Return of the Polish-Jewish deportees to Germany will be demanded by the Polish delegation to the conference in Berlin, which opened today, on the status of Polish Jews in the Reich, it was understood here. The delegation, which left for Berlin last night, was believed under instructions to press for a conclusion of the negotiations by Friday.
Meanwhile, alarming reports were received here concerning the condition of 5,000 of the deportees who are still in the frontier town of Zbonszyn. Some 2,000 of the exiles were reported to have spent the night in the open and exposed to a rainstorm. Canvas for erection of tents was supplied today by the military authorities and the Red Cross, following intervention by Jewish organizations in Warsaw.
Another 1,200 of the Zbonszyn refugees were being sheltered in stables, sleeping on straw. Six, including an 18-year-old girl, have become deranged. Parents have been separated from children and the latter, crying for their parents, provide the most tragic side of the picture. An 82-year-old Jew, Moshe Schuster, whose only son died on a train en route here, lies in a stable in a coma. One refugee, killed under a train, was believed to have committed suicide.
The District Governor has issued regulations for isolation of the exiles, only the very sick being allowed to enter hospitals at Poznan. The Poznan division of the polish Red Cross has been instructed to assist the deportees in every way possible. It has placed at the disposal of the Warsaw Refugee Committee 190 beds with bedding, and five fully-equipped food distributing centers and is also providing medical assistance. The Red Cross received a cable of thanks sent by the Washington headquarters of the B’nai B’rith, international Jewish fraternal order.
A representative Jewish relief committee was constituted yesterday under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Moses Schorr, ex-Senator Raphael Szereszewski and ex-deputy dr. Henry Rosmarin. The committee acknowledged with gratitude the splendid work of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which it said was responsible for the saving of many lives, An official of the J.D.C. has been at Zbonszyn the past four days directing the relief work.
Jewish newspapers, meanwhile, have started campaigns for relief funds. The papers were permitted for the first time to publish news of the deportations other than that supplied by the Polish Telegraphic Agency’s brief communique.
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.
