officials. The Kahilla has now decided to send a delegation to America, headed by its President, Mr. Dudor, for the purpose of explaining the situation of the heirs of Mrs. Cohen.

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