Government Tactics End Possibility for Jews to Teach in Its Schools

The tactics of the government have led to the elimination of the single Jewish Teachers’ Institute in Poland, it was learned yesterday.

The Institute was the only recognized school for the training of teachers acceptable for posts in government schools. As a result of what has transpired there will no longer be a possibility for Jewish teachers to be assigned to posts in government schools, even in Jewish schools maintained by the government.

For months, the authorities have been endeavoring to find a way to end the functions of the Institute.

At first the authorities requested that the opening of the Institute be delayed. Four months later, after Jewish deputies in the Polish Sejm had complained against the government’s tactics, a new pretext was offered to prevent the school from opening. This time the authorities asked that the name of the Institute be changed. This was carried out. When the authorities were informed of the fulfillment of the request, they replied that they had no objection to the school’s reopening, but there was one important reservation. The school with its new name could no longer enjoy the same rights as the same school with the old name had enjoyed. Translated into practical terms, this ruling meant that graduates of the institute would not be recognized as teachers by the government and could not secure posts.

The government’s tactics in the present instance are scored as part of a general policy toward the Jewish schools.

Dr. Josiah Thon, president of the Club of Jewish Deputies, described the subterfuges employed by the government to bring about the closing of schools employing Jewish teachers and whose students are Jews, in an interpellation submitted to the Sejm.

Dr. Thon detailed the ridiculous pretexts employed by the government, such as allegations of not complying with building requirements, to bring about the closing of schools.