Abraham Stavsky and Zvi Rosenblatt, Revisionist Zionists accused of the murder of Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff, occupied the witness stand all day today in their own defense. Both testified in detail as to their alibis, both denied repeatedly that they had murdered the Zionist labor leader, and both denied having spoken to Abdul Mejid, Arab convict who declared that they confessed the murder to him.
When the trial opened this morning Stavsky was on the witness stand to be cross-examined by Attorney General Harry H. Trusted, prosecution chief.
Asked for his reasons for choosing the Turgeman Hotel at which to stay and for his reasons for going to bed early on the evening of the murder, Stavsky replied that he chose the hotel because its rates were reasonable. He declared that he always retired early.
Questioned as to his views on terror, Stavsky answered that he was a Revisionist and his party never advocated terror, particularly against Jews.
MURDER “WELL ORGANIZED”
He admitted having said that the murder was well organized in a conversation the day after the crime, and said that the fact “that the murderers have not been found yet is proof that it was well organized.” He attributed this to police inefficiency and said, “I am in a position to criticize the police because I am experiencing it on my shoulders, having been innocently imprisoned for almost a year. Even now I am interested to know who the real murderers were.”
Stavsky ridiculed the idea that he had held lengthy conversations with Abdul Mejid, pointing out that for five months he and Rosenblatt and Achimeier were not even allowed to walk in the prison yard while the other prisoners were there.
“I would be delighted if the real murderers were found and my innocence established,” Stavsky declared as he left the stand.
ROSENBLATT TESTIFIES
Rosenblatt insisted on testifying under oath. He said he arrived in Palestine on January 23, 1933, from Rumania and settled immediately in the Revisionist agricultural group “Plugat Avodah” at Kfar Saba, where he supervised the distribution of the work.
On the evening when Dr. Arlosoroff was murdered (June 16, 1933), Rosenblatt declared, he participated in a meeting of the group at Kfar Saba dealing with purely administrative questions. The session was followed by a dance in which he took part. The dance lasted until 11 o’clock that evening.
He declared that he had never seen Stavsky until they were in jail together. He said that he was arrested on June 23 and questioned by the police. He told of making a statement to police officials that he was participating in a literary evening on the night of the crime, but afterward recalled while in jail exactly where he had been.
Rosenblatt also related in detail the now famous conversation between himself and Mrs. Arlosoroff in the office of Deputy Inspector General Rice, during which the widow urged him to confess promising to intervene on his behalf if he admitted having killed her husband. His version agreed substantially with the report of Police Inspector Tenenbaum.
DEFENSE COMMITTEE RALLY HERE
A mass meeting has been announced for Tuesday evening, May 29, in Washington Irving High School, by the non-partisan committee recently organized in this city for the defense of the Revisionists on trial in Palestine for the murder of Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff.
Speakers at the meeting will include Dr. Louis I. Newman, Professor Chaim Tchernovitz, Jacob de Haas, Rabbi Wolf Gold and Mordecai Danzis.
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.
