Israel Albert Levitan, a correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in Berlin, was taken into custody by the Cestapo, the secret police, and conditionally released after a four-hour grilling.
Levitan, an American citizen who is also representing several American newspapers in Germany, was summoned to Gestapo headquarters at eight o’clock this morning. He was released on condition that he report again to the Gestapo on Wednesday. Meanwhile, members of the secret police escorted him home where they confiscated all his papers, including copies of cables dispatched and private letters.
During his detention, Levitan was closely questioned as to the nature of his work for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
American diplomatic officials were notified of the incident since Levitan is an American citizen and representing an American-owned news service. Consul General Raymond Geist, to whom the situation was reported, is taking a watchful attitude awaiting the outcome of Wednesday’s developments.
The detention of Levitan follows closely the expulsion on Saturday of Miss Dorothy Thompson (Mrs. Sinclair Lewis), because of articles she wrote in 1932 and in 1933, following her return from Germany as a special investigator for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
More Expulsions May Follow
In connection with this the London press reports today from Berlin that Miss Thompson’s expulsion may be the forerunner of several more such incidents. It states there is good reason to believe that other American correspondents may soon be expelled since more than one foreign correspondent has recently received mysterious visits from Gestapo agents.
The functioning of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency bureau in Berlin, which furnishes news service to Jewish newspapers in Germany, is not affected by the detention of Levitan since the work of furnishing news service within Germany and reporting news to bureaus abroad is kept carefully separated. The authorities are aware of this situation.
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.
