(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Tension between the Christian and Jewish population of this city prevailed yesterday as a result of the objection of a group of Orthodox Jews to the exhibition before an audience consisting largely of Jews, of an American made film, Ben Hur, a Metro-Goldwyn production.
A riot in the Cinema Apollo developed following a denunciation of the film in one of the synagogues because of scenes based on the popular Christian conception of the early development of Christianity at about the year 30 of the Christian era. These scenes and several of the captions were characterized by the objectors as “an insult to the Jewish race.” Following the pronouncement in the synagogue, a crowd of several thousand Jewish inhabitants of the city stormed the cinema, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the picture. A group made its way into the theatre, attacked the manager, a Jew, beating him severely. The zealots in the crowd seized the film and burned it in a bon fire in the street.
The authorities summoned troops to parol the city in order to prevent further disorders as it was learned that the Christian population was greatly excited over the incident.
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.
