Twelve Jews were today hospitalized, several with serious injuries, following a clash last night between American military police and some 40 members of the Agudas Israel who were holding a conference in a local Jewish restaurant. There were 15 rabbis in the group.
The males started when a hysterical German woman accompanied by two military policemen entered the restaurant. The woman accused some of the Jews of beating her, whereupon the soldiers commenced beating the DP’s. The noise of the clash attracted other military policemen and when several of the Jews attempted to escape, they were fired upon. None of the shots found their mark.
Meanwhile, the German women beat several of the Jews and shouted anti-Semitic epithets. She also trampled several Bibles and prayer shawls. Among the injured were 70-year-old Rabbi Israel Goldberg, and aged Rabbi Isaac Zemba. Rabbi Zemba was later removed to a hospital.
When military police officers arrived they halted the assaults and ordered the soldiers to leave. They permitted the Jews who had been forced to stand against a wall with their arms in the air for a considerable time to lower them and rest.
Following an investigation, the military authorities denied that any of the Jews had been beaten by the soldiers. The official version of the incident said that the German girl started the trouble when she saw the Agudists and that while several soldiers were searching the Jews two of them jumped through a window, injuring themselves.
The report also states that several other Jews ran outside the restaurant and entered a bus at which the soldiers fired. The Jews who were held during the investigation will be released shortly and the Army announced that no one was arrested except the German girl, who had entered the cafe for beer. No explanation was given for the searching of the Jews.
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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.
