In a surprise move by Federal agents, Jewish Defense League member Avraham Hershkowitz was suddenly transferred yesterday from Manhattan’s Federal House of Detention where he had been serving a five year prison term on charges of falsifying his passport to the Lewistown Federal Penitentiary in Pa. This move was described by a high JDL official as “part of the government’s campaign to exert pressure on the JDL” and its attempt “to make lawyers, wife and friends inaccessible to Hershkowitz.” The sudden transfer, JDL General Counsel Bertram Zweibon termed “very unusual.” He also said that Judge John Bartels, who meted out the five-year sentence to Hershkowitz, had promised his lawyers that he would be kept in the Manhattan detention center to enable them to confer with the prisoner whenever necessary. Zweibon added that “it is very rare that the government moves a prisoner so quickly after sentence.” Hershkowitz was sentenced last week and began to serve it on Tuesday.
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
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.
