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Jews of Cracow Fear Pogrom As Anti-semites Attack Jewish Students

November 17, 1929
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There were repeated anti-Semitic student demonstrations within the University yesterday. Students belonging to the National Democratic party as well as to the Polish Association, refused to permit Jewish medical students to attend lectures or other classes. Those Jewish students who had reached the lecture halls were expelled.

In the vicinity of the University, students gathered, and together with rowdies, mistreated Jewish students and Jewish passersby. During the afternoon a meeting of Polish students was held in the court of the University. Anti-Semitic speeches were made and the introduction of a numerus clausus was demanded.

The Polish students not only attacked Jewish students in the neighborhood of the University, but also gathered a mob and invaded the Jewish quarter, where they beat Jewish residents. One, Jacob Schechter, was seriously hurt. Attacks were also made on the office of a Zionist weekly paper. All of the Jewish stores in the (Continued on Page 4)

The Jewsih students’ houses, the Hebrew gymnasium and the office of the Jewish daily newspaper in Cracow, “Nowy Dziennik,” were guarded by special police detachments. A statement issued yesterday by the police declared that the day previous, Jews had attacked Polish students sitting in front of the University, one of whom was badly beaten. The Polish students yesterday took revenge for that attack by beating up one Jewsih student whom they recognized as being one of those responsible for the previous affair.

The Polish Minister of Education telephoned the Rector of the University, warning him that unless the anti-Semitic outbreaks ceased, the University would be closed for six months. An appeal to the Polish students, asking them for order, has been published by the Rector.

The Polish Students Organization has appealed to the Central Committee of Polish Academic Organizations to adopt its decision favoring numerus clausus for Jewish students at all Polish universities. The Jewish Academic Organization has decided to institute an energetic fight against a numerus clausus.

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