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It
is in difficult times that the noble side of people sometimes
reveals itself. It has never before been possible to witness
so many examples of devotion and self-sacrifice as at this
hour. Countless individuals hurry to answer every call for
help from the Jewish Community or the Jewish Self-Help,* and
sometimes, on their own initiative, they give aid where the
need arises.
...A
Social Welfare department was set up under the Zss with
sections for: Finance, Clothes Collection, Emergency Aid,
Sanitation and Housing for the Homeless. In addition, Local
Committees have been set up in the various sections of the
city. In this way a fairly complicated and widespread system
of public assistance has penetrated through every level and
part of the Jewish public, and reaches into the most distant
areas populated by Jews....
A
separate chapter worth noting in the work of the House
Committees is child care. Owing to the fact that the
schools are not operating, many children of school and
kindergarten age have remained without care and supervision,
particularly where their parents are sometimes obliged to
leave their homes in order to make a living. The House
Committees, under the auspices of the Zss, have undertaken to
set up child-care centers in many houses, and particularly for
children who have become abandoned. The Centers are managed by
first-rate pedagogical personnel under the supervision of
devoted public workers, who do everything possible to ensure
that the children receive proper care. In this way the Centers
play an important part in easing the suffering and poverty of
the Jewish population of Warsaw, together with the Child
Feeding Stations of the Zss, which are intended mainly for the
children of the refugees. The number of House Committees has
grown steadily, and their work has been extended. There are
now at least 2,200 active [House Committees] with 10,000
devoted workers.
Gazeta
Zydowska, No. 2, July
26, 1940.
*
Zydowska Samopomoc Spoleczna Zss. |
