April 29, 2011

100 Years Ago in The Forward

News has arrived from Tangier, Morocco, that a pogrom was perpetrated on the Jews of a town called Makvints. The town, which has about 30,000 residents, one-third of them Jews, was apparently taken over by a tribe called the Zamudim. The tribe attacked on the orders of Sultan Moulay Ahmed, who is a rival to the ruler of the country. The Zamudim, apparently fanatic Muslims, attacked the Jewish quarter, laid waste to Jewish-owned stores and beat any Jew they happened to find. A number of Jews were killed. In the meantime, the surviving Jews are awaiting the arrival of the French army to come and restore order.

75 Years Ago in The Forward

The lifeless body of 10-month old Jackie Horowitz, who was kidnapped from his home on Manhattan’s Lower East Side a number of months ago, was found floating in the East River, just a few blocks from where he was last seen. A local lunatic, Gussie Freedman, was charged with the murder and is being held at the Creedmor Psychiatric Center. Jackie’s parents, Max and Dina Horowitz, had gone to visit Max’s parents a few blocks away. While they were there, they left the baby in the carriage outside with their 3-year-old son, who was playing with other children on the block. When they returned, they found the carriage, and the baby, missing. The children on the block said they saw a strange-looking old woman pushing the carriage. Unfortunately, she was not found until it was too late.**

50 Years Ago in The Forward

As the Eichmann trial continued into its third week, a document came to light indicating that Eichmann met with the mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, in connection to Nazi plans to exterminate the Jews. The document indicated that at the request of the mufti, Eichmann canceled a Kindertransport that would have saved 10,000 Jewish children by sending them to Palestine. Also, Dr. Franz Meyer, a former leader of German Jewry, testified that Eichmann had absolute authority over the Jewish question and that the fate of Jewish communities was entirely in his hands. Meyer added that Eichmann entertained any idea, no matter how strange, to liquidate the Jews.

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