J. D. B. News Letter

The Prime Minister, M. Vayda-Voyvod , has promised a number of important concessions to the Jewish population in the course of an interview with a delegation of the members of the Jewish Party, Deputies Dr. Ebner, Dr. Josef Fischer, Advocate M. Landau, and E. Marton, accompanied by Dr. Stern, the General Secretary of the Jewish Party.

The Jewish Deputies began by raising the question of the Nationality Law. They pointed out that under the existing law tens of thousands of inhabitants, Jews and also non-Jews, are denied Roumanian citizenship and are consequently Stateless, people without a country. They reminded the Prime Minister that he himself had in 1919 signed the Minorities Treaty, under which these people should have been given Roumanian citizenship.

The Prime Minister promised that the Minister of Justice would appoint a special commission to go into this matter and that during this autumn the Nationality Law would be amended, to put an end to the Stateless position of these tens of thousands of inhabitants of the country.

The Jewish Deputies then brought up the question of the Communities Law. They pointed out that the Communities Law enacted by the former Minister of Education and Public Worship, M. Vlad, in the Maniu Government of which M. Vayda-Voyvod was a member, had created chaos in Jewish life. The Jewish Communities had no official existence; they had no taxation rights and they were generally handicapped in their work. They reminded the Premier that the entire Jewish population of Roumania, belonging to all movements and parties, had united in protest against the Vlad Law and demanded its abolition.

The Prime Minister said that he was willing to consider measures to extend the autonomy of the Jewish Communities, and to enable them to organize as speedily as possible. The Premier’s attention was drawn to efforts that had been made by outside people to interfere in the internal affairs of the Jewish Community, and he assured the Daputies that such things would not be allowed to recur.

On the question of Sabbath observance, the Prime Minister said that he would take measures to enable Jewish artisans to work on Sundays if they really observe the Sabbath. The Government would provide facilities in this respect, in the same way as in the question of Sabbath observance by Jewish children attending Government schools.

The Minister of Education, M. Dimitri Gusti, was called in to take part in the discussions on the Jewish schools question. The Premier and the Minister of Education both declared that the Government is anxious to find a satisfactory method of solving the difficulty with regard to providing Jewish teachers for the Jewish schools. Unfortunately, the present financial situation of the country did not allow the Government at the moment to establish a Jewish Teacher’s Seminary as the Jewish Deputies demanded. An agreement was reached, however, between the Government spokesmen and the Jewish Deputies that the rights of the existing Jewish teachers should not be affected, and in order to enable additional teachers to qualify, short term courses will be arranged for Jewish teachers who have matriculated, and who will on passing the examinations receive diplomas entitling them to the same rights as all other teachers who hold the teachers’ certificate. The Prime Minister also promised to speak with the Minister of Finance about the subsidies for the Jewish schools.

The Prime Minister also promised to go into the question of the subsidies for the Jewish Communities, and the salaries of the Jewish teachers when the Government draws up its next budget, and said that the subsidies for 1932 will be paid regularly each month.

The Jewish Deputies drew the attention of the Premier to the difficult economic position of the Jewish population, and the heavy burden of taxation borne by the town population to which the Jews mainly belong, in comparison with the villages. The position of the Jewish co-operatives was also discussed.

The Prime Minister has arranged to discuss the economic questions again with the Jewish Deputies at greater length in the presence of the Ministers in charge of the economic departments.

The attention of the Prime Minister was drawn to the brutal methods employed by the local administrations against the Zionist youth organization, and he promised the Jewish Deputies to see that this matter should be regulated in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Zionist Organization.

The Prime Minister, in conclusion, expressed his readiness at all times to consider the problems of interest to the Jewish population and to endeavor to satisfy their demands.