18 Sivan

June 15, 1835- The corpse of Reb Leizer Protogin was found hanging from a beam in the Tailors’ Shul in Slavita.  Although it was clear that he had committed suicide, his death would be used by a priest named Benderovski in the nearby town of Zaslow as an opportunity to accuse the Jews of Salvita with murder. His report to Czar Alexander I, led to the closing of the famous Slavita printing press and the extensive jailing and torture of the Shapiro brothers who ran the press.

June 4, 1936- Leon Blum (1872-1950) becomes the first Jew to be elected premier of France.

June 26, 1967- The Spanish cabinet approved a bill which granted religious freedom to Spain's Jews as well as other religious minorities. Since 1492 it had been officially forbidden to practice Judaism in Spain -- though this law had not been enforced for many years before its official abolishment.