Jews Ousted from Hungarian Engineers’ Union; Catholic Group Lauds Curbs

The National Union of Engineers and Architects today expelled from membership all Jews, half-Jews and persons with Jewish spouses. At the same time, the Hungarian Athletic Club demanded the resignation of 50 Jewish members.

The Catholic Episcopal Conference adopted a resolution approving Government measures to curb participation of Jews in the nation’s economic and cultural life. The resolution expressed satisfaction that the Government was “seeking to counteract encroachment of the Jewish spirit upon the interests of Christian society.” The resolution at the same time stressed “in the interest of converts, the sanctity of baptism.”

It was rumored in parliamentary lobbies that major alterations in the anti-Jewish bill may be expected after it has gone through the committee stage. Parliament will reassemble Feb. 3 or 7, when the measure is to be taken up by committees.

Nazi Deputy Karl Meizler, meanwhile, urged the Government to follow the German example and render more difficult the transfer of Jewish property which he said was “really Hungarian national property.” Hungarian Jews, he asserted, should be helped to emigrate by foreign Jews who were the “Croesus of the world.” Meizler, declaring the exodus of wealthy Jews has already started, asserted that the Mechanical Weaving Company, with 2,000,000 pengoe in capital, was planning to transfer to Egypt its complete equipment and personnel. He also stated that carloads of Jews bound for Tel Aviv and Japan had reached the Yugoslavian border.

During a committee debate, Count Stephen Bethlen, former Premier, warned against the economic consequences of the anti-Jewish bill, declaring it would dislocate agrarian trade and produce an unfavorable reaction abroad, where boycott tendencies were already noticeable. Emigration of highly qualified workers, he said, was bound to lead to complete economic and political dependency.