Ten Jews were wounded today in riots in the town of Wasilkow, near Bialystok, while tension continued in Czenstochowa and new disorders were reported in suburbs of that Western Polish city.
A synagogue, a health center and the homes of forty remaining Jewish families were demolished in Kamiensk, near Czestochowa. The health center, the only medical institution in the town, was run by the OZE, Jewish health organization. The houses demolished included that of a local rabbi.
Within the city, scene of three days of riots, about half of the Jewish shops were open, but the others, including the city’s chief market, remained closed. The shop of Leib Birnbaum, who was seriously injured yesterday, was pillaged and demolished today.
The Jewish Community of Czestochowa has so far registered 300 Jewish traders who suffered material damage in the disturbances.
Tension increased as pilgrims arrived from all parts of Poland for a Catholic religious pilgrimage on Sunday. As the preparations went forward for the observance, the Jews feared a renewal of the disorders which followed the fatal shooting of a Polish railway porter by a Jewish butcher.
Anxiety of the Jewish population failed to be eased by publication of an appeal by Bishop Theodor Kubia, Catholic prelate of Czestochowa in which, while asking a halt to disorders, he said that a “terrible crime has been perpetrated in Czestochowa, which created just resentment.”
“We rightly demand satisfaction for this crime and also that measures be taken to prevent recurrence of such crimes (the killing of the Polish porter by a Jew),” the Bishop’s appeal continued.
Declaring the murder had been used for manifestations which were “contrary to the spirit of the Polish State,” the Bishop concluded with an appeal to the population not to participate in anti-Jewish disorders.
Hundreds of wires have been received here from anxious relatives in America, Palestine and France inquiring about their families.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
