(By Our Warsaw Correspondent)
The natural growth of the Jewish population in Poland has been stopped by the volume of Jewish emigration from this country of Palestine. In other words, the surplus resulting from the natural increase in birth rate is being absorbed by Palestine. This is one of the interesting facts revealed by the statistics of the Palestine Bureau here which is in charge of the emigration to Palestine.
The growth of the movement to Palestine can be judged from the report which shows that there is even a small margin of decrease in the Polish Jewish population owing to the ever-increasing number of Jews who are leaving for Palestine, some owing to the dreadful economic conditions and some owing to Zionist idealism. It appears that since 1922 the emigration of Jews from this country to Palestine has increased more than five-fold. The actual figures are:
No. of Emigrants >Year
3,100 1922
3,100 1923
7,000 1924
17,740 1925
Of the 17,740 who emigrated to Palestine in 1925, with the assistance of the Palestine Bureau, 6.759 were workingmen, 3,247 went on affidavits made out by their relatives in Palestine, and the remainder were of the “capitalist” class, nearly all of whom, however, were former well-to-do and even wealthy persons who had been completely ruined by the economic crisis in Poland; some of them had saved or salvaged a small part of their former fortunes, in most cases a bare few hundred pounds, and had decided to start anew in Palestine.
Lately the emigration of Jews with a capital of several hundred pounds has practically ceased, owing to two reasons: on the one hand the so-called “capitalists” have found that it is not possible to accomplish much in Palestine in the way of business with such a sum, on the other hand, the economic crisis with its particular effects on the Jewish population has reached such a stage that there are very few Jewish individuals of the business class who can raise several hundred pounds, even after selling all their present possessions. Thus, the latest emigration to Palestine consist largely of workingmen with no means to speak of, chalutzim and those who go to their relatives and are assured of some help when they reach Palestine.
The number of applicants for Palestine visas is constantly growing, but there are tens of thousands who do not apply because they haven’t even the fare to make the trip. There are many Jews here who some time ago possessed the means for going to Palestine and accordingly they applied for visas, but the steady dropping of the Zloty since then has turned them into paupers.
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.
