“I was incarcerated because I championed the cause of the German Jew,” Harry Diamant, who has just arrived here after six months’ imprisonment in Germany for criticizing Hitler, declared. Diamant, who is fifty-eight, is Jewish.
Returning to the United States after more than twelve years’ absence, Diamant, a Spanish-American War veteran, showed reluctance in talking of his experiences in Germany where he has been teaching English and whence he brought his German-born wife and adopted son. His uncommunicativeness, it is believed, is probably due to fear of reprisals against Mrs. Diamant’s mother, who is in Germany.
Anxious to reach Washington, where he expects to hold a conference with Senator David I. Walsh, who was largely instrumental in securing his release from the Breslau prison. Diamant hesitatingly intimated that significant revelations would be forthcoming after his visit and that his work on behalf of the German Jews is “only beginning.”
He spoke in the presence of his wife and son at the home of his lawyer brother, Louis Diamant, formerly active in Zionist circles, the American Jewish Congress and other organizations.
LETTER BRINGS ABOUT ARREST
Diamant’s arrest was brought about by a letter he wrote to Americans about conditions in Germany, particularly in regard to the Jews. He claims that the worst thing he said was “the present german government is not entitled to the confidence of the President of the United States.” But he was suspected of espionage. For two months he awaited trial in prison. Then he was condemned to two years’ confinement, but the intervention of the United States Department of State, informed of his plight by Senator Walsh, resulted in his release after a six months in jail. He left prison a few days before Christmas.
Diamant explained that he had retired from the New York Fire Department in 1914 after losing his right leg in an accident. He went to Germany for his health in 1923, he added.
His wife and son speak English. They lived in the village of Hermsdorf-Unter-Kynast in Silesia, where their house was searched after he came under suspicion.
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.
