Joseph in the Lions' Den

Joseph Hajek, a 21-year-old refugee from Czechoslovakia, was proud of ranking first in his class at Nuernberg Technical High School. Last week the school standings listed Joseph in second place. Dejected, he walked out of the class. Next morning he cycled to the Nuernberg zoo, climbed over the brick wall into the lions' den. The lions ignored him, so he splashed them with water.

Angered, one of the lions slammed him to the ground with a great paw. Two other lions began cuffing him while horrified spectators called for help. Hearing the screams, Margarethe Storch, an attendant, crawled into the arena banging two metal shields together.

"Follow me! Get out! Get out through this door!" she cried.

Joseph struggled to his knees, looked wildly about him. As he did so, the biggest lion sank its teeth into his neck. When police arrived, they flooded the pit with tear gas to drive away the lions, but it was too late: Joseph was dead.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.