One million Polish Jews will have to emigrate if the economic condition of the Jewish population in Poland is to be improved. This was the opinion expressed by Deputy Isaac Gruenbaum, former president of the Club of Jewish Deputies and Zionist leader, when interviewed by the representative of the “Jewish Daily Bulletin” upon his arrival in New York City.
Asked where this million Jews should go, Deputy Gruenbaum replied: “I, of course, would like to see them proceed to Palestine. This should be the care of world Jewry and particularly the Jews of America.
“The present Polish government,” he continued, “has perhaps no bad intentions with regard to the Jewish population and would perhaps grant certain of the Jewish demands. Due, however, to a number of reasons the government can not yet cope with the problems which interest Polish Jewry most. The relation between Poles and Jews have become better since the Pilsudski government has been in power, but this has nothing to do with the economic and cultural needs of the Jewish population, which the government has not yet considered.
“The three main demands, the fulfillment of which could appreciably relieve the situation of the Jews are: the admission of Jews to state employment, the abolition of the old Czaristic laws and the recognition of the existing Jewish schools by granting them a government subsidy. These demands have not yet been taken up by the government. This fact makes Polish Jews disappointed in the high hopes which they had placed in the present government.”
Asked as to the attitude of the Club of Jewish Deputies toward the government, Deputy Gruenbaum declared that the Club now finds itself at a cross road. “The question is debated among the deputies as to whether it would not be advisable to proceed to the opposition. No decision has yet been taken in this matter. The situation is more complicated due to the fact that the present government could be in a position to break through the wall of the disabilities, but there are men in the cabinet who do not understand the importance of such a step or who do not wish to understand it. The result is that the Jews, and with them, the country, suffer.”
Commenting on the Weizmann-Marshall accord concerning the Jewish Agency, Deputy Gruenbaum stated that the followers of the Agency plan among the Polish Zionists received the news of the conclusion of the agreement with reserve. “As to the opponents, their opposition has become greater, because of the Weizmann-Marshall exchange of letters,” he declared.
Deputy Gruenbaum is stopping at the Waldorf Astoria.
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.
