The economic situation of the Jews in Rumania is still extremely precarious, Joseph Klarman, Bucharest correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, yesterday told a press conference here.
Mr. Klarman, who is in the United States for a brief visit after spending more than 18 months in Rumania, said that there are about 372,000 Jews there, most of whom wish to go to Palestine. About 150,000 are already registered for emigration to the Holy Land. More than 389,000 Rumanian Jews were massacred during the pro-Nazi regime, he reported. A third of all the survivors are in need of relief, he added, and more than 40,000 are supported by the Joint Distribution Committee. However, at least another 80,000 need aid.
Although the Government has annulled all racial and discriminatory legislation and is friendly to the Jews, it has been very slow in reinstating Jews to their former positions and has not yet returned any funds to Jews from whom the previous regime extorted millions of dollars, Klarman declared. Jewish families, the heads of which were murdered, are also not receiving any aid from the Government, although they are entitled to such assistance under a law which classifies them in the same category as families of fallen soldiers. Of the 17,000 Jewish houses confiscated by the previous regime, only 5,000 have been returned to the former owners.
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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.
