[2.3. Agro-Joint help work in Russia with kassas, health
and children 1923-1930]
[Loan kassas]
From the beginning of its reconstructive activities in 1923, JDC had
also been engaged in establishing loan
kassas, medical aid, (p.75)
child care, and trade schools. This activity was called "non-Agro work"
in JDC parlance. Between 1924 and 1933, $ 1,760,000 was spent on this
kind of effort. In the 1920s, with Russian industry barely creeping up
to its prewar standards, there was, and could be, no hope of
industrializing the Jewish masses. Help would have to take the form of
loan kassas and child and medical aid - the traditional standbys of JDC
work in Eastern Europe. Indeed, very little else could be done - the
means placed at Rosen's disposal were too small. Palliative help, such
as soup kitchens, would demand much more money, degrade the recipients,
and accomplish nothing in terms of the long-term improvement. Rosen did
the best he could with the means at his disposal.
At first, up to July 1929, the Agro-Joint supported the loan kassas.
These traditional institutions provided credit on easy terms to various
elements; but from 1927 on, in accordance with a new Soviet law, they
concentrated on loans to artisans. In 1927 there were 370 such kassas,
and they aided some 80 % of all Jewish artisans in White Russia and the
Ukraine. In 1929 these credit kassas were taken over by the government,
after having been helped by the state in up to 80 % of the credits
received by them in 1928. In their short existence they had tided a
large number of artisans' cooperatives over difficult periods, and they
were also instrumental in aiding a number of
lishentsy to become full citizens
by joining officially recognized artels (government producers'
cooperatives). They did not disappear altogether. They were not all
absorbed by the state, and in 1930 some sixty-seven of them, with
60,000 members, still existed, together with 21 producer cooperatives
not as yet recognized by the government.
However, the overall situation of the Jewish artisan was not materially
eased, and new methods of working for the
lishentsy and the artisans had to
be found. This was done by means of mutual aid societies (the
dopomogs), which were recognized by
the government as legal institutions and were allowed to look after the
lishentsy as well. Their
development was very rapid. There were only (p.76)
55 of them in 1927, but by 1931 there were 240 with 250,000 members. 54
of these mutual aid societies were being supported by the Agro-Joint.
One of their main characteristics was their gradual unification with
the medical societies founded by JDC during its initial help to Russian
Jewry in the early 1920s. Its clinics, hospitals, and other
institutions were not aided by the government because they were serving
mostly
lishentsy. JDC
supported them, and as the mutual aid societies grew these medical
institutions became part of their setup, which included also productive
cooperative enterprises. This meant that there was now a source of
money for the medical institutions through the productive cooperatives
of the aid societies. JDC, mindful of its mandate to help people to
help themselves, welcomed this development.
[1931: Agro-Joint's Homes, public kitchens, welfare cases - aid
for lishentsy]
By 1931 there were 50 homes for the aged with 1,400 inmates; 40
children's homes; 100 lunchrooms, where 8,000 people were fed at
nominal prices; and 4,510 welfare cases that were being handled. Most
important, these mutual aid societies established cooperatives composed
to a large extent of
lishentsy,
who were engaged in various kinds of artisanship and thus were working
their way back into full citizens' rights.
The marketing of their products was no problem. After 1927 the Russian
market absorbed anything that industry could produce, even goods of
very
shoddy quality. The bottleneck was the provision of raw materials, of
which Russia at the time had a limited supply. That supply went to the
artels, and only the leftovers, if any, were given to the cooperatives
of
lishentsy. JDC, through
Agro-Joint, tried to supply the aid
societies with credits, machinery, and imported raw materials, thus
enabling them to establish themselves on a reasonably stable footing.
By 1929 there were 12 producer cooperatives not connected with any
society and 63 societies, whose members operated some 300 shops of
kustar (artisan) production. In
1929 Agro-Joint advanced about 764,000 rubles in loans to these
societies - this included medical work as well - and a great deal was
done with these rather small sums. In 1930, 936,000 rubles were spent
on (p.77)
these activities, and in 1931 the aid societies operated 345 shops
employing 18,680 persons, while 3,000 more persons found a living in
the 37 independent producer's cooperatives. The medical societies
attached to the aid societies treated 1.5 mio. people that year.
