One Jew was killed and five Havana Jews were arrested on the charge of having fired on the military in the course of the fighting between adherents of the Grau San Martin regime and the rebels.
The dead man is Dr. Vasili Tziwas, Russian Jew, born in Leningrad and a resident of Havana for the last seven years.
The five arrested Jews will be placed on trial before a court-martial. The charge of firing on the troops has a death penalty.
The French Legation in Havana and the juridical committee of the Havana Jewish community intervened with the authorities to obtain the freedom of the men.
President Grau San Martin indignantly denied that prisoners were being executed without trial.
“I am no murderer,” he said sharply in reply to an inquiry. “There can be no executions without my signature and I have signed no such orders.”
The entire Jewish community in Cuba is living through a period of desperate fear, particularly in view of the agitation against the Jews of Cuba, and the declaration of martial law in the republic. The Jewish community is without means of self-protection.
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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.
