The case was brought to trial before the military guard, and there, under strict examination, it assumed an entirely different aspect. A priest, Zemberzhusky, testified that Jews and Poles had acted precisely alike toward the Germans; that their reception of the Germans expressed no joy, that all alike had complained of the invaders’ requisition and pillage, and that it was only due to the tactful conduct of the citizens that the town of Nove-Miasto was not entirely demolished. It was shown that not a single Russian soldier had been captured by the Germans and that the Goldberg charge was entirely false. All the other charges were similarly disproved. It developed that they were based on two facts. In the preliminary investigation the trial officers, being ignorant of Polish, were compelled to employ interpreters. One of these interpreted the statement of a Polish witness to the effect that he had seen a certain Zilberberg walk the streets arm in arm with a German officer. The fact brought out in the new trial was that =the witness had actually seen the German officer seize Zilberberg by the neck!= In the second place, the story had been started in sheer malice by two notorious gangsters, whose evidence was unworthy of any consideration. All of the accused were therefore acquitted.[24] The significance of this episode lies in the fact that the Colonel in command in this particular case happened to be a kindly man, who, being unwilling to see injustice done, went to the trouble to have the case carefully investigated. Hundreds of other cases based on equally groundless accusations came to court without the possibility of such a fair investigation. Another case of this sort is reported from Suvalki. It was charged by the Poles that the Jews of Suvalki had met the Germans with bread and salt (the national Russian custom in welcoming guests). The facts were that practically the entire population of Suvalki had fled at the approach of the Germans. The Germans, however, had, with their usual thoroughness, made out in advance a list of the leading citizens of Suvalki who were to be appointed to the deputation that was “to welcome” the Germans. Only one Jew was on this list. Not all the Poles were bitterly hostile to the Jews, as may be seen from the following story, reprinted from the Polish paper, “Novo Gazeta,” in “Rasviet,” February 8 (21), 1915, p. 36: “An army officer, a Pole, reports this: Where our detachment was stationed, I found a group of soldiers surrounding a muzhik, who was telling them that the Jews had cut the telegraph wires. The soldiers were furious and ready to take revenge on the miserable Jews. I approached the group and said to the muzhik: ‘I am glad to see that your patriotic impulses urge you to expose these Jew traitors. You must take me to them at once. You say you know the guilty ones. Show us how we can capture them and dispose of them.’