J.D.B. News Letter

(By our Bucharest Correspondent)

At the moment, the news that the Roumanian Government had disbanded the Anti-Semitic Union of Christian Students, made a good impression upon the Jewish community. Only a few months passed, however, and the corpse gave signs of renewed life and offered new scandals as evidence of its survival.

This time it is in the form of a communication, made public in the press, asking the Military Department not to send any more money to the address of a certain woman, named Petresko. Evidently she had lost the confidence of the students who found it necessary to immediately deny her association with them.

This communication, which clearly indicates that the Cuzists are direcly supported by military units, and not by individual officers, has stirred up the entire Roumanian Jewish community. Even the “Courierul Israelite,” organ of he Union of Roumanian Jews, has sounded an alarm and addressed a very pertinent inquiry to the Minister of War. All pointed out, and with justification, that if this is tolerated, it means dragging the army into politics, with the result that the Jewish tax payers are charged with financial support of the Cuza movement. Unwillingly, the extraordinary behavior of the military detachments during the excesses at Oradea-Mare was recalled, and much that was previously befogged suddenly became clear.

The Minister of War has not, up to the present, offered any explanation. Lately the Roumanian Government has been in hot water on account of the Cuzists and does not know how to extricate itself from the scandals which the anti-Semites daily perpetrate.

Only recently the Roumanian press has burst forth into a paen of joy anent the success Roumania has lately enjoyed abroad. The occasion for this loud trumpeting was the Conference of the League of Nations Societies held recently at The Hague. After many negotiations, the Roumanian question was introduced on the agenda of the Conference. The Roumanian representative expressed to the Conference regret for the anti-Semitic outbreaks and pledged the word of his Government that steps would be taken to prevent their recurrence. The Conference accepted this explanation, after the Jewish Delegation had given its consent.

A sort of moral “Daltonism” seems to have been adopted by all ranks of the Roumanian community, including the Democrats. They seem to have accepted with equanimity the bad reputation which Roumania has abroad, their only concern being to silence the protests. Staving off such a protest, they call “success,” and rejoice like small children, who temporarily ward off punishment.

This estimate of the situation finas substantiation in the manner in which the Roumanian Government is preparing itself for a similar “success,” namely, the International Students’ Congress which is to be held in Paris in August. The Roumanian students studying in Paris, informed the Union of Christian Students in Bucharest that a motion was being seriously considered in student circles in countries throughout the world to exclude Roumanian students from the next Congress on account of the excesses at Oradea-Mare. This occurred after the Easter holidays. Immediately the Roumanian Anti Semitic Students’ Union communicated with the highest Students Councils, offering explanations for its act. These explanations, however, failed to satisfy, Recently the Roumanian Minister of Foreign Affairs received a report from Geneva that it was finally decided to exclude the Roumanian Students from the Paris Congress. This motion was introduced by the English students and had the support of the American. Italian, Jugoslavic, Swiss and Hungarian delegations.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs immediately got in touch with the Students’ Organization, disbanded by the Government order. He pointed out that the prestige of Roumania was involved, and that it devolved upon them to prevent their own exclusion, Money was the first demand of Lorin Popescu, President of the Union. The Minister, however, refused to allot the necessary sum on the ground be had no guarantee that the money would not be applied to Anti Semitic propaganda or private uses in the same scandalous manner as obtained during the Students Congress in Rome in 1927. This the Anti-Semitic Student leader parried with the announcement that if no money is forthcoming the students would not be responsible in the event of future anti-Semitic excesses. This virtually constitutes a threat to the Government of future pogrom tacties–a threat combined with, extortion. The Minister made no immediate reply to this threat, but it is clear that private negotiations will take place with the students and that a bargain will be made in secret.

If the Roumanian Government is making overtures to the students who are already in the Roumanian Universities. It is severe towards the high school graduates about to enter the colleges. The Baccalaureate examinations, the bane of the school boy’s life, recently were concluded. Of the 6,700 who took the examinations, only 2,900 passed, or about 43 percent. The percentage of Jewish students is even smaller. The Examiners’ Commission received very definite instructions concerning its tacties with the minorities. Accordingly, they scoured and cleaned out the ranks of the pupils belonging to the minorities with scrupulous zeal. Under such circumstances it is apparent that the largest proportion of Jewish students must prepare to leave Roumania to enroll in foreign universities.

Minister of Education Angelescu, known for his unfriendliness to the Jews, prepared an explanation in advance for the minorities. He issued a warning that only Baccalaureaes were eligible to military exemption. The result is that numerous students who failed to pass their examinations are in imminent danger of being forced to serve in the army, However, even those who have already passed their baccalaureate examinations cannot enter foreign universities either–thanks to the favor the Minister of Education conferred upon them by reducing the course of study to seven years. The foreign universities demand proof of eight years credits–with the result that the baccalaureates, too, are deprived of the right to matriculate at foreign universities.