Attack Lecturers; Many Injured; Cannot Tolerate Reference to Old Testament (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The sessions of the International Institute for Bible Research held in the City Hall of Insbruck, were thrown into turmoil and disorder followed by riots because of the intolerance of an anti-Semitic group present.
A large group in the audience, said to be members of the anti-Semitic Haken-kreuzler organization, seated among Catholic clergymen and missionaries who came to pursue Bible studies, raised havoc when several lecturers on the Old Testament appeared on the platform. When the learned clergy expounded passages of the Old Testament and mentioned Jehovah, the anti-Semitic group interrupted by shouting, “We don’t want to hear about the God of the Jews.” They also shouted down the lecturers, calling them Jews, hirelings of the Jews, and protectors of the Jews. Chairs were thrown in the half as shouts “Pfuy” filled the hall. Canes and rubber whips were used by the anti-Semites in the riot which followed. Many in the audience, including missionaries and clergymen, were seriously injured, many being taken to the hospital. The missionary, Kraczik, suffered severe injuries.
The police were called out to restore order. Many were arrested.
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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.
