The Jews of Poland

The startling figures given yesterday in the Polish Parliament by the Jewish deputy, Dr. Rautenstreich, on the Jewish misery in Poland will shock even those who have become accustomed to the idea that the economic position of the Jews in Poland is serious.

Can there be a more desperate situation than when sixty per cent of the Jewish population is compelled to apply for charity in most of the towns in Poland?

Lwow—a city where the Jewish population enjoyed full economic freedom under the old Austrian regime—can it be true that fifty per cent of its Jews should now actually be starving?

The figures revealed by the Jewish deputy in the Polish Parliament stand as a burning accusation against the Polish government. What is the Polish government going to do to relieve its Jewish citizens of the misery into which she is starving them? Is the Polish government definitely determined to annihilate its Jews through hunger and starvation?

It is high time that something be done to make the Polish government feel that the Jews of the world will not silently witness one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe being destroyed. This can be done best in America now that Neville Laski, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, is to arrive here. Mr. Laski has been to Poland and was shocked by what he saw there. Since his visit, the Jewish situation in Poland has grown even worse.

The Jews in England and in America have so far done nothing to impress the Polish government. Everything points, however, to the fact that measures will have to be taken to save Polish Jewry. Whether these measures will consist of public protests, silent diplomatic negotiations or of calling the attention of the world to the Jewish situation through public trials or in some other way is not important. The important thing is to let the Polish government see that she actually is forcing the Jews into action against her. And once this action is started, no one can tell how far it may spread.