The Roumanian Legation has addressed a letter to Jewish newspapers, without addressing itself also to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, in which it states that disciplinary measures against Captain Panisoara were taken already on June 2nd, or “in other words, over 40 days ago.”
This statement of the Roumanian Legation is contradicted by the statement made by the Roumanian Minister. Charles A. Davila, in his letter of June 25th in which the Roumanian Minister placed particular emphasis on the fact that the “new” Roumanian government had instituted a rigid investigation and that disciplinary measures were taken immediately upon the advent of the new government. The Voida-Voevodi government was not sworn in by the King before June 6th. In his letter of June 25th Mr. Davila emphasizes that the new government had taken rigid and disciplinary measures adding that the government came into power only “a few days ago.”
The statement of the Legation also says that the investigation has been going on since May 7th, whereas Mr. Davila, in his letter of June 30th, quoted “Unser Zeit” of Chisinau, according to which the investigation started only on May 29th and himself says “the truth is that the investigation in the Bronstein case was started as far back as May 29th.” The statement of the Legation winds up with the remark that while the Bronstein case occurred on May 7th, the J.T.A. did not publish its first news until May 29th. It has been pointed out by the J.T.A. that Yedinez is such a small town that it is not even mentioned on the map and as soon as the first report appeared on May 26th in a Kishineff newspaper it was cabled to this country by the Agency.
How can the Roumanian Legation, in the face of the Minister’s assertion and the fact that the torture of Samson Bronstein occurred on May 7th, state that the investigation began on May 7th.
This flagrant self-contradiction is one of a number of such statements by the legation which harp on irrelevant details in an effort to divert public attention from its first declaration that the Bronstein case was “completely invented.”
Mr. Davila in his statement declared that the statement, that disciplinary measures had been taken, was received by him by cable. As this statement was released by him only on June 22nd, it would appear that it took the Roumanian government fully 20 days to inform its representative in Washington about the steps it had taken.
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.
