Drogichin, Belarus (pages 51-52)

[ Page 51 ]

The development of the Charity Fund in Drohitchin, Polesia in numbers

REPORT
For the last five years, from April 1, 1934 to April 1, 1939
[Right side:] Notice how the Charity Fund was able to revive the dead in the last five years.

	1934/35	1935/36	1936/37	1937/38	1938/39
Loans issued	151	208	345	420	445
No. recipients	95	123	207	239	250
Annual loan totals	8,404.31	10,524.11	20,018.70	28,442.33	38,207.14
Bad Accounts from 1927-35	37	40	43	35	45
Totals from bad accounts	1,627.28	1,608.00	1,577.38	908.41	1,274.78
Bad mortgage debt	-------	------	700.00	500.00	590.00
New accounts	29	38	62	61	60
Total borrowers	304	310	355	364	411
Joint and Tsekava credit	350.00	1,250.00	2,100.00	3,350.00	4,700.00
Local deposits	41.50	61.25	482.85	1,701.80	1,283.25
Member dues	420.98	515.50	667.00	671.95	793.00
Minor income and charges	7.34	8.47	24.35	49.41	66.01
Community grants	----	-----	-----	50.00	-----
Contributions	-----	-----	------	------	60.00
Administration	486.65	489.91	591.15	703.92	782.71
Losses for obligations	-----	------	--------	------	130.00
Profit	------	34.06	145.45	67.44	6.30
Deficit	65.67	-----	------	----	------
Funds in loans	9,743.19	10,070.10	12,258.92	15,143.20	17,435.79
Capital stock	14,787.71	14,821.77	14,967.22	15,034.66	15,040.96
Annual turnover	25,588.48	40,141.48	46.773.68	64,734.71	83,412.56

[Photo:] From right: B. and Fruma-Gittel Warshavsky, Esther Shushanov, Simcha Feldman, A. Zlotnick, and others in Feivel the kvass-maker's yard in 1938.

[Photo:] From right: Freidel Appelbaum and her husband and child, Yenta Goldman, M. Schwartzberg, Rachel and Shmuel Appelbaum, Eliyahu Kalenkovich (in center), and others at the train station in 1939, shortly before the war.

[ Page 52 ]

THE LAST CHAPTER

Drohitchin Jews wanted to save themselves

        To summarize: the situation of the Jews under the Polish regime was a sorry one. Soon after their arrival in Drohitchin the Poles showed their real faces. In their treatment of the so-called "communist zhids ," the Poles demonstrated arrogance, malice and prejudice more than anything else.

[Photo:] A class from the Moriah School. The teachers, from right: Palevsky, Barantchuk, M. Bezdzhesky, Rabinovich, Wolfson, Kolnick and Hackman.

        The Jews knew in advance that their situation under the Poles wouldn't be rosy. People, especially young people, started leaving Drohitchin for understandable reasons, and went off into the big world. As long as it was possible, people went to America, and later, when the United States shut its doors, young people started leaving for Palestine. A small number of them were lucky enough too obtain certificates, and emigrated there. Others immigrated to other countries, and several dozen emigrated to Cuba, Argentina and Canada, until those countries also closed their doors to Jewish immigration.

        Young people who didn't leave Drohitchin remained in town without hopes of a better tomorrow. Each year there were increasing number of young men and women who hung around on the streets without any purpose in life, hoping for some miracle that would allow them to emigrate somewhere. They had no trade, since in any event there wasn't enough work for everyone, and the town didn't need any more shopkeepers. In addition, it became difficult for them to find mates. So the question was, "What shall we eat?" What were they going to do the day after their wedding?

        The situation was worse for girls than it was for boys. Fathers were very concerned about their daughters' future, and each parent hoped that a young man would arrive from the United States and take their daughter to the golden country.

[Photo:] The Burial Society, from right: Meir Kaplan (the Liener ), a colonist, Mordechai Perkovsky and Motya Warshavsky.

        It wasn't as if Drohitchin young people squandered their time doing nothing. They were involved in community activities such as political parties, collecting money to send to Palestine and pre-emigration training. Unfortunately, this activity didn't bear any fruit; they couldn't go to Palestine because they couldn't

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