In the town of Bamberg a trial is being held which discloses a bestial deed that gives one an idea of the lawlessness and brutality being practiced, all too often with impunity, upon Jews in many places in Germany.
On September 17, fifteen former members of the “Jungdeutschen Regiments” were brought to trial before the court of Bamberg. The chief person accused is the 25-year old Wolfgang Gotze of Coburg. According to the indictment which was read in court the accused, together with some other persons who have not yet been apprehended, went by train on the night of November 3, 1923, to the neighboring town of Altenhauson in order to massacre the Jews in that place. Under the leadership of Wolfgang Gotze several young men entered forcibly into the homes of the two families of Emanuel and Adolph Gutman, having placed guards in the vicinity. Armed with revolvers and other weapons they ransacked the rooms of the two families, threatening the occupants with death. They searched every nook and corner and took all the money and other valuable things they laid hands on. After they had done pillaging, in the course of which they committed physical violence on the members of the Gutman families, they dragged Emanuel and Adoph Gutman, who are 64 and 59 years old respectively, through the streets, torturing them unceasingly. They beat them with whips until, bleeding and exhausted, the two aged Jews collapsed.
On the night of November 6, four others of the accused went, by order of one Adjutant Wielinger, commander of the second battalion of the “Jungdeutschen Regiments” to the town of Altenhausen in order to confiscate all their movable property and personal effects which were to be delivered to the headquarters of the battalion. The Gutman families were not there at that time as they had fled on the night of November 4. The accused took from the abandoned houses all clothing, linen, furniture and everything else they could lay hold of.
The accused have confessed to practically all the charges made against them.
The plaintiffs, Emanuel and Adolph Gutman, and their wives have given a detailed account of the occurrences of the night of November 3 and of their flight to their present refuge in Coburg.
The verdict issued against the criminals shows how little justice is meted out to the Jew. Lieutenant Gotze was sentenced to three years imprisonment; seven of his associates to terms of from two to nine months. The other seven were acquitted.
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.
