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Reich Moving Picture Chief Reported in Disgrace As “non-aryan”

June 14, 1937
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Leni Riefenstahl, comely German screen star, whose name frequently has been linked with Chancellor Adolf Hitler and who is director of the Reich’s State motion pictures, has been declared a “non-Aryan” and is now in disgrace in Germany, Paris-Soir said tonight, according to the Havas News Agency.

Her fall from official favor came during a party she attended at the home of Wilhelm Frick, German minister of the Interior, the newspaper reported. Propaganda Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels, who also attended the reception, was said to have cried out, when she entered:

“I’m leaving this party. There is someone here who is a non-Aryan”

Amidst the general consternation which this accusation created, Goebbels is said to have added:

“I have with me documents proving that Loni Riefenstahl had ‘non-Aryan’ grandparents.”

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