The Denver Jewish news., 1920-07-28
The Thrilling Experience
Of VIM. Zuckerman
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERMAN DE-
SCRIBES FREE AND LIBERAL
POLAND.

| Copyright 1920 by Jewish Correspond
|. ence Bureau)
| Paris-This is the story of an Amer
took the meaning of the word Polish
Republic seriously, and got himself and
his embassy into heap of trouble.
am cured now. l will not believe after
this that Warsaw is no longer a part
of old Russia, no matter what the
Versailles Treaty says about it, and.
rest assured, that never again will 1
commit the folly to write of what l
see while within the borders of Poland
but this is only after / have spent
ten long and weary weeks political
prisoner in the Warsaw Citadel: was
freed on bail of 100000 marks after
have the most vigorous protests on the
part of Mr.. Gibson, our Ambassador to
Poland. and permitted after four
months of dentention. to leave the coun.
try on condition to return next October
to be put on trial. / shall tell the
story of my Warsaw adventure, which
""''i" :" hiuNh vi tne Welru prp-rev-
olutionary Russian tales of citadels.
gendarmerie. imprisonment. and death
threats, by merely reciting the bare
facts as they are recorded on the pro-
tocols of the Polish Civil Court, by the
American Legation in Warsaw. and by
the State Department in Washington.
The facts are more illustrative of con-
ditions than any words l could add
IN explanation.
was sent to Warsaw by four Amer.
ican Dailies. namely tine Chicago
Courier" the New York Jewish Daily
News" the philadelphia World" and
the Montreal Eagle" which wanted a
true account of the Jewish situation
in Poland. / arrived in Warsaw jan
liary 3rd. and Immediately set about
my task. AT that time the Polish Seim
had passed two laws both intended for
the Jews of the country. and affecting
theln lpost detrimentally These are:
First the Sunday Closing Law, which
reduces the working days of the Jews
IN Poland to week by forcing them
~ ''''i't h'uhudsS
holidays: and second. the Alien Law,
which disfranchises and converts in
TO Aliens 100000 Jews of Poland on the
ground that when Poland was yet a
part of Russia these people did not
register as Poles. l spent few weeks
acquainting myself with the intricacies
Of these laws. and when had all the
material on hand. wrote up several
stories for my papers. and sent them
10 Paris with n Chicago manufacturer
who happened then to leave Warsaw
for Paris.
February 7th, two days after I sent
out my stories. on coming home in the
evening / found gendarmes waiting
for me. Immediately upon my entry
was placed under arrest and taken to
the ecndarmerie headquarters for an
examination. 1t was there that l first
learned the cause of my arrest. My
stories. it seems. We're Intercepted en-
route and the contents found danger
Gus to the State. That very evening
II most thoro search was made of all
Iny papers and correspondence. My
room was sealed I'M with the red seal
of the gendarmerie. and | was taken
under guard to the Citadel Fortress.
and locked up in n cell in the famous
Tenth Pavilion, or the Division for
Political Prisoners, where the Russian
Car used to keep his Polish revolu-
t:onists. (among them alsv Mr.. Pilsud-
sky. the present president of PolandD,
and where the Poles now keen their
own reyolutionists or communists. In
the beginning an effort was evidently