The Palestine Court of Appeals today reversed the conviction of Jan Haidamovics, a polish soldier who was found guilty of manslaughter by the Criminal Assizes for killing Zalman Shuster, a Jewish taxi-driver, who had been illegally detained at a polish military camp somewhere in Palestine.
When sentencing Haidamovicz to two years imprisonment on March 16, the presiding justice of the Criminal Assizes stated that Shuster’s arrest by Polish authorities and his detention was illegal; that the instructions given the camp guards, to shoot the prisoner if he tried to escape, were “manifestly unlawful;” and that all evidence pointed to the fact that Haidamovioz intended to kill Shuster. It was not made clear today on what basis the Appeals Court reversed the conviction.
The resentment felt by the Jewish community as a result of the Haidamovicz case has been increased by the attitude of a Polish refugee named Jan Yubbis, now residing here, who when hailed into court for beating an aged Jew defended himself by stating that “I used to beat Jews in Poland; I do not see any reason why I should not beat them here.” Despite his defiant remarks, the court only fined Yubbis three pounds and freed him. It was later learned that the victim of the assault, 60-year-old Jacob Sandler in whose boarding house Yubbis had dwelt, committed suicide following the beating.
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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.
