The anti-Semitic disturbances in Poland were sharply scored here last night at a mass meeting attended by five thousand people and addressed by representatives of the Jewish. Protestant and Catholic faiths.
Pierre Bonardi, leading non-Jewish journalist and the negro deputy, M. Monnerville, strongly urged the organization of a Jewish self-defense. Other speakers included Deputy Bergery, Henri Barbusse, the writer ; Bernhard Lecache, president of the League to Combat Anti-Semitism ; the liberal Rabbi, Louis Germain Levy ; Pastor Monod, and Father Maingold who appealed for a campaign against racial estrangement.
Royalists, joined by sympathizers of Francois Coty, the anti-Semitic leader, created disturbances at the meeting martialled, but tried by an ordinary criminal court.
The four Jews arrested for the death of Grotkowski, which led to serious rioting in Lwow and many sections of Poland, were described as members of the underworld in a police communique issued the day after Grotkowski’s death. This was vigorously disputed by the accused and their families, who asserted that they were bakery workers returning from work when the drunken group of students returning from an all night party attacked them, compelling them to defend themselves.
The four Jews under arrest are M. Katz, S. Keller, N. Schmer and Isaac Tune.
Twenty-five anti-Semitic students arrested in connection with the rioting which has been continuous since November 26th, were released in the last two days.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
