This letter was addressed to R. M. Turen.

B”H, 22 Shvat, 5711,
Brooklyn

Greetings and blessings,

In connection with your description of the educational situation in Fernvald1 and my previous correspondence concerning this, I would like to share with you that I just received a report from the Joint [Distribution Committee] in Paris concerning the inquiry they made regarding the matter.

According to this report, a series of improvements have been made in the situation [there]. They agreed that only teachers who have a supportive approach to religious matters should teach Tanach; that during the time of religious studies and the study of Tanach, the students should have their heads covered, and that the boys and the girls should be separated.

Aside from that, the report states that a special budget has been established for the Rabbinate in Fernvald to maintain a mikveh and for the supervision of the kashrus in the hospitals. Religious teachers received an additional measure on their food ration card from the fifth month of last year to the twelfth month of this year. And the Joint has organized that the religious teachers will receive their sustenance from the ARA.2 And the Rabbis’ necessities and the religious needs of the camp will be supported to a greater degree than before .

The report maintains that, based on the above, the complaints should not be seen as that critical for the project, but rather as a factor leading to the formation of a group that will develop a plan of its own. I would be interested to know what the situation is at present and whether the above improvements are being adhered to.

With blessings and with greetings to the entire fellowship,

Menachem Schneerson