English Translation

28 -2- Now I received a letter sent to Prague by Prof. Metz, in which he informs me of the letter of the Minister of Reichswissenschaft vcm 2c. Ok- tober. It reads: "Against the award of the Richendorff Prize -da c r d C sor Dr. Emil Lehmann in Dresden and the folk song researcher and folk song creator Walter Hensel in Teplitz-Schönau do not have to raise ior Becen- ken. - I cannot agree to the proposed award of the Profes- sor Dr. Gierach in Munich by awarding the Eichendorff-Prize. Commissioned: signed Mentzel". As little as I would like to doubt that there were serious concerns which spoke against the agreement in the Palle Gierach, I wonder, in the face of the undisputed services of GierACH, whether the reasons are so serious that the Minister of the Reich could not consider the question again and give his approval. None of the people who have been awarded the Eichendorff Prize so far is in line with Prof. Gierach's merits in the popular struggle. What he, as an academic teacher, has done scientifically as a Germanist, is certainly not small, but it is in importance behind what he has done and done in the ethnic struggle. It is very well known, Mr. Minister of State, that this is all too well-known, as he did at the Prague University, where the Jewish element was still in a strong position at that time, for its German preservation and against its alienation. It should also be mentioned briefly how politically exposed and endangered he was. Gierach's achievement has also found honorable recognition through the award of the Ackermann Medal. However, this has also been expressed in the plague writing on his 60th birthday, which holds out before all the world and for all the future, what Greach has to mean as a scientific researcher and teacher and especially as a champion of the Sudeten- deutschism in the popular struggle '. The knowledge of this merit of Gierach was also why all the members of the Kuratorium of the Eichendorff Prize accepted the idea of proposing him for this prize with full conviction of its accuracy. (The board of trustees belong to: from former Dr. G.E. Kolbenheyer (Solrn bei München), Dr. Bruno Brehm (Vienna)