Council President Adle of Iran prepared today to set up a committee of three, consisting of himself as chairman and the British and French representatives, to examine Jewish petitions citing violation by Rumania of the 1919 Minorities Treaty through anti-Jewish measures.
Mr. Adle announced his decision at a closed session of the Council last night. He said that, upon recommendation of League Secretary General Joseph Avenol, it had been decided not to accord the Jewish petitions “urgency procedure” since “the position can not be usefully considered until observations of the Rumanian Government are available.” The petitions, he stated, will be examined under ordinary procedure and forwarded to the Rumanian Government for its observations.
In view of the urgency of the question, it was announced that the committee would meet without waiting for the May session of the Council. Mr. Adle revealed that in the meantime he, together with his British and French colleagues will consider unofficial action to help the Rumanian Jews. This action, it is understood, will consist of direct representations to Rumanian Premier Octavian Goga by the British and French ministers.
It was also learned that M. Micescu has promised British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and French Foreign Minister Yvon Delbos to assist their efforts in Bucharest since he realized that the anti-Jewish measures were harmful to Rumanian prestige abroad.
Earlier, M. Micescu had suddenly withdrawn promises understood to have been privately made to the British and French delegations that anti-Jewish measures would be suspended until after the March elections.
It was learned that following a long telephone conversation with Premier Goga, M. Micescu informed British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and French Foreign Minister Yvon Delbos that the Rumanian Government was not prepared to give the required assurances. (Such assurances had been sought in exchange for the Council’s not applying “Urgency procedure” to the Jewish issue.)
The Rumanian representative is understood to have stated that he could only promise to try personally to influence the situation after his return to Bucharest.
M. Micescu’s turnabout created a bad impression in league circles, which interpreted it as a desire to drag out negotiations with Council members until the end of the current session, thus preventing discussion of the Jewish position.
Members of the Belgian, Swedish, Russian and New Zealand delegations also saw M. Micescu and expressed disapproval of Rumania’s anti-Jewish measures. It is understood that these representatives and those of Great Britain and France are firmly resolved not to allow the question to be dragged indefinitely and intend to reopen discussion at the Council’s May session if the Jewish position in Rumania has not improved by that time.
The Hungarian delegation also reportedly took up the Jewish question with M. Micescu, pointing out that Hungary would not like to see any Jew in Transylvania, which formerly belonged to Hungary, deprived of his rights. It is also understood that Capt. Eden told M. Micescu, in connection with King Carol’s projected visit to London, that it would be desirable that Carol be welcomed by the London population as a whole.
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.
