The Court of Revision here heard to-day the appeal brought by Deputy Goebbels, the Hitlerist chief in Berlin, against the sentence of a month’s imprisonment and a fine of 1,500 Marks passed on him by the lower court for insulting Dr. Weiss, the Jewish Vice-President of the Berlin Police Force, and ordered him to pay a fine of 1,200 Marks, annulling the sentence of imprisonment.
The Court of Revision confirmed at the same time the verdict of the lower court, acquitting Deputy Goebbels of the charge of insulting the Jewish faith, which was brought against him.
This was the verdict handed down by the West Berlin District Court last May, when it acquitted Deputy Goebbels of the charge of insulting the Jewish faith by publishing an article in the “Angriff”, of which he is editor, in which he said that Jews commit ritual murder. It had not been established, the court said, that the article was an insult to the Jewish religion, since it spoke only of fanatical adherents of the Jewish religion, and not of all who practise Judaism.
The ritual murder accusation is not an insult to the Jews, it added, but a historical fact since many churches in Germany, Austria, and other countries are dedicated to Christian saints who were martyred for ritual purposes by the enemies of the Christian faith.
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.