Special Minorities Statute Would Be Misfortune Dr. Filderean President of Union of Roumnian Jews Say

Professor Jorga has since the war repeatedly and emphatically declared that he is opposed to antisemitism, and when he took office as Prime Minister he reiterated this in his statement to the representatives of the press, ex-Deputy Dr. William Filderman, the President of the Union of Roumanian Jews, said in discussing the new Government with the J.T.A. representative here. Taken together with the presence of M, Constantin Argetoianu as a member of the new Cabinet, Dr. Filderman went on, this is an assurance that the present Government will safeguard the peaceful existence and the civil rights of the Jewish population. If any disturbances of the peace should, nevertheless, occur, I am hopeful and confident, he said, that the Government will not hesitate to suppress them, and I believe that it will be in a position to do this.

Speaking of the appointment of ex-Deputy Brandach, of the German Minority Party in Roumania, to be Under-Secretary of State Mr National Minorities in the new Government, Dr. Filderman said that M. Brandsch’s person is a guarantee that he will engage in proper and beneficial policy towards the minorities. Dr. Filderman added, however, that he is definitely opposed to a special minorities statute, which he would regard as a misfortune. The rights of the minorities, he said, can be very well maintained within the framework of the existing laws, and develop with them, while to fix them in the form of a special statute would cause dissatisfaction among all sections, and for the minorities it would be a hindrance to their development.

The “Bukowinaer Volkszeitung”, the organ of the Union of Roumanian Jews in the Province of Bukovina, welcomes the declaration which Professor Jorga has made in his statement to the Press that his Government will put down all antisemitic manifestations and excesses, and goes on to recall an interview which Professor Jorga gave to a representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last October, in the course of which the present Premier said:

One would have expected the Roumanian intellectuals to place themselves at the head of a movement against antisemitism, and to stand for a policy of far-reaching tolerance and humanity, which would allow the various nationalities to develop freely within the framework of the Roumanian State, and would secure for the Roumanian people its untramelled development and prosperity. I myself, unfortunately, cannot assume the leadership in the fight against antisemitism. Any initiative which I might take in this regard would only encounter the closed front of the professional politicians, and it would be either totally ignored, or it would be subjected to calumny.

This, the paper says, is how Professor Jorga spoke last October. To-day Professor Jorga has broken down the closed front of the professional politicians and has taken control as the Prime Minister of the country. That the Jews must behave as human beings, as he said, no one will question. But the Jews are also Roumanian citizens, and they have a right to obtain from their fatherland not only human treatment, but also equal treatment as is due to citizens. As the Prime Minister of the country, the paper concludes, Professor Jorga can no longer decline the leadership in the fight against antisemitism, and in this spirit we welcome the stand taken by the new Premier towards the Jewish problem in Roumania.