The Denver Jewish news., 1919-12-03
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The Unsuccessful Pogrom in
Bucharest
CONTINUED from Page One. J

mad to expect We appealed to the
government and we came to the COLI
clusion that it would not protect us. |
There was only one expedient for us,
we decided to do so.
I'VE quietly organized the Jewish
reterans in the entire Jewish quar- |
ter. We divided them into companies.
each in charge of an officer. Every
body was given night-stick, some a
pick-axe, and others We're armed with
revOlvers. Each company was assign
ed definite place, and system OF
signals was agreed upon by means of
which the men could be sent to any
destination desired. Every one realiz-
ed that if he did not on this occasion
defend himself and the rest of the
Jews, this pogrom would mark the
beginning of series of pogroms. We
ability to defend ourselves, and were
prepared for the worst. We decided.
however, only to defend ourselves and
in no case to attack. Not single one
of us was to attack the Roumanian
Christian shops or homes in the Jew
ish quarters, but We're to defend our
selves against those who would attack
us. The pOgrOm began on November
11th. At night a band of ruffians
hegan to terror:ze and beat the Jews
wherever they saw them-on the
streets, OIL the cars, in restaurants, etc.
After that they went thru Calea Wa
caresti Jewish street. and began to
break heads and windows. entered
Among those who suffered serious
losses in their stores were Josef Weiss,
Al Calea Wacarest. Abraham Roscn-
s;weig. 40 Calea Wacaresti. Simon Gold,
L. Steinberg's printing shop. Bernard
Leibowitz and others.
Il have list of 40 merchants who
suffered from the pogrom. When the
land had arrived at the Old Market,
several of our companies had already
Leen mobilized and met them; they
attacked the invaders and beat them to
a frazzle Our Jewish defenders broke
skulls, hands and feet, and beat them
up as best they could. \ great NUM-
Der of the bandits fell on the streets
unconscious. They never expected
such deal; they lost their heads and
did not know what to do. They made
another attempt, but they could ac-
complish nothing BECAUSE the Jews
cilessly. With wild, desperate Shouts
! they took to their heels. As they ran
thru the Jewish streets the Jewish de-
fense companies encountered them ana
greeted them with blows. The bandits
barely escaped with their lives. Many
of them We're left with fractured
bulls, broken hands and feet-almost
dead on the streets. The command
of the defense then organized patrols
on the Jewish streets. and not sin
gle Gentle could go thru them without
permission of the sentry. On the next
day the bandits were reOrganized. and
| again attacked the Jewish districts. i'll
larger numbers. but they met with the
ish hoy, fell IA victim in this pOgrom.
The entire Jewish population mournea
his death. and he was given an i'm
posing funeral 1t is true that we de-
Tended ourselves .cnpably, but we suf-
! fcred much from the pogrom. At last
tine government interfered and cstab-
lished order. Our defense not only
g;,ined us the respect of many Gen
tiles but also brought terror into the
hearts of the bandits. Now, we no
longer fear a pogroIn'-they simply
won't dare to make one. When Jews
show that they can also give a lick
ing. there is reason to fear them
The news that the Jews took their
they vanquished their foe, created a
sensation all over the country. Owing
10 the activity of the censor, at the
crder of the government, the news
papers wrote very little of the event.
and the news of the attempted pogrom
at BukhareSt never crossed the lou-
manian boundaries.
The Bucharest Jews believed that
their brave defense would make po-
groms impossible in the future. In
the other cities Where the Jews could
not organize themselves they suffer
ed much from the pogroms, and these
pogroms l will describe in later ar
ticles.