Intermountain Jewish news., 1926-02-04
The Justice of Hungary and the
Loyalty of Hungarian Je,ps
By A. Wiener

government 70 remove at least the OH.
clal stigma attached to the numerus
clausus law.
The Hungarian Government has no
doubts about what IL wants To achieve
by the numcrus clausus law. 1t Is pre-
venting the Jews from studying at the
universities, with the object that in the
next generation or two, there should he
In Hungary no Jewish doctors, or law
yers, or civil servants of any kind.
Jews Will also he prohibited from trad
Ing In certain articles and engaging In
certain occupations twithin the last
few years n large number OF trades
have been closed to the Jews). The re-
suit will be that the Jews will willy
nilly have to leave the country.
This Is what the so-called Christian
policy means-a policy which not long
ago was still being openly pursued by
the Government bat which is now hid
den away under cloak of so-called toll
crance, but in reality 1t is being pur-
sued with the same relcntlessness and
the same terrible consequences as three
years ago.
There being no other means of bring
ing pressure to bear onahe Government.
the Joint Foreign Committee in Eng
land, acting in association with the Al
lance Israelite Universelle of France,
lodged petition with the League of
Nations contending that the numerus
clausus law constituted violation of
the rights of the minorities in Hun
gary as guaranteed by the Treaty of
Trianon. The Hungarian Jews. one
would think. should have been glad that
the Jews of other countries had come
to their aid They might at least have
kept quiet and waited for the result
of this petition to the League.
But not they. The Hungarian Pre-
mier, Count Bethlen. knows his Jews.
He dropped hint that the Hungarian
Jews ought to protest against the inter
ference of foreign bodies in Hungarian
Internal affairs. The hint was enough
for the Budapest German daily "Pester
Lloyd paper supported by the Gov
ernment. to set afoot an agitation
against the Intervention of foreign Jews
in n purely Jewish-Hungarian question.
The Hungarian Jews. it declared, did
not want anyone to take up the cudgel
for them. The editor-in-chief of the
''Pester Lloyd" with his half baptized
and half-nssimilated family, suddenly
became the spokesman of the Budapest
Jewish Community. played up nobly by
deciding not to support the Joint For
eign Committees petition. 1t issued a
declaration stating that the Hungarian
Jews would deal with the matter them
selves
The master ordered and the Jew
crawled on his belly before him. No
one had asked the Hungarian Jews to
send a delegation to Geneva to support
Mr.. Lucien VOLTS petition to the
League of Nations. What need was
there for them TO say that they would
not support il?
Nobody had expected them to declare
publicly their decision to kiss the rod
which had beaten them rather than to
accept assistance from their brethren
abroad.
This same Budapest Jewish Com.
munity has just celebrated the 125th
anniversary of its foundation and at
the same time the 30th anniversary of
the recognition in law of the Jewish
faith in Hungary. Two notable Jewish
anniversaries. The Budapest Jewish
Community was at one time tower of
strength to Jewry-both in scholarship,
piety and charity. How does this same
Community however stand today? II
consists of number of assimilated rep
resentatives of community which has
its annual toll of converts. and n still
and renegade Magyars of the Mosaic
faith.
In every country of the world there
is national revival going on among
the Jews In the form of Zionism, this
awakening has grown TO be great
democratic movement. In Hungary
alone assimilation is the only force in
the Jewish community. The members
of the Executive of the Board of Hun
garian Jewish Community still abjure
all thought of Zionism. The Jewish M
tional Movement to them is ''anti-pat-
riotic." The Zionist Organization is
prohibited in Hungary as an "illegal
conspiracy organization" Only few
months ago the Hungarian government
agreed to legalize the Zionist Organiza-
ton in Hungary but the official Jewish
representatives in Hungary objected
and the result is that Zionism is still