Professor Dubnov, presiding yesterday at the annual meeting of the Federation of Russian Jews in Germany held here, said that the Federation was now entering on its 13th. year, which was a proof of the need of its existence as a result of the great historic upheaval in Russia.
Going on to draw a parallel between the present Russo-Jewish emigration, and the Babylonian exile, Professor Dubnow said that in Babylon prophets had arisen in Jewry who had kept alive the Jewish spirit and the Jewish hope, but to-day, the Russian Jews living in exile had no such prophets, and they therefore ought to rally round the organisation which provided succour for the weaker among them, and kept alive their traditions and their hopes for the future. This Organisation was the Federation of Russian Jews.
Dr. Max Soloweitchik, former Minister for Jewish Affairs in Lithuania, and former member of the Zionist World Executive, said that it was impossible to contemplate what would have become of the Russian Jews without their Federation. It was not only a welfare Organisation, but the embodiment of the collective spirit of Russian Jewry, and they must keep this spirit alive, so that the cultural and national traditions of Russian Jewry should not disappear-traditions which had brought a new fructifying influence also into West European Jewish life.
Dr. Goldenweiser, the Syndicus of the Federation, said that they had found it a very hard struggle in 1931, especially in the second half of the year, to keep their Federation in existence. They had done their utmost in tyring to cope with the increasing distress. They had given immediate relief to an amount of 36,000 Marks, and monthly subsidies amounting to 55,000 Marks. They had helped Jewish students and sent children to health resorts. They had distributed large quantities of clothing, and provided medical aid. They had, in particular given legal assistance in conjunction with the Berlin Nansen Office to enable Russian Jews in Germany to obtain their domicile papers.
They had received a great deal of help through Dr. Bernhard Kahn, the European Director, from the Joint Distribution Committee of America. They had also received subsidies from the Ica, the Board of the Berlin Jewish Community, and from the Prussian Federation of Jewish Communities. They were in close contact with the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden, especially in questions relating to emigration to the oversea countries. When their President, Judge Jacob Teitel, had celebrated his 80th. birthday, many representatives of German Jewry had attended the celebration meeting, and had helped to start the Jacob Teitel Fund.
Judge Teitel said that wherever he went on behalf of the Federation he found people, in spite of the crisis, full of sympathy for their work, and anxious to help. On each new journey that he undertook, he made new friends among the West European Jews, and also among many Christians. When he was in Prague, recently, for instance, the President of the Republic, Professor Masaryk, had received him, and his daughter Alice, who is the Chairman of the Czecho-Slovakian Red Cross was the first contributor to his fund-raising campaign.
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.
