The position of the Jews in Europe is worse than ever, Dr. David Lvovitch, vice president of the World ORT Union, said today. He arrived here in connection with the $500,000 campaign of the American ORT for vocational retraining among German and Eastern European Jews.
Dr. Lvovitch also noted a growing trend towards agriculture among Polish Jews and declared that a famine in Bessarabia has resulted in starvation for 50,000 Jews. In addition, he disclosed that the ORT has completed arrangements for setting 200 Eastern European families in Biro-Bidjan.
” With the single exception of Russia, ” Dr. Lvovitch stated, ” the position of the Jewish masses in Central and Eastern Europe has become more difficult and uncertain. And even in Russia, especially in the small towns, there are thousands of Jews who have not been completely rescued from the declassed because of lack of opportunity.”
Discussing the situation of the German refugees, Dr. Lvovitch said they are much worse off today than they were when they first left Germany. “By now, he said, “what little funds they had are gone. Thousands of refugees in Paris hoped to use that city only as a stop-off. But new land for emigration have not been opened. And those that have, have no use for the lawyer, journalist, business man or other professional.
“Such persons must be re-adjusted. They must learn a trade. But not enough schools are available. The ORT has agricultural colonies in Latvia, Lithuania and France, It has industrial classes in Paris and Kaunas.These schools and colonies were greatly needed. We receive more applications for them than we can accommodate. Obviously, expansion is needed.”
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.
