Forty persons accused of spreading anti-Semitic propaganda inciting the population in connection with the ritual murder tale were arrested by the Jugoslavian authorities in the province of Banat.
The arrests followed the events in Zentar where the rumor was spread that “in every Jewish synagogue a Christian child is immured” following the temporary disappearance of Marguerite Takatch, fifteen year old servant girl, who was found in a neighboring village suffering from exhaustion. The court authorities yesterday published the opinion of the official physician that the girl was the victim of assault which brought about her exhaustion. This fact was not made known before.
Speedy steps were taken by the authorities to restore tranquility and to bring about a pacification of the minds of the villagers. Couriers with trumpets were sent by the Banat authorities to the villages of the province to proclaim to the entire population that the tales of Jewish ritual murder are a silly invention and that every person responsible for spreading anti-Jewish agitation will be severely punished.
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.
