Presidents Conference Leaders Meet with Rumanian Officials

Rabbi Alexander Schindler, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who completed a visit here last week at the invitation of the Rumanian government, met with top government officials who were reported to have shown understanding of the problems of Jewish life in Rumania and on reunification of Rumanian Jewish families by emigration.

The invitation came less than a month before U.S. Senate hearings, starting Sept. 8. on renewal of most-favored-nation status for Rumania. The Rumanian record on emigration must be certified annually by the President under the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the 1974 Trade Act. Schindler, who was accompanied by Yehuda Heliman, Conference executive director, said on his departure from New York that he would discuss with Rumanian government officials the record of Rumanian Jewish emigration in recent months.

The two Jewish officials, who were also guests of Rabbi Moses Rosen, the Chief Rabbi of Rumania met with V. Gigla, the Deputy Foreign Minister; Gheorghe Menclu, head of the Department of Cults; Stefan Andrei, Secretary of the Rumanian Communist Party Central Committee; and Deputy Prime Minister Ion Patan. They were accompanied at the meetings by Rosen. The meetings were described as having taken place “in a cordial atmosphere.”

Schindler and Hellman also visited synagogues, Talmud Torah classes, old age homes and other social aid offices of the Rumanian Federation of Jewish Communities, of which Rosen is president. Meetings for the two Jewish officials were arranged with Jewish leaders in several communities outside of Bucharest.