Lower East Side Anarchist Declares Hunger Strike in Prison
Splash: Camp Kinder Ring on Sylvan Lake, New York was a beloved summer destination for Jews. Famous sculptor Chaim Gross (far right on dock) taught arts and crafts at the camp. Image by Forward Association
1914 • 100 years ago
An Anarchist in Manhattan
Rebecca Edelson, a well-known anarchist on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has declared a hunger strike in prison, where she is serving a three-month stint after being arrested for refusing to stop giving a speech on a street corner. According to eyewitnesses, hooligans were throwing stones at Edelson while she spoke, and the police demanded that she stop inciting them. She refused their demand and was subsequently put on trial. At her sentencing, she was given a choice: Refrain from speaking in public for three months, or spend three months in jail. She chose the latter. Edelson is known to be an extremely strong-willed person with an unimpeachable character. Her colleague, Alexander Berkman, has already published invitations to Edelson’s funeral, saying that she will probably not come out of prison alive. For their part, the prison authorities have said that they will make sure Edelson gets fed, by force if necessary.
1939 • 75 years ago
German News Editors Conceal Nazi Ties
You may remember when, not too long ago, Vittorio Mussolini, the son of Italy’s dictator, paid a visit to Hollywood and found that all doors were closed to him. He was essentially boycotted because of his association with the fascists. You may also recall that when Leni Riefenstahl arrived to show her film about the 1936 Berlin Olympics, she was also roundly ignored. But just a short time ago, 10 editors of German newspapers — among them one from Volkischer Beobachter, Hitler’s own paper —appeared in Hollywood and were greeted and hosted by none other than Louis B. Mayer, one of the motion picture industry’s top Jews. The editors were quietly brought to the studios and shown around. No one knew they were Nazis. If they had known, there would have been a revolt.
1964 • 50 years ago
CIA Probes Civil Rights Murder
A spokesman from the Mississippi Highway Patrol announced that the burnt station wagon that was found in a ditch and had been driven by the three young freedom fighters Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schwerner and James Chaney had no traces of bullets or blood and held no traces of criminal activity. The parents of the two Jewish boys, Goodman and Schwerner went to the White House to meet with President Lyndon Johnson, who told them that everything possible was being done to find their boys. At the same time, it was reported that Allen Dulles, the previous director of the CIA, flew to Mississippi at the behest of the president to help with the investigation.
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