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Jews in Bucharest Celebrated Fall of Mussolini, Rumanian Paper Charges

August 10, 1943
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Jews in Bucharest celebrated the fall of Mussolini with “joyful demonstrations in the Jewish quarter of the city,” the Rumanian anti-Semitic newspaper Porunca Vremii charges.

“The Jews,” the paper writes, “have failed to show any restraints of decency and allowed themselves to be carried away by challenging demonstrations in their homes and in the Jewish quarter.” The paper adds that “Rumanian Jews, passing themselves for Rumanians, are spreading defeatist rumors in the cafes,” and are “compromising Rumanian interests and dignity.”

The Rumanian newspaper, Timpul, reports that up to December 6, 1942, more than 92,000 buildings had been “Rumanized,” including 32,000 in Transylvania, 38,000 in Bessarabia and 22,000 in Northern Bucovina. This included 291 buildings belonging to Jewish community and welfare institutions. During the same period about 500,000 hectares land were expropriated in Bessarabia, Bucovina and Transylvania.

The Bucharest radio today reported that all business enterprises in Rumania have been ordered to employ two Rumanians for each Jew still in their employment. These instructions were issued “in order that Jewish workers could be replaced by Rumanians at a moment’s notice,” the broadcast explained.

JEWS IN SLOVAKIA JUBILANT OVER MUSSOLINI’S END, NAZI PRESS CLAIMS

Emulating the pro-Nazi press in Rumania, the Slovakian Nazi newspapers are similarly accusing the Jews of “open jubilation” over the fall of Mussolini. The newspaper Grenzbote, published in Bratislava, states that “the Jews have grown impudent and are speaking loudly of the fact that they have celebrated the fall of the Duce with thanksgiving services.” The Nazi paper urges the immediate removal of “the dangerous Jews” from Bratislava.

The Slovak Nazi paper Gardista, in similar vein, concludes that if there are certain circumstances which make the deportation of some Jews difficult, they should be confined to labor camps under most stringent control. The paper reveals that of the 95,000 Jews in Slovakia, about 18,000 are still in the country. Of them three thousand reside in Bratislava, the paper says.

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