Prejudice against Jewish internes in Kings County Hospital reached a climax early yesterday when three Jewish doctors were dragged from their beds, hurled into ice water, smeared with dye, beaten, bound and gagged by other members of the hospital medical staff.
Six doctors at the hospital were brought into Flatbush Court yesterday formally charged with assault, third degree. More arrests on similar charges are expected.
Investigations by the police, the officials of the Department of Public Welfare, under supervision of which Kings County Hospital comes, and other agencies of the city are in progress.
Indignation abounds among sympathizers of the three victims who required surgical attention from the treatment they received and who are bent on pressing the prosecution of their assailants.
The outbreak is the culmination of race hatred against the Jewish internes that has been brewing two years, and a sentiment that harks back twelve years when a Jewish interne was forced out of Kings County Hospital because of dislike for his creed.
The prisoners are described as:
Dr. Frank Hannan, Nebraska; Dr. William Wills and Dr. Kenneth Clough both of Brooklyn; Dr. Charles Adams, Illinois; Dr. Lorimer Armstrong, Omaha, Neb, and Dr. William Stratton, Texas.
The three victims are:
Dr. Hyman Solovay, Brooklyn, a graduate of Cornell University, an interne at the hospital two years; Dr. Louis Borow, of Fargo, N. D., graduate of the University of Louisville, and Dr. Louis Katskee, Lincoln, Neb., graduate of University of Nebraska, both of whom have been internes at Kings County Hospital seven months.
The six physicians were represented in Flatbush court yesterday morning by attorneys Peter B. Smith and George Stcinbugler. The three victims were represented by attorney Nathan Sweedler, of 66 Court Street, and Benjamin Solovay, 391 Fulton Street, brother of Dr. Solovay.
The assault charges were made by all three victims. Dr. Solovay suffered the loss of a nail on the big toc of his left foot when one of his as sailants tore it away, a lacerated and bruised left eye and cuts and abrasions on the scalp.
The defendants were inclined to treat the affair lightly, stating that it was in the nature of a hazing party, and not intended to have vicious elements.
When brought before Magistrate Liota the prisoners denied the charges and bail of $500 each was fixed. They were released immedintely on bail after Magistrate Liota granted request of attorneys for both sides to adjourn the hearing until June 28.
The prisoners had obtained bail when brought to the police station through Dr. Coakley, a former interne at the hospital.
After the proccedings yesterday At torney Sweedler stated that when the case comes up for hearing he will seek to have the charges against all six doctors changed to burglary. He alleges that the attacking physiclans committed burglary by entering the rooms of the three victims.
Speaking for the three Jewish internes, Dr. Solovay said that conditions at the hospital were most disagreeable for himself and two companions because they were Jews.
He said he had been at the institution longer than Drs. Borow and Katskee, and that conditions were such when he was at the hospital alone that he took it up with hospital officials. He said Commissioner Coler’s attention had been brought to the situation and that the Commissioner had decided to add Drs. Borow and Katskee to the staff seven months ago.
The three Jewish doctors said that the score or more doctors on the hospital staff had ostracized them, even to the extent of forcing them to eat by themselves, snubbing them and prejudicing the nurses against them.
The trouble drew toward a climax early Sunday night, they said, with slight clashes between the three victims and some of the other doctors. When Drs. Solovay, Borow and Katskee retired about midnight, they declared, they suspected that the feeling against them was at a peak and decided to remain by themselves. Their quarters are on the third floor of the staff house in the east annex of the building.
After all had fallen asleep, they allege, they were pounced upon suddenly, held down in their beds while pillow cases were drawn over their heads, rushed downstairs to the bascment and immersed violently into tubs or tanks of cold water.
They fought back, they said, but were powerless in the hands of so many attackers. They were brought back to their rooms gagged and bound and tossed into bed. Before being thrown into their beds, they allege, they were showered with dye or ink that still remained on the skin of their bodies when they were in court, despite efforts to wash the stain away.
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.
