9th February 1933
Sign of the Times
'Terror in Gersfeld'
Article from the C.V.-Zeitung, 9th February 1933, p.41. Based in Berlin and with a circulation of 40,000 - 60,000 copies (c.1935), it was the most popular political weekly amongst German Jews. The paper reported on Jewish life in German society and addressed the topic of antisemitism.
'Over the course of the last week the windows of various Jewish families in Gersfeld were smashed. Moreover, a Jewish businessman who gave chase when the windows were shattered was stabbed with a knife and seriously injured. The perpetrators fled but left behind a cap and gloves, so that one can expect them to be identified.
Larger riots broke out on the evening of Saturday 4 February. The leader of the NSDAP, the carpenter Heun [William Heun (b.1894); joined the NSDAP in 1930], called on his followers at the marketplace to fetch the Jewish inhabitants from their houses. The fanaticised multitude hereupon marched to the house of the respected businessman Bachrach from the Liebstadter company. [Correctly: Sally Bacharach (b.1881); lived from 1909 in Gersfeld and moved to Fulda in March 1934 with his wife, Ida]. Three National Socialists forced entry into the house and injured the unsuspecting businessman Bachrach, who was sitting with his family, with punches and kicks that were so severe that he collapsed and required medical attention. The barbarous attack is all the more incomprehensible since businessman Bachrach has never been active politically and enjoyed widespread popularity both personally and in business.'
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