Ernst F. S. “Putzy” Hanfstaengl demanded an explanation by Dr. James Bryant Conant, president of Harvard University, of Conant’s “amazing views” in declining Hanfstaengl’s offer of a $1,000 scholarship to Harvard. Hanfstaengl, confidential aid to Hitler, wrote to Dr. Conant last night requesting “specific reasons” for Harvard’s refusal to accept the scholarship, which would have enabled a Harvard student to study in Germany for one year.
Hanfstaengl, a graduate of Harvard in 1909, announced the scholarship gift while he was in the United States last June to participate in the celebration attendant upon the twenty-fifth anniversary of his class. The offer recently was rejected by the Harvard Corporation, and Dr. Conant in a letter to the Nazi leader stated that the university with the leadership of a political party which has inflicted damage on the universities of Germany.”
In his letter to Dr. Conant, Hanfstaengl charges that rejection of the gift indicates that the Harvard president and his advisors are “pacemakers” of the elements “conducting a clandestine warfare against civilization.”
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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.
