An appeal to German sports-loving circles is made to-day by the “Berliner Tageblatt” and other democratic papers here on behalf of Daniel Prenn, the German lawn-tennis champion who was suspended in March by the German Lawn Tennis Association, following a violent antisemitic agitation conducted against him.
Prenn was the victim of a frame-up, the papers assert, the motive being to get rid of a Polish-born Jew, even at the cost of depriving the German team of its strongest player, and weakening Germany’s reputation in the international tennis world.
In January Prenn was fined 500 Marks in an action against a Munich firm of racket-makers who had alleged that he had demanded an annual salary from them for using their rackets exclusively. He vigorously denied the allegation, and the “Berliner Tageblatt” declares now that there is no ground for the charge against him, which was brought by the firm out of a desire for revenge because he had refused to use their rackets.
Prenn, who defeated the British crack player, H. W. Austin, in the European Final of the Davis Cup two years ago and played last year at Wimbledon, was suspended in connection with the charge and barred from playing now in the Davis Cup and other matches. The result of this, the “Berliner Tageblatt” says, is that the German team has no chance now in the Davis Cup games. This state of affairs must not be allowed to go on, it urges. Prenn is a man of high integrity, and a good sportsman, who has brought great credit to Germany.
Prenn was in the news a short while ago in connection with another matter. He was one of a batch of East-European Jews who were naturalised in February as a result of the decision of the German Federal Council, the Reichsrat, withdrawing the veto which had previously been exercised by the Hitlerist Government of Thuringia through its representative on the Reichsrat, the former Hitlerist Minister, Dr. Frick, preventing East-European Jews from acquiring citizenship.
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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.
