The Yemenite Children Affair (Hebrew: פרשת ילדי תימן) was the disappearance of hundreds of babies and toddlers of new immigrants to the newly founded state of Israel, mainly from Yemen,
between the years 1948 to 1954. Most cases involved the parents being
told in the hospital that their newborn children had died although they
never received additional reliable information about their fates.[1] The parents claim that their children were really kidnapped and given or sold to Ashkenazi
families. In several cases, the children tracked down their parents
many years later and conclusively determined their relationship to their
Yemenite relations using DNA testing.[2]
"There is reason to believe according to the Cohen Committee
that a Rabbi Bernard Bergman of New York had allegedly brought many
babies to the U.S. However in order to do so, passports must have been
issued. So logic then tells you that besides nurses, doctors, drivers,
and the Jewish Agency, the Immigration Department was also involved.
Otherwise, how did the children leave the country?
Yossiphov
also asked if I could set up a meeting with the New York City Prosecutor
Charles Hynes, who had prosecuted Rabbi Bernard Bergman. This powerful
and wealthy Rabbi in New York was indicted and sent to prison for
stealing a huge amount of money from elderly people in the nursing homes
he operated. He was also known to be the middle-man, according to an
article published by the journalist Uri Avneri. On January 11, 1967,
under the title: “The Earthshaking Discovery of the Year. The children
of Yemenite immigrants were sold to America - $5000 per child.”
By this time, Bergman had died in jail and Charles Hynes was now the
District Attorney of Brooklyn. The hope was that when Bergman’s phones
were tapped, he may have mentioned Yalde Teman. Through my friend Jack
Chartier, the N.Y. State Deputy Comptroller, I was able to set up an
appointment for Yosseph Yossiphov and Charles Hynes. Mr. Hynes said he
would also invite all the investigators of Bergman to the meeting...."
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It is also crucial to mention that Rabbi Dr. Bergman died a few
years ago while in jail for a different crime - his fraud and
abuse in New York nursing homes that he ran. This was an issue
covered thoroughly in the United States and Israel. The New-York
Times reports:
"Bernard Bergman, the central figure in investigations into
possible fraud and abuse in New York nursing homes, has decided
to abandon his public defense of his business dealings. In
refusing to testify at televised Senate hearings last week, he
invoked his constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment. His
lawyer has argued that to testify would be prejudicial if
inquiries by Federal and state prosecutors result in criminal
proceedings against Mr. Bergman. A Federal grand jury is known to
be looking into his affairs. And a state grand jury, assisted by
Special State Prosecutor Charles J. Hynes, has also been
impaneled to study alleged improprieties in the state's nursing
homes. This is not the first time Mr. Bergman has been prominent
in such inquiries. At a state hearing on nursing homes last week,
Civil Court Judge Louis I. Kaplan, who in 1960 issued a report on
city nursing-home abuses, testified that Mr. Bergman was then,
too, the major figure in the industry under investigation. He
said he presented evidence of criminal fraud in the industry to
former Mayor Wagner. No prosecutions followed and Mr. Wagner says
he doesn't recall what happened to the so-called Kaplan report.
The first indictments in the investigations of the industry have
been handed up. The owner of a Smithtown, L.I., nursing home and
an accountant were accused of swindling Medicaid out of more than
$500,000 by charging personal and improper business expenses to
the program. In Connecticut, which is also investigating its
nursing homes, a state official said at General Assembly hearings
that top state officials had financial interests in nursing homes
and used their influence to get favorable treatment for them".
It appears that the entire issue of Rabbi Dr. Issachar Dov
Bernard Bergman, and the nursing homes in New-York were a big issue
in the United States back then, and the New-York times spent much
work on getting articles about it written. Bergman was a main
figure in the Orthodox religious community in the States,as well as
President of the United States branch of the "Mizrachi" movement...
