THE COURT OF APPEALS TODAY REDUCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT THE DEATH SENTENCE OF JUDAH LEIB CHATZKELEWICZ, FORMER SOLDIER, WHO WAS CONVICTED OF THE MURDER OF A POLISH SERGEANT IN JUNE, 1936, WHICH LED TO ANTI-JEWISH DISORDERS IN THE CITY OF MINSK-MAZOWIEC. DEFENSE COUNSEL CONTENDED THE DEFENDANT’S MENTAL DEFICIENCY HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED.
THE COURT SAID IN ITS VERDICT THAT ALTHOUGH CHATZKELEWICZ WAS NON COMPOS MENTIS, IN VIEW OF HIS HATRED OF THE POLISH STATE AND THE ARMY HE WAS TO BE REGARDED AS AN UNDESIRABLE ELEMENT AND HENCE MERITED LIFE IMPRISONMENT.
JEWISH CIRCLES, POINTING OUT THAT THE LOWER COURT HAD BY IMPLICATION STIGMATIZED THE ENTIRE JEWISH PEOPLE WITH THE CRIME, INTERPRETED THE APPEALS COURT VERDICT AS EXONERATING THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND PRESS BECAUSE IT WAS MADE CLEAR THAT THE DEFENDANT WAS GUILTY AS AN INDIVIDUAL.
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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.
