The Polish Telegraphic Agency today reported that a group of 35 Jewish engineers died in a suicide action which destroyed a German rubber factory in Silesia just before the Germans started their present offensive on the western front.
The entire plant and the stores of tires which were intended for the use of the German army were blown up in an explosion which could be heard for miles, the report said. In addition to the Jewish engineers, all the German supervisors and a large number of Nazi workers were killed.
The report, received by the Polish Government-in-Exile, through underground channels, said that the engineers were kept in the factory because they could not be replaced. In reprisal for destruction of the plant, the Germans publicly hanged all the Jews they could find in the district. These were eleven men and one 18-year-old boy.
The report emphasized that all the engineers engaged in the conspiracy knew that they would perish in carrying out their plan, and agreed to sacrifice their lives. They smuggled dynamite into the factory and placed it among machinery, power installations and stores. The using was set to explode immediately so that those who prepared the blast could not hope to remain alive.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
