Inquiries Attest Atrocity Reports Even Victims Deny

Despite the appearance of calm on the streets, despite the publication of denials of atrocities, despite the readiness of Germans to believe that no violence has been committed, a little investigation beneath the surface reveals that the calmness is only on the surface. Below are a few cases, verified by this correspondent:

A Jewish girl of 20 was arrested in Berlin charged with spreading stories of atrocities. Witnesses appeared and stated that she had declared that a Jewish doctor had been taken to one of the Nazi barracks, badly beaten and his wounds rubbed with salt. The presiding judge rebuked her and asked her how she could believe such foolish tales. The courageous girl insisted that it was true and asked to be allowed to call Professor Goldscheider, one of the best-known Berlin medical practitioners and superintendent of a clinic, as witness in support of the story. Thereupon the judge speedily passed sentence of eight months’ imprisonment on the girl and she was removed before anything more could be said.

The mention of Professor Goldscheider in the above case gave the right clue. It was only after careful investigation and a great deal of inquiry—for few were brave enough to talk to a foreign journalist—the following story was brought to light.

SHOWS WOUNDS TO COLLEAGUE

Professor Goldscheider, himself a convert from Judaism, was ordered by the Nazis to dismiss the Jewish doctors in his clinic. He did not readily agree to do so, and a band of Nazi Storm Troopers broke into the hospital and dragged out a young doctor by the name of Franz Lust. Dr. Lust was taken to one of the Nazi barracks, mercilessly beaten and flogged, and his wounds rubbed with salt. He was later released and returned to Goldscheider’s clinic to be treated. Professor Goldscheider, apparently profoundly upset by the condition of his colleague, called in a number of doctors and demonstrated what the Nazis had done to the young Jewish doctor. It was this story that the young girl had repeated and it was for spreading this “atrocity lie” that she was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment.

There are also cases in which the victims themselves are afraid to talk and even hide their injuries from their closest friends for fear that their friends may be impelled to talk and thus put themselves in danger. Just such a case came to the notice of one of the Jewish relief offices when a Polish Jew applied for help to enable him to leave the country. It was only by accident that the Jewish officials discovered that he had been subjected to torture by the Nazis in Chemnitz, and it was then revealed that he had had a Swastika branded on his shoulder.

VIOLENCE TO WOMEN

The very discovery of this fact was sufficient to terrify the officials of the Jewish relief offices, for they were afraid that his presence there, if it became known, might be interpreted as proving that the office was engaged in collecting information regarding atrocities. He was quickly sent out of the country.

One specific case should be widely known, particularly as the Nazis have prided themselves on the fact that they have never been charged with violence towards women. Whether this is so or not, the writer has no means of knowing. There is always, of course, the possibility in the case of attacks on women that they may frequently be concealed by the victims themselves for reasons that require no explanation. Nevertheless the following case may serve to open the public eye to the fact that the Nazi boast, if more closely examined, may prove to be not wholly justified.

On the evening of April 26th, a Jewish girl of 19 was dragged by Nazis into the Nazi barracks in Schoenhauser Allee, Berlin, and assaulted by a number of Nazis. She was only released after she signed a statement declaring that she had not been forcibly violated. She reached home with her garments torn and with grave signs of the treatment to which she had been subjected. A complaint was immediately lodged with the Polish Consulate on behalf of the girl, who is a Polish citizen, and a medical examination revealed that the girl had been assaulted and brutally mishandled.

GIRL’S PARENTS THREATENED

The girl was immediately sent abroad for treatment, and it is not yet certain that she will recover. The parents of the girl have since been threatened with death should they make the facts of the case public. Although the name of the victim cannot for obvious reasons be disclosed for the time being, there can be no doubt of the truth of the details, particularly as the Polish Consulate is in possession of all the facts as well as a medical report prepared by the Consulate’s doctor.

It is perhaps fortunate that in various Consulates in Germany there was systematically collected a great deal of evidence on the subject of Nazi atrocities. Were it not for the activity of the Consuls, there is no doubt that many people outside Germany would even now be dubious of the truth of the charges brought agains the Nazis, particularly as the German Jews themselves have scrupulously avoided making any complaints.