Papers of Weltdienst and the Bern trial re the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

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The fortnightly anti-Semitic periodical, Weltdienst, was founded by Ulrich Fleischauer, a retired German lieutenant, in Erfurt on 1 December 1933. August Schirmer, who, having already been employed at Weltdienst in the 'American Section', took over publication of the periodical in July 1939. Shortly afterwards he announced the relocation of the offices to Frankfurt am Main, where all anti Jewish 'research establishments' under Alfred Rosenberg's direction were concentrated. Schirmer resigned in August 1943, at which time Weltdienst was published in 18 languages.

Weltdienst continued well into 1944. Kurt Richter, the new publisher, was also director of an 'International Institute for the Enlightenment of the Jewish Question', also called Weltdienst. This institute organised gatherings of European antisemites"with a view to securing an exchange of ideas and experiences designed to steadily strengthen the common European defence action against Jewr".

In 1934 Weltdienst was given the task of rounding up Russian émigré experts to defend the veracity of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, at Bern. This anti-Semitic forgery came under public scrutiny in June 1933, when a right wing Swiss nationalist organisation known as the National Front began distributing it during a demonstration in Bern. A group of leading Swiss Jews filed a suit against the distributors, contending that the document, which described a Jewish plot to take over the world, fell under the ban on 'indecent writings'.

This microfilm collection of documents of the anti-Semitic organisation Weltdienst comprises 2 groups of papers: material relating to the infamous Bern trial of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion', c1937; and correspondence and papers relating to the activities of Weltdienst, the periodical and the 'institute', 1942-1943.

Weltdienst I

Papers relating to the Bern trial of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, including:

Frames 5-11: Alphabetical list of Weltdienst subscribers

Frames 13-18: Letter dated 28 Jan 1937 from the Jewish Central Information Office, containing a list of propagandists of international antisemitism

Frames 20-78: correspondence and affidavits etc re confirmation of the identity of defendants' witnesses, in particular Sergei Sergiejewitsch Nilus, son of Sergei Alexandrowitsch Nilus, responsible for the original publication of the Protocols, 1930-1937

Frames 79-103: Verdict and judgement in case against the distributors of the Protocols, Bern, high court, 1 November 1937

Weltdienst II

Frames 107-155: Correspondence with Kanzlei, Rosenberg etc, 1942-1943, including a handwritten (English) itemised contents description some of which is arranged under the following headings: Weltanschauliche Information; NS Monatshefte/ Dr Achterberg; Volkskunde/ Dr Strobel