There is no numerus clausus in Latvia today but Jewish students desiring to study medicine find it not easy to gain admission to Riga University.
Those who study abroad find it even more difficult to obtain a doctor’s license when they return from their studies as graduates of German, French or other foreign universities.
The official obstacle to practice by Jews in Latvia revolves around a special examination in the Latvian language which every physician, lawyer and pharmacist must take as a preliminary to admission for practice in the country. Practically, this examination has been totally eliminated when non-Jews who studied abroad are concerned.
While making it difficult for the Jewish youth to matriculate in Latvian educational institutions of higher learning, the government also endeavors to curtail the number of those who, notwithstanding the obstacle imposed, have succeeded in passing their examinations in the Latvian language and qualified for licenses as professionals who graduated abroad. This endeavor is made evident by the decision of the authorities to limit the number of foreign students found eligible for state examinations. The quota for lawyers has been kept a secret. But it is known that one year the quota for physicians was ten; the next year, it was reduced to five and that this year only 3 are eligible for physicians’ licenses.
This practical numerus nullus for students who graduated abroad is aimed for the most part at the Jews, with the result that many Jewish physicians are unable to apply themselves to their profession despite the fact that they possess diplomas from recognized universities.
The plight of these excluded professionals is indeed harsh. Many of them are compelled to abandon their professions and seek employment as book-keepers, translators, teachers.
A number of these young Jewish professionals, moreover, who have refused to renounce their professions, have been compelled to migrate to distant countries. Some go to Brazil, others to Argentine, and at present many are ready to go to African colonies.
Bad as the situation is at present, the Government is seeking to make it even worse. Plans have been formulated to prohibit the practice of medicine to any one who is not a graduate of a Latvian institution. This notwithstanding the fact that the majority of Latvian professors in Riga university are themselves not graduates of Latvian educational institutions.
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.
