[2.9. Liquidation of COMZET 1938 - end of the
Agro-Joint in Russia 1938]
[Since 1936: Rosen wants to
leave Russia - bring out the assets - liquidation of COMZET
- end of Agro-Joint in Russia 1938]
With the failure of the Biro-Bidjan immigration scheme in
1936, Rosen realized that the time had come to get out of
Russia, although Warburg was still loath to accept that
conclusion. On February 15, 1938, Hyman finally accepted the
idea and proposed the termination of operations.
(End note 52: AJ 22)
The assets still in Russia had to be disposed of and a
settlement reached regarding the $ 5,353,000 in (p.97)
bonds still held. Finally, an agreement was reached in July
1938. COMZET had been liquidated in June because the Soviet
government "considered the Jewish problem in the Soviet Union
solved."
The financial settlement involved the cancellation of the
bonds and their transformation into $ 2,430,000 in new Soviet
bonds that were finally redeemed, with interest, by 1940. The
remaining Agro-Joint assets were handed over to the Russians
in return for the promise that they would be used largely for
the benefit of Jews. And finally, "all the files, documents,
and correspondence connected with the activities of the
society and the Agro-Joint in the USSR and kept in the USSR
are to be transferred to the government." Rosen left Russia
for the last time in the summer of 1938, and the Agro-Joint
Russian venture came to an end.
