September 15, 2006
100 Years Ago in the forward East Broadway seltzer vendor Henry Mittleman was blown to bits last week after a seltzer tank exploded in the basement of his store. Mittleman, who was working just a few feet from the tank, was thrown more than 20 feet by the blast. After he arrived at the hospital, it was determined that both his legs were broken in a number of places and that he suffered severe internal injuries. He died just an hour after admittance. Ironically, Mittleman had just completed a deal with the Mineral Water Workers Union and had an appointment to meet with them this week.
75 Years Ago in the forward As members of the Linden Credit Corporation were holding a meeting in a synagogue in the Brownsville area of Brooklyn to discuss High Holy Day loans, four men came in. While it was thought that they wanted to purchase tickets for the holidays, their needs became clearer after they pulled out revolvers and yelled, “Hands up!” Benjamin Levy, the corporation’s treasurer, tried to hide some money under the table, but one of the robbers saw him and began to beat him over the head with his pistol. The members of the corporation then handed over all their cash and jewelry to the thieves, who netted a total of $250.
In a related matter, the American Jewish Committee released a report this week on Jewish criminality. According to the AJCommittee’s findings, only 6,846 of the 395,080 prisoners in America’s jails are Jews — about 1.74% of the whole. American Jews make up 3.43% of the entire population, which means that Jewish prisoners make up half their numbers proportionally. The report also indicated a similar situation in Europe. In Poland, for example, 4.8% of prisoners are Jewish, whereas the percentage of Jews in the general population is 13%.
50 Years Agoin the forward Six Israeli soldiers were killed this week in a bloody battle with Jordanian soldiers near Bet Guvrin. Also, by using dynamite, Egyptian terrorists destroyed part of the railroad tracks running from Beersheba to Tel Aviv. Apparently the Egyptians had planned to blow up a train, but the explosives went off early and only destroyed the tracks. The tracks of the terrorists indicated that they entered Israel through Gaza and exited through Jordan. The Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the sabotage and blamed Egypt for the aggression.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
