A precedent dangerous to American-controlled business functioning in Germany, it is feared in American circles here, has been set by the sudden closing down of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Berlin Bureau by the state police yesterday.
The bureau was closed at the order of Ludwig Diels, chief of the Prussian state police and of the German political police “for the maintenance of public security and order and for the prevention in the future of acts endangering the State such as may be expected.” Publication of the German Bulletin issued by the bureau was ordered suspended.
George Messersmith, American consul-general, visited the headquarters of the political police this afternoon to inquire into the closing of the bureau. It is understood that Mr. Messersmith is deeply concerned at the establishment of a precedent making American investments in Germany unsafe and #ill communicate with the State Department at Washington regarding the making of representations to the German Government on this score.
Mr. Messersmith expressed his puzzlement at the reason given for the closing of the office, namely the fear that future actions of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency may be dangerous to the State. He professed to be unable to understand why the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was being punished for some future eventualities.
Meanwhile, the office in Berlin remains closed although the police have not formally sealed the premises. The order closing the bureau warned that any attempts to disregard the order would be punishable under article 4 of the President’s ordinance “For the protection of the people and State.”
The foreign service of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has not been affected by the closing of the bureau and is continuing as before.
The State Department at Washington has been asked by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to aid in the case, it was said yesterday (Friday) at the news service’s main offices here. It was pointed out that the Jewish Telegraphic Agency is an American organization with news bureaus throughout the world.
Otto Schick, an Austrian citizen, who is editor of the Berlin office of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, was arrested by the secret police early in June and was released after a week’s imprisonment following intercession by American diplomatic representatives.
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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.
