Letter from the general community in Vilna to the community leaders in Jerusalem. The letter was written on the eve of the Holocaust with a request for urgent assistance in light of the ban on slaughter that was just decreed. The letter was sent immediately following the declaration of the law. February, 1936.
Background: Following the wave of persecution and antisemitism across Europe [with the Nazi rise to power], and after the ban on ritual slaughter in Germany, a proposal was made in the Polish Sejm to ban ritual slaughter, ostensibly for humane reasons, with the true goal clearly being to cramp the Jews’ lives. Rabbinic leaders shuddered from the decree and immediately began a campaign of advocacy. This letter reveals that the leaders of the Va’ad in Vilna, who leaned towards the Mizrachi party, also shuddered from the decree, and sent an urgent letter to the leaders of the Yishuv in Jerusalem, to consult with them, as to whether they have any experience with respect to the Va’ad HaShechitah and the authorities [referring here to the British authorities]. Unknown fact.
[1] leaf, 22×33 cm, typewritten, signed by the community leaders and with their stamps.
Very fine condition: Fold marks. Filing perforations.