Bucharest Says “humanitarian Grounds” Motivate Release of Jews

The Bucharest Radio broadcast a statement today officially confirming that the Rumanian Government, acting on “humanitarian grounds,” had authorized the emigration of Jews from Rumania who had been separated from their families during World War II and subsequently.

The broadcast denied that “a massive exodus” of Jews was taking place from Rumania and other Communist countries to Israel and accused “Western imperialists” of spreading such reports with the deliberate intention of harming relations between Rumania and the United Arab Republic.

The broadcast asserted that the 1956 census showed there were 146,000 Jews in Rumania and declared that “only a small percentage” of them desired to go to Israel.

The Bucharest emission, quoted here by radio monitors, was believed to be the first official public statement by the Rumanian Government on the unexpected change in its policy to permit the Jews to leave the country.

The broadcast denied reports of anti-Semitism in Rumania and indignantly rejected suggestions that Rumania was forcing the Jews to leave.