More than 1,500 Jews were compelled to eat chometz in the village of Plungiani, in the district of Telshi, which (as reported in the J.T.A. Bulletin of the 2nd. inst.) was burnt down on the eve of Passover. The J.T.A. representative who visited the village to-day found the population in a terrible state of destitution. About 250 houses were completely gutted in the fire, of which 220 had been occupied by Jews. All the Jewish institutions, the synagogue, the Jewish school, the Rabbi’s house, were destroyed. There was a storm raging at the time, and the strong wind made it impossible for the fire-fighters to localise the conflagration, and made it also difficult to rush up relief supplies to the village from the railway station, which is about 35 kilometres away.
The Jewish population, deprived by the fire of everything they possessed, are suffering hunger and cold, and they begged the J.T.A. representative to make their position known to the Lithuanian Jews, especially from their own district, who are now living in America or elsewhere abroad, so that they should come to their assistance.
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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.
