Page:The Shield (Knopf, 1917).djvu/201

Rh There the refugees will once more have to meet the Russians and endure questionings, insulting remarks and slaps in the face. . . . Will the Jewish nation stand all this?

Yes, it will undoubtedly stand this frightful trial. There is something in its inner nature that enables it to hold out under the most terrible conditions.

At the house of a representative of the Jewish community, I find several people who handle the transportation and distribution of the deported Jews.

"How many people have passed through your hands?"

"Several thousand. We get word by telegraph from the centres of deportation as to how many people we should keep and how many send further."

"Where do you get the means necessary for these operations?"

"The entire Jewish population of our town has imposed upon itself a systematic refugee tax. This source furnishes us 3,000 rubles monthly. Of course this is very little, ours is a poor town. Then we get financial aid from the Jewish communities, which do not have to