Colonel Theodore Dusterburg, co-founder of the Stahlhelm who was expelled from his office because one of his grandparents was Jewish, is living in strict retirement in Berlin after having served a month in prison, the Intransigeant correspondent states.
It was at first believed that Colonel Dusterburg was killed in the Nazi “blood-bath” of June 30. At that time, his closest friends wore crepe about their arms, believing him dead.
The correspondent visited the home of the “widow” and there found the “deceased,” who granted the correspondent an interview, publication of which he hoped would “save the trouble of answering all the letters of condolence received by my wife.”
“For the past two years,” Dusterburg is quoted as saying, “I have kept out of politics. Why I was arrested in June I would be grateful if you could tell me. For the last seven years I have taken a holiday annually at Dorfkreuz in Bavaria. This health resort has the misfortune to be not far from Wiesee where Roehm and Heines were seized.
“I was released on August 2, having spent thirty-two days in prison. That day a certain number of questions were put to me. Their chief object was to discover whether I had known Captain Roehm. With a good conscience I could answer in the negative. I had never spoken to Captain Roehm and when it was proposed that the Steel Helmets should be subjected to his authority I opposed it with all my might.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
