The movement launched by the French extremist youth to restrict the entrance of Jewish and alien students into French universities should not be misunderstood. It is not aimed against those Jewish students who were born in France. It is aimed chiefly against the thousands of students from Eastern countries as well as from America.
With the doors of the universities in Poland, Rumania and other countries practically closed to Jewish students, the more enterprising Jewish youth from these East European countries are making their way to France, where they continue their education in the universities of Nancy and Paris. The majority of them, after being graduated, return to their native lands to practice their professions. A certain proportion of them, however, remains in France. Here they become naturalized and here they open their offices.
It is against these that the extremists are protesting. They demand that no foreigner should be permitted to practice law or medicine or engineering in the country, not even if he graduated from a French university.
It is very possible that as a result of the anti-alien campaign of the extremists, a law will soon be promulgated which will prohibit alien students from practicing in France after graduation from French universities unless they had been naturalized not less than ten years before. It seems, however, that even this projected compromise will little satisfy the extremists. They want to have France for the French, and they are opposed to overcrowding the professional field with people not actually born in France.
The riots which took place yesterday in Nancy and in Paris will probably be repeated. It is, however, hardly probable that the French government will give in. France has always been a country of refuge for all persecuted, and the French universities will no doubt continue to remain open for students from those countries where all types of Humerus clausus are being practiced. Regulations may, however, be expected, making it impossible for any alien student to practice in France after graduation, and making it difficult for him to obtain naturalization.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
