Tag #108892 - Interview #78259 (Alina Fiszgrund)

There was a time when the support from Joint stopped coming. That was because the Joint had developed in Warsaw, at Nowowiejska Street, an old people's home. It was to be a home for the Polish Jews. And later, like all other old people's homes, it was nationalized. That was, I think, after 1968 [39], when Gomulka made his 'fifth column' comment. [Editor's note: in a 19th June 1967 public speech, Wladyslaw Gomulka, then communist party leader, called the Polish Jews a 'fifth column' i.e. traitors.] The Joint officially froze assistance for Jews in Poland and started helping unofficially. And for several years there was no official support, but later it was reinstated. Some 25 years ago, I guess.