lay the foundation for personal fortunes in the manner their brethren have done this in the United States, coming at a time like this when children are going about hollow-eyed, when millions are in the midst of the blackest misery, is about as effective and helpful as telling them that there is a mine of radium waiting for the grabbing below the Northern Lights. The simple truth of the matter is that the Roumanians won’t let the Jews lay a foundation for economic independence and individual prosperity. Jewish credit banks are being closed. Their coperatives cramped in their activity by official decree.
Only a change of attitude on the part of the Roumanian Government towards its Jewish citizens, a little official good will and support, and the funds coming from America could in reality be made the basis for a happier lot for the Jewish masses of Roumania.
AMERICAN BEAU GESTE NEEDED
The Jewish situation here requires a geste from the brethren in America and elsewhere. A geste that will make M. Maniu and his henchmen realize that they cannot go on flaunting the laws of decency and democracy forever. A geste that will give the Roumanian Jews a new vision and a new hope. Once hope returns, the miraculous recuperating power of the Jewish people will do the rest.
The terrible alternative is that the prediction of General Oprescu is about to be fulfilled, that the living in Roumania’s Jewry will envy the dead.
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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.