October 24, 2003

100 YEARS AGO

• A report from Orshe, in the Mohilever region of the Russian empire, indicates that a group of about 1,000 young Jews attacked a train full of Jews who had been arrested for defending their towns against pogroms. The attack was unsuccessful, having been fended off by sword-wielding Cossacks, who wounded a large number of Jews. In Pinsk, Jews also did battle with the Russian military. Jewish revolutionaries attacked the local prison in an attempt to free a number of their comrades who had been arrested. This attack was also unsuccessful: One woman was killed, and 23 Jews were arrested.

75 YEARS AGO

• Gangs of fascists attacked Jewish men, women and children in Berlin and in other cities in Germany. Followers of Adolf Hitler marched with torches in hand. Out of curiosity, a crowd, one that included Jews, gathered. At some point, the fascists began attacking Jews, beating them with their torches. A number of children had their hair set on fire; other children were seriously wounded. The attackers fled upon the arrival of the police. A number of windows of Jewish stores were smashed in the eastern neighborhoods of Berlin, and Jewish passersby were attacked. Three members of Hitler’s party were arrested.

• The kosher butchers’ strike is in full swing. The butchers, who are fighting backbreaking tactics of the meat magnates, decided to strike despite attempts by the wholesalers to settle. Kosher meat will therefore not be available from any New York butcher, except for a limited number on the Lower East Side and in Williamsburg. The rest of New York’s Jews will have to settle for chicken or dairy meals. One sign that even the unaffiliated butchers are planning to strike was that there was a massive run on chickens. It was expected that prices would skyrocket, but, miraculously, they stayed the same.

50 YEARS AGO

• The State Department has sharply criticized Israel, asking that the country be punished after an attack was made on a Jordanian village. In a statement, the State Department expressed the deepest sympathy for the Arab families who suffered losses in the Israeli attack on the village of Qibiya. The statement is regarded as the sharpest rebuke of Israel by the United States in the history of their relationship.

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