A unique court case in which 11,000 Jewish citizens of Rumania are suing the Ministry of Public Worship, opened in Czernowitz today before the Supreme Administrative Court and, after a brief session, was postponed to April 5. The suit is the first of its kind in the history of Rumania.
The case was brought against the Ministry for the liquidation of the legally elected Jewish Community of Czernowitz. While effecting liquidation of the Community, the Ministry of Public Worship has appointed a government commissioner to supervise its affairs.
DEFEND UNIT’S LEGALITY
Dr. Karl Guthertz, the president of the dissolved Jewish Community, in appealing to the court in the name of 11,000 Jewish citizens for the annulment of the Ministry order, argued that the liquidation was illegal because the Jewish Community existed under statutes approved by the government.
Dr. Radelescu, the dean of the Czernowitz Chamber of Lawyers, appearing for the Jewish Community, pointed out that the statutes were drafted by an elected Jewish Community Council, and only an elected Jewish Council had the right to change them. The annulment of the statutes by the Ministry of Public Worship and its appointment of a government commissioner is therefore illegal, it is contended.
Dr. Menczer, the government commissioner, argued that he changed the statutes of the Jewish Community Council not on his own initiative but upon instructions from the ministry.
The change made in the statutes provides that only those Jews who pay religious taxes can
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