News Brief

In yesterday’s Italian air raid on this city high explosive and incendiary bombs fell on thickly populated districts, catching the population unawares. About 25 houses were wrecked and rendered uninhabitable and hundreds of families were left roofless.

Immediately after the raid, Mayor Israel Rokach, accompanied by this correspondent, toured the stricken areas and instructed Air Raid Precaution workers and fire brigades and directed rescue work.

Some bombs fell on the old cemetery, where Max Nordau, Achad Haam, Chaim Nach man Bialik and other famous Zionists are buried. An adjoining synagogue and yeshiva (rabbinical academy) were wrecked and three old Jews studying the Talmud were buried in the debris. The fire brigades brought conflagrations under control in the shortest time, but were unable to rescue several inhabitants of the Shechunat Pachim section, which consists mainly of wooden huts that blazed rapidly.

While A.R.P. workers removed those who were trapped, first-aid squads speedily removed the wounded to hospitals. The dead were brought to the Nordau School to await identification this morning. Eliezer Kaplan, Dr. Bernard Joseph and Isaac Gruenbaum immediately came to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem to extend the Jewish Agency’s assistance.

Throughout the raid inhabitants of Tel Aviv demonstrated marvelous calm. A conference of the Group “A” General Zionists was interrupted only to hear news and continued with its business. High Commissioner Sir Harold A. MacMichael came to Tel Aviv to inspect the damage and visited families of victims. Mas funerals started at 11 a.m. today and continued until 6 p.m. Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog recited “Kaddish,” the memorial prayer.

The city engineer, Y. Shiffman, told this correspondent that 43 private houses had been damaged during the raid.