Neither Foreigners, nor Citizens: Romanian Jews' Long Road to Citizenship

After the birth of the Principality of Romania, a change in the relationship between Jewish communities and the State was represented by the Constitution of 1866. It contained an article (article 7) forbidding the Jews to acquire citizenship, which was limited to Christians. That determined the exclusion of Jews from civil rights and from access to certain kinds of professions. It also had consequences inside Jewish communities: they asked for acknowledgment from the government, which was denied. The impossibility of having citizenship theoretically also implied not having duties, like paying taxes or being part of the army. Actually, the Romanian government applied indirect taxes on activities or goods which were specific to the Jews, like kosher meat. In addition to that, in 1876 a law was passed permitting Jews to be members of the army. Enrollment in the army was actually considered very important for the Jews, who participated with passion and dedication in the war for independence in 1877-1878. During the war, there was an active fund-raising and press campaign by Jewish communities for the defence of the nation state. This can be seen as symptomatic of the on-going process of secularization within the Jewish communities, which were losing their solely religious identity. A separation between religious identity and national identity was under way. In 1878 at the Congress of Berlin, the European powers subordinated the acknowledgment of Romanian independence to a change in article 7, to give citizenship to Jews. Notwithstanding international pressure, the Romanian government only partially accepted modification of the article, giving Jews the possibility to ask for citizenship individually on fulfilling certain conditions. In this way Jews became foreigners to all intents and purposes but, once again, subject to some of the duties of Romanian citizens: a law in 1882 obliged foreigners not subject to foreign countries to be part of the army. Once again, Jews were not hostile to this measure. After 1878, the aim of Romanian authorities was still to exclude Jews from the national community, demonstrated also by the fact that only 85 requests for citizenship from Jews were accepted between 1879 and 1912. Laws limiting access of Jews to schools and professions were passed, as well as new taxes. This had consequences on the Jewish communities, opening space to the influence of Zionist movements and other international associations or political movements, like Bundism. They tried to supply services that the government did not offer, like schools or hospitals. This produced a cleavage in the communities, some of which became open to the idea of the creation of a Jewish state through emigration from Romania, and therefore mentally less integrated with the local community. Nevertheless, some Jews were still convinced of the necessity of integration in Romania. Thus, secularization had brought with it different outcomes: a Jewish nation state or integration with the majority population in a nation state.