Thousands of anti-Jewish circulars were distributed today by Nazi Party headquarters in connection with the Frankfurter trial in Switzerland and Chancellor Hitler’s Voelkischer Beobachter demanded that every Nazi help circulate the leaflets as widely as possible.
The Beobachter reported that a special conference of leaders of the Nazi racial department in Berlin had decided yesterday to increase anti-Semitic propaganda to “put the racial question more to the foreground.”
The paper carried a front-page cartoon of a Jew shooting a man in Nazi uniform, captioned, “I shot him because I am a Jew.”
“World Jewry is on trial” for the assassination of Wilhelm Gustloff, declared the Nazi organ.
The entire Nazi press assailed the testimony of the Swiss medical expert, who had stressed that while Frankfurter was responsible at the time of the assassination, he was preoccupied with the wrongs done to his people.
The Voelkischer Beobachter asserted that “the evidence of the medical expert is scandalous.” Other papers called it “a pure and simple provocation to Germany.” A German announcer broadcasting details of the trial termed the medical expert “a Jewish associate.”
American and other diplomatic circles said that never in the history of the German press had such sensationalism been displayed as is believe.
It was believed here that the action of Nazi journalists in greeting Mrs. Gustloff in the Chur courtroom yesterday with a Nazi salute was the first time the “Heil, Hitler” salute had been given in a foreign court.
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.
