A denial that Walter Orloff, American student arrested on Friday in Germany was a Communist was made by his father Henry Orloff, retired real estate dealer of 1982— 74th Street, Brooklyn, in a statement issued to the Jewish Daily Bulletin yesterday. “We know nothing more than we have read in the newspapers,” said Mr. Orloff. “The whole affair comes as a complete surprise to us. As far as we know Walter was never engaged in any political activity either here or in Germany. He is not a Communist and we cannot imagine him doing what he is charged with. He is being persecuted because he is a Jew. His letters to us mentioned nothing of any such affairs. In fact we expected him home this summer and his arrest comes as a great shock to us. All we are interested in is seeing that he gets home safely.”
According to Berlin dispatches Consul General George S. Messersmith was informed by the Reich Minister of Justice that a charge of high treason had been lodged against Walter Orloff. He was arrested early this week at Greifswald and charged with aiding Communistic activities. He faces death if found guilty. The American consular officials were told that it would be impossible to deport Orloff.
However, the consulate seemed hopeful that a way would be found to return Orloff to the United States at a very early date.
Orloff, who is of American Jewish parentage and is 29 years old, was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1927 with an A.B. degree. He took a pre-medical course at Columbia University in 1929 and went to the University of Berlin’s medical school in 1930. He has been studying medicine at the University of Greifswald for the last two years.
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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.
