Central Union Issues Statement Denying Communist Sympathies or Affiliation After 8-hour Search of He

The news of the search of the premises of the Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith, for proof of alleged Communist affiliation, has left German Jewry thunder struck and has spread a pall of indescribable gloom over the Jewish population.

The search of the headquarters, it is now learned, began at four o’clock in the afternoon and continued until midnight in the presence of all the leaders of the organization.

A number of the leaders of the organization were on the premises when the search was suddenly announced by the police supplemented by Nazi Storm Troops, in the role of auxiliary police, while the others arrived as soon as word reached them of what was transpiring.

Among those present were Dr. Julius Brodnitz, president and Ludwig Hollaender, director of the Central Union.

Police and Nazi guards were stationed outside the building, who made communications with the outside world impossible. Likewise efforts to reach officials of the Central Union by telephone proved futile, as the telephone remained unanswered.

The Nazi organ “Voelkischer Beobachter” reports that the search of the Central Union premises resulted in the confiscation of an enormous quantity of inciting material and alleges that the name “Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith” is only a facade for a secret Communist organization.

The paper asserts further that the offices of the Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith have been closed and that all officials of the Central Union were taken to the police praesidium last night.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learns, however, that only two officials of the Central Union were taken before the police praesidium last night. The two are Dr. Alfred Hirschberg, the press chief of the organization, and Fraulein Johanna Rose, a secretary. Both were released this morning.

It is expected that an official communique with regard to the search will be issued in the course of the day.

The “Voelkischer Beobachter” also reports today that three Jews in a motor car fired on a Nazi Storm Troop Brigade marching on Uhlandstrassc last night. No one was injured. In such circumstances, the paper comments, it is not surprising that the Nazis were compelled to defend themselves.