David Rah, a staff member of the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that the recent Congressional trip to Rumania, led by Rep. Charles Vanik (D. Ohio), “was rather successful, particularly in terms of immigration to Israel” by Rumanian Jews who wish to immigrate.
Rohr, who accompanied the delegation, said “It was determined that the Rumanian government is living up to the commitments it made last summer to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish (Organizations) as far as registrations and relaxing procedures for those Jews who wish to immigrate to Israel. We had a lengthy meeting with Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen and determined from that meeting that the Rumanians are complying with their 1979 agreement,” he said.
Rohr told the JTA that the delegation will submit several reports on its trip, including one being sent to President Carter today. His report of the situation and similar reports last week by Jack Spitzer, president of B’nai B’rith International, and Alfred Moses, vice president of the American Jewish Committee, indicate that the renewal of most-favored-nation trade status for Rumania will be recommended to the U.S. government.
Spitzer and Moses were in Rumania as representatives of the Presidents Conference. Spitzer said that if the Rumanian government’s compliance with the 1979 agreement continues, he would recommend that the Presidents Conference favor renewal of MFN status for another year. It was renewed on a year-to-year basis as a result of the agreement although President Nicolae Ceausescu of Rumania has been pressing for an unlimited extension.
JEWISH POPULATION OF RUMANIA
Meanwhile, Spitzer released a demographic study of the Jewish population of Rumania prepared by Chief Rabbi Rosen which apparently settles once and for all the controversy over how many. Jews reside in that country. According to the data, the Jewish population in Rumania numbers 34,663. Previous estimates had ranged from 26,000 to 40,000. Approximately 400,000 Jews lived in Rumania before World War II.
About half the current Jewish population–17,129–lives in Bucharest and the remainder is scattered among 69 different communities. Spitzer observed that “it is an aging and shrinking community. Almost 52 percent are over 60 years old. Only 7.4 percent are 20 or under.”
He noted in that connection that Bucharest, for centuries the hub of a thriving Jewish culture in Rumania, now has only 445 Jewish children 10 years old or younger in contrast to 9401 Jews 60 years of age or older. There are 14 Jewish communities elsewhere in Rumania that have no one under 20, and in four there is no one under 40. Another 29 communities have only a dozen or fewer youngsters and 25 have a dozen or fewer Jews between the ages of 21 and 40, Spitzer said.
Of the 70 communities that list Jewish residents, 32 have a combined population of only 1454. A part from Bucharest, only two communities have Jewish populations exceeding 1000. “The figures tell a dramatic story, one that every Jew will look upon with mixed feelings,” the B’nai B’rith official said. “Although it is reassuring on the one hand to know that several hundred thousand Jews, survivors of the Holocaust, were able to emigrate to Israel, it is also important to realize that the future appears dim indeed for a limited yet viable Jewish community in Rumania,” he said.
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.
