The Polish Embassy today informed the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Leo Smechow, Polish-born Jew who was sentenced by an Altona court Thursday to nine monthsin prison for attempted “Rassenschande” (racial defilement), is a “Staatenlose”, a man without a country.
In this the Embassy differed from the Altona Court which had declared Smechow to be a Polish citizen.
The Embassy’s statement was made to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency after an inquiry by the Polish Consulate at Hamburg which has been investigating the Smechow case.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today that the Polish Consul at Hamburg has been requested by the Polish Govern-
ment to forward details of the case to Warsaw.
Smechow’s sentence has attracted international attention because it is the first in which a Jew claiming to be of foreign citizenship has been sentenced for alleged violation of that section of the Nuremberg laws which aim to protect “German blood and German honor.”
At the trial, Smechow testified that he was the victim of a blackmail attempt by the “Aryan” woman who accused him of the attempted “Rassenschande”. The woman is a member of the Nazi woman’s organization of Altona.
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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.
