Citizenship of at Least 40,000 Jews to Be Revoked; 50,000 Held Stateless Already

Whatever may be the character of the measures of the new Rumanian Government against the Jews, it is certain that it will revoke the citizenship of at least 40,000, the Rumanian press reports here. This number includes only Jews in the annexed provinces naturalized since the War under the international agreements for minority rights embodied later in the Rumanian Constitution.

In addition to this number, there are about 50,000 Rumanian-born Jews whom the Government considers as “stateless” and subject to deportation since they failed to exercise their rights and opt for the citizenship which had been denied to them in the Old Kingdom of Rumania before the War.

Though the Jewish population of the Old Kingdom before the War, according to official statistics, was 243,225, no Jew, under the then existing laws, could become a citizen unless citizenship was voted him by a majority of the Parliament. Thus, in the course of forty years, prior to the World War, only about 200 Jews of the entire Jewish population of the old Rumanian Kingdom became citizens. About 800 more Jews were granted citizenship after the war with Turkey, in 1877, in recognition of their war services. The bulk of the Rumanian-born Jewish population became Rumanian citizens only after the World War in 1919, under the international agreements guaranteeing equal rights for all minorities and under special Rumanian decrees embodied in the Rumanian Constitution in 1923.

In order to receive this citizenship, regardless of Rumanian birth, Jews had to apply for it. It is now estimated that about 50,000 Rumanian-born Jews neglected to apply for citizenship out of ignorance of the law. Most of them are residents of villages and small towns. These Jews, whose fathers and forefathers were born on Rumanian soil, are now to be considered “stateless” and may be deported. Among them are widows of Jews who fell fighting for Rumania in the World War as well as children of ex-service men.

As to the Jews in the annexed provinces who were naturalized after the War, in accordance with the minorities protection agreements, their number is now estimated at about half a million, since the official date gives the number of Jews in all Rumania as 721,000. This number includes Jews who were formerly Austrian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Russian citizens, but became Rumanian after the territories where they resided were annexed by Rumania.

The J.T.A. learns from a reliable source here that at the end of the War there were 232,000 Jews in Old Rumania, 265,000 Jews in Bessarabia, 120,000 Jews in Bucovina and 170,000 Jews in Transylvania. The number of Jewish refugees in Rumania never exceeded 50,000.