OSSIETZKY- [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—No one in
his senses would wish unnecessarily to disturb the friendly relations between this and any other country. This seems no reason, however, why. Englishthen should refrain_ from speaking out their opinions with regard to Ossietzky.
Under the Hindenburg regime Ossietzky was condemned by a secret tribunal to eighteen months' imprisonment for the crime of advocating disarmament. Owing to an agitation in Germany,, however, he ,Was pardoned and released before his sentence was over, When the Nazis came into power in 1933 he was re-arrested, and without further trial ,taken to a Concentration camp and since then, tholigh his original sentence haS king exPiied, he has remained'in captivity.
In March last year he was removed to a concentration camp, and in November, on the award of the Nobel Prize, he was transferred to a private sanatorium. As he did not appear at Oslo, however, to claim the prize, two medical men, of whom the present writer is one, were asked to go to Berlin to enquire into the state of his health and of his freedom.
As to his health, it seems that he is now suffering froth the reactivation of an old tuberculous focus in one lung, but we gathered from a talk with his doctor that there is no reason to suppose that he is unable for physical reasons to travel outside Germany;.. The reason for his failure to appear at Oslo must therefore be sought elsewhere.
That he was free was officially announced, but the nature of his freedom may be inferred from the fact that we were not permitted to see him. We brOught letters from various distinguished men and non-political organisations in this and other countries, but when we asked for an interview we were referred to the Secret Police. It is not only we who were refused admittance, but hiS liberty to receive visitors has been greatly curtailed since he left. the prison hospital, and now he is allowed only to receive his wife. We ourselves for merely asking to see him were told that we were enemies of Germany, and asked to leave Berlin forthwith.
There is no doubt that, though he has been removed to a private sanatorium, his liberty since the award of the Prize has really been substantially decreased. He is now watched over by two Gestapo men continually on duty in the sana- torium, and we were informed by Gestapo Headquarters that even if he were allowed to leave hospital he would certainly not be allowed to leave Germany.
There seems no doubt that the German Government are having their revenge on him for accepting the Nobel Prize. They publicly protested against the award, and General Goering spent over two hours in hospital trying all means to persuade him to refuse it. Ossietzky has stood out against all the efforts of the German Government, and it seems the duty of all peace-loving citizens of all countries to support him. •
.If it be•pleaded on behalf of the German Government that Ossietzky_was condemned, if only by a secret tribunal, it may be replied that he has long since served his sentence. If it be'argued that he is .a German citizen, and that we have no right to interfere in German internal affairs, it may be replied that this is indeed so, but we cannot give our friendship to a Government that treats in this way men like Ossietzky, whose only crime it has been to advocate disarmament.—
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