The entire Reich today paid tribute to Reichspresident Paul von Hindenburg, as the aged Field Marshal’s body lay in state on his estate at Neudeck, East Prussia, guarded by the Reichswehr.
Jews throughout Germany yesterday paid tribute to the memory of the Reichspresident with special synagogue services. At the request of the Association of Jewish Communities of Prussia, special Sabbath services were held in memory of the late President to whom the Jews of Germany had looked for protection against further discriminations.
The Berlin Jewish community yesterday held special services for von Hindenburg in all synagogues. Today a memorial meeting in honor of the aged soldier was held by the Association of Jewish Front Soldiers.
KEHILLAS, VOICE GRIEF
Messages of condolence were sent to Colonel Oskar von Hindenburg, son and aide-de-camp of the Reichspresident, by the Association of Jewish Communities of Prussia and the Berlin Jewish community. The latter also addressed a message of condolence to the Reich government.
All through the Reich services were held for the man who was regarded as a safeguard against Nazi extremism.
At the same time Reichsfuehrer Adolf Hitler, who seized the office of Reichspresident, combining it with his own, was closely guarded in the Chancellery, for the first time by Reichswehr detachments as he worked on an important speech to be delivered tomorrow when the Nazi Reichstag meets in the Kroll Opera House. The speech, it is intimated, will contain important political disclosures to the world, which has watched with misgivings the death of President von Hindenburg and the assumption of complete power by Adolf Hitler.
The Propaganda Ministry issued an order today forbidding the German press to discuss the legality of Hitler’s assumption of power, thus indicating that even in Nazi government circles there are fears that it will be difficult to explain the fashion in which Hitler seized power, in view of the fact that the German constitution provides that the president of the German Supreme Court is to assume power in the event of the death of the president.
Nazi officials are also going ahead at full speed in their campaign for the plebiscite which is to confirm the seizure of power by Hitler. The Nazi government made public the text of the question to be submitted to the German electorate on Aug. 19. The ballot will contain the letter of Chancellor Hitler to Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick in which he announced the assumption of power, the text of the cabinet decree ordering the plebiscite, and the following question: “Do you, German man, and do you, German woman, agree to the regulations provided in this law?” There will be space only to answer yes or no.
At the same time arrangements are being completed for the imposing state funeral of the Field Marshal and his interment in the huge war monument at Tannenburg, where he administered a crushing defeat to the Russian army. The decision to bury President von Hindenburg at Tannenburg came as a surprise since it was known that he desired to be buried in the family plot at Neudeck.
Indications were that his family’s desires in the matter had been overridden by the Nazi government.
Final services will be held for the Field Marshal at Tannenburg on Tuesday. All traffic on German streets and railroads will be halted for one minute as the funeral begins. The funeral oration will be delivered by Chancellor Hitler and will be broadcast to the world.
REICHSTAG TRIBUTE WILL BE BROADCAST
The Reichstag ceremonies in honor of the late Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, president of Germany, including a portion of Adolf Hitler’s speech, will be broadcast today from 7:30 to 8:00 a. m., over the Columbia network. The program will be transmitted to the United States from Berlin by short wave.
Edward Dietze, of the German Broadcasting Company, will supply an English translation of Hitler’s address and describe the ceremonies as the nation pays a final tribute to its former leader. Songs by a choral group, and the booming of a twenty-one-gun salute will be included in the broadcast.
ASSIGN 600 POLICEMEN FOR HINDENBURG SERVICE
Inspector Thomas T. Ryan, of the Sixteenth Division, Queens, will be in charge of a detail of 600 uniformed patrolmen, sergeants and lieutenants, in addition to four captains, which will guard the memorial services at the Madison Square Garden Bowl for President von Hindenburg tomorrow evening.
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.
