June 15, 2007
100 Years Ago in the forward
Two Yiddish-speaking robbers wearing masks and phony beards broke into Celia Weinstrom’s apartment, on Eldridge Street in Manhattan. They tied up the young housekeeper, stuffed a rag in her mouth so she couldn’t scream and blindfolded her. They demanded to know where she kept her money. When she refused to tell them, they ransacked the house and eventually found $112 hidden in a dresser. They told Weinstrom not to make a sound or they would come back and get her. After they left, Weinstrom began to scream. Neighbors found the young woman bound and gagged. As soon as they untied her, she fainted.
75 Years Ago in the forward
“In the renowned Hasidic court of Rebbe Meylekh of Nyeshave, preparations were in full swing for the wedding of his daughter Serele. Rebbe Meylekh was in a hurry to marry off his youngest daughter. He was a quick one, Rebbe Meylekh. Already in his sixties, he was always in a hurry. He looked a bit like a pregnant woman in the later months and over his big belly hung the long fringes from his Turkish arbo-kanfes. A hot-headed type, his bulging, beer-colored eyes always seemed as if they were about to jump out their sockets….” From Yoshe Kalb, by Israel Joshua Singer, serialized this week in the Forward.
Adolf Hitler, leader of the German fascists, was fined 1,000 marks by a Munich court for contempt. Called as a witness in the perjury trial of journalist Werner Abel, Hitler refused to answer questions. He also yelled at the judge and insulted Jews. When the defense lawyer began to cross-examine him, Hitler screamed, “I don’t have to answer a Jew!” At that point, the judge fined him and threw him out of the courtroom.
50 Years Ago in the forward
Over the past weeks, readers of Krasnaia Zvezda (Red Star), the Red Army’s daily, have been getting lessons on the history of the United States. According the paper’s articles, the United States has produced many great people, but its history is mainly one of imperialism. The major issues of American history are its murder of a million Indians and the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Africans. It is also reported that minorities do not fare well in America, and that vicious bands of fascists roam the streets, attacking Puerto Ricans, and Chinese and Japanese citizens.
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