Connecticut western news., 1883-07-18
A STRANGE TRIAL.
A SINGULAR STORY THAT COMES TO
 US FROM HUNGARY.
Jews Charged With the Murder of a Chris-
 tian Girl for a Sacrifice.

From time to time the Atlantic cable brings us scraps of news about crimi- nal trial going on in Hungary, at the little town of Nyiregyhaza. The defend ants are several Jews, charged with hav- ing murdered Christian girl for the purpose of obtaining her blood for their Passover rites. The trial has caused immense excitement in that region, and the remarkable character of the charge, which is like reminiscence of the dark est periods of the Middle sAgess the strange contradictions in the testimony enveloping the whole case in mystery, and suggesting some strange psycholog- ical puzzles, and, finally, the interest taken in it by the European press, make it a genuine c0use ceIebre.
 The facts. as they appear from the tact of accusation 9 are as follows:
 At Tisza- Eszlar, village not far from Tokay, on April 1st, 1882, about the middle of the day, 8 Christian servant girl, fourteen years old, named Esther Solymosi, was sent by her mistress to 8 shop in neighboring village to get some whitewash and painters colors. On her way back she met her sister Sophie and exchanged some words with her. But she never reached home. Her absence was remarked an hour or two afterward, and search for her was made, but she had disappeared, and has not been seen alive to this day. Some time afterward, in May, 1882, rumor sprang up that the Jews had murdered her. It was said that Moritz Scharf, fourteen years old, the son of the keeper of the Syna- gogue, Joseph Scharf, had made to somebody confession to the effect that Esther had been killed by Jews in the Synagogue. Thereupon excitement be- gan to rise, and the mother of Esther called upon the district magistrate, who opened an investigation about month after the girl had disappeared. The suspected parties, as well as the boy, Moritz Scharf, were put in close confne- ment, and the latter made the following statement:
 On the 1st of April the girl Esther Solymosi passed by his fathers house; his father ordered him to call her into the house to arrange some candlesticks on the wardrobe, it being the Jewish Sabbath, on which the Jews do no work, and the Sabbath woman" of the Scharf family having faited appcar.czxf zxfrer Esther had done this she was asked by another Jew who had come in to go into the Synagogue for similar purpose. About quarter of an hour after Esther had entered the temple he (Moritz) heard terrible cries coming from the building. he went to the door, which was locked; looked through the keyhole, and saw Esther stretched on the floor, partly un- dressed, two men holding her down, while another man cut her throat with 8 knife such as is used by Jewish butchers. Two earthen vessels were held under he1 throat to catch the blood; then the body
 was dressed again and put into the vesti
 bule, where he saw four Jews so sur
 rounding the body as to conceal it iron his view. Thereupon he hurried intt
 the house, telling his parents about it
 but was silenced by his mother, ant
 finally one of the Jews he had observed
 in the temple came in and told him t.
 shut up the Synagogue, which he did
 seeing nothing of the body nor any trace
 of blood.
 | A younger brother of Moritz Scharf
 Samuel, five years old, also told hi
 st ry, which, however, differed in som
 important points from that of the othe
 boy. According to him, their father
 Joseph Scharf, had participated in tn
 murder, and he (SamueD and hi
 brother Moritz had held the vessels t receive the blood. Aside from this, said only in general way that Esthe , had been murdered by his father an other Jews during rehearsal of tn hymns and prayers which were to l. E used during the Passover.
 But stranger thing was still to come
 On June IS, 1882, the body of girl ws , found in the river, near Tisza-E -Eszla , dressed in Esther's clothes. or clotht
 exactly like hers. This body bore I 2 marks of violence at all. If this W, . really the body of Esther, the story the murder in the synagogue was co clusively disproved. Several persons
 the village recognized it as the boo
 of Esther, but her mother and fe
 others did not. Of commission e physicians examining the body, sever + declared that it was the body of a wom, a at least nineteen or twenty years ol o while 8 commission of university profe 't sors subsequently, consulted, held tn 0 it might we'll be the body of girl n fourteen. But then another most sta B. ling piece of testimony came in.
 y Some raftsmen confessed" that 'e June 7, 1882, they had been induced r; Jewish raftsmen named Smilovicz, W ar offered them good pay to carry de Il body which would on a certain day a m certain place be delivered to them, a CT that on June II they received that bo h. from Smilovicz, and from dark wom 1e about thirty years old, apparently Id Jewess, 8 bundle of clothes in which [ ly body was to be dressed, while hal ed kerchief with some red and blue co SC was to be tied to its left hand. I te body, so fitted out, was put in the wat ly where it remained several days attacf ce to the raft. It was then produced h. the raftsmen, who said that they l
 found it ill the river. The impress
 ,,rodrcad Inv this cnnfnssion ,uas