Dr. William Filderman, president of the Union of Rumanian Jews, charged today that the Rumanian Government was encouraging anti-Jewish actions by tolerating violation of law.
Declaring that the Government alone had the power to halt the present wave of anti-Semitism, he said, “The fact of the matter is the laws of Rumania are being violated on all sides, but the Government tolerates the violations.”
Pointing out that the law forbids the wearing of political uniforms, he declared that nevertheless Cuzists walk the streets in uniform and maintain so-called “blue houses” in the center of the city. He added that Nazi swastikas are flown from numerous buildings the country over.
“The press is under censorship to prevent incitement of one section of the population against another,” he continued, “but the anti-Jewish press is permitted to publish pogrom propaganda. Acts of lawlessness such as destruction of newspapers are perpetrated openly, the authorities tolerating them.
“Under such circumstances no one but the Government is to blame for the growing anti-Jewish disorders and for the consequences to which they may lead if Government laxity continues.”
The entire democratic press denounced Tuesday’s attack on Dr. Filderman at the Supreme Court Building as “a desecration of the emblem of justice.”
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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.
