Jewish Inquiry into Jerusalem Bombing Opens; Witnesses Testify Britons Involved

The public inquiry into the blast which demolished several houses and killed at least 54 Jews last Sunday morning opened here today before a commission of three Jewish lawyers, all members of the English bar.The investigation was undertaken at the behest of the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Council.

Among the witnesses heard early in the day were members of a Jewish civil guard detachment who halted the convoy, which was responsible for the blast, as the four vehicles entered the Jewish section of the city. One guardsman, who served in a British unit in the war, positively identified the driver of the armored car as Briton by his speech and other mannerisms. He reported that the man, in full police uniform including collar insignia, said that he was convoying the other vehicles to Allenby Barracks.

Several persons who were on the scene of the explosion said they saw the drivers of the trucks get out, light the fuses to their cargo of explosives, shoot two Jewish bystanders dead and then run into the armored car and escape. All the drivers wore British Army uniforms, they stated.

STERNISTS EXECUTE TWO POLES; CHARGE THEM WITH BETRAYING JEWISH SECRETS

Two non-Jewish Poles were today found shot dead in Jerusalem. The Sternists announced that they had “executed” the two for betraying Jewish secrets to the Arabs. One of the men was a former Polish consular employee, while the second was the ex-director of a Polish press service bureau here.

About 200 Jews were rounded up and questioned this afternoon by police detachments operating in the area of the Russian Compound, where most of the government buildings are located. The police, assisted by troops with small cannon, searched homes for weapons and tunnels leading beneath government headquarters. Two “Molotov cocktails” were found, but no tunnels. The authorities ere apparently worried by underground threats to retaliate for last Sunday’s bombings.

In Tel Aviv, some 35 Irgunists entered the Hadassah Hospital and made off with a number of their comrades who were hospitalized last night following a clash with Haganah forces. The militia forces, which are attempting to halt the dissidents from collecting funds for their war chest by “extortionist” methods, used fists, clubs and flash bombs to rout the Irgunists. A Jew was murdered by Arabs today at Magdiel, in the Tel Aviv area.

The headquarters of the Moslem Brotherhood and of a local Arab guerrilla gang were blown up in Haifa last night by a strong Haganah detachment. Later, Arabs kidnapped and held a Jew prisoner for an hour and-a-half, until the police officially denied a rumor that the Jew had taken an Arab captive.

At Rahavia, a Jew, wounded in fighting which was begun by Arab Legionnaires Wednesday night, died today. Two Legionnaires and two Jewish doctors who attempted to aid the injured were wounded during the gun play, it was learned.