Polish Premier Gen. Sikorski, in a statement to the press today, reiterated his pledge that Jews in post-war Poland will enjoy the some rights as all other Polish citizens. All facilities, he said, will be extended to Polish Jews who seek a new home in the Middle East, but the basic policy of the Polish Government will be that no Jew be forced to emigrate from Poland against his will.
At the same time, it was learned here today that the two Jewish members of the Polish National Council, Dr. Ignacy Schwarzbart and Samuel Zygelbaum, lodged a written interpellation this week in the Council in which they asked the Polish Government to explain whether it is true that a vital passage was omitted from the broadcast to Poland of the speech of Premier Sikerski at the recent meeting in London to protest Nazi atrocities against Jews. The Polish Premier in his speech said; “In my capacity as the head of the Polish Government, I assure the Polish Jews that they will benefit fully from the blessings of victory of the United Nations in common and on equal terms with all Polish citizens.” The broadcast to Poland in the Polish language, it is charged, omitted the words “in common and on equal terms with all Polish citizens.”
Dr. Sohwarzbart speaking today at an Armistice Day celebration arranged by the Council of Polish Jews of Great Britain, with leading Polish officials in attendance, strongly assailed “the anti-Jewish tendencies which are still powerful in some Polish quarters and which are insufficiently counteracted although official declarations are clear enough.” Stressing that “Poland has no better friends than the Jews,” Sohwarzbart declared that “we, however, want to share equally in the good and bad fortune which the future holds for Poland.”
Premier Sikorski, in his statement to the press today, stressed the contribution which Polish Jews made to the development of Palestine before the outbreak of the present war and emphasized that he is convinced that when the war is over, many Polish Jews will continue to assist in the building of a Jewish National Home in Palestine.
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.
