The following letter is from a member of the German-Jewish family, other members of which received the Nazi threat reproduced on this page in facsimile and translation.
Zaslo, April 28, 1933.
Dear S . . . .
Thank God, we have come out of Germany and arrived here safely! I am now able, for the first time, to give you some details about the situation in Germany. All the reports about persecutions of the Jews in Germany are true to the last crossing of the “t”. I might even say that there have been understatements. Even today the persecutions persist and to such an extent that one can speak of definite programmatic activity. Every day Jews are assaulted in their homes or on the street. And I, too, have made the acquaintance of the Nazis. A fortnight ago two Nazis barged into our home with cocked revolvers and wanted to take me off with them on the ground that I was keeping G. and S. in hiding. I managed to escape their clutches, how—I don’t even know today. Fortunately your mother was not at home when they appeared. It was 8 p. m. She had gone to see F. who had just been released from ten days in jail, charged with having spread atrocity reports.
G. escaped threatened execution and fled to Lodz, S. is now in Holland, still scarred as a result of the beating he got in the Central Court, on the third floor. Attacks on Jews in courts have occurred in such numbers that no Jew dares to cross the threshold any more and Jewish lawyers especially are kept away by a placard in the window forbidding their entrance.
We received several letters threatening to shoot us and the day before our departure an acquaintance warned me that we were being watched and had been followed for fourteen days. And the court increased the chicaneries by threatening to auction the furniture off. So we hurriedly packed all the furniture and things and sent them here.
I received your telegrams and the $195 you wired us. Our parents will remain here for the nonce, I too will stay for a short time. Since it will hardly be possible for me to go to America because of the immigration restrictions, I want to go to Palestine. I want your advice on this. And please do not be cross with me for not writing more now, for I am still very tired.
Your dear brother,
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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.
