Agudist President of Warsaw Jewish Community Enters on His Office in Succession to Ex-deputy Farbste

The Minister of Public Worship has ratified the election of Mr. Elijah Mazur, a leading member of the Agudath Israel, as President of the Warsaw Jewish Community, in succession to the Mizrachist leader, ex-Deputy Farbstein, who is now a member of the Zionist World Executive. Mr. Mazur has already taken over his post officially.

The ratification of Mr. Mazur’s election explodes the report of a plot on the part of the Polish Zionists to induce the Government to refuse ratification and to order fresh elections to the Jewish Communities of both Warsaw and Lodz, in the hope of overthrowing their present Agudist majority, which was published last week in the Warsaw Yiddish dailies “Unzer Express” and the “Volkscajtung”.

The reports were promptly denied at the time, both by the Government and the Polish Zionists.

The loss of their authority in the Jewish Communities by the Zionists, especially in big cities like Warsaw and Lodz, the papers said in publishing the plot reports, deals a heavy blow to the Polish Zionist movement. The Warsaw Community alone, it was pointed out, used to grant tens of thousands of zlotys every year for Palestine purposes, and now under Agudist control this money will no longer be available. The Polish Government, it was added, is anxious to be in friendly contact with the Zionists, because of the influential position of the Zionist organisa- tions and leaders in the various European countries and in America, such as the Agudath Israel does not enjoy. The Polish Government, it was further said, wanted to show some appreciation of the fact that a Polish Jew, Mr. Sokolov, is President of the Zionist World Organisation, and that the former President of the Warsaw Jewish Community, ex-Deputy Farbstein, is a member of the new Zionist World Executive.