The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-19
TO EUROPE TO FIND RELATIVES
 OF AMERICANS
Hebrews of United States Send Commissioner to Aid .
 Co-religionists.

Charged with the mission of To- eating families of missing relatives of ! American citizens in the var zone, l Isidore Hershf1eld, a. well known New ! Y ork lawyer, will sail for Europe on Thursday, October 21, on the | steamer Ryndam.
 The State Department at Washing ton has given strong support to the | undertaking, which will greatly re- HeVe the burdens it has carried since the beginning of the war of searching | for missing families
 The foreign countries which Mr. Hershfield will visit have given. through their American representa- lives their official sanction, and will aid the work in every way.
 All the Jewish national organiza- | t1ons of the United States have co | operated with the Hebrew Shelterfng | and Immigrant Aid Society of Amer lea, under whose auspices this mis- | sion will be carried out This society | whose main office is in New York | has branches at Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and San Francisco.
 In addition to the work of relief, MT. Hershf1eld will also undertake to make a thorough study of the con ditions of the Jews in Europe. He will endeavor to spread a knowledge of the immigration laws with "a view Of d1scouraging the coming to this country of those who are ineligible to land here, and to save them from the hardships of deportation.
 The United States, Department of Labor and the Bureau of IInni grafton have given their unqualified endorse ments to this phase Of the work. In a letter by Hon. William B. Wilson, Sec retary of Labor, to MT. Hershfeld, he stated that the department is very much interested in the subject matter of the undertaking, and especially in his mission to convey 8 knowledge of the immigration laws of the United States and of the mental, moral and physical conditions which would de- bar from admission into this country those who are inadmissible under our laws.
 One of the most serious conse- Quences of the war has been the breaking up of thousands of Jewish reason of the devastation of many 1 towns and the wholesale expulsions by. the goverpments engaged in the war, Judge Leon Sanders, the presi- ; dent of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society, estimates that one and half million Jews who have been uprooted from their homes and sent from district to district, have not as yet found a permanent resting place. A large part of the Jewish population of America is yitally in terested and concerned by this tragic upheavaI, as most of the Jews living in America have relatives in the war zone, to whom they would gladly ex- tend help if they knew their present whereabouts. The society has receiv- ed thousands of letters from every part of the country from persons who are anxious to. locate their families abroad. The society has also received from European organizations the names of thousands of persons in Europe who desired to be put into communication with those to whom they are related in the United States and whose addresses they have lost. s The State Department has been CO., operating with the society since the beginning of the war in locating the present residences of families of American citizens as well as of those who have declared their intention of becoming citizens. The task was found enormous, in view of the num- bers involved, and a conference was held in Washington between Assistant Secretary of State Adee and Judge Sanders, at which it was decided that as the American consular representa- tives were not properly equipped for I this immense undertaking, the society should send it's own representative to organize the necessary agencies to carry on this work.
 The society has prevailed upon Isidore Hershfe1d, a member of it's board, to undertake the task of or ganizing this immense work. By req son of his broad acquaintance with conditions both here and abroad, he | is particularly qualified for this mis- sion. MT. HershdeId. who is an American by birth, is a, lawyer and York.
 He will be fully equipped with
 means and with the necessary facili-
 ties to create a widely extended or 1 ganization in the countries affected
 by the war. He will organize clear
 ing house in a neutral country for
 the receipt of all inquiries regarding
 persons, who, account of the war, have been unable to get into touch
 with those from whom they hope to 1 obtain financial assistance. The clear ing house will be located at The
 Hague. and a staff of experts will be
 placed in charge. These central
 headquarters will direct the work in
 the various large European centers in
 which registry offices will be estab-
 1ished.
 MT. Hershfe1d will carry with him i letters to all consular and diplomatic
 representatives abroad, as well as en- 1 dorsements by the leading Jews Of
 this country, and letters proml-
 nent organizations and individuals in kLondon, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Petro-
 grad and Rome. It is expected that 1 he will be able to enlist the co-opera-
 tior of the Jewish organizations in the
 various countries of Europe to unite
 in forming a, large central permanent body which will continue the work
 that he will initiate.
 This enterprise on the part of the
 society, will, it is expected, call for the expenditure of vast sum of
 money, but the good that will be ac- complished is out of all proportion
 to the amounts that will be expended. It will result in millions of dollars l being sent across the water for the I relief and the support of the. suffering
 Jews of Eirope, by their immigrant
 brethren of the United States. The