???? ?????? is not referring to “poverty”. There wasn’t a new poverty crisis that didn’t previously exist in that timeframe. Poverty was a fact of life for centuries among European Jewry. And the term ???? ?????? is not how poverty would typically be referred to.
I believe it is dated in May 1940. But even in 1939 (the year WWII broke out) the footsteps of war were loud and clear. They weren’t considering to move talmidei yeshiva halfway across the globe to find a more prosperous lifestyle. He is saying that a ???? ??????? is worse than a ???? ??????.