Warsaw Radio today praised the work of a “citizens; militia” for apprehending gang leaders responsible for attacks against the Jewish population of Bielawa. Broadcasting in Yiddish to Europe, the radio said:
“A gang of robbers has been active for some time in the Lower Silesian industrial town of Bielawa, carrying out assaults on the local Polish and Jewish inhabitants. The Jewish population in particular has suffered from these attacks. As a result of the alarm of the population, the authorities have instituted vigorous investigations, which showed that the gang had begun to blackmail Jews in an attempt to extort money through threats.
“Recently two gangsters, Jozef Olesniewicz and Henryk Piotrkowski, were apprehended by the citizens’ militia. Both have Long criminal records. They were responsible for organizing an attack against the residence of a Jewish tailor. The effective work of the citizens’ militia has been welcomed by the Jewish and Polish inhabitants of Bielawa and entire Lower Silesia.”
The latest issues of the Warsaw Yiddish newspaper Folkstimme reaching here today carries further appeals by local and central authorities in Poland to the non-Jewish population of Poland to combat anti-Jewish elements and not to fall under the influence of anti-Semitic propaganda.
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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.
