Peekskill USA

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Appendix IV   1. Daily Compass, Monday, Sept. 5, 1949, by Leon Edel "The Daily Compass switchboard was flooded with calls from hundreds of eyewitnesses. Many were so frightened they refused to give their names. "David Fanshel of 237 E. 194th St., The Bronx, said he saw Negroes beaten by grey-clad cops at Peekskill while they were on their way to the concert. "Paul Ross, ALP candidate for City Controller, described the scene as follows: "'As we were driving from the concert ground, about 100 yards out, one of thousands of hoodlums lining the route threw a rock that went through our rear window and hit a girl in the head. "'Her name is Diana Gasarch, 18, of 205 Seabreeze Ave., Brooklyn, and we rushed her to Bellevue for treatment. My wife, sitting in the front seat, was scratched by the glass. "'The police – local and State Troopers – were stationed about 100 feet apart and the hoodlums behind them were yelling, 'Get out of here, Jew-kikes,' and throwing rocks. "'I didn't see one cop do anything to stop them. "'We stopped the car at a gas station just after Diana was hit, and one of the hoodlums, about 55 and drunk, pulled the door open. "'A State Trooper was standing by. I slammed the door shut and called the State Trooper. "'I've got an injured girl here,' I told him. "'Never mind; move on,' he said. "'The peculiar thing is that they routed the cars through Peekskill, where the trouble originated. "'We patched up Diana's wound a little, but couldn't stop because of the mobs, and drove right into New York.'" "Milton Wolff, of 205 E. 42nd Street, reported: "'Every window of my car was smashed, and one of the women occupants was hurt. "'This was in the presence of State Troopers and deputies. They were slowing the cars down as we left, making us more or less sitting ducks for the rocks. "'We were going up the road, a clear, one-way road, as fast as we could, and the State Troopers slowed us down. "'The stone throwers were up on an embankment 10 or 15 feet above the road and there was only a handful at this point, maybe 20. Police could easily have dispersed them.'" "'Albert Ginsburg, 23, of 4 Stuyvesant Oval, member of Local 1250, Department Store Union, said that as he drove from the concert grounds, a crowd of hoodlums, lining both sides of the hillside, including uniformed Legionnaires, shouted: "'N—– loving Jews, down South we'd string you up. Go back to Moscow.'"