The appointment and almost immediate dismissal of Dr. Noah Shapiro from a professorship in the medical faculty of the University of Kaunas created a sensation in Jewish circles.
Dr. Shapiro, noted chemist, for eight years a member of the medical faculty of the university, was appointed to the chair of chemistry this year.
According to a report in the Jewish Voice of Kaunas, Dr. Shapiro’s work, which is known in scholarly circles all over the world, led to his appointment. This Fall, when he began his first lecture, a large group of anti-Semitic students from other schools in the university gathered in the corridors of the medical building and created a disturbance, demanding his immediate dismissal.
The dean of the medical school appeared on the scene and instead of commanding students to leave the building ordered Dr. Shapiro to halt his lecture. A few days later, the chemist was dismissed and a non-Jew appointed to his place.
The incident, according to the Jewish Voice, is merely one of a number of anti-Semitic acts in the university against Jewish students and teachers, which indicates how meaningless are the claims of equal treatment for all. Jewish students are discriminated against and out of a total faculty of 433 members, only five are Jews.
Dr. Shapiro’s dismissal was motivated only by anti-Semitism, the paper contends, since he not only speaks Lithuanian, ignorance of which is frequently advanced as an objection to the appointment of Jewish teachers, but has actually written books on chemistry in that tongue.
He also has written books in other languages, and his work, including a number of important chemical discoveries, has been subject to comment by learned journals in many countries. As a result of his work the University of Kaunas acquired an international reputation.
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.
