The Court of Summary Jurisdiction before which the 22 prisoners arrested for participation in the anti-Jewish excesses on Rosh Hashanah were to have appeared to-day in order to be sentenced, has declared the offence outside its competence, and has transferred the matter to the Public Prosecutor.
When the serious anti-Jewish outbreak occurred in Berlin last October, on the day of the opening of the new Reichstag, nineteen of the rioters were put on trial the following day before a court of summary jurisdiction, and two were sent to prison for six weeks and twelve for terms ranging from three weeks to three months, the other five being acquitted.
Those found guilty of doing damage to property or of obstructing the police will, of course, be punished, the “Manchester Guardian” correspondent in Berlin wrote at the time. But they are not the only persons who are guilty, he proceeded. Their action is the direct outcome of the antisemitic agitation that goes on day after day in the National Socialist movement. A number of young people will soon be spending a good many weeks or even months in prison, and very likely it serves them right. But those who are ultimately responsible are Hitler, Dr. Goebbels, and Herr Rosenberg, the editor of the antisemitic “Voelkischer Beobachter”.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.