September 16, 2011

100 Years Ago in the Forward

The most popular swindle currently in practice on the Lower East Side, according to an assistant district attorney, is known as the “Doctor Swindle.” What happens is that a well-dressed man knocks on people’s doors and informs them that he is a doctor from the board of health and that he is there to inspect whether or not the inhabitants of the house are sick. While checking the “patients,” this “doctor” also picks their pockets. In cases where there is only one person at home, the “doctor,” asks them to go into another room and undress for the inspection. While they are out, the “doctor” rifles through drawers and cabinets, looking for jewelry and valuables. The district attorney is asking residents to be aware of these nefarious activities.

75 Years Ago in the Forward

Attacks against Jews have not ceased following a massive rally last week in Nuremburg, where more than 800,000 Germans pledged their allegiance to Adolf Hitler and his Nazis. After claiming that Soviet Russia is led by a cabal of Jews and that Spain’s revolutionaries are mostly Jews, the Nazis have turned their attention back to the Jews of Germany. The head of Germany’s medical organization, Dr. Wagner, said this week that Jews, and even those who are half or a quarter Jewish, were a “mongrel race that is undesirable and that must be extinguished.” Wagner also said that last year’s anti-Jewish legislation was only the beginning and that “the fight [against the Jews] continues.”

50 Years Ago in the Forward

Following an attack on Jews in the Algerian city of Oran during Rosh Hashanah, Algerian Jewish community higher-ups are asking Jews to refrain from retribution and not to permit themselves to be provoked. The attacks on the Jewish quarter in Oran were, in fact, repelled by a Jewish self-defense organization, although the leaders of Oran’s official Jewish community have said that “Jewish religion and Jewish morals place tolerance and respect for others above all else.” However, after many years of abuse at the hands of their attackers, it is not clear if the city’s Jews will stand for any more.

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