The word national does not mean anti-Semitic, exclusive and degrading Nationalism, Professor Cuza, the anti-Semitic leader, was informed in the Roumanian Parliament by the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Public Worship, M. Petre Andrei.
Professor Cuza was read a lesson in National interpretation when he demanded that the national character be retained in Roumanian schools and sought to introduce an anti-Semitic angle in connection with the question of releasing Jewish pupils from having to write lessons in School on Saturdays and Jewish Festivals.
National policy means the infiltration of our culture and our endeavor to make these people loyal to citizens of our State, M. Andrei asserted. The corollary of a peace policy abroad is a peace policy at home.
The Cuzists had complained that the Ministry of Education and Public Worship had circularized the schools, prohibiting Christian pupils from writing there on Saturdays. “That is not true,” the Minister declared, “I will read out the text of the circular. Our country, the circular said, has always assured the free exercise of their religious beliefs to every nation dwelling among us. To give effect to an old wish of the Jewish population, and in accordance with the principle of the liberty of every citizen to practice his religion, I recommend that in drawing up the curriculum for the current year, you should as far as possible avoid lessons that involve writing on Saturdays and Jewish festivals, to exempt pupils of the Mosaic religion attending the State schools, whose religion forbids them to write on these days.
“I have not prohibited Christian pupils doing anything,” he continued. “If Professor Cuza’s Christianity means that Jews must work on Saturdays, it is opposed to the laws and the Constitution, which assure liberty of conscience for every citizen. Liberty of conscience for me does not mean denying the liberty of conscience of another.
“What I have done,” he pursued, “is nothing new. Even States in which there is not always friendship for the Jews, respect this point. In Czecho-Slovakia there is an order of the Ministry of Education, dated August 31st, 1921, providing that pupils of the Mosaic faith are to be released from lessons on Jewish religious festivals, and from having to write or draw on Saturdays. There is a similar provision in a circular issued in Jugoslavia, dated
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.
