The Denver Jewish news., 1919-11-12
Roumania Proves She
Can be Humane to Jews
THE JEWS IN COLOMEA AND 9TH
Err CITIES VERY WELL TREAT.
ED. But THEY DO NOT LACK
FOR TROUBLES.
By LEO WOLFSON.
Copyright by l. J. p. b.

i StuttItiit ny Iitihpsi ~
the Jewish National Council of PO-
cutzia, which was full of praise and
gratitude toward the Roumanian gov
ernment, and its military commander
for that region The fact that there
were Jews who expressed their thanks
10 Roumania. interested me keenly.
and so / decided to find out the facts
and circumstances.
Upon investigation. i found that
I'OcutZia is province of Eastern
Galicia. and COlomea is the capital
city: that for several months Rou-.
mania had occupied the region. and
That 1t was being administered by Rou-
manian military officials. In Rou-
mania proper. little Is known of the
entire matter. aside froEl the fact that
there appear from time to time in the
press. notices containing expressions
of thanks. on the part of Jews and
others. toward the government for the
treatment accorded them by the of
ficials. IHwas evident that these
declarations were sort of propaganda
for the purpose of keeping the prov
ince under ROumanian rule.
What learned in Roumania did not
satisfy me. so l decided to go on 10
Colomea. The Roumanian military
High Command readily granted me the
necessary permit. placed at my dis
posal an automobile. and also gave
me the privilege of taking along with
me two Jewish journalists. one from
yassi and one from Czernowitz. Major
Plaka, who made all the arrangements
for me. praised highly the Roumanian
administration of Pocutzin. and want
ed me to go there and convince my
self of the fair treatment the. Jews
were receiving there.
From Czernowitz. I went to Colo
men. accompanied hy DIR. !. weinston.
the editor of the Czern0witz MOrgen-
bIatt, and Mr.. X. Ornstein. editor OF
the .'vaintza" of Yassi.
On entering the city. with its muddy
roads. and It's appearance of dcvasta-
tiOn. had feeling of great pity for
1t all. We drove up to "A Jewish hotel.
Before Il quarter of an hour had pass
cd. the hotel was besicgcd by persons
who had come to see the american"
More questions were hurled mt m"
than could possibly have answered.
"who was /? What did 1 want?
Whom did represent? Who had sent
me there? Was I looking for anyone:
Would l take letters with me? How
long was / to remain there: Had !
brought anything with mt: What did
America think 2" and so on. ] attempt
ed to reply to some of the hundreds
of questions. l barely succeeded to
request that Dr. ROsenhek. president
of the Jewish National Council. and
one or two other members. he inform
cd that / wished to see them.
Concerning the Roumnnian Occupa-
tion and administration. I obtained
the following information:
The continual warfare between the
Poles and the Ukrainians had brought
about Il reign of anarchy and terror
in the entire region. Life. property.
everything was disregarded. The al
ministration of the province was un-
able to keep any semblancc or order.
and not infrequently, 1t took part i'll
pogroms. As the ROumanian troops
were in CZernOwitZ. n part of the pop
ulation appealed to General Iadis.
,t,,tt
army. to come to their aid. He was
easily persuaded. and in this way
I'ocutza became Roumanian prov
ince. \ Roumanian lieutenant told
me that the Roumanians came there
Mt the request of Poland, at the sus
yestion of the Entente-to oppose the
Bolsheviki
There are about $4,000 Jews i'm Col
omea. and 10000 in the entire province.
yhey had suffered more than any 9th
er part of the population. 1t did not
matter who succeeded in that rival
warfare-the Jews We're always beat
on. robbed-many of them murdered,
In Slobodka. n Jewish school was
demolished. three teachers murdered,
three of the pupils severely wounded
and the rest m,irderously beaten. In
The other villages in the vicinity. sim
liar occurrences were common. 1t was
impossible for the Jews TO endure the
state Of affairs any longer. Who
Lnows what might have become OF
l
interviewed? Strange as it may seem.
the fnct is that the Jews of the en-
| tire region were saved from annihil-