Situation of Jews in Roumania Worse, Lucien Wolf Reports

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The situation of the Jewish population of Roumania is if anything worse than last month, declared Lucien Wolf, secretary of the Joint Foreign Committee at the monthly meeting of the Board of Jewish Deputies here on Sunday.

“The Jewish population is panic stricken and apprehensive. The anti-Semitic agitation is more inflammable than hitherto. The attitude of the anti-Semitic press and several organs which are in close touch with the Roumanian government is shameless. One paper incites its readers ‘to kill all Jews at sight’. Such incitement is against international law. The responsibility rests entirely with the Roumanian government; the Roumanian government will be responsible for the results,” Mr. Wolf declared in his report.

“The agitation now being carried on in Roumania is perhaps intended to intimidate the Roumanian Jews in order to prevent them from appealing abroad, but this is not a matter of concern to Roumania alone. It is a question which concerns the protection of national minorities and is an international obligation. These attempts to intimidate the Jews are but another reason to take strong steps.

“Meanwhile, the Joint Foreign Committee continues its courteous relations with the Roumanian government, awaiting a reply to its protest. The Joint Foreign Committee is also in touch with our American and European co-religionists with whom we are working in this matter,” Mr. Wolf said.

Asked whether it would be advisable to organize a protest meeting in London against the Roumanian government, Mr. Wolf stated that the Joint Foreign Committee is unable to organize such a meeting but “there would be no harm if such meetings against the treatment the Roumanian government accords the Jews would be held.”

Tribute to the late Dr. Paul Nathan was paid at the session by D’Avigdor Goldsmid. “His death is a loss for the whole of Jewry. He was one of the most distinguished Jews of our time,” Mr. Goldsmid declared.