Polish Jews’ Cultural Association Denounces Attacks, Affirms Loyalty to Poland

The Culture Association of Polish Jews, which has been under attack by the Warsaw regime as one of the “Zionist elements” inciting student unrest, has affirmed its allegiance to the Polish Government though it has not bowed to official pressure to denounce Zionism, according to reports from Warsaw reaching here today. The statement of allegiance was contained in an article in Folkshtimme, Poland’s only Yiddish language daily, which is the organ of the Cultural Association. It was re-printed in the Warsaw evening newspaper. Express Wieczorny.

The article said, “we categorically reject every effort to cast doubt on the patriotic attitude of the association and the institutions connected with it.” It conceded that some Polish Jews were “undoubtedly characterized by a nationalist attitude” but said they “are not representative of the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community who are in faithful citizens of People’s Poland”. The article said that Polish Jews had proved their loyalty “by our blood and sweat, by our work and cultural creativeness, by our education work among old and young, by our Socialist internationalism and by our opposition to any signs of nationalism.” The article did not mention demands that Polish Jews denounce what the Government termed “a Zionist campaign of slander against Poland.”