The economic dislocation resulting from the European war has made Jewish vocational retraining more necessary than ever and has imposed a new responsibility on the World ORT Union, it was declared today in an interview by Dr. David Lvovitch vice-president of the ORT, who arrived here yesterday for a stay of indefinite duration in the United States.
Dr. Lvovitch said the purpose of his visit to the United States was to inform leaders of the American ORT Federation about the organization’s activities in Europe, to report to George Backer, president of the American ORT, and to consult on future activities.
Dr. Lvovitch asserted that tens of thousands of Jews had fled from Poland before the invading armies, facing the ORT with new tasks in the neutral countries. At the same time, he said, the war resulted in a new demand for skilled labor, easing somewhat the Jewish employment situation. Local aid to the ORT in European countries has been reduced because of the war, “and the burden of expansion and maintenance will fall largely on the United States from now on,” he said.
“The tragic situation of the Jews in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, could be compared with the situation of the Jews in Russia during the last war,” Dr. Lvovitch said. “Pressed between the German and Russian armies and driven from their homes, millions of Jews have suffered from the disruption of their lives, loss of homes and families. It is difficult to say what the situation is in Polish territory occupied by the Soviet and German armies, but tens of thousands of Jews, have fled before the Russian armies to Lithuania and before the German armies to Rumania.
In Rumania, Hungary, Lithuania and Latvia, where the Jewish inhabitants are preparing to help their suffering brethren, the ORT “must accept a new task in refugee work,” he said.
“With 60 years of experience in constructive relief to Jews, the ORT organizations in all the neutral countries will do their duty. In all these countries there is now opportunity for all who want to work and know trades. With the mobilization of armed forces in neutral as well as belligerent countries, there is a labor shortage and increased demands for various handicraft products to supply the armies.”
As indication of the sympathetic attitude towards trained Jewish workers, Dr. Lvovitch cited the Rumanian Government’s support of ORT’s 64 institutions, with 15 ORT courses in Cernauti adapted to the needs of Polish refugees, and the projected extension of ORT activities in Lithuania and Latvia to meet the increased needs of refugees and the local Jewish populations. In Hungary, he said, the laws restricting Jewish employment were being overlooked as far as Jewish skilled workers were concerned.
In belligerent countries, while the future of German refugees is not yet definite, he stated, “there are tens of thousands of refugees who require special attention from Jewish public and private organizations. Most of them, of course, will be mobilized, but their families will need assistance, especially the providing of productive occupations. ORT has proposed to the French Government the utilization of refugees for services helpful to the Government, and now the present ORT courses in five French cities will not be sufficient. A great deal of help is expected from America.”
The fate of the 210 ORT projects in Poland cannot be predicted at this juncture, Dr. Lvovitch said, but there has been no news that any of these institutions have been destroyed in the invasion of Poland, and it is hoped that they may be able to continue their work. The ORT leader stressed that all European Jewry looked to American Jewry for aid.
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