Otto Schiff Praises Work of the Ort

The activities of the Ort in the reconstructive work in Eastern Europe was praised by Otto Schiff, President of the Jews’ Temporary Shelter in London, and treasurer of the War Victim Committee of England, who is now on a visit to the United States. In a statement by Mr. Schiff released through the American Ort, he declared:

“My interest in the Ort dates back to the period of the famine in Russia when the Ort appealed to the War Victim Committee for help. We gave them £5,000 to be used for sending seed to the old Jewish colonies in South Russia. Later, after the War Victim’s Fund had liquidated. I had many occasions to express my sympathy with the efforts of the Ort organization to reconstruct Jewish life in Eastern Europe. The significance of the work to the local population in Lithuania. Poland. Roumania and other countries where the Ort is functioning, is shown by the subsidies which the Kehillahs and the local governments are giving to the Ort schools.

“I am also in great sympathy with the new plan of the Ort to industrialize the town population, while those Russian Jews who have relatives abroad will be helped by the machinery which their relatives are sending to them. There is still a large percentage of declassed Jews who have no relatives or friends outside of their own country, and to help them become self-supporting and productive, should be the aim of Jewry throughout the world. I consider the work of the Ort of vast importance in the reconstruction of Eastern Jewry and supplementary to the activities of the Ica and the J. D. C. In order to avoid overlapping and unnecessary expenditure, however, the closest cooperation between the three bodies is necessary. As far as England is concerned, I shall be happy to assist in producing a cordial cooperation between the three bodies and stimulate interest in the activities of the Ort amongst English Jewry.” Mr. Schiff concluded.