Up to now Rumania has been the only one of the larger Jewish centers in Europe which has been spared the devastations of war. The plight of the Jews has been bitter enough without war. It is certainly not pleasant to live in a nation of enemies, where Jew-baiting is a step to distinction and where the Jew is outside the Pale. Without civil liberties, forbidden to live in villages and on farms, prohibited from carrying on many legal enterprises--in view of all this, the economic condition of a quarter-million Jews cannot be too bright. The World War, which had previously brought much gold to Rumania through her export trade, evidently helped a small number of rich Jews to become richer. As a result of the high cost of living prevailing there, the vast number of poor Jews, however, have unquestionably become poorer. For more than two years Rumania stood on the threshold of war. The insecurity, the uncertainty from day to day, 2ruined the credit of small businessmen. Consequently, the trade and industry of the middlemen became stagnant. These were the conditions of the past two years.

Now Rumania has leaped into the bloody cauldron. And to all the troubles endured by Jews in Rumania, another one has been added, the greatest--viz., more than fifteen thousand young Jewish men have been called to the battlefield, and perhaps twice as many will be called to the reserves. The breadwinners of the impoverished Jewish populace have been taken away from their homes to shed their blood for a fatherland that does not recognize them as citizens, and treats them worse than it treats aliens.

It will not be easy to receive correct information about the condition of the Jewish population in Rumania as long as the latter is at war. She [Rumania] is surrounded by enemies--Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria. We cannot expect to receive true information about the Jews living near regions where Rumania borders on Russia. The theory that Rumanian anti-Semites will take advantage 3of the confusion brought on by the war to organize further persecutions of the Jews who remain at home, is not farfetched. In the persecution of Jews, Rumania doesn't have to take off her hat to Russia; in many instances, the former directs the latter along this path. We are unable to prophesy what may happen, during these evil times, to these Jews who are living in Rumania--surrounded as they are by the hatred of the Rumanian officials, and the landowners who incite the peasants against the Jews in order to plunder with greater safety.

The Rumanian Jews in America can render a great service to their Jewish countrymen "back home" by organizing, here in America, a reliable committee to obtain news about the Jews in Rumania. It is not necessary to remind them to send financial aid. They will undoubtedly do so on their own initiative. All Jews will help by establishing war-relief organizations. But the Rumanian Jews in this country are the ones most likely to receive news about Jews in Rumania. The publicity given to persecutions, pogroms and plunder may be the only means 4by which the Rumanian Jews can be afforded some protection. At this time, the Rumanian Government will not want America or other neutral countries to talk about her barbaric treatment of the Jews. A "publicity" committee should be quietly organized, but it must be organized. Let a committee of intelligent Rumanian Jews organize themselves, and seek to obtain the necessary information about Jews in Rumania. This information should be publicized through a qualified press committee. Many horrible incidents can be avoided and many lives saved by such an organization.