cycle and told the Arabs gathered around him that he had just br

returned from Jerusalem, where “thousands of Muslims had br

been killed and their blood spilled like water.” The Arabs, seek- br

ing blood, marched through the streets. Suddenly, elderly Rabbi br

Slonim appeared, headed for the office of the police chief. The br

Arabs leaped upon him and beat the aged rabbi unmercifully. br

Frightened Jews watched from their homes, as did the chief of br

police. A woman, Mrs. Sokolov, watching from her window, br

could not stand to see the sight and ran to the police chief. He br

curtly told her that it was none of her business, and “further- br

more, it is the fault of the Jews anyhow.” He advised her to lock br

herself in her home.

The mob then turned to the Grodzinski home. Y. L. br

Grodzinski, in testimony given later, stated: “When the riots br

began, there were people in our house. I saw a young Arab open br

the gate to our courtyard and tens of Arabs burst in. They sur- br

rounded the house and began banging on the doors. We hastily br

secured the doors as stones came smashing through the win- br

dows. When a shot was fired into the room, we went up to the br

second floor and called for help. Eliezer Don Slonim saw us and br

managed to get a group of police, who finally scattered the mob. br

We then all decided to move to the home of Slonim, since he had br

excellent relations with the Arabs and we felt sure that his house br

would not be attacked.” How false this was will be seen later.

The bloodthirsty Arabs wanted Jews. They made their way br

to the Slobodka yeshiva. Because it was the eve of the Sabbath, br

most of the students were not there. Only the Yemeni shammas br

(sexton) and the perpetually diligent masmid, eternal learner of br

Torah, Shmuel Rosenholtz, were to be found. (Rosenholtz rare- br

ly left the study hall.) The mob, breathing fire, came charging br

into the courtyard. The shammas leaped into the well in time and br

covered himself; it saved his life. Not so Rosenholtz. Completely br

immersed in his Talmud, he did not even hear the mob come in. br

It was only when stones came flying into the hall, one smashing br

him in the head so that blood spurted over his Talmud, that he br

attempted to flee. But the mob was upon him and punctured his br

body with knife wounds, like a sieve.

The Hebron massacre has its first victim. The tragedy un- br

folds.

Evening now comes to Hebron, and the Sabbath will soon br

begin. The Arab mob that murdered Shmuel Rosenholtz in cold br