Dr. Ludwig Eberlein has left his post as editor-in-chief of “Radio Free Berlin,” after a year of political haggling that followed the revelation that he had written a bitterly anti-Semitic review of the “Jew Suess” film 15 years ago.
When his authorship of the review became known, the Berlin Jewish Community demanded that he be removed from his key position. He was suspended, but a few days later reinstated. An acrimonious political struggle ensued, in the course of which the issue of the Jew-baiting movie review receded more and more into the background. When Eberlein’s position became untenable a few weeks ago, he offered to resign–but with the proviso that he be given a certificate blaming his ouster solely on the Jewish Community. This demand was not granted, but he will remain as a free lance contributor.
“Radio Free Berlin,” the first German station in the city, was established by the West Berlin city government only last year. Its staff is full of former prominent Nazis, ranging from station manager Alfred Braun to the former secretary of Nazi radio chief Hadamovsky. Managing editor of the television department is former SS major Julius Jacobi. Giselher Wirsing, a political commentator now covering the Geneva conference, was not only an SS officer and editor of a Nazi paper, but author of a sneeringly anti-Jewish book on Palestine.
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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.
