A New York Jewish Man Tries To Commit Suicide by Cocaine
1913 •100 years ago
Cocaine, Suicide and Incest
Why did Dr. Jacob Haas attempt to take his own life in such a grotesque manner? Last Tuesday, Haas ingested 10 grams of cocaine and slashed his own throat, but missed the jugular and managed to remain alive after Meyer Wolf, a doctor who lives a few blocks away, bandaged his wounds. After three hours unconscious, Haas awoke in the prison ward of Bellevue Hospital, where he expressed great regret at not having succeeded in killing himself. Haas had left a $220 check for his niece, Penny Thaler, a clue in this mystery. Just prior to his gruesome act, Dr. Haas was prevented from marrying Miss Thaler because New York State does not allow close relatives to marry. The two had planned to run off to Rhode Island, where such unions are permitted, but it is, apparently, not to be.
1938 •75 years ago
Decimation of Jewish Vienna
Terrible details about the lives of Viennese Jews under Nazi rule are beginning to appear in newspapers in America. One of these details is that many Jews now carry vials of poison with them as they go about their daily business, just in case they fall into the hands of the Nazis. Reports indicate that Vienna no longer exists as it did less than a year ago. Since it fell under Nazi rule, the joy and openness of the city has disappeared. Even its institutions are disappearing: Vienna’s famed medical school, to which students came from all over the world, is shrinking thanks to the disappearance of large numbers of its staff, many of whom are Jewish. The Vienna School of Music has also been shuttered. Its founder, the composer Arnold Schoenberg, has left, along with many of its faculty. Vienna’s literary cafes are also empty. With the Jews being driven out by the Nazis, the city’s cultural life has been decimated.
1963 •50 years ago
Attorney Busted for Bribery
Hyman Segal, a well-known attorney and former law partner of New York State Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz, was arrested this week on bribery charges, on a claim that he had cut a deal to pay off employees of the state liquor commission. District Attorney Frank Hogan sent a sealed indictment to a grand jury, which will consider the charges against Segal. Hogan told the press that Segal had attempted to bribe at least four members of the liquor commission, as well as the Board of Alcoholic Beverages. It is claimed that Segal was involved in a deal whereby a $1,500 payoff was made so that an owner of a liquor license could use one license in multiple locations. Segal denies the charges.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30