Anti-semitic Riot Breaks out in Argentine School; Jewish Youth Wounded

The Argentine Jewish representative organization DAIA charged today that the federal and local authorities had consistently ignored the organization’s warnings about conditions in the Sarmiento National High School here which culminated this week-end in the grave wounding of a 15-year-old Jewish high-school student in an attack by a nationalist, anti-Semitic student gang.

The attack came after a ceremony honoring Gen. San Martin, the Argentine national hero, at the high school. A gang of nationalist students, supported by youths from the Buenos Aires Catholic University, waylaid some Jewish students in the street. The assailants shouted “Long Live Eichmannl”

Several of the Jewish students were mauled. One, Manuel Trilnik, was shot and seriously wounded. Police arrested six of the Jewish students who carried staves to defend themselves, and later arrested two of the assailants in connection with the shooting.

The DAIA said it had notified Minister of the Interior Alfredo Vitolo and Admiral Niceto de la Vega, the chief of police, last Tuesday that the Jewish students had received threats and asked the authorities to take preventive action. The DAIA charged that the school authorities likewise had ignored the situation and had taken no action.

The organization said that in recent weeks it had repeatedly informed the Minister of the Interior and the chief of police of a dangerous situation developing at the Sarmiento school where, it said, the Tacuara nationalist group had systematically organized vandalism and harassment of the Jewish students.

The Jewish community organization charged that the school authorities had maintained a complete, hands-off attitude. Parents of the students who had been subjected to attack complained, in fact, that the Minister of Education, Luis Mackay, had intervened to protect one of the nationalist students.