A crime unparalleled in the annals of criminology occurred in the neighborhood of the village of Saloniki near Vilna on Kol Nidre night. An entire Jewish family of six was murdered.
A Jewish storekeeper, Lipkin, his wife and three of his children went to a neighboring town to be present at the Kol Nidre services, leaving their 13 year old daughter at home with their Christian servant, Makalevitch. As soon as they left home, a group of masked men entered the house and asked for the head of the family. The daughter explained that it was Yom Kippur and, frightened, asked them to leave. They refused and sitting down began to drink.
They waited until 10 o’clock, when the family returned from the synagogue. Seeing the masked men in the house, they tried to escape, but were prevented by one who guarded the door with a drawn sabre.
The men compelled the Lipkin family to dance for them and to sing Jewish religious songs. They urged them to eat and drink. When the pious family refused they were bound and food was forced into their mouths until they choked. They were then hanged from the rafters of the ceiling. After plundering the house, the bandits escaped.
The Christian servant, Makalevitch, driven to despair by the sight of such cruelty begged to be hanged too. The bandits declared, “We hang only Jews.” Makalevitch went insane.
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.
