The invasion of the Ku Klux Klan into Westport and nearby towns, long threatened, became an actuality this week-ceremonies and leaping bonfires, threats of the lash and the tar barrel and an ingenious punishment inflicted upon two Jewish merchants who were forced to aid in advertising the power of the Klan, says a dispatch to the SUN.
The two men, both residents of Norwalk, were captured by the Klansmen without, so far as is known, having committed any overt act. They were first ordered to leave town and threatened with tar and feathers. Then the subjects of the invisible empire thought better of it.
The merchants were given buckets of white paint and wide brushes. They were taken then under guard to a point on the shore road near the entrance to William P. Eno’s estate and forced to paint on either side of the highway the letters “K.K.K.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
