Four eye-witnesses to the murder of 24 Jews in the house of Rabbi Jacob Slonim at Hebron during last Summer’s riots testified today at the opening of the trial of the four Arabs charged with the murder. Two Arab policemen and Yehuda Leib Schneurson also gave evidence, the latter describing the attack on the Slonim house which he saw from his house nearby.
Eleven year-old Hanania Slonim, Hayim Kastanovitch, Mina Orliansky, a daughter of a rabbi, who saw the first defendant killing her father with a stick, a seventeen-year-old servant girl in the Slonim house who saw Rabbi Slonim’s son and daughter-in-law murdered, all vividly described the massacre in which two dozen people lost their lives.
With the testimony of these witnesses the prosecution completed its case. Counsel for the defense asked that the court discharge two of the defendants because of insufficient evidence, but the Court did not agree on this request. The defense witnesses will take the stand tomorrow.
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.
