871.4016/240
The Minister in Rumania (Gunther) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 17.]
Sir: Pursuant to my various past despatches regarding the situation of Jews in Rumania I now have the honor to enclose herewith translations of two Decree Laws,5 one dated August 8, 1940, forbidding marriage between persons of Rumanian blood and Jews, and the other dated August 9, 1940, establishing a juridical statute governing the status of Jews in this country.
The nature of the first of these decree laws is evident from the title. The second is much more far-reaching, being designed to define the status of Jews generally and set forth the restrictions placed on their participation in the public and private life of the country. After establishing who are to be considered Jews and dividing them into three categories, the law then proceeds to stipulate that, with certain exceptions, they shall not be allowed to hold public office, practice law, serve in the military forces, have membership in boards of directors, be [Page 771] country merchants or wineshop keepers or engage in other specified activities in which the Jews of Rumania have in the past been prominent (Article 7).
Although the provisions of the new law, while somewhat ambiguous, are fairly sweeping and the present Government avowedly purposes to follow an anti-Semitic program, the Jews of the country give an appearance of remaining strangely unperturbed. They undoubtedly realize that the full possible force of the new law could bring them real disaster, but they know from long experience that repressive laws usually are not nearly as bad as they sound, that application and interpretation are of far more importance than the letter, that Governments and programs change fast and that anti-Semitic fever is like the malarial and flares up only to subside again. Although the Prime Minister has, as reported elsewhere (despatch No. 1535 of August 23, 1940), indicated his full intention to proceed energetically with the Jewish question, the foregoing considerations will suggest that the actual effect of this new statute can not be gauged with even an approach to accuracy before an opportunity is had to observe the mode and vigor of its application.
The Jews have, as previously reported, already been eliminated from the press. Since the promulgation of the new statute it has been noted that various Government departments have announced the dismissal of their Jewish employees and many Jewish lawyers are liquidating their affairs. On the other hand I learn that in many cases Jewish members of boards of directors are retiring behind the scenes but retaining their interests while being ostensibly replaced by dummy directors and wineshop keepers and merchants place their businesses under the name of a Rumanian who is paid a salary for his services As Premier Gigurtu remarked to me: “Jews here are not like those in the United States. If there is a new law, they look for some way to get around it; they have no patriotism or loyalty.”
As of possible further interest in connection with this general subject I am enclosing herewith, in single copy, a copy of a statement on “The Jewish Problem in Rumania”6 prepared by a Mr. Grindea, Rumanian representative of the Jewish Telegraph Agency. Since preparing this statement Mr. Grindea has been arrested and placed in forced domicile for “spreading false or alarmist news”.
Respectfully yours,
Secretary of Legation