Rumania issued more than 3,000 visas to Jews emigrating to Israel in November, exceeded that number this month, and may permit anyone of its 240,000 Jews to emigrate to Israel, the newspaper Le Monde here reported today.
A special registry has been opened in Bucharest, capital of Rumania, to facilitate registry of Jews who wish to leave for Israel, the French newspaper reported. Those who were given visas at first are Jews who registered for Israel emigration in the last three years.
According to Le Monde, the Rumanian Government’s decision to let the Jews leave “is not a gesture of humanitarianism,” but rather a decision by the authorities to “rid themselves” of a minority that can not be assimilated. The departure of the Jews, according to the newspaper’s interpretation of the opinion of Rumanian government leaders, would also leave open a number of desirable jobs, and free certain economic sectors for other citizens of the country.
Members of the Communist Party in Rumania have reportedly pressed for the eviction of the Jews, so that Communists and their hangers-on could take over some good jobs now held by Jews. Le Monde believes that, in Russia, Premier Nikita Khrushchev would also be willing to permit mass emigration of Jews, but fears to do so lest he offend his Arab friends by aiding enlargement of Israel’s population.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
