Allegations that Jews were armed with hand grenades and gas bombs during the disorders in Przytyk on March 9 drew the sarcasm of the president of the District Court yesterday.
The judge trying 42 Jews and 16 non-Jews for participation in rioting during which three persons were slain and scores injured asked a witness, “Did the Jews also have army tanks?”
Eight Jewish and twenty Gentile witnesses of a total near 400 scheduled to be heard gave evidence yesterday. Non-Jews accused older Jewish defendants of participating in and provoking attacks on peasants.
One testified that a Jew had shown him two loaded guns the week before the disorders. Others said Jewish women attacked Christians and that Jews had on March 9 shouted, “Down with the Catholic church: Beat the dirty Poles”
Lazar Feldberg, 65-year-old Jewish defendant, fainted for the second time after declaring, “I cannot listen to these lies.” He was removed from the courtroom.
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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.