The Denver Jewish news., 1919-06-25
Awful Plight Of the Jew
ish Refugees in Vienna
CONDITIONS ARE BEYOND DES-
CRIPTION. JOINT DISTRICT
TION COMMITTEE ATTEMPTS
10 RELIEVE SUFFERING.
BY LEO wOLFsON.

- BY LEO wOLFSON.
Horrible and gruesOme details about
The conditions OF the Jewish refugees
IN Vienna were given by Miss Harriet
J.Owenstein, of the Commission Of the
Joint Distribution Committee, who re-
turned today to Paris. after a visit
there and In other eastern European
parts.
Some thirty thousand Jews fror.
Galicia, Poland and BukOwina, Seek
ing to escape the horrors of their Own
ruined and devastated regions. s"t hi
refuge in Vienna. Well. they jumped
fro mthe frying pan into rne fire Wien
In has suffered and IL still suffering
from the effects of the war. Business
l.; practically suspended; there Is hard.
ly any work: and the scarcity and
lack OF food is even now felt. The
.ienese population il actually STRIVING:
The ratiOns of food are merely form
OF expression there is hardly enough
of anything to go round to mec: the
local needs. The houses and hahita
lions have deteri0rated to such de.
gree. that many Of them have bcen
condemned ana declared as ndsi,fe fSr
human habitation. To 3'a,e where
such conditions prevail, great nunthcr
Of Jews flOcked, and you can-nay.
you cannot possibly imagine how they
a .,t., -
existence living. There was no room
for them on the streets until the con-
,;emned houses, which may tumble
down any minute were placed at their
disposal. In these so called houses,
from garret to cellar, they are crowd
cd and hcrled together. worse t;,an
cattle. Many of them actually lmse
not space enough on a floor I" lie
down for night, In rooms-narrow.
dark and unventilated. unfit for any
living being. much less for hummn
beings. Many share cellars with rats
and vermin--and the rats are the het.
ter off there. than the human occG
lants. This is no exaggeratiOn. Miss
] Owensteip could not find words ~
LECTURE the horror of it all. Think oi
r.cn, women and children. who once
lived as human beings in places m
their own. having to occupy such I'iar-
tcrs. and imagine, the tragedy of IL.
Unspeakably bad as these place'i arc
they still afford some sort of n .,hei-
ter. Now comes the food question.
These people had to have some food
III which to subsist, and how :" get
It became a question Of supreme i'm
pOrtance. The difficulty can hardly
Lc realized for not only did Vieni.a
suffer from lack of food, but the
Vienese population resented this
'orowding OF the city by strangers and
their being compelled TO share the
little they had with them. Add to that
that many of the, Jews are strictly
orthodox and will not eat everything,
and you have.a situation which battles
keep body and soul together up to now,
is mystery Of the power of vitality
and human endurance. They are mere
shadows of. human beings. have
never seen anything like 1t, said Miss
l.Owenstein. They move like shadows
l.stlessly helpless and with something
of fatal resignation. lie rendS ones
heart to pieces to see those Children
rnin, emaciated. deathly pale, most OF
them unable to stand on their tiny
weak feet-they have a glazy, icy
stare; listlessly, mutely they look al
you--you feel that you are staring II
the face OF death inevitable deatf
caused by starvation and lack ol
power of resistance. They are In 4
sort OF stupor aud nothing can brin'
smile into their. little faces. Ther'
is something sravs aud desponden
about them, and sll Of them look old
Whatever will become Of them is bo
yond human conjecture.
TO the credit Of the vienose jews I