... Balkans vary so much. Romania had the largest Jewish population in the Balkans, by 1930, they numbered over 800,000 (2). However there was little assimilation, in a country where 70 percent of the overall population was rural, 70 percent of Jews lived in cities. Jews were seen as alien and could not be assimilated, and this prejudice was exploited by ethnic nationalist leaders. Prior to 1923, Jews did not even have Romanian citizenship which prevented them from holding any public office, voting and owning land. As a result, Jews were forced to pursue social and economic lives which further distinguished them from the mass of Romanians. This added socio-economic tensions to the obvious religious and linguistic differences. (3) The 1930s saw a dramatic rise in support for the fascist Iron Guard regime, of which anti-Semitism was a major feature. They found popular and governmental support for their demand that the Jews of ...

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