Abraham Stavsky, one of three Revisionist Zionists accused of the murder of Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff, Zionist Laborite leader, was identified this afternoon as a strikebreaker in Petach Tikvah and as the man who had engraved two stones with inscriptions reading, “here lies buried the Histadruth leader Arlosoroff” and “here lies buried Ben Gurion,” another leader of the Zionist Laborites.
Stavsky was identified by Policeman Moshe Kessler and Police Inspector Solomon Rosenstein, both of whom live in Petach Tikvah. The top of one of the inscribed stones was exhibited in court and positively identified by both Kessler and Rosenstein, the latter of whom confirmed Kessler’s story in every detail.
During cross-examination of Kessler by defense attorney Horace Samuel, he attacked the credibility of the witness and asserted that the policeman had been under suspicion of concealing stolen property and that his home had been searched by the police. He also charged Kessler with having abused Revisionist strikebreakers during a strike of the Histadruth in Petach Tikvah. Samuel also asserted that Kessler had borrowed money from the labor bank and that he was the owner of an orange grove.
Kessler retorted that he had never been suspected by the police; admitted that his house had been searched by them, but said that the warrant was not for him. He denied having abused the Revisionist strikebreakers. Kessler admitted that he had borrowed money in the labor bank for the past three years, but asserted that he was under no obligation to the bank. He said that the orange grove was owned by his wife.
ROSENSTEIN TESTIFIES
Police Inspector Rosenstein testified that he had arrested Zvi Rosenblatt at Kfar Saba, but that nothing incriminating had been found during the search. He said that Rosenblatt was arrested because his orders were to do so regardless of what the search revealed.
Earlier in the day Shloime Weisberg, expert police tracker, who yesterday created a sensation in court when he voluntarily stated that the footprints at the scene of the murder might have been made by other persons than Stavsky, was cross-examined by Samuel. He continued to insist that the footprints could have been made by a pair of shoes the same size as Stavsky’s.
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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.
