A strong recrudesence of anti-Semitism in the Lithuanian villages where the Jews live in daily expectation of pogroms is indicated from the frequency with which Christian children disappear and Jews charged with spiriting them away, and terrorizing attacks by hooligans on Jews.
In the village of Darshunishok, near Kovno, a gang of hoodlums have been terrorizing the Jews, robbing houses, beating pedestrians and desecrating religious sanctuaries. Jewish appeals to the courts for protection resulted in a temporary cessation of the trouble but the hooligans then returned to the attack with threats to wipe out the entire Jewish population.
A delegation of Jews from the village have come to Kovno asking the local Jewish leaders to take measures for their protection. The delegation also visited the Minister of the Interior but nothing came of the visit.
In Kovno itself, in order to pacify the anti-Semites because of their growing agitation over the release of four Jewish butchers who had been accused of the murder of a Christian physician, Dr. A. Vishenitz, but were subsequently found not guilty and released, the police have decided to rearrest the butchers, although the evidence showed them to be guiltless.
Anti-Semitism in the villages is assuming alarming proportions as hardly a day passes but that the disappearance of a Christian child is used to revive the hoary and exploded blood ritual libel against the Jews. Despite the fact that the missing child is found in every single case the anti-Jewish agitation is not being lessened.
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.
