Eighty members of the First Roumanian Hebrew Congregation, meeting last night in the synagogue at 3632 Douglas Boulevard to discuss financial affairs of the Congregation, were held up and robbed of approximately $75,000 in cash and jewelry by five young men with pistols.
The members in the synagogue cowered as the leader of the robbers shouted for all to leave the pews and face the wall. All the members were searched. When the leader of the band came to the Rabbi, Dr. Harry Goldstein, he withdrew a billfold containing $22 and a card from the Rabbi’s pocket. Scanning the card, which bore Dr. Goldstein’s name, the leader handed back the bills without a word and moved on to the congregation members lined up against the wall.
The robbers escaped, cutting the telephone wire before they left. Rabbi Goldstein quieted the congregants and offered a prayer that their lives had been spared before calling the police.
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.
