(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The complaints of a Jewish delegation against attacks by Roumanian students on Jewish passengers found no sympathetic response on the part of Minister of the Interior Goga.
The memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Averescu, to Goga and to the Jassy state attorney by 85 Jewish citizens stated that “we testify that Cuzist students in the course of many weeks have severely attacked and injured Jewish passengers” and that “on the night train Jassy-Balti, Jewish old men, women and children were thrown from the moving train between the stations Scumpia and Paleste. The attendants on the train aided the students. Students beat Jewish passengers from Belz with sticks studded with nails. Several of the Jewish passengers were thrown from the train as it crossed a bridge.
Following the presentation of the memorandum, the delegation called on Minister Goga. The Minister stated that “Jews also perpetrated excesses,” and “it is impossible for me to apply force against the Roumanian students. On the contrary it is necessary to improve the situation of the Roumanian students and influence them through peaceful means.”
The Jewish delegates replied that Jewish students have never perpetrated excesses and that only in a few cases did the Jewish students act in self-defense. Notwithstanding this, they were given heavy sentences, while none of the Roumanian students were ever punished.
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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.
