B i o g r a p h y
ENGLISH | DEUTSCH | עברית | GERMANY 1938
Description of the last months in Germany before leaving to Israel, the background for closing "Judische Rundschau", taken from :
Shoah Resource Center, The International School for Holocaust Studies
Robert Weltsch left Germany immediately after the assassination of Mr. V.
Rath. Shortly before the synagogues were put to fire, publication of the
Juedische Rundschau was prohibited and I was ordered by telephone by Mr. Owens of the Propaganda Ministry to take all necessary steps to prevent the printing of the paper. Several days later I was summoned to Goebbels right away. His office was not at the Propaganda Ministry but in Leipziger Square. I wanted to go by car, but the driver refused to take me because he would not drive Jews. Only when I demanded to be taken directly to Goebbels because I had a meeting with him, did I manage to get a cab. I was led right away to Goebbels. Mr. Hinkel, head of the Jewish department of the Ministry was also present. Instead of a greeting, Goebbels yelled: Has the Jew arrived?' He was seated at a desk and I had to stand at a distance of about 8 meters [9 yards]. He yelled: a bulletin has to be published within two days. Each issue has to be submitted for my approval. There will be severe consequences if an article I had not seen beforehand is published. That's it.' I immediately informed Kurt
Loewenstein and Walter Gross of the order. We presented ourselves at the
Propaganda Ministry several days later with the paper. Mr. Kreindler, who had been the editor of the Berliner Gemeindeblatt was summoned as well. The proposed first issue of the paper was not approved. It was immediately
confiscated. The order was that Loewenstein and Gross were to retire and
Kreindler was to be the editor. This happened in Owens' office. A further
decree ordered all the funds of the now prohibited newspapers to be
transferred to a joint account. Mr. Lessmann of the Israelitisches Familienblatt was abroad and his secretary made difficulties. Dr. Hirschberg of the Zentralvereinsblatt, who had just been released from detention, paid the money before he left. A further prohibition: the Nachrichtenblatt may not be printed in a Jewish printing house, but has to be done in an Aryan one. However, we managed to find employment for a few Jewish printers for this work. We tried to use the opportunity to find a position for the former president of the Reichstag, Loebe, a professional printer, who until that time had been unable to find work, but this attempt failed. At the same time an order was given to deliver all the books to a central agency that was to be connected to the management of the Nachrichtenblatt . Prohibited books were to be burned. This task caused us enormous work. The Gestapo wanted everything to operate faster. The Propaganda Ministry was especially interested in foreign money from Palestine for newspapers, books and advertisements and demanded that we should get them “by force”. This was naturally in vain. We also had daily visits by the Gestapo, always threatening us with concentration camps. Some of the publishers caused difficulties in delivering the books. The Schocken Publishing house was very successful in exporting its books… The Kulturbund was also connected to the Nachrichtenblatt… The Nachrichtenblatt , as the only Jewish newspaper, was in enormous demand and therefore very active. The shop downstairs in Meinedestrasse was always crowded. The women working there were very helpful, especially Frau Dr. Marcus who was extraordinary…We were obliged to take as many of the former employees of other papers as possible. Some of them were a disappointment…
Link: Source: Yad Vashem Archive 0.1/135