French Sequel to Polish University Disturbances: Jewish Students at Nancy University Demonstrating a

Two Jewish students at Nancy University, Feinmesser and Wandel, have been reprimanded, and a third named Scharf has been excluded from the University for one year, by a disciplinary court of the University, consisting of 15 professors and four students, for participating in March, when the International Congress of Anatomists was meeting at Nancy, in a

demonstration of students against professor Loth, the head of the Anatomical Institute at Lemberg University, who has made himself notorious by his antisemitic attitude (he has several times barred Jewish students from the dissecting rooms, declaring that he will not allow Jews to dissect Christian corpses, and demanding that they should provide Jewish corpses for their anatomical studies).

Some of the Jewish students at Nancy University have personal knowledge of Professor Loth, whose refusal to enrol them as students because they are Jews compelled them to emigrate to France to continue their studies, and they spoke to their fellow-students about his antisemitism and about the general antisemitic feeling at the Polish universities, which constantly leads to anti-Jewish outbreaks, as happened last November. Several hundred students, Jewish and non-Jewish, thereupon organised a hostile demonstration during the course of the Congress in the University building, shouting “Down with Professor Loth!”, and repeated it later when Professor Loth was to address the Congress, preventing him from speaking. Leaflets setting out the position in the Polish Universities and the discrimination practised against Jewish students were distributed.

The three Jewish students, Feinmesser, Wandel and Scharf, were detained, but were released after the police had acquainted themselves with the contents of the leaflets. The demonstrations evoked a great deal of interest, especially in Poland, where most of the Jewish newspapers published editorials on the subject. Professor Loth complained to the Jewish Consular authorities in Nancy, alleging that Jewish students had demonstated against Poland, and the Polish Consulate approached the French authorities demanding punishment of the organisers. As the demonstration had been held in the University building, the University authorities conducted an enquiry and the three Jewish students, Feinmesser, Wandel and Scharf, whose names had been taken by the police, were called before a disciplinary court of the University. The Jewish students denied that the demonstration had been directed against Poland, and described the antisemitism that exists at the Polish Universities, and the anti-Jewish disturbances that occurred last November at the Universities of Warsaw, Vilna, Cracow and Lemberg. Advocate Rosambert appeared for the defence, in which the League Against Antisemitism participated.

The Disciplinary Court declined to go into the question of antisemitism, however, and decided that the case must be dealt with exclusively from the point of view of maintaining order in the University building.