Roumania Declares State of Martial Law After Anti-jewish Outburst

The government of Roumania decided today to reintroduce martial law in the country beginning in November. This decision was taken in view of the resumed unrest in Roumania and the growing anti-Semitic agitation, now assuming more menacing forms.

Today’s anti-Semitic disturbance at Braila resulted in Police President Michailescu being beaten unconscious by Iron Guardists, Roumanian anti-Semites, when he attempted to prevent their Jew-baiting activities. The Iron Guardists thereupon marched through the streets of the town shouting anti-Semitic abuse and breaking windows in the homes of Jews. This continued until the police, heavily reinforced, finally dispersed the demonstration, arresting several of the participants.

The Roumanian press reports growing incitement against the Jews, particularly in Bucharest, where anti-Semitic students have developed a fierce agitation against the Jews. They are distributing leaflets and books attacking the Jews freely all over the city and are marching nightly through Bucharest singing anti-Jewish songs and shouting, “Unmask Zidane” (unmask the Jews).

The Cuzist agitation, led by the notorious Jew-baiter, Professor Alexander Cuza, is being particularly concentrated in connection with the trial on November 18, of the peasant Emil Siancu, who is accused of murdering the Jewish merchant Moritz Tischler, two months ago.

Tischler brought action against a group of peasants including Siancu for trespassing on his fields. And while the trial was being heard in court, Siancu fired at Tischler, killing him.

The Cuzsists have formed a committee of two hundred lawyers and have invited two hundred political witnesses, including the Roumanian Patriarch, to show that Siancu acted under provocation of the Jews who are exploiting the bleeding peasantry.

The anti-Semitic press in Roumania has presented Siancu as a glorified victim of Jewish exploitation rather than as a murderer.