A general census of Jews probably will be the first practical measure undertaken by the French Government following promulgation of the Jewish Statute last week, it was learned reliably today. (A census of Jews in occupied France has already been taken.)
There has been little comment in the press on the statute except for publication of the explanatory statement issued by the official Havas News Agency with some slight variations.
The newspapers Le Jour and Le Journal accuse former premier Leon Blum as the “true author of the Jewish Statute.” They give fantastic figures regarding the number of Jews in France, claiming there are now 600,000 in the country. Le Journal states that Jews numbered 100,000 before the “big invasion of 1936-1939.”
While exact figures are not available, competent sources indicate that the number of Jews in European France never exceeded 400,000, foreigners and refugees included.
Meanwhile, the Jewish population is stunned by the severity of the new restrictions and panic reigns among foreign Jews, who fear wholesale transfer to special concentration camps.
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