- Women and Children in Warsaw Starving to Death
Through the intelligence Department of the Mayor’s Committee on National Defense, the Provisional Zionist Committee last night made public a letter describing the conditions among Jews in Warsaw under German rule. The name of the writer of the letter is not divulged for obvious reasons. The veracity and authenticity of the letter is vouched for by the Zionist Committee, of which Dr. Stephen S. Wise is Chairman, and Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis honorary chairman. The letter says, in part:
“Death from starvation is a real fact. It is witnessed here all over, in every street, at every step, in every house. Jewish mothers, mothers of mercy, feel happy to see their nursing babies die; at least they are through with their suffering.
“Our wealthiest people cut off their daughters’ hair and sell it to be able to buy the indispensible things like bread for their dying children. Four and five-year old children have become so weak that they must be carried in the arms like babies. Fathers should they return from the battlefield will meet of their five and six children they kissed good-by when they left for the war two or probably one or more.
“How long yet will this suffering last? From where will our help come? A committee has been sent to Switzerland to maintain our soup kitchens, but I doubt the success of the mission. Help us, help us. Awaken, America. This is our only hope. Should America not aid us we will be lost.”
Source:
New York Times
August 10, 1917