§ Captain ORMSBY-GOREasked the-Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any Reports have yet been received from British official representatives in Poland regarding the recent pogroms carried out by Polish soldiers in Pinsk and Vilna; whether he will obtain and publish such Reports; whether the Polish Government has arrested and deported to some place unknown Dr. Lieb Jaffe, of Vilna, the president of the Lithuanian Zionist Organisation; what charge is being made against him; whether any steps can be taken to assure him a fair-trial and, in the event of his being acquitted, will he be allowed to go to England or to Palestine by the Polish Government if he so desires; whether members of the Entente Mission were in Pinsk when the leading members of the Jewish community of that town were shot without trial by General Listowski, and whether they endeavoured to intervene; and whether he can give the number of Jews and Poles, respectively, in the towns of Vilna and Pinsk, respectively, according to the most recent statistics, if possible 1913, in possession of the Foreign Office?
Mr. HARMSWORTHAs regards the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to an answer I gave to the hon. and gallant Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, on the 2lst instant. As regards the second part, I will give my careful consideration to the question of 723W publishing the reports which have been or may be received. As regards the third, fourth and fifth parts of the question as to the alleged arrest and deportation of Dr. Lieb Jaffe, of Vilna, His Majesty's Minister at Warsaw has reported, in response to an inquiry, that the gentleman in -question had been released by the Polish authorities. It is not known what charge was made against him.
As regards facilities for Dr. Lieb Jaffe to proceed to this country or Palestine, there is no reason to suppose that, in view of the action which has been taken by the Polish authorities they would raise any -objection to his departure from Poland, if he is still in that country.
724WThe answer to the sixth part of the question is in the negative.
With reference to the last part of the question, the information requested by my hon. and gallant Friend is as follows:
According to the Russian Official Census of 1897, the only one, the results of which have been analysed by nationality, the town of Vilna had a population of 154,532 inhabitants, of which 40.3 per cent. were Jews, 30.9 per cent. Poles. Census returns obtained during the War would no doubt show a much diminished population of very abnormal composition. The town of Pinsk is believed to have had in 1911 38,000 inhabitants, of whom 74 per cent. were Jews and 7 per cent. Poles, including Roman Catholic white Russians.