(am . N\i sc ($3 2 eat de World’s Student Christian Federation. European Student Relief Series No. 3. “FACTS, PLEASE!” The following tabulation of facts concerning the needs of students in Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Poland has been com- piled from a large number of reports drawn up by University Organisations, University Professors, Student Organisations, Government Statistics, Relief Missions, and other sources. We hope to publish later, statistics about the needs of students in other lands of Central and Eastern Europe. A.—_STUDENT NEEDS IN AUSTRIA. 1. Number of Colleges and Students. In Vienna—The University, with 10,355 students. The Technical College, with 5,000 students. The Commercial College, with 3,400 students. The Veterinary College, with 474 students. The Fine Arts College, with 256 students. The Agricultural College. The Conservatorium of Music. The Evangelical Theological Faculty. The Jewish Theological Faculty. In Innsbruck—The University. In Graz—The University. The Technical College. In Leoben—The Mining College. In Salzburg—The Roman Catholic Theological Faculty. Vienna University. Number of Students. Winter Session, 1919-20. Theological Faculty oe 141 BPaw-rachiry @ er ... 3,502 including 20 women. Medical Faculty ... ane fy (ols ‘3 574 Philosophy Faculty Re er COA “3 Ho2uT 7et 10,355 2 Statistics regarding the Students. A. .Mother tongue. 1918—1919. German Mi Be ae Be shee Czecho-Slovak ea B a5 105 Polish 2 Fa sr 552 Ukrainian Py Ss) ie 8 Slovene ie Fie +3 sis 106 Serbian and Croatian ... oy 168 Italian Seg ii oe sf 116 Roumanian ... se . ia 55 Magyar ae pe bd nee 107 Oihcrmitaccsums ph She by 867 Shisha) B. Confession. Catholic a eo eh Ose Greek-Orthodox Ys ue 103 Exvanugelicaimee: us ‘ ree 669 Old Catholic ... tas “iy 13 Judaism re ey lag eo AG850 Other confessions oe : 95 No confessions aie aC. is 88 Total Vetoes Food Facts. Students as a rule feed at the Students’ Mensas or Kitchens. The University Mensa for Austrian Students feeds 4,000 students daily ; the dinner costs Kr. 4.50, the supper Kr. 3.20; many eat only one meal a day—the majority only two: large numbers can only afford a warm meal at the Mensa every 2 or 3 days, that meal an insufficient one at best. Apart from what the students can afford to buy at the Mensa, they are for the most part dependent on their small ration of bread (very bad bread, made of potato peelings, etc.) and a daily cup of black coffee. Miserable as is the provision the student gets through the Mensas, that provision is given him at less than half actual cost price. Housing Facts. Rise in Prices. 1914 1920. Rent of Smali Room per month — Kre30.0 ere oo: Rent of Ordinary Room _... ae Kr. 60. Kr. 400-500. 1. Heating in winter is impossible for the student: light he must provide himself. 2. Many students are sleeping in lodging-houses, railway stations, bathrooms, etc. In the Commercial College the lavatories are locked one hour before closing time to prevent the students sleeping in them. 3. Large numbers of students who live with their families are sharing one room and a kitchen with six or eight other people. 3 In order to cope with this lodging difficulty, several student organizations have founded hostels. In the University there are eight such. The largest is in a suburb of Vienna. It consists of a number of wooden houses, formerly a war hospital. These barracks have been divided into 130 small rooms, where 260 students live. Each student pays Kr. 90 monthly. The disadvantage of this home is its distance from the University, an hour’s walk. Students have neither time nor strength for this walk, and the tram fare Kr. 4.00 is prohibitive. In winter these barracks cannot be heated because of the lack of coal. Health Facts. Tuberculosis and severe anemia are rampant amongst students. Out of 1,600 students applying to a student organisation, 240 were reported ill: of the 240, 144 were tuberculous. Students cannot afford medical assistance of any kind. A woman student, whose hands were covered with sores, could not get ointment for them, except by going without food. Clothing Facts. Rise in Prices. 1914. At present. Suit i oe Kr. 60-70 ~=Kr. 3000-4000 Shoes eee ae EEO > 1 20 ee GOO-L000 White Shirt as Wy ea 3x 300-400 Stockings .. ; + ei 59 160 - 200 ‘Woman’s Gnerimnee Ay O0=700 55 4000 Hat Cig RS [Oo en 400 Piece. of Soap ey: - £5 Washing of Shirt ... ¥ 30 Pair of Shoe ipacese.: 3 25 Comb va ans fp 100 Many men are still wearing uniforms, buttoned to the neck to conceal absence of shirts. Many women students are still wearing the clothes they had in 1914, and have bought nothing since. Women Student Budget. According to a Report drawn up by the Presidents of five Women Student Societies, March, 1920, the monthly expenditure of a women student in Vienna is :— Lodging... ist lOO Dinner and Supper (at a Student Mensa) eens a2. 0 Tram Fares (to University and back once a day) ,, 60 Breakfast, clothing repairs, books and University expenses 4 a rh ae. LOO 500 N.B.—1. In this budget new clothes are not allowed for; nor are Laundry, Baths, and Medical Attendance, or any other emergency. 4 2. The utmost a woman student can possibly earn by teaching or office work is Kr. 300 per month. 3. All experts consider the budget drawn up by the women student representatives as the starvation minimum. General University Expenses. 1914, 1920. Fees for each Class in University Kr.2.10 Kr. 16 per month EXtragiakcs =) a mea arc " One sheet of Drawing Paper ... pp, 48) ¢ Text-books, e.g. :— Claus-Grobbe- Zoology 1: yy eu 55 eOOMIE a Schumacher- Physiology a eis ; a4 Ones Hutvra-Merek-Pathology ... a4. \ sLOOOmemns: Hellauer— International Com- merce... se oe LT, 2 OO Self Help Facts. I. In considering what the Viennese students do to help them- selves, it must not be forgotten that manual labour is practically impossible for many because of their miserable physical condition due to under-nourishment; that a large number are disabled through the war; that many forms of work are closed to them, unless they belong to a particular political party, or can get admitted to the Trades Union concerned: the Trades Unions are opposed to admitting ‘intellectuals ’’ to their ranks. The earning power of students is pitiably small. Teaching is their main resource :— In 1913, teaching 14 hours a day, at Kr. 3 per hour, a student could earn Kr. 118 per month, the amount of his then monthly budget. | In 1920, teaching 4 hours a day, at Kr. 5 per hour, a student earns Kr. 480 per month. His minimum monthly budget is at least Kr. 1,000, allowing for all expenses. He would have to’teach 10 hours a day to have enough to live on: allowing for distances between lessons (he cannot go by tram at Kr. 4 a journey !), 4 hours a day is the utmost he can teach if he is to study at all!! II. In spite of all this, Viennese students are practically all earning, and earning to the utmost of their ability. Investigation shows that they are employed in the following ways :— Teachers and Tutors. Shoemakers. Demonstrators in Laboratories Workers in Film Factory. or Clinics. Film Actors. Stenographers and Typists. Lithographers. Clerks. Musicians in Cinematographs. Mechanics. * ,, Restaurants and Labourers in Metal-ware Cafés. Factories. Undergardeners. Woodcutters. Typesetters. Harvesters. Waiters. Casual Labourers. Schleich-handlers! Alas! Farm Labourers. 5 III. Students of the Vienna Colleges have formed a Co- operative Society, open to all students. It runs a General Goods Department, Food, Shoemaking, and Tailoring Departments. Aim.—Economic support of students, through Distribution of Food, Clothing, Fuel and Books, starting of Hostels, etc. Fees.—Kr. 9 per year. No. of Members.—8, 100. Sources of Income.—Fees, Sales, State Support, Foreign Help. General Effect of Conditions. 1. The standard of intellectual work is bound to go down. A student who must earn his way through college, who starts under- nourished and in bad physical condition, after losing several years through the war, who has to study in rooms shared with other people, men, women and children, without heat and with very little light, has not much chance of doing good work. 2. There is a marked increase of crime amongst the intellec- tuals, corresponding to the increase all round. In 1914 there were 659 criminal cases dealt with in Vienna; in 1919 there were 13,631 ! a.) Many Students aré driven to despair;'there is a great increase of suicide amongst them, their only way of escape from an impossible situation. 4. Very large numbers of students are leaving their courses unfinished, on account of economic conditions, and going into other forms of work, if they can possibly find them. B.—STUDENT NEEDS IN GERMANY. Number of Students in 22 Universities and Technical Colleges : -— Last Year, This Year, 140,000 a 115,000 The huge number is caused by pressing in of those, especially officers, whose studies were held up by war. The reduction is caused by warning’s issued from educational authorities, severe examination of students, and rejection of all those unlikely to be successful. Large numbers of students are leaving their courses unfinished and going into other work, and the number of matriculations is now half that in normal times. Increase in Student Expenses. 1914 Expenses averaged Mk. 150; Minimum Expenses averaged Mk. 80-100. 1920 Minimum Expenses average in Munich Mk. 600; *Breslau Mk. 414 (no allowance for light, heat or washing); Frankfurt Mk. 350 (starvation minimum); Charlottenburg Mk. 7co. *In Breslau, Students having less than Mk. 400 income = 65% of all students. Students having only Mk. 150 = 30% of all students. ie i he Mik. 100 -(or) less). ="'5% of all students. 6 Increase in Cost of Necessities. Typical cases. A. Charlottenburg. IgI4. 1920. Lodging smn x4 Mk. 20 per month. Mk. roo per month. Light fy Meihos ; ‘ee ZO F: Service a aN aC a Wier R ye US. + Heat areke 9 3 9 ” 50 9 Dinner ve Tie 3 a HEAL Nao) ‘ All food er saBSO r EN 2OO * Drawing materials ,, 10 " B® " * Washing ary, A 3 7 Hoe aie P; Journeys ia ne he) AJ eel oO “f Fees a eer po ate) * Many used to send their washing home, but increased postage makes this impossible. Washing 1 collar costs Mk. 1.50. B. Karlsruhe Chemical Institute. Fees have increased 250% Books ,, . 450%—500% IQI4 1920 Glass apparatus 1400% Pencils jin. sai Mikeo: 3 GeelVika eas Iron 1200% Drawing boards Mk.2.50 Mk. 60 Asbestos IT000% Drawing paper Mk.o.60 Mk. 7 Cost of food 500% OW11020.25 -COsteol man's suit ba i Wiles seekers) x; - shoesmme. iV ke OO * a small notebooks Mk. 2.50 The Director of the Berlin Schéneberg Statistical Office reckons in April, 1920, that the cost of bare subsistance has increased 1,100%, Over pre-war cost. Purchasing power of the mark has decreased 1,000%, 1.e., Mk. 1.00 = 10 Pf. (pre-war). Incomes of Students’ families have in no case more than doubled or trebled. 70% of students come from middle and lower middle classes—the hardest hit. Estimate in different Universities of Students actually in serious need varies from 30% to 50%. Health Facts. Bonn.—Sickness insurance doubled owing to appalling amount of Tuberculosis among students. ‘‘ Crowds of students sent to Stu- dent Kitchens with Medical Certificates ordering nourishing food for them—practically impossible to supply them.’’ Frankfurt.—1914. 5% students under medical treatment. (6) 1920. bo 9 ” ” oe) . 9 ‘* Increase due to under-nourishment.”’ Breslau.—1912-1913. 402 students treated University Hospital, 2% for tuberculosis. 1919-1920. 658 students treated University Hospital, 14% for tuberculosis. ‘‘ A well-nourished patient never seen. The students go down like ninepins under influenza.’’ Facts on Self Help. 1. Students, before the war, were forbidden by law to do wage- earning work outside their studies, and it is still a punishable offence, though the penalties are not enforced. This causes students to con- ceal their occupations, and this makes the obtaining of statistics very difficult. Nevertheless, a statistical survey in Berlin showed that 35—40% of the students were doing wage-earning work. Students are on record to-day as working at :— Teaching. Night watchmen. Clerical work. Night work in Factories. Literary work. (These two last much sought Proof reading. after, as their night then be- In factories. comes profitable). In Post Offices. Coal heavers. In mines. Builders’ labourers. On railways. Conductors (Street cars). Shovelling snow. Waiters. Pick and shovel work. Harvesters. As navvies (e.g., demolishing K6énigsberg fortifications). 2 Work is as scarce as bread! There are 10 applicants for every place. Trades Unions dislike students entering the labour market; farm labourers object to students working at harvesting during the Vacation. In face of widespread unemployment (there were 20,000 unemployed in Frankfurt, August, 1920), it is difficult for students to get work. Medical students, owing to their longer hours, everywhere find wage-earning much more difficult than others. 3. Work is exceedingly badly paid. At Bonn and Breslau students paid Mk. 1.00 per hour for teach- ing versus Mk. 1.50—3.00, pre-war price. An unskilled labourer can earn Mk. 200 per week. A student, by 35 hours’ office work, can earn Mk. 100 per week only. A minimum wage scheme has, however, been established in Berlin, and students are begged not to take less than Mk. 5 per hour for teaching; Mk. 4.50 per hour for manual labour; Mk. 3 per hour for ordinary office work. 4. Students all over Germany and German Austria are organised into the Allgemeine Studentenausschiisse of the Deutsch- studentenschaft. These A. St. A., as they are called, care for the general economic interests of students, promoting kitchens and other co-operative schemes. The readiness of the German students to help each other is shown by a voluntary tax imposed by A. St. A. on all its members who have incomes over Mk. 4oo per month. Those having incomes over Mk. 4oo pay 2% into fund for poor students. Those over Mk. 500 pay 3%. 8 C.—_STUDENT NEED IN Numbers, Budapest.—University, 5,237 students ; 3,471 students; other Colleges, 2,000 students. HUNGARY. Technical College, N.B.—About 35% are refugee students from the Universities of Pozsony and Kolosvar, now in Czech and Roumanian_ territory respectively. Investigation. The following statistics have been compiled from 3,497 answers to a careful questionnaire. They apply to University students only, but are representative of others, and have been checked by personal investigation. Comparative Cost of Living, 1914 and 1919. IQI4. Flour 1 Kilogramme Fat Sugar Eegs... Wealwaisso. SOapieteibar SHURE eee Suit One pile of Wood. Food Facts. ae °20 1°00 -86 “08 1°20 “40 2°50 80°00 18 00 TO 20pm lel 10°gO I20°00 56°00 B20 go 38°00 400.00 2500— 5000 1600°00 Amongst students answering the questionnaire there were found to™bez— Students eating only one meal per diem ; », two meals Clothing Facts. Fed 2.4% 23-4% Amongst students answering the questionnaire there were found to be :— Students owning two suits ASA), + - one suit 2A ATs Pm _ no full suit epee 5 A no overcoat isp els 7 . two shirts ... 137, : “ one shirt only 1.8% Me f no shirt hie ne 252%, . rr three pairs of stockings only... 16% 29 9 two oe) ” 13% ” re) one 9 ” 8% $ oi no stockings Fe Ga N.B.—One pair of stockings costs Kr. 300 daily meal for one month. the price of chief Health Facts. 1914. 69% of students treated in University Hospital. 1g20. 19% ” ” re) ” N.B.—Rapid spread of tuberculosis and venereal diseases. Minimum Expenses of a Student per Month. Food (two meals per diem) = Kr. 600 TROOI ge oe bbe de etoO Laundry ... _ Se ee i 64. Baths and soap ... ye ie . 50 Repairs ... mre 3 50 Fees and materials for study ie Be eis Total Pe Keto 32 N.B.—This includes nothing for new clothes. Compare this with Average Earnings possible for Students, viz. Kr. 620. Income of families of Students. State salaries of all kinds of officials have been levelled to Kr. 1,500 per month. Percentage of children of state officials amongst all students 34% , Ag Fs art and philosophy students Mert 590 ¥ amongst all students, Brenden of State ene ionersné 62% N.B.—State Pensions have not been raised since the war. Self Help Facts. Amongst 3,497 students. Students receiving no support from family _... eee O37, Students who are wage earning we a ae Ale z 0 N.B—Among wage-earning students 46% have parents or rela- tives dependent on them. Answers to questionnaire show that the vast majority of students who are not wage-earning are seeking work but cannot find it. Transylvanian Refugee Students formed Society of 900 mem- bers for mutual help; they obtained 178 bags of wool from American Relief. The technical students worked it up into 250 metres of cloth for their members. Women students, members of Women Students Christian Union, started a mending scheme, collected men students’ clothes and mended them for small fee; continued this till material and sewing cotton no longer available. A number of women students are working under American Relief in organising, after a short course of training, children’s meals. Io Facts Aggravating Situation of Hungarian Students. 1. Long periods of war service retarding students. Stucents having served over 5 years on 6% ” 9) ” re) 4 5 tee Looe 39 99 ” ” 3 ” wee 14% 9 ” ” 9 2 9 eee ya : 3 », less than = 19% 2. Reduction of Hungarian territory by two-thirds under Peace Treaty. Doubling of population of Budapest during war, involving terrible overcrowding. Enormous numbers of refugees are living in the railway vans they arrived in. 3. War and successive revolutions, and foreign occupations. 4. Statistics given are certainly an underestimate of need, as many of the students are ashamed to state their need; the most needy and suffering are those who have been forced to abandon their studies and therefore do not figure in statistics. 5. N.B.—These statistics were collected in May, 1920. At the date of writing, September, 1920, word comes from Hungary that all prices have risen considerably since May. STUDENT NEEDS IN POLAND. Total Number of Students—25,000. (Numbers uncertain owing to military fluctuations.) Universities—6. 2 old, Krakow, Lvoff (Lemberg); 4 newly established, Warsaw Wilno, Lublin, and Poznany (Posen). 1. Housing Facts. The Housing difficulty is acute; students are reduced to sleeping in waiting rooms, on staircases, etc. Room in slums of Warsaw (without heat or attendance) costs Mk. 300—Mk. 500 per month, and will be shared by 4 or 5 students. The available hostels accommodate only one-thirtieth to one- fiftieth of the students. These Hostels were, without exception, occupied by Austrian or Russian soldiers during the war, and all bedding, kitchen utensils, fittings and furniture have been removed or destroyed. A typical Men’s Hostel in Warsaw contains 63 rooms, and 250 students; there are only 183 bedsteads, 133 bedcovers, 122 pillow- cases, 124 sheets, 10 towels, and a few kitchen utensils; no washing utensils, no bookshelves. 2. Clothing Facts. Man’s suit costs Mk. 4,000. A Pair of Shoes costs Mk. 1,000. Students are practically without underclothing. Women are in worse case than men, as majority of men are still wearing uniform. II Stockings, socks and shoes urgently needed. Combs and soap are prohibitive, as a comb costs Mk. 60, bad Polish soap costs Mk. 60 a kg., and Sunlight soap Mk. 120 a kg. The soap famine is exceedingly serious, owing to the prevalence of typhus, a lice-carried disease. A certain amount of food is supplied by the Government to the students in the Army, as most of them are just now. At present the women students suffer worse than the men from lack of food and clothing, but when demobilisation takes place, and the men return to the universities, there will probably be a famine both of food and clothes, which will affect the men even worse than the women. In Krakow it is reckoned, by a representative student organisa- tion, that out of the 5,000 students in the University, Mining School, Engineering School, Commercial Academy and Academy of Arts, 1,500 at least are in real destitution. Of these, 375 are women, 1,125 men. Self Help. 1. Even in normal times students are usually self-supporting and receive no assistance from their parents. They must teach or work in offices at least 3 hours daily, and at present many work a larger number of hours. 2. Polish students have a genius for co-operation, and in each university are organised one or more Students’ Unions, whose object is the economic welfare of the student. These Unions run Hostels, Restaurants, Food and Clothing Distribution schemes. 3. A student’s average earnings are Mk. 500, in no way in proportion to increase in cost of living. Highest salary of a professor Mk. 6,o0o0o—lowest, Mk. 1,200. 4. Poland needs her students, and needs them to finish their courses as early as possible. There is a terrible shortage of doctors. In Galician Poland there is only one doctor to every 150,000 inhabitants, and since the typhus epidemic began, 46 doctors in that region have died of typhus. This leaflet is intended for the use of National Student Movements and Committees engaged in Student Relief work. It is meant to serve as a basis for the production of national Student Relief literature, rather than for general distribution. WORLD'S STUDENT CHRISTIAN FEDERATION EUROPEAN STUDENT RELIEF. JOHN R. MOTT, CONRAD HOFFMANN, RUTH ROUSE, Chairman, Executive Secretary, Publicity Secretary, 347. Madison Avenue, 3 rue General Dufour, 28, Lancaster Road, New York City, Geneva, Switzerland. Wimbledon, London, $.W.19. , ae > a - sd r- ~ ta Aone t : sh. o - ots ~%; mn x} . ee fa! = J we. a ‘ avd €} TQ iP f . ee r : rire Sete L 2 - wel 244 « €e4 se. . “ts ® - : “pe re ) ty > p 4] a? M . * f * ’ r ri} » 4 ‘ ha c “ Fa ‘ . . rf * + 6 J © , & - wk > F a * ee wl ' é ¥ ‘ * - : . re : . J i . - + . Ps . : s a 4 7 i ‘ alae ae a ’ re ‘ . = yee o> - +4 er Pr k 4 Bie - ” “2 ~ * r t ‘ 4 2 r - ® . > ‘ - . - P ~ ) ‘ ‘ ' 4 - ~ - t . oa ’ ¥ . 4 . F 7 - “ . ; - 1% , i - - i #7 as i iad lo a sifoars i a “ iz» : steed ce) Co adistade laiesiag sol aeigad shin “oe aa ok fy ays Wi ge Pes E, eects: peer ts asad Cee a Pte ere ry RET i BONE iti derbi 7 _ :