With 20,000 Polish and “stateless” Jews under orders to leave the Reich within a month and fears that every Polish Jew will soon be ordered expelled, harassed German Jewry was found by a special Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent to be struggling with the problem of meeting the financial burden imposed by the forced emigration.
The Berlin Jewish Community, now going through a process of liquidation which is to be completed within three years when Berlin Jewry is expected to be reduced from 125,000 to 20,000, is feeling the strain of the added Polish emigration burden. The community’s present religious and social work is being largely financed by the sale of realty.
The Berlin community is exclusively responsible for the maintenance of Jewish hospitals, clinics, orphanages and homes for the aged, which formerly were subsidized by the municipality. The municipality, however, is giving relief to needy Jews. An estimated 30,000 Berlin Jews are dependent upon charity.
The Jewish Community’s school system has been gradually reduced because of emigration and unused schools have been converted into homes for the aged. Jewish sports activities have been completely suspended and the municipality has cancelled the community’s lease on the athletic field at Grunewald.
The community at present is trying to solve the problem resulting from the order barring Jews from residing in certain districts of the city. Many families are being forced to share their flats with others. In some instances, Jews are being permitted to rent apartments in houses where the majority of the tenants are Jewish.
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.
