One of the not unimportant cogs in the Nazi propaganda machine is Baron von Hahn, Vienna representative of the Deutsche Nachrichten Bureau, the coordinated German news agency now supplanting the Wolff Agency and the Telegrafen Bureau. In his role of journalist, the Baron has easy access to official circles where, it can be justifiably suspected, he does not hesitate to seek good will for the Nazi cause.
By birth a Balt, like Dr. Alfred Rosenberg, Hahn’s virulent hatred of Russia is matched only by his almost paranoic hatred of Jews. And like so many of his fellow-workers in the Nazi cause–fortunately for the rest of the world–he is not blessed with too much discretion.
Meeting a Britisher recently in Vienna, the worthy baron, assuming that his auditor was fully sympathetic, talked at great length and confidentially of Nazi plans, particularly as they involved a religious revival group in England of which his auditor was a member.
Finally made aware of his faux pas by the amazement and rising indignation apparent in the Britisher’s face, the baron began to reverse himself and launch into a tirade against Russia and the Jews in an attempt to win over his listener. When the latter, unable to stand the exhibition any longer, rose and left abruptly, the baron pursued him to the door and magnificently declared: “Perhaps if we had begun the evening by confessing our sins to one another, we should not have reached this point.”
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.
