The Czechoslovakian police today arrested Ernst Sternkopf, a Nazi, on murder charges in connection with the assassination on August 31, 1933, of Professor Theodor Lessing, famous German-Jewish philosopher.
Professor Lessing was slain as he lay sleeping in the bedroom of the Marienbad villa which had been his home since his flight from Germany on the accession of the Nazis to power. His two murderers escaped to Germany, where they were given a tumultous ovation at the Nuremberg Nazi congress.
Sternkopf was seized by the police immediately on his return here today from Germany. The police, who have prosecuted a diligent investigation of the crime, are continuing to follow several important leads. A high police official today told the Jewish Telegraph Agency correspondent that “startling developments” may be expected.
Professor Lessing was sixty-one years old at the time of his murder which followed receipt of several warning letters.
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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.