help the deported directly. We have received several thousand rubles from Smolensk, Petrograd, Moscow, and elsewhere."
"And how about the Russian population, does it render you any assistance?"
"No, its attitude toward the deported is at best indifferent, and at worst hostile."
"And the Jews, do they not protest against this new tax?"
"Oh, no, not in the least. You have no idea to what an extent the feeling of solidarity grows among us in such cases. Here is an instance. A train with the deported arrived here yesterday. It was Saturday. That is, as you know, a sacred day for the Jews. Nevertheless, all our Jewish coachmen came to the station to take the newcomers to the town. We have asked them to come to-day to get paid for their services. Not one of them appeared. And so it has been all along. There is not a Jewish coachman in the town who would take money in such a case. On the contrary, they would be insulted if they were not asked to do their bit. When the first train arrived, the present self-taxation was not yet in existence. We received the telegram suddenly. Nothing
