General Erich Ludendorff, former German war lord, suffered another blow to his rapidly dwindling prestige today as a result of his Jew-phobia when Count von Dohna, grand master of the German Masonic lodge, brought suit for libel against the general in the courts of Gotha.
In January, 1928, Ludendorff, in a public address, alleged that Count von Dohna, knew of a plot of Jewish Free Masons to murder the Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in order to provoke a world war but that von Dohna did not take steps to prevent it and therefore was guilty of high treason.
In court today Count von Dohna produced a letter from General Ludendorff’s first wife, whom he divorced in 1927 after living with her for 25 years, stating that Ludendorff was not pursuing the truth and that he was a neurasthenist who, out of hatred for the Jews, had invented the legend that Germany was the victim of a superstate of powers composed of Jesuits, Jews and Masons.
The case was adjourned for further hearings.
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