(By Our Czernowitz Correspondent)
The Jews of Roumania are not an integral part of the citizenry of the country but merely “guests” who must assume a cringing attitude in order to enjoy the “hospitality” of the land. This classification has been made by no less a personage than the Prime Minister himself, General Averescu. Now the Premier has added further pain to the Jewish population through his reply to the letter from a Jewish soldier, whose brothers, father and forbears had all been Roumanian soldiers, and who complained against the anti-Jewish excesses. The Premier declared: “At any rate, I would not write a letter such as this, in which I would put myself in an unfavorable light. I would identify myself loyally with the country which was giving me hospitality.”
This assertion naturally aroused a great deal of resentment among Roumanian Jews. The mood of Roumanian Jewry has been well expressed in a letter addressed to Averescu by a Jewish citizen of Old Roumania and published by the “Ostjuedische Zeitung” of Czernowitz. The letter reads, in part:
“I appreciate your sincerity, Excellency. You are clear and outspoken and you tell us that we Jews, although the bones of our ancestors have been resting in Roumanian soil for hundreds of years, are still guests in Roumania. We are guests, despite the fact that we fulfill all our duties of citizenship exactly as the other inhabitants of the land and are prepared at any moment to defend the borders of our fatherland with our blood. I am only a plain citizen but this much I do know, that in no other civilized country does the head of the government divide the inhabitants into ‘citizens’ and ‘guests’.
“Your statement, Excellency, deeply disturbed me for it revealed to me the abyss which confronts a million of my co-religionists. For if, according to such an authority as yourself, we are merely guests then we must be prepared to meet the fate of guests.
“At any rate,” the letter continues, “you urge that we should make ourselved liked by those whose ‘hospitality’ we are enjoying. Your Excellency, we have honestly tried to do this, frequently at the cost of our own dignity. Although we Jews of Old Roumania enjoyed no citizenship rights during the war, we did our duty just as joyously as anyone else, there were proportionately as many Jewish soldiers on the battlefields as those of the rest of the population and there are plenty of officers in Roumania who can attest to the heroism of the Jews.
“We Jews of Old Roumania remained loyal under the most difficult conditions and we bore all responsibilities, certainly no less than anyone else. We speak the language of the state, we love Roumania and we have made contributions to Roumanian culture that exceed those of any other ethnical minority in the coutnry. Jews, too, have made great financial contributions in order to advance the interests of Roumanian culture. In this respect as a matter of fact, the Jews head the list.
“What else could we possibly have done to make ourselves liked?
“One of our finest assimilated Jews of Old Roumania, Aristide Blank, spent an immense fortune for the advancement of Roumanian culture and through his millions Roumanian students who went to study abroad were subsidized. He zealously strove for his fellowcountrymen’s love–but one day these same students, whom he loves and helps, attacked and beat him.
“Thus, your Excellency, all our efforts seem to have been in vain. We assimilated Jews of Old Roumania are not one degree better liked than the Jews in the annexed provinces. The only thing we seem to have achieved through our striving for the love of our country is that we have become removed from Judaism, without gaining the esteem or friendship of the Roumanian people.
“Those who hate us,” the writer of the letter says further, “hate us not for our faults but for our qualities. Is it a fault when our youth is eager for knowledge and strives in large numbers for a University education? Is it a fault when the Jewish merchant acts on the principle: “small profit and large turnover”; and thereby, to the benefit of the national interest, causes keen competition? Is it a fault when Jews are peaceful and industrious and are seeking to make Roumanian industry independent of foreign industry?
“It is against such ‘faults’ that the Roumanian anti-Semites are waging war. We must become dumb, poor and weak in order to enjoy grace in the eyes of those who otherwise do not desire to love, but to hate us. At such a price, however, their love would be tcodear.”
Plans for the preliminary work on the ## house of wonship and community building to be erected by Temple Emanu-Elat the northease comer of Fifith Avenue and Sixty-fifth Street. New York City. were filed with the Manhatian Bureau of Buildings. Plans for the structure were drawn by R. D. Kohn. Carles Butler and C. S. Stein, who estimate the cost of the building will be ##
The plet is the former residence of Vincent Astor. who sold the property to Benjamin Winter early in 1925.
In January. ## Supreme Court Justice Levy granted the application of Temple Emanu El to dispose of its croperty building to Mr. Winter. The value of the Temple. which has housed the congregation since 1565. and the pler. which it had owned since 1560, was placed at about ## or about ###
The first week in the campaign in Ro## N. Y., to raise $50,000 for the United Palestine Appeal exceeded all pre#### for Palestine in the city, with #### towards the quota. The ## is under the chairmanship of Henry M. Stree.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
