A pogrom-like attack on Jews in the Soviet Lithuanian town of Plungian, in the Kovno district, was reported here today by well informed sources. An uncounted number of Jews were savagely beaten, and some were seriously hurt, the report said.
According to the report, a mob of Latvians stormed the homes of 18 Jewish families in the town on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. The reason for the attack was the classical slander that the Jews had done away with a missing Christian child. Apparently the local Lithuanians believed the ancient libel that Jews drink the blood of Christians on their Holy Days.
The next day, according to the account, the Secretary General of the Lithuanian Communist Party and the Deputy Premier of Lithuania descended on Plungian and led raids by the secret police on suspected members of the mob. It was stated that 100 persons believed to have participated in the attack on the Jews have been arrested.
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