The Jews of Posen and East Prussia, who left their towns during the period when the Versailles Treaty turned their territory over to the Poles, are returning home again, according to a report from Dr. Bernhard Kahn, European Director of the Joint Distribution Committee made public by the United Jewish Campaign. Not a trace of the Jews was left there after the war, the city administrations, in some places, taking over the Jewish school houses, synagogues, and other community houses. Anti-Semitism was so strong there that Jews were afraid to travel by railroad. Marshall Pilsudski’s regime has weakened anti-Semitism and the Jews are gradually returning to their homes, and the towns of Posen and East Prussia are beginning to see their old inhabitants again.
Due to the migration of the Jews, there is a shortage of workers, mechanics, and merchants in Western Poland. With the strengthening of commercial relations between Poland and Germany the shortage will be felt even more. Already many Jews are leaving Congress Poland for Western Poland, and Galician Jews are going to upper Silesia.
The return of the Jews to their old homes, and the added stream of new Jewish settlers necessitates financial assistance in the form of credit. In some cities the Joint Distribution Committee has already established free loan societies and credit cooperatives. This activity will have to be increased considerably as the flow of Jewish immigrants to those parts increases and they begin to settle.
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.
