The future of Roumania is of interest to the Jews for two especial
reasons: first, because the Jews of Roumania are deprived of their
rights as citizens in contravention of a solemn promise made by
Roumania to the Great Powers at the Berlin Congress in 1878;
secondly, because it will no doubt be Roumania’s aim to win back from
Austria-Hungary certain large territories, including Transylvania and
Bukowina, in which the bulk of the population is of Roumanian descent,
thus, if successful, incidentally, increasing the number of Jews under
Roumanian rule from about 250,000 to more than one million.
During the present war Roumania has given evidence of its hostile
attitude towards the Jews. Thousands of Jewish refugees who fled before
the savagery of the Russian army which invaded Bukowina, sought refuge
in Roumania. These were treated with great brutality by Roumanian
officials in the border towns. At the beginning of July, 1915, the
Government issued an order to the administrative authorities of all
the districts bordering on Austria-Hungary to expel all the Jews from
the localities near the frontier, and to send them to the interior of
the country. The officials took advantage of this edict to expel not
only the refugees, but also hundreds of Jewish citizens of Roumania
who had been living in the border towns for generations. The order
of expulsion was executed summarily, and the Jews were forced to
leave within forty-eight and in some cases with all their goods in
twenty-four hours. As a rule, they were not permitted to take their
belongings with them, and even under the most favorable circumstances
they had perforce to leave them behind because they knew neither their
destination nor their fate.
This action of the Government caused a great deal of adverse comment in
the press. “Vitorul” the official organ of the Liberal Party, now in
power, met these attacks, in its issue of July 12, 1915, as follows:
“Some of the newspapers pretend that the Ministry of Internal Affairs
has given orders that the native-born Jews established in the towns
bordering upon the northern frontier of Moldavia be sent into the
interior of the country. This news is inexact. The Minister of
Internal Affairs was not aiming at the Jews established in the towns
near the frontier or in any other place when he issued his order
of expulsion. The order given by the Minister of Internal Affairs
concerns only the alien subjects of a foreign country, and the
native-born Jews who, though not living in frontier towns go there on
business, acting as cereal brokers. And the purpose of the order is to
prevent such people from committing acts dangerous to the interests
of the population of the state. The peaceful Jewish population
living near the frontier is not the object of any hounding, as the
irresponsible newspapers would have it.”
The Bucharest “Adeverul” (Truth), an independent organ, and one of the
two newspapers in Bucharest which sympathize with the Jews, replied:
“In answer to the attacks of the Government organ upon the
‘irresponsible’ newspapers, we are in a position to publish a list of
the ‘peaceful Jewish population’ which has been the subject of the
most terrible persecutions by the authorities. =We can give the names
of the reserves, mobilized at the very moment, whose children have
been driven from their homes.= It is possible that the Minister of
Internal Affairs did not mean to ‘aim,’ as the official organ says,
at the Jews. If the Minister is innocent of the charge, we would like
to know what punishment to inflict upon his subordinates who wilfully
misrepresented his order.
“But it is not we who are irresponsible. It is the Government that
tries to mislead the public with ambiguous statements. It says that
the order referred only to the brokers, who may commit dangerous
acts. We know that the law punishes crimes and delinquencies which
_have_ been committed, but does not anticipate crimes that _may_ be
committed. Then again, the law provides strict punishment for each
delinquency and not a general and preventive punishment, such as
deportation. Why is it that those who have committed the infraction
have not been arrested and peaceful people are being punished instead?
“Even the Government recognizes that this preventive punishment is
applied to the alien and such Jews as are only doing business though
not living in those places. It means that the suspicion rests equally
upon the alien and the Roumanian Jew, because the Jew, although not
an alien, is of another religion. The suspicion then falls upon all
the native-born Jews. Thus we see, that even if the official organ’s
public interpretation of the law be correct, it is still the Jews who
will suffer. But we cannot accept the explanation. It is false.
“It is an absolute fact that not transient traders but people who are
innocent, who are paying taxes in those localities have been expelled.”
It is idle to speculate as to what Roumania may do if she becomes
involved in the war. But it is well to consider whether, if she does
not become involved, it will be possible to bring to the attention of
the belligerent powers at a future peace conference the question of the
status of the Jews of Roumania. These are in the anomolous position of
people virtually without a country. They are subjects of Roumania, pay
taxes and support the Government. But even the native-born and those
whose parents and grandparents were native-born subjects of Roumania,
cannot become citizens, and are also discriminated against by the
Government. In this respect, Roumania may be called “Little Russia.”
The situation of Roumania as a nation is exceptional. She was made an
independent country by the European Powers, meeting at the Congress of
Berlin, after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–8. In a treaty which was
then signed by all the great Powers of Europe, the following articles
were inserted:
XLIII. The High contracting parties recognize the independence of
Roumania, subject to the conditions set forth in the two following
articles.
XLIV. In Roumania the difference of religious creeds and confessions
shall not be alleged against any person as a ground for exclusion or
incapacity in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil and political
rights, admission to public employments, functions and honors, or the
exercise of the various professions and industries in any locality
whatsoever.
“The freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship shall be
assured to all persons belonging to the Roumanian State, as well
as to foreigners, and no hindrance shall be offered either to the
hierarchical organizations of the different communions, or to their
relations with their spiritual chiefs. The subjects and citizens of
all the Powers, traders or others, shall be treated in Roumania,
without distinction of creed, on a footing of perfect equality.”
Roumania having become an independent nation upon its recognition
by these Powers, and upon the conditions set forth in the treaty of
Berlin, it may be possible at the conclusion of the war that the
violations of this treaty on the part of the Roumanian Government may
be considered by the Powers whose honor is thus flaunted by an open
violation of a treaty to which they solemnly became parties.