The Denver Jewish news., 1924-06-05

| Wv aht tbilhAAA'Aof heNA'a' N''''' ~ ~
Jew.
But this is not all the "Rozwoj" has
done. The organization maintains n
special Institute, with headquarters In
Warsaw, which has as its aim the
education of the Polish people in the
subject Of Jewish character. SO there
are courses in the capital city, and
travelling lecturers sent out to the
smaller centers, teaching the populacc
Jewish national traits and characters
tics The amount Of vcracity contain
ed In these courses becomes evident
when one secs that the aim of the
Institute Is to convince the Polish peo-
pie that they should have no inter
course whatsoever with Jews, either
social or business. II IL understood, Of
curse, that all religious representa-
tlves utilize their churches and their
services for the same purposes, and
that the populace is being bounded on
all sides by propaganda.
Not satisfied with its conqucsts In
the field of the merchant, the ''Rozwoj"
has now tackled the more difficult task
Of boycotting the Jewish manufactur.
ers. Most of the factories, particular
ly those related to cloth-weaving, are
concentrated in Lodz, and are in jew
lsh hands. The latest movement of
the "Rozwoj' has been to send let
ters to wholesalers and retailers, urg-
ing them not to buy goods made in
factories owned by Jews, and promis-
ing financial support to the few Polish
manufacturers, enabling them to en-
large their business sufficiently to sup
ply the increased demand
The "Rozwoi" is under the control
of the National Democratic Party, but
it is generally conceded to have the
seml-official sanction of the govern
ment in whatever II does.
The full extent of the tragedy lying
on the receiving side of the campaign
can be comprehendcd when one remem-
bcrs that practically 500 of the Jews
resident in Poland are engaged in trad
ing and storekeepinA Already the
number of failures and bankrupts has
run up into the hundreds, and how
much further il will go depends entire
ly on the rapidlty with which the
Jewish merchants can obtain credit.
Their one source for the obtaining
of credit lies in the Jewish Merchants
Cooperative Bank, operated under the
auspices of the Polish Jewish Mcr-
chants Association. This Association
was formed five years ago with the aim
of protecting the Jews from the then
were established all over the country
| and each division had Loan Depart
ment which could issue credit to the
members. \ year ago the Cooperative
Bank was formed, with headquarters
in Lemberg, and branches in the larger
cities, such as wilma, Posen, Warsaw,
| etc
The system by which the bank op-
crates is as follows: 1t buys the stock
for the merchants, and keeps it in its
| storeroOms, After certain amount
has been given to him in advance for
disposal, the rest is dealt out in in
stallments, as he pays his debt.
The bank was established through
the sale of shares among the merchants
themselves, who took over 100000
worth of it, but the financial condl-
tions already meniioncd in the begin
ming of this article soon left them
without the means of buying enough
shares to provide the capital for the
development of the bank. 1t is for this
reason that the Jews of Poland have
turned to their fellow merchants in
other countries.
The Jews are to stay in Poland.
Places to which they can emigrate are
daily being closed. And staying in
Poland, the bulk will continue to be
engaged in merchandising no matter
what encOnomc changes Will he brought
about. The immediate problem now is
the overcoming of the boycott. And
there is only one way of doing that.
Give the Polish Jewish merchant credit
and the means of restocking his store,
and he will do the rest.
]