The Voelkischer Beobachter, principal organ of the Nazi Party, today warned the Swiss authorities not to pardon or release David Frankfurter, who yesterday was sentenced by a Chur court to 18 years in prison for the slaying of Wilhelm Gustloff, Chancellor Hitler’s Nazi agent in Switzerland.
The paper, under the headline, “Germany Wants Revenge, the Wirepullers Must Be Discovered,” gives the reaction of Nazi officials to the verdict.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the fact that the sentence was only 18 years (the maximum demanded by the prosecutor), the Beobachter cautions against his pardon or release, before he has served his full term, on the grounds of bad health.
Other papers comment in a similar vein on the verdict, with the exception of the Frankfurter Zeitung, which observes:
“If the Swiss court found it necessary to sentence Frankfurter only to 18 years, it no doubt had grounds for doing so.”
The Juedische Rundschau, organ of the German Zionist Federation, regards the immediate prospects of the Jews in Germany as “very bad, very sad,” in view of the present anti-Jewish agitation. It voiced concern particularly over the Voelkischer Beobachter’s recent statement that all Jews will be driven from the Reich.
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.
