The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-07-30
SOCIAL WORKER
Sees STARVING
AT BIRTHPLAC
REPRESENTATIVE OF AMERICAN
JEWISH RELIEF COMMITTEE
FINDS HEARTsREAkINc coNDi-
TIoNs.

rope to find II a city OF starvation, with
homeless children sleeping In It's
streets, half the Jewish population dead
or fled, and almost half OF those VINO
remained standing in bread lines, was
the recent experience OF Jacob BILL
kopf. of Kansas City. Missouri. and
New York, who has just returned from
q trip to his birthplace at Wilma, Po-
land.
AS one of the best-known Jewish
social worker in the United States, MI.
RuIfkouf was sent to Wilma, ana
'fhrouRhout eastern Europe. as rep
resentative of the American jewish
relief committee. He found conditions
heartbreaking to any one, especially
a traveller in his own land. OF the
90 900 Jews who had lived in wilma
before the war, only $4,000 were ieIt.
of these 10000 had nothing to eat
sxcent the bread and thin soup they
cot from relief agencies. He saw chill
iren wait days for food in orphan
ares. He saw people die of starvation
in the house where he was born a
n1easant house on what had peen
prosperous street before the war.
wilma was known as the Jerusalem
of I.ithuania when Jacob Billikopf lert
n. That was almost twenty-five years
ago.
In 1914 the war came, and after five
long years was over, and ne Went
back to his birthplace at last. wilma
had hardly changed since he left II, ex-
cent to grow bigger and more prosper
ous until war was declared. But JACOB
Billikopf, going back home again, founo
= city of Incredible suffering.
II arrived in Wilma on June ~, ne
said. in telling of his tragic return
home. "Just at first the place look
ed unchanged to me. 1t is one OF the
most beautiful cities in all Litnuania'
set there in the. hills remembered SO
well. I never heard birds sing SO
sweetIy as they do in Wilma. That is
one of the terrible things about the
nlace.-the contrast between its beau
ty and its awful suffering.
1--WE got to Wilma on Monday. Until
wednesday night the children there
had no food at ALL Then one OF the
American Jewish relief trains brought
it to them.
~On our way up to the town that
first night, we heard the sound OF a
sobbfng and shrieking. 1t took us
some time to locate the source, there IN
fine dark. on the narrow streets Then
we came upon two little children on
a stoop. a boy of five or six, ana girl
two or three years older VINO look at
least 20 years years In the Iace. me
little boy was sobbing over anu ovel,
ooh. I'm so sleepy! I want to fino
some place to Sleep! Inc il1ie gu
was trying to quiet him.
tT,ater. we found that 1t was COM
rnonnlace to see homeless children In
the streets, and that it excited no COM
ment or even interest from the people
If the city. There is so much SUFFERING
in wilma that the people nave accus-
toroed themselves to horrors. THESE
children were only two out of hundreds.
Their father and mother were dead,
and their aunt had disappeared-they
thought she must have died, too, or sne
would have come back to them. iney
begged on the streets during the oay'
but had no place to sleep at night
"The next day we tried to get them
,,+o an ornhanage. one that remem-
bered as an excellent one when was
a child In wilma. It is next to impos-
sfble to get children into orphanages
now in Poland. and the other coun-
tries Of eastern Europe. They are All
crowded to the doors, ard there Is no
FOOD or clothing for the children al
raadv in them. There were $50 chill
dren in that one, sleeping three ana
four I'm a bed, with no bed linen anu
hardly any covering. They were among
the children of wilma who were walt
ing for food. oa
We went into a home for the aged
,hat had been the pride of Wilma There
r,rara 400 inmates, and 200 old men ana
women almost dying OF starvation
xvbile they waited for admission Iney
were dressed in ragged clothing So
rrucn pataaed that the garments lookeC
Ike crazy quilts. Formerly suits OF
underwear had been given out once
a week now it was impossipie 70 Us
tribute them only once IN ten Weeks.
1--WE visited hospital loo years GU
that I remembered as the pest one
an wilma when I was a child. There
- No medicines. no bed linens, no
,a.+r,rnents. almost no food. 1t was
crowded full of people dying or tuper-
cuIosis. In their starved conoition,
t-rb,s and other diseases. Out sioe
of wilma. lying sick in a field, ana eat
;n1 so,,p made Of grass and water
saw dozens of typhus patents
Altogether, there were over 100 peo-
n,a living in that field, most OF them
Sick. with the sky for roof, and the
ground for a floor, and no real 1000
81 anv kind. While I was in wilma,
Saa,sar * motor cars Of the joint dis
tr,h,,tton committee of American Jew
isb relief arrived, bringing them crack
ers and condensed milk
There are thirty soup kitchens main
ta,ned by American Jewish relief agen-
a,as in wilma. Mr.. Billikopf said Here
soun and a little bread is given out
to over 90, 900 Jews and Gentiies every
day. In spite of the fact that there
are so many of the stations, there Is
always a long line waiting IN 'front.'
of each of them
r. hecame Mr.. Billikopfs task, in GO
hack 10 his old home city. to make
80, !. budget for the American Jewish
ss,,af. Committee that would save Wilma
| s~.rr starvation for a month He DE-