Police had to use teargas yesterday to disperse a large and excited crowd which gathered outside of a beerhall where Jewish youths scuffled with neo-Nazis. Several members of the crowd were injured and some were arrested.
The incident, which took place in a beerhall in Hillbrow, a Johannesburg suburb, was the second in a week. In the first incident, a number of German immigrants toasted Hitler’s birthday in the beerhall. A number of Jewish youths went later to the beerhall and remarks were exchanged with the German patrons leading to a scuffle which police quickly halted. The youths admitted their guilt and paid their fines, declaring they wanted to show they were not ready to let a salute to Hitler go unchallenged.
In the second incident, yesterday, another group of Jewish young people entered the beerhall where German folksongs were being sung. The youths began to sing Hebrew songs and to dance the Horah. Police, who had been in the hall in the expectation of trouble, ordered the youths to leave. The youths refused and an altercation broke out when police forcibly evicted them.
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