Jews Surprised by Denial of Jewish Ancestry by Former Czech Premier Dr. Ota Sik

Jews here were startled today to learn that the Czech economist and former Prime Minister, Dr. Ota Sik, has denied any Jewish origins and has publicly stated that he could not possibly be termed a Jew “even by the Nazi standards.” Prof. Sik, the architect of Czech economic reforms in the regime of Alexander Dubcek and who fled Czechoslovakia in the wake of the Soviet-led invasion last summer, has been widely identified as Jewish in his country and abroad and has been a frequent target of attacks in Soviet and other East European newspapers. He is now a visiting lecturer at the University of Basle. He returned to Czechoslovakia briefly last year as did Dr. Eduard Goldsteucker, the Czech-Jewish author and academician. News of Dr. Sik’s denial of Jewish ancestry was contained in Czech newspaper reports of a similar denial by Prof. Jiri Hajek, a former Foreign Minister who also has been the target of attacks in Pravda and other Soviet papers as an alleged “Zionist.” in an interview published in Mlada Fronta, the Prague Communist youth daily, Dr. Hajek said reports of his Jewish origins were “fabrications” as were the rumors of his wartime collaboration with the Nazis. Soviet newspapers alleged that he had changed his name from “Karpeles,” a common Jewish name in Central Europe. Czech newspapers, taking up the issue, said that one Karpeles had in fact changed his name to Hajek but it was not the former Foreign Minister.