Heinrich Mann, brother of Thomas Mann, the author, and a novelist of distinction in his own right; Frau Kaethe Kollwitz, painter and etcher, and Dr. Martin Wagner, architect, yesterday resigned from the Prussian Academy of Art in order to avoid forcing their colleagues to vote for their expulsion upon the orders of Dr. Bernhard Rust, Nazi Minister of Education.
Dr. Rust demanded the expulsion of Dr. Mann and Frau Kollwitz, who are outstanding members of the Academy, on the ground that they signed a petition which recently appeared on billboards in Berlin calling for a united front of the Social Democratic and Communist parties “in order that Germany may not sink into a state of barbarism.”
Dr. Rust informed Professor Max von Schillings, President of the Academy, that he would be compelled to dissolve the literary section, if they were not dismissed.
Dr. Wagner resigned in protest against the resignations of Dr. Mann and Frau Kollwitz. It is expected that a number of other members of the literary section of the Academy will resign in protest.
Dr. Rust’s order is in line with the new principle announced by the German government of Adolph Hitler, to take action against liberals and pacifists, the first indication of which was given yesterday when the passport of the pacifist leader, Hellmuth von Gerlach, was withdrawn.
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