ABSTRACT
This chapter explores French policy concerning foreign students during the interwar period. It focuses on the position of Polish and Romanian Jewish medical students and their reasons for studying in France. The chapter details the university's policy in Lyon, and examines the tensions that began in Montpellier and Paris. In July 1935, among the total number of 82,218 students registered at French universities, 12,133 of them were foreigners, coming from more than forty different countries. In 1935, Lyon hosted only 423 foreign students, 8.3% of the total number of students who were registered in the city. Several indices underline that France was facing a many-sided crisis during the interwar period. First, politicians and political parties were discredited in the eyes of a population that no longer trusted them. Second, the Third Republic was confronted by constant government collapses, which hindered the ability to lead the country.
