Work of Teaching Polish Jews Trades Menaced Says Appeal to World Jewry Issued by Polish Ort

In a moment of great need, we appeal to Jewish public opinion, says a statement issued here by the Executive of the Polish ORT. In the course of the eleven years in which we have conducted our activity in Poland, we have built up a net-work of technical training schools, trade courses, and workshops for young people and adults. We started our work with the aid of grants made by our brethren abroad, but we knew that we could not always continue to rely upon foreign assistance, and as a result of our efforts, the local Jewish population have been helping to cover the expenditure of our institutions, increasing their contributions with each year. But the burden has been too heavy for the Jewish population of Poland to be able to bear it all upon its own shoulders, and now, as a result of the economic crisis, the budgets of our institutions are imperilled.

We were able to close the school year 1930-1931 only because of the extraordinary efforts made by our local committees, and the sacrifices of our teachers and instructors, who continued at their work, though they suffered dire hardships because we could not pay them their salaries.

Now, on the eve of the opening of our new school year, we are overwhelmed by the news that the subsidies from abroad for our institutions are being stopped completely. This would mean that our institutions would not be able to open at all for the new school year. We urgently appeal, therefore, to Jewish public opinion to come to our aid. We appeal to all Jewish political and social workers. We call upon them to use their influence to raise funds, and to see to it that the Government funds allocated for technical training should include proportionate subsidies for the Jewish technical training institutions and that the inspectors should not prevent the City Councils paying out their subsidies to granted towards these institutions.

We appeal to the Joint Distribution Committee, to the Ica, and to the other big Jewish organisations abroad, the appeal goes on, to assign urgent aid for the Jewish technical training work in Poland, so that our institutions, which have been built up in the course of so many years, at the price of so much work and sacrifice, should not now collapse. In the name of 2,800 young people and adults who have been benefiting by the courses provided in our institutions, we appeal to the Jewish public to take all possible measures to save our Jewish institutions, which teach a trade to the Jews of Poland, and thus help them to earn their living.