With German armies retreating on the Russian front and with the Anglo-American armies smashing the German positions in Italy, anxiety is growing among the civilian population of Germany as to the consequences of the relentless Nazi extermination of Jews, reports reaching here through neutral countries indicate.
In an attempt to counter-act this anxiety which is especially noticeable in provincial towns, the German Ministry of Propaganda has distributed an article to the provincial press warning against the spread of “pro-Jewish defeatism,” and emphasizing that the Nazi fight against the Jews must continue unabated.
“Some say,” the article declares, “that if National-Socialist Germany would not have tried to solve the Jewish problem with such harsh measures, world Jewry would not have fought against the Reich. This is nothing but ignorant talk which must be combated.”
London newspapers today report that Wilhelm Fritsch, Nazi Attorney General in Koenigsberg who was entrusted with the liquidation of the Jewish ghettos in occupied Poland, was killed by a Jew during the battle between Jews and Nazi troops in the Bialystock ghetto. Fritsch had ordered the confiscation of Jewish property and ordered Jews in Bialystock tried on charges of sabotage.
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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.