Jews in the countries behind the Iron Curtain who grew hopeful when de-Stalinization ended a period of anti-Semitism, are now thoroughly disillusioned, the Washington Post reported today. The report was sent from Paris by Edmond Taylor, noted American journalist, who brought out the following facts:
1. In Czechoslovakia, the secretariat of the party, the economic ministries and the diplomatic service have been almost completely purged of Jews–and President Klement Gottwald makes demagogic references to his “pure race.” Hungarian Premier Janos Kadar also likes to refer to himself as a “Hungarian of pure race.” Hungarian Vice Premier Gyorgi Marosan recently underlined the fact that the present Cabinet is almost entirely without Jews.
2. In Rumania, Jews have been eliminated from top governing posts while a large number of Jewish military officers have been retired.
3. In Poland, Premier Gomulka, who has a Jewish wife, has issued an official circular opposing racial criteria in filling posts. Nevertheless, many important Jewish civil servants have lost their jobs and Jewish army officers forcibly retired.
The Polish Communist Party’s ideological magazine “Nowe Drogi” quoted a high government official as saying that Jews should be removed from positions in all administrations where their numbers were proportionately too great, and reported that a business manager had refused a position to a Jewish woman with the words: “We must reject this comrade so there will not be too many Jews in the establishment.”
Mr. Taylor said reports reaching Paris agree “that the great majority of Jews, whether in Poland, Hungary, or Rumania, want to emigrate to Israel or elsewhere. A great number of Jews even among those most completely assimilated seem to have lost faith in any possibility of integration and dream only of getting away.”
(Rep. John L. McMillan, South Carolina Democrat who is chairman of the House District Committee, said today that more money than ever will be needed this year to help Jews escaping from Iron Curtain and Moslem countries. Rep. McMillan spoke at a fund-raising function of Greater Washington United Jewish Appeal.)
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.
