Four Jordanian infiltrators murdered an Israeli near the Lydda airport this week-end, but his 21-year-old girl companion escaped death by posing as a “Russian tourist.”
The girl, Helene Frak, who came to Israel from Poland five years ago, described the details of the attack and her escape to newsmen today. She and her friend, Arieh Greuback, were traveling in a car to Petach Tikvah, when the headlights of their cars revealed an armed khaki-clad man standing in a ditch near the road, and three others seated in the ditch. Greuback stopped the car and asked them to identify themselves. They said they were Israeli soldiers and ordered him back to the car. He did so but, growing suspicious, walked back to them. They shot and killed him with a burst of Sten gun fire.
Then one of the men, who spoke Hebrew, came over to the car and ordered Miss Frak to follow him. She was led to a nearby road and was questioned all the while. She told them she was a Russian visiting Israel. The Hebrew-speaking marauder consulted with the others in Arabic, and the young girl could hear them repeating the word “Russia.”
Having decided to release her, the men told her to inform anyone she might meet that the attackers were Israeli soldiers. When she was left alone, she ran to a nearby settlement, where she called the police. Their investigation revealed the footprints of four men heading eastward to Jordan.
Eight armed Egyptian infiltrators clashed with an Israeli patrol near the Gaza strip inside Israel territory yesterday. The Egyptians retreated across the border after a fierce exchange of fire. No casualties were reported on the Israeli side.
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.
