November 4, 2005
100 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
It seems that nothing happens in Russia without the spilling of Jewish blood. As the tsar tries to save his tyrannous dictatorship, heaps of Jewish dead lay at the roadsides, and rivers of Jewish blood flow in the streets of Odessa, Kherson and about 10 other towns. Drunken pogromists, agitated and inflamed by the tsarist secret police, have been attacking Jews relentlessly in an attempt to distract the revolutionaries and to save the tsar’s dictatorship. It is estimated that there are at least 1,000 dead and 10,000 wounded. It can be noted that the revolutionary student movement has battled heroically against the pogromists.
75 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
Madison Garden was packed with 25,000 Jews, and more than 15,000 stood outside. They all were there to protest the latest British White Paper on Palestine. The document, presented by Lord Passfield, severely limits Jewish immigration to Palestine and also argues that, as a result of the lack of arable land, agriculture will not be permitted on large tracts of land that have already been purchased by Jews. This was one of the largest protests MSG ever had seen: even the aisles and stairs were filled. When the first speaker mentioned the name Lord Passfield, the crowd erupted in a deafening chorus of boos.
Jewish celebrity couple Jenny Goldstein and Max Gable have decided to call it quits. Goldstein and her lawyer appeared in New York Supreme Court this week to file for divorce from Gable. This process puts an end to one of the most fabled love stories behind the Yiddish stage. Goldstein first began appearing with Gable nearly 20 years ago. Members of the same troupe, they performed together for three years before tying the knot. She was his third wife; his first was Jenny Atlas, and his second was Ida Dworkin. The reason for the split is unknown.
50 YEARS AGO IN THE FORWARD
Reports from Moscow indicate that the Soviet secret police have been conducting raids on Jewish homes in Leningrad and that a number of Jews have been arrested. It has been said that Yiddish books are among the items the police are searching for and confiscating. Last month, during the Jewish holidays, a number of similar raids were carried out on Jews in Moscow, where Yiddish as well as Hebrew books were confiscated. These arrests of Jews are the first to take place since the arrest of a group of Jewish doctors in 1953.
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