THE FIRST CASE OF EXPULSION OF JEWISH STUDENTS FROM AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR REFUSING TO OCCUPY “GHETTO BENCHES” OCCURRED TODAY AT THE WARSAW ENGINEERING SCHOOL AND RESULTED IN AN ACTION FOR RETURN OF THE BUILDING TO THE HEIRS OF ITS JEWISH FOUNDERS.
JEWISH STUDENTS WERE REFUSED ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOL, BY ORDER OF THE RECTOR, FOR NOT HEEDING HIS WARNING THAT THEY MUST OCCUPY SEGREGATED SEATS. ANTI-SEMITIC NEWSPAPERS HAILED WHAT THEY CALLED “THE FIRST UNOFFICIAL NUMERUS NULLUS,” EMPHASIZING THAT JEWISH STUDENTS WOULD NOT BE ADMITTED BEFORE THEY UNDERTOOK TO SIT IN “GHETTO BENCHES.”
MICHAEL WAWELBERG, CURATOR OF THE SCHOOL, APPLIED TO THE AUTHORITIES IN THE NAME OF THE HEIRS OF HIPOLIT WAWELBERG AND HENRYK ROTWAND, WHO FOUNDED THE SCHOOL 50 YEARS AGO, REQUESTING THE RETURN OF THE BUILDING TO THE HEIRS ON THE GROUND THAT GOVERNMENT, WHICH SANCTIONED INTRODUCTION OF “GHETTO BENCHES” IN WARSAW COLLEGES, BROKE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE FOUNDERS STIPULATING THAT NO RELIGIOUS OR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AMONG POLISH CITIZENS WOULD BE INTRODUCED.
MICHAEL WAWELBERG SAID IN A STATEMENT THAT THE SCHOOL WAS FOUNDED BY HIS FATHER.
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.
