Economic Lot of Estonia’s 5,000 Jews Seen Much Improved

IMPROVED POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE MARKEDLY REFLECTED IN THE POSITION OF THE 5,000 JEWS IN THE LAND. WITH THE ROUTING OF THE ESTONIAN FASCIST MOVEMENT – THE SO-CALLED “FIGHTERS FOR FREEDOM” – ANTI-SEMITIC AGITATION, WHICH FOR A SHORT PERIOD LAST YEAR CAUSED DEEP CONCERN TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY, HAS, TO ALL INTENTS, CEASED AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY THEREFORE ENJOYS A STATE OF SECURITY NOT SHARED BY THE JEWS IN THE OTHER BALTIC STATES.

ECONOMICALLY, THE GENERAL IMPROVEMENT IN CONDITIONS NOTED HERE HAS ALSO BENEFITED THE JEWISH POPULATION. THE GREAT LACK OF OPENINGS FOR PROFESSIONALS, WHICH IS FELT WITH ESPECIAL SEVERITY BY THE JEWS, IS ONE LARGELY SHARED BY THE GERMAN MINORITY AND THE ESTONIAN MAJORITY AS WELL.

BECAUSE OF THIS “OVER-PRODUCTION” OF INTELLECTUAL ELEMENTS, THE UNIVERSITIES THIS AUTUMN INTRODUCED COMPETITIVE ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS AND TOOK OTHER MEASURES – SUCH AS REDUCTION OF THE NUMBER OF STUDENT UNIONS – TO DECREASE THE NUMBER OF “INTELLECTUALS.”

SOME FEARS WERE FELT IN THIS CONNECTION THAT A NUMERUS CLAUSUS FOR JEWISH STUDENTS MIGHT BE INTRODUCED UNOFFICIALLY BY THE EXAMINERS. THESE FEARS TURNED OUT TO BE GROUNDLESS. JEWISH YOUTHS TOOK THE EXAMINATIONS AND WERE ADMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE PRINCIPAL JEWISH STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS WILL REMAIN.

A FACTOR IN THE POLITICO-ECONOMIC SPHERE STANDS OUT – THERE IS NO SEMI-OFFICIAL ANTI-SEMITISM IN THIS COUNTRY AS THERE IS IN CERTAIN NEIGHBOURING STATES, AND THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT POLICY OF SEEKING TO ELIMINATE JEWS FROM CERTAIN ECONOMIC FIELDS.

THE ESTONIAN GOVERNMENT HAS ADOPTED A LIBERAL POLICY WITH REGARD TO THE TWO CULTURAL MINORITIES IN THE COUNTRY – THE GERMAN AND THE JEWISH – ALLOWING THEM CONSIDERABLE LEEWAY AND AUTONOMY IN THE CONDUCT OF THEIR COMMUNAL ORGANIZATIONS AND SCHOOLS. UNDER A RECENT AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION, THE TWO COMMUNITIES ALTERNATE IN HAVING A REPRESENTATIVE IN THE PARLIAMENT. THE JEWS HAVE THE REPRESENTATION AT PRESENT.

CULTURALLY, ESTONIAN JEWS ARE NOT TOO HAPPY ABOUT THEIR POSITION. OWING TO THE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES HERE, MANY OF THE BETTER ELEMENTS EMIGRATE. DESPITE THEIR CULTURAL AUTONOMY AND A JEWISH SCHOOL SYSTEM, A GREAT NUMBER OF ESTONIAN JEWISH CHILDREN ATTEND THE ESTONIAN SCHOOLS AS IN TIMES PAST THEY ATTENDED THE RUSSIAN AND GERMAN SCHOOLS. JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFE IS GREATLY RESTRICTED – THERE ARE FEW JEWISH COMMUNAL ENDEAVORS, NO JEWISH NEWSPAPERS AND LITTLE DEVELOPMENT OF PURELY JEWISH CULTURE. A GREAT MANY JEWS – PERHAPS A MAJORITY – USE ESTONIAN AS THEIR PRINCIPAL LANGUAGE.

INTERMARRIAGE IS HIGH. ACCORDING TO THE LATEST FIGURES, THE PERCENTAGE OF MIXED MARRIAGES IS HIGH – 12.7 PER THOUSAND. THIS IS IN SHARP CONTRAST WITH THE CONDITIONS PREVAILING IN THE OTHER BALTIC STATES.