New decrees that are anti-Semitic in character were announced here today while the Ministry of Justice issued a statement on revision of citizenship that apparently contradicts one made in Geneva yesterday by Foreign Minister Istrate Micescu.
The immigration committee of the Labor Ministry announced withdrawal of residential permits from foreign citizens whose firms registered in Rumania after Jan. 1, 1930. The only exceptions to be made will be in the case of foreigners whose activities are deemed to be in the interest of the State. No indication was given as to disposition of the enterprises operated by the foreigners affected, many of whom are Jews.
At the same time Tara Noastra, official organ of Premier Goga’s National Christian Party, reported that Jews have been barred from obtaining foreign currency for travel abroad, except for business purposes.
Justice Minister Radulescu-Mehedinti, in a statement on revision of citizenships, declared there was no cause for anxiety on the part of Jews whose residence in Rumania dated before the War. Jews in that category, he said, are protected by international treaties and by Rumanian law. (In Geneva yesterday, the Journal de Geneva quoted Foreign Minister Micescu as stating the minorities treaty was inapplicable to Rumanian Jews, and that Rumanian Jews who wished to consider themselves a national minority would have to “suffer the consequences.”)
The Justice Minister added that the revisions would affect only those found to have obtained naturalization fraudulently. He said the fact that they were being carried out by judicial bodies was a guarantee that no mistakes would be committed. He asserted citizenship would be withdrawn only from persons who failed to fulfill the conditions set forth in Article 7 of the Paris treaty for protection of minorities.
Newspapers reported today that import quotas granted to local firms will be revised.
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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.
