The mail man, who always delivers good things to trans-Atlantic liners just before they leave Cherbourg to brave the perils of an ocean crossing, dumped a particularly delectable tidbit aboard the Europa at the French port today, four hours before sailing time.
The surprise package was Ernst F.S. Hanfstaengl, Hitler’s pet aide, who arrived in Cherbourg up to his ears in mail sacks on a plane which had left Cologne earlier in the day.
Hanistaengl, who recently paid himself a touching tribute by offering to endow a Harvard scholarship in his own honor, said he planned to attend the reunion of his Harvard class, which was graduated from the Cambridge, Mass., institution in 1909.
WAS CENTER OF UPROAR
The gentle-mannered “, as he was known to his Harvard class mates, found himself the center of a decided stir in March, when Dr. Elliott C. Cutler, chief marshal of the class of 1909, announced he had invited Hitler’s bachelor-companion to act as his aide during the reunion.
Benjamin Halpern, Dorchester, Mass., Harvard graduate student, wrote a letter to the Harvard Crimson, protesting the invitation crimson, protesting the invitation. Jewish and non-Jewish students and alumni of Harvard joined Halpern in expressions of indignation, although the venerable institution itself maintained a “dignified” silence over the entire matter.
Early in April Hitler’s gentleman nurse and intimate friend of many years’ standing, brought an apparent end to the controversy by announcing he would be unable to attend the anniversary reunion, according to a “regretful” statement issued by Dr. Cutler.
Yesterday’s news indicated a sudden change of heart on the part of the former salesman of antiques, who is reported to have enjoyed the bounty of a well known New York Jewish woman, along with his father, during lean days shortly after “Putzy’s” graduation from Harvard.
Recently, according to stories from the Reich, Hanfstaengl has occupied himself chiefly with playing the piano at bedtime to lull the weary Adolf into dreamland.
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.
