Personifying Torquomado, the head of the Inquisition in Spain in the fifteenth century and disguising as the devil of “Faust” at a masquerade ball is a crime in the Polish Republic punishable with not less than two years’ imprisonment, according to a decision made today by the Court of Appeals.
Jacob Wechsler and Abraham Werzberger of the City of Zamosc, district of Lublin, attended a Jewish ball given during the Chanukah festival last year dressed as the Inquisitor and the devil, respectively. At the instigation of the local anti-Semitic paper, the two were arrested and charged with insulting the Catholic clergy. The trial took place in the district court and they were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.
Both the accused and the prosecuting attorney appealed the case, the latter asking for severer sentence.
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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.
