Arrests and executions of Jews by German military authorities in Poland are described by Nazi soldiers in a series of purported letters from the front published in the latest issue of Der Stuermer, Julius Streicher’s Nuremberg Jew-baiting weekly.
Displaying the letters in a full-page spread, Der Stuermer appeals to German soldiers in the occupied territory to supply material regarding “the Jewish manipulations” in Poland “and we will spread them throughout the entire German nation.”
In numerous Polish townships, the letters reveal, Jews have been arrested and execute on charges of sniping at German soldiers or poisoning wells immediately after the Nazi occupation. The names of the places where Jews were tortured and executed are indicated only by initials.
The letters describe in detail how the Jews, before being executed, were forced to sign statements that “in addition to carrying hidden arms, they possessed poison and actually poisoned wells, resulting in the death of German soldiers.”
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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.
