The attorney for Hirsh Farenblatt, the conductor of the Israel National Opera who was sentenced yesterday to five years imprisonment on charges of collaborating with the Nazis and handing over Jews for extermination, announced today that he will appeal within the next 15 days against what he described as a “severe sentence.” The attorney’s request for the release of Barenblatt pending the appeal was rejected by the court.
The five-year sentence was imposed for the major charge of handing over Jews to the Nazis. Concurrent shorter terms were imposed for the charges emanating from his position as chief of the Jewish police in the Bendzin Ghetto.
Barenblatt, who was married several months ago to a young opera singer, cried out “Why? why?” when hearing the verdict, stressing that he was acquitted on the same charges by a Polish court. The Judgment of the Israeli court, however, noted that the “cries of children demand punishment,” indicating that Barenblatt’s most outrageous act was discovering the hiding place of Jewish orphans and handing them over to the Germans to be shipped to a death camp.
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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.
