October 28, 2005
100 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
Word has come from Russia that the tsar finally has conceded to the demands of the people and that a real constitution will be issued, ultimately freeing that country from dictatorial servitude. At last the Russian labor movement has succeeded in forcing the tsar to give up his power and to create a democratic parliament, as exists in every other European country. “Readers!” the Forward says, “Tell your children, your friends and your acquaintances that Russia will be free, that the workers of Russia have made their fatherland free.”
75 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
Jewish gamblers rejoiced after their horse, Tallis, came in first at 50-1 odds at the Jamaica racetrack on Long Island. Dressed in a white silk cover with two black stripes and a Star of David, Tallis is the first-known Jewish horse ever to win at the track. These days, it is common for Jewish boxers to wear Stars of David on their shorts and to wear a tallit in the ring, but a horse in a tallit is surely an unusual sight. Trained by former jockey Moe Simon, Tallis almost wasn’t able to race because Simon wasn’t able to afford the entrance fees. Alfred Shneiderman, a wealthy businessman who is known to have a weakness for the ponies, saved him at the last minute.
The Berlin-based fascist newspaper Volkische Beobachter is becoming more and more vicious in its antisemitic threats. This week, one of its leading articles read, “What Spain once did to the Jews, Germany will do tomorrow. Listen up, Israel! Your reign is ending. Give up your illegal political, social and cultural power. If you do not, Spanish history will be repeated. Hitler is standing at the door! The Jews, however, will not hear his voice until they have been sent to the other side of the border!” In response, the German ambassador to the United States, Friedrich von Prittwitz, said, “Hitler is worthless and the Jews of Germany have nothing to fear from him.”
50 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
A Dutch court sentenced a priest and three nuns to prison terms ranging from four months to one year on charges that they kidnapped a Jewish war orphan who had been hidden during the war by a group of Catholic women. The girl, Aneka Beckman, originally was from Amsterdam. Her parents were killed in a Nazi concentration camp. After the war ended, the highest Dutch court ordered the women to hand over the girl to an organization that handled war orphans so that she could be raised as a Jew. At that point, the girl disappeared. It was thought that she had been taken to a Catholic school in Belgium with which the four religious functionaries are associated. She has still not been found.
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