Eleven black-shirted Hitler special guards, accused of having carried out a pogrom in Hirschberg, Silesia, during the blood purge of June 30, in which at least four Jews were slain in cold blood, have been released from prison, German newspapers reported today. All the men have been reinstated in their posts, it is stated.
The four Jews, Dr. Zweig, his wife, Herr Foerster and Herr Charry, were killed while in the custody of the S.S. men. According to reports they were “shot while trying to escape.” Authentic reports received later revealed, however, that the bullet wounds which caused death were found in the faces and temples of the victims, thus precluding any possibility of the “escape” allegation.
Two other Jews were also killed by the S.S. men, who arrested twenty-five Jews in the little community. The others were horribly beaten by the Nazis. The Jewish community was completely terrorized during the attack.
As far as could be learned, the Hirschberg affair and similar attacks on Jews in Goerlitz and Glogau, Silesia, were not planned, but were undertaken on the initiative of local Nazi leaders.
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.
