New Ruling to Affect Jewish Medical Students from Roumania in French Medical Schools

Roumanian medical students in French universities will no longer be able to receive state certificates of doctorate in accordance with a decision of the ministry of education announced today. Thus the campaign against Jewish students from Roumania studying in France has reached its climax and Roumanian Jewish students who fled from their home universities or who were barred from matriculating in Roumanian universities because of the numerus clausus now meet the same fate in France.

In the future Roumanian students in French universities will receive only a certificate stating that they have completed their studies. This certificate, however, does not entitle them to take the annual examination before a special commission for a state certificate which would enable them to practice in France.

It is not yet known whether this commission will be a mixed body consisting of French and Roumanian representatives. Nevertheless Jewish student circles are anxious lest this commission be influenced by anti-Semitism in examining Jewish students.

Some weeks ago it was reported that Dr. Victor Balthazard, dean of the medical school of the University of Paris, had written a letter to the dean of the medical school of the University of Bucharest suggesting the creation of a mixed Roumanian-French committee to decide on which Roumanian students should be permitted to study in the French medical schools.

In a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Dr. Balthazard denied that his letter had contained any such passage. He insisted that it was merely intended to place Roumanian students seeking to practice medicine in France under the same regulations as those applied to other physicians, but that there would be no discrimination against Roumanian students who are Jews.

Later, however, he attacked Romanian Jewish medical students in an article in the Echo de la Medicine and repeated the suggestion of a mixed commission.