Argentine Minister Condemns Buenos Aires Temple Outrage

The bomb explosion which shocked Jews at prayer in the Liberted Street Synagogue here on the evening of March 30, first night of Passover, was heard not only in the temple and its environs but was broadcast over all of the Argentine by the radio waves.

The temple was filled with worshippers who had come to hear Cantor Barsky. Suddenly there was the sound of a loud explosion. Panic ensued among the me and women in the temple, and the noise was carried to listeners through the microphone which had been set up for broadcasting the services. There were no casualties inside the synagogue.

To all appearances, the attack upon the temple was planned well in advance. Several days before Passover a clerical fascist sheet called El Crysol published an article upbraiding the Jews for daring to send their “snuffling prayers” over the air waves on Good Friday. Since the flavor of the anti-Semitic outbursts in El Crysol is not at all representative of the Argentine, even of the Argentine brand of anti-Semitism, it is believed here that El Crysol is supported by the German propaganda fund. No Argentinian would think of making a physical attack upon persons at prayer.

PLANNED IN ADVANCE

Further evidence of planning by the attackers is to be seen in the fact that before the attack telephone wires in the temple were cut. The building has already been the object of anti-Semitic attacks Several months ago the front of the building was smeared with tar an act which aroused the condemnation of all the press. Somewhat later the same vandals threw stench bombs into the building when a wedding was in progress.

Immediately after the explosion occurred, police arrived and locked all doors in order to check up on those present. Two Christians found in the temple were arrested. One, Jose Castro Viego, a Spaniard, said he had come to hear the Jewish music, and no evidence to the contrary has as yet been found. The other man was an Italian, Jose Palletti, against whom, also, no evidence has been found.

When the arrested were escorted out of the temple by the police fascist legionnaires attempted to interfere. In the ensuing struggle a group of young fascists attacked a Jewish merchant, Philip Gomberg, who lives near the temple. “Death to the Jews,” the fascists shouted until two of them were arrested, when they dispersed.

MINISTER CONDEMNS OUTBREAK

A young Jew who passed the temple shortly before the explosion reported to the police that he heard a woman sitting in an automobile which stood at the curb, its doors open, say to a child:

“Lie down. They are going to shoot soon.” The woman spoke in German.

Such manifestations of anti-Semitism as the attack upon the temple are “foreign to the spirit of freedom and equality which constitutes Argentinian tradition,” Dr. Leopoldo Melo, Minister of the Interior, declared to a Jewish delegation which called upon him to protest against the occurrence and against the toleration of anti-Semitic propaganda generally. The committee included N. Gesang, president of the Committee Against Persecution of German Jews; Dr. Nicholas Rapaport, director of the Jewish hospital, and H. Natanson, vice-president of the Jewish Congregation of the Argentine Republic. The Libertad Street Temple is a member of this congregation, the oldest in Buenos Aires.

REASSURES COMMUNITY

“I am convinced,” Dr. Melo said, “that no true Argentinian would organize or execute such crimes, Jewish immigration to this country is nearly half a century old, and the Jewish contributions to the land are properly appreciated. The Jewish community may rest assured that these imported instigational acts make no impression upon anyone. The Jewish population enjoys and will continue to have the complete protection of the government, which will take the steps necessary to suppress the slightest attempt to disturb the Jews or any other part of the population.”