Two Polish Zionist Leaders to Fight Duel: Dr. Gottlieb Editor of “najer Hajnt” and Ex-senator Davids

A sensation was caused here to-day by the news that two Zionist leaders, Dr. Joshua Gottlieb, one of the editors of the Yiddish daily “Najer Hajnt”, who is President of the Jewish Journalists’ Syndicate, and ex-Senator Dr. Davidsohn, the editor of the Zionist Polish-language daily “Nowe Slowo”, are to fight a duel.

The challenge to the duel arises out of an incident which occurred at the last meeting of the, Council of the Warsaw Jewish Community of which they are both members. Dr. Gottlieb had been making an attack on the President of the Warsaw Jewish Community, Mr. Mazur, describing him as “a new-baked Agudist”. Some of the Agudist members shouted “And Dr. Davidsohn is a newbaked Zionist”.

And I have no respect for Dr. Davidsohn either, Dr. Gottlieb rejoined.

The J.T.A. is unable to obtain any further details of the affair, because under the code of honour governing duels it is not permitted to the parties to make any statements with regard to the issue between them.

In November 1928 there were two cases of challenges to duels between prominent Jewish communal workers, end of them between two prominent Zionists. In both cases, however, the duels were called off, in one case after an exchange of mutual apologies and a reconciliation, and in the other by the matter being put into the hands of a court of honour for settlement. The two Zionists were ex-Senator Moses Koerner, one of the leaders of Deputy Gruenbaum’s Al Hamishmar group in Zionism, and Dr. M. Hindes, one of the leaders of the opposing Et Libnoth group, of which Dr. Gottlieb is one of the principal leaders. In the other case the protagonists were Professor Allerhand, the President of the Lemberg Jewish Community, and assimilationist, and M. Dogllewski, a Zionist member of the Board of the Lemberg Jewish Community. In both cases the dchallenges to the duels arose out of arguments during meetings.