By JOSHUA H. JUSTMAN
JTA Jerusalem Correspondent
Copyright 1964 JTA)
JERUSALEM—Reuven Liebes
is one of the 11 Israelis who,
after long years of protracted
negotiations and UN interven-
tion, have been returned to
Israel from imprisonment in
Syria. They have been ex-
changed for 16 Syrians held in
Israel.
Except for three—two girls
and an engineer, abducted by
the Syrians from Lake Kinneret
last July — they were all in-
carcerated in Syrian jails for
periods ranging up to 14 years.
Of the eight, Liebes is the
only one who retained his men-
tal faculties, who did not go
out of his mind under the con-
tinuous torture to which they
have been submitted and which
defies description. He is the
only one so far, though broken
in body, able to tell the hair
raising story of bewildering in-
humanity. All the others are
living and numb testimony:
they are now all patients in
mental institutions.
It was March 1952 when
Liebes, on leave from the
army, went for a stroll on
the banks of Lake Kinneret.
On his way back to camp he
suddenly found himself sur-
rounded by armed Syrian
soldiers who had crossed into
Israel territory. That's how
it all began; and that's more
or less how it happened with
the others: abduction or in-
advertent crossing of the
border line.
On the Syrian side there was
no trial. To be sure there was
"interrogation," but once this
was over there came torture
for torture's sake with the aim
clearly set: to drive the pris-
oners to madness.
Liebes finds re-telling hard.
His high pitched voice quivers.
However, he musters all the
strength left in him. "I have to
tell it all," he says. "I want
the world to know. Not for my
sake. I'm unimportant. I'm
back. But for the sake of the
others, of those still left in the
Syrian hell. For their sake the
world must be aroused . . ."
Will the world be aroused?
"When I was first put for
six weeks in solitary . confine-
ment"—says Liebes—"it was a
terrifying experience. Little did
I then know that I would be
looking back to these weeks
with longing, as if to days spent
in a rest home.
"The cruelties are indescrib-
able. Application of electric
shock was routine—as was the
rest . . ."
Here's a glimpse into the
inferno:
.
The summer heat was
stifling. In threes the Israel
prisoners were put in solitary
confinement cells, each of which
destined to make the life of the
prisoner unbearable. There was
hardly room to stand. All our
needs had to be done in that
cell. The stench was suffocating
and everybody was vomiting.
Outside, Syrian officers were
taking turns at the small win-
dow to watch the spectacle and
enjoy the sight of the pris-
oners struggling for an inch of
space and for air. Suddenly,
one of the officers gave the
order: 'Shut the window.' The
Syrian guard hesitated. 'But
they'll all die,' he muttered.
The officer repeated the order.
The window was shut. Gasping
for air, the prisoners were near
suffocation . . . they fainted.
Then, the window was opened
a little. Air came in. Not
enough to live, but too much
to let us die . . .
One morning they
stripped one of the Israel pris-
oners naked and took him out
into the yard where a number
"
"
.
.
.
of Syrian officers and soldiers
were waiting. The prisoner was
shown pornographic pictures
and then they began hitting his
genitals with sharp rods and,
when he fell, with their nailed
boots . .
. . . Yitzhak Marall had a
hernia. Once the Syrians
learned about it, the prison
guards got orders to hit him
right there. They carried out
the order with hair-raising
cruelty. They used to tie his
hands and legs and hit with
rifle butts and anything that
came into their hands, the sore
spot. Marall soon went out of
his mind. They went on with
the hitting—it became an al-
most daily pastime — and
Marall's only reaction was . . .
the singing of the `Hatikvah'
". . . One of the prisoners—
'Voris Hakak who possessed
great physical strength — es-
caped. He managed to reach
the synagogue in Damascus.
There he begged the Jews to
help him hide. They were ter-
rified. The rabbi wept. But they
called the police and handed
him over . . . Back in prison,
Hakak soon became a wreck.
The most ingenious tortures
were applied to him. All his
teeth were pulled out, his ears
were cut off . . . Soon he lost
his mind. He tried to commit
suicide by hitting his head
against the wall . . . Finally he
was executed . . ."
* *
These are merely drops of
the sea of cruelty and torture
in which the Israeli prisoners
were held for long years—and
in which ten more are still
being held.
Israel has appealed to the
Red Cross . . . to the United
Nations . . . "The world must
be aroused" — says Reuven
Liebes.
Will the world be aroused?
;,
Israel, Italy Physicists
OK Mutual Aid Pact
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
JERUSALEM — President
Johnson has invited Israel's
Prime Minister Eshkol to visit
him in Washington, it was re-
vealed here.
Eshkol reported on the John-
son invitation at the cabinet
meeting Sunday.
It was assumed that Israel's
leader will accept the invitation,
but that the
date will be
fixed in t h e
next few
weeks.
The Johnson
invitation, i t
was revealed,
was contained
in the letter
from the U. S.
President pre-
sented to Esh-
kol last week
by Sargent
Shriver, direc-
tor of the U.S.
Peace Corps.
Eshkol
The letter did not touch on
any specific political or security
matters. Eshkol's reply to John-
son, it was said, would be couch-
ed in general terms.
It was understood here that
a similar invitation to visit
Washington was sent by Presi-
dent Johnson to Jordan's King
Hussein through Shriver.
Israel Supreme Court Rejects Petition Against Member
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Is-
rael's Supreme Court refused
to issue an order to the attor-
ney general which would have
made it mandatory that the lat-
ter prosecute a member of the
court, Justice Haim Cohn, for
alleged "criminally offending"
Jewish religious feelings.
The petition for the show
cause order had been filed
by Aryeh Waggenar, a promi-
nent member of the Jewish
Orthodox community here.
He alleged that, last summer,
when Justice Cohn addressed
an "America-Israel Dialogue"
here, he referred to Israel's per-
sonal status law—a law govern-
ing marriage and similar per-
sonal affairs—as "racist."
In denying the petition, the
court reaffirmed the principle
that "freedom of speech must
be .preserved," and held that
"something said at a scholarly
gathering is unacceptable" as a
basis for criminal charges.
IF YOU TURN THE
*V.S.11
UPSIDE DOWN YOU WON'T
FIND A FINER WINE THAN
Milan Wineries, Detroit, Mich.
Israel Role in N-Ban Pact
in Effect With Deposit
of Ratifying Instruments
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
LONDON — Israel's partici-
pation in the American-Soviet
treaty banning nuclear weapons
tests became effective Wednes-
day with deposits of instru-
ments of ratification in London,
Moscow and Washington.
Ephraim Evron, charge
d'affairs of the Israel Em-
bassy in London, deposited
the instrument with the
British Foreign Office. Heads
of missions in Moscow and
Washington did so concur-
rently in those cities.
The agreement was originally
signed by the heads of Israeli
missions in the three capitals
Aug. 8 and ratified by the Is-
rael government Dec. 22.
The pact bans such testing
on the ground, in the air and
under the sea, permitting only
underground testing.
Photographed aboard EL AL's Boeing 707
I'm a light sleeper
REHOVOTH, Israel — Physi-
cists at the University of Torino,
but my travel agent is wide awake...that's why he
Italy, and the Weizmann Insti-
always
puts me on El Al, whether I'm going all the
tute of Science in Israel con-
way to Israel or just to Europe. Why dream about
cluded a "mutual assistance"
arrangement and will cooperate
travel when it's so easy on El Al. See your travel
in their respective research pro-
agent or contact
grams.
The University of Torino's
nuclear physics department has
specialized in high en e r g y
The average American girl
1150 Griswold Street, Detroit, Michigan. 963-7626
physics. The nuclear physics begins wearing lipstick when
department at the Weizmann she is 131/2.
Institute has devoted its main
research efforts over the past
few years to low energy physics.
The arrangement was
reached during the visit of
Rehovoth of a leading Italian
physicist, Prof. Sergio Fubini
of the University of Torino,
who is now seconded to the
Extend Congratulations
European Organization f o r
to
Nuclear Research. He came to
Israel to attend and lecture
at the "Hanukkah School" for
theoretical physics.
In addition to the overseas
visitors, the school was attended
On Being Distinguished As
by 40 Weizmann Institute scien-
tists and graduate students, as
well as a number of physicists
of the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem and the Haifa
Technion.
Lecturers, aside from Profes-
sor Fubini, included Profs. Ger-
ald Feinberg of Columbia Uni-
versity, Kurt Gottfried of Har-
vard University, Arthur Wight-
Mr. Irving M. Hermelin of the Hermelin-Rubenfire Agency of
man of Princeton University
Detroit, and branch vice-president of the Crown Life Leaders Club,
and Dirk Walecka of Stanford
University.
earned the Man-of-the-Year Award by virtue of his producing over
For one of the visitors, Prof.
ONE MILLION DOLLARS of Life Insurance.
Manoj Banarjee of the Saha
Institute of Nuclear Physics in
Calcutta, it was old home week.
He recently spent a year
working at the Weizmann Insti-
tute and part of his reason for
coming back was to tie up the
CROWN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY/ESTABLISHED 1900/TORONTO, CANADA
loose ends of his research
project.
ELAL ISRAEL AIRLINES
The Directors and Officers of
The Crown Life Insurance Company
Irving M. Hermelin
Ma n -of-the-Yea r
in the Company's
Detroit Center Agency
SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE SELECT
CROWN LIFE
9-THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS—Friday, January
Tale of Horror: lied Cross, UN Eshkol Invited
Challenged by Revelations to Washington
of Israelis Tortured in Syria by President