Escape (Fall 1937)

Abstract

September 11, 1937, was the day that changed Gerth’s life forever. He recalled that it was a beautiful Saturday morning, but he was full of anxiety. This was not the first time he was contacted by Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei), the Secret State Police. He had already been interrogated in 1933 while he was at Kiel University working as a research assistant. Since leaving Frankfurt in January 1933, Gerth had been contacting the Academic Assistance Council in London with the help of his teacher, Prof. Karl Mannheim, in an attempt to emigrate to England. It resulted in his first interview by the Gestapo, because his “thick envelope” addressed to London that he had entrusted to an American professor visiting Heberle “to mail outside of Germany” landed in the hands of Gestapo. The charges against him were: corresponding with Mannheim; contacting an English woman, whom the Gestapo suspected as a “supposed fiancée” for emigration purposes; and contacts with the Academic Assistance Council. After this incident, Gerth managed to inform Mannheim that he was being watched by the Gestapo. Mannheim, in turn, warned the Council to be careful in their correspondence to Gerth.KeywordsNazi PartyParty NewsAmerican ProfessorCommunist Party MemberForeign PressThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.