Norwich bulletin., 1922-02-06
LOCAL CHAIRMAN EXPLAINS
JEWISH RELIEF AIMS

While countless thousands of lives
have been sawed in eastern and sogtheaSs-
ern Europe through the efforts and gen
crosby of Americans, the real aims of the
difficult task are yet to. be achieved, ac-
corling to A. w. Silberberg, chairman for
Norwich of the 100000 appeal for
Jewish war sufferers toward which Con-
nectfcut is raising a quota of $3.50, 900
An dthe American public, which has al
ready given s47 ,00b, 600 for the tre-nen-
dous work already accomplished. is en-
titled to know about what has been done
said Mr.. Silberberg
Feeding and clothing the sarving and
| helping them in their fight against fam
| inc, exposure and disease is, of course the
! first duty" said he. However, the
joint distribution committee which dis
burses the funds for the various American
| Jewish relief societies, has broa dened its
scope and includes medica sanitary meas
| ures against epidenics to establish child
caring and training work and to help bring
these sufferers to an ability to help them
selves
From the beginning of the great var
| the joint distribution committee was Or
ganized in December, 1914-up to very
recently in most cases, any effort to car
ry on from any given points along what
was formerly the Russian border was
! futile as to stay an ocean tide Emery
ency conditions arose here and there. and
the primary duty was to give relief Was
food needed? Tt was directed there in
such va antilles as could be secured Was
medical relief called for? Medical unit
members were sent, so far as the limited
personnel of this group permitted. Emer-
geney hospitals were established teiuTo-
rarity in literally hundreds of places,
only to move On when the imme1iatee
need was met. Sometimes these latter
| hoped under pressure as, for instance at
Kiev. When the Polish army went there
committee workers took along uantities
of medicasnents, only to. leave sislLies
behind when the precipitate retreat G. ne.
The refugee problem kept the commtte' S
representatives. on the jump from the
Baltic states to Southern Rumania.; and
child caring work wa often compelled to
be as mobile as other types of service.
Now as peace is being restored III
some of theseh countries the speaker con-
tinued, 1.-THE work rs taking on a more
permanent haracter. Refugees are being
handled in two great classicat:ons, Or
phanaSes are being built and supple
mented by schools in which Industrial
training is given, n,edico- sanitary work Is
being organized in educational and pre-
ventive lines by communities and rehapH-
itation work is taking the form Of es-
adjustment of loan organizations to helr
the artisan and small trader back to hi:
| feet
When IT comes to refugees. the prob
lens are two-fold One arises from those
: former residents of parts of Russia which
: are now independent states and who fer
| into the interior of Russia when armed
invasions came to their provinces The
task for the committee is to hei3 these re-
fugees prove their identity, and to care
| for them in concentration camps while
t action permitting their repatriation /!
! being taken. In the Ukraine the situation
of the large Jewish population is pitiabi'
in the extreme Consta mt coTnter-revo
5 lutions, guerilla warfare and handftry
have resulted in the deaths of scores o
: thousands including 100000 heads q
e Jewish families The survivors are broker
t in body and spirit, and grelt army c
I them has fed from the terror and starva
ton ITO the hospitaaIe border countries
4 One great purpose of the loan organ
izations is to rebuild the homes of suffer
+ ers of which more than so per cent llav
been destroyed. One great group of 1oal
9 organiza tons is made mp of artisans co
!. operative bodies, working through a cen
a trail body and ten district groups. Eas
district has ten sub ordinate committees
a committee representing villages in it
area. Through the cooperative, artisan
Il which, beirig bought in uantity by tn
v central body are available at a lowe
e cost-and are heh5ed to market their PRO
q ducts. Similar plans are being used i
g the case of the traders and merchant:
Il organizations.
; "While in the seven countries wher
n the commit ee's people are az work, Their
r has been made a complete registry and b
q ographical record Of 15,0oG orphans UT
der the direct care of the connitte,
+ surveys indicate that ne arly 5000 ar
- still in direct need Few of this nru1lbe
- have known in seven years what 1t mean
Il to have enough to eat. Most of THIS
children are little better than wanderin
. nomads, getting pitifully little to &c
here or. there, sleeping where ever an
shelter offers. moving from place to plac
T in a fear which has been bred by horror
+ which they have Witnessed, and withor
! a chance to be cared for or trained, mo-
"a ally or indIstrially un,ess America he'll