Dr. Otto Hirsch, President of the Executive Board of the Reichsvertretung, central Jewish representative body in Germany, was arrested today by the Gestapo, German secret police.
Chief Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck, president of the Reichsvertretung, was arrested Monday for issuing a Yom Kippur message to German Jews on behalf of the Reichsvertretung, it became known today.
The text of the message was to have been read in every synagogue throughout the country on Yom Kippur, but at the eleventh hour the Gestapo telegraphed instructions prohibiting reading of the message. The message contained several passages referring to the present oppression of the Jews in Germany.
After being detained for 24 hours in the notorious Columbia House, known as the “torture chamber of the Gestapo,” Dr. Baeck was released.
Dr. Hirsch, who was absent from Berlin on Yom Kippur, was arrested when he returned today. His fate is so far not known.
Great consternation was caused among members of the Jewish community here today when they first learned of the arrest of these two outstanding leaders of German Jewry. This is the first time that the Nazis have dared to arrest the Chief Rabbi of Germany, thus interfering with Jewish religious life.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
