The Berlin Liberal Press in Exile

The "Pariser Tageblatt" was the newspaper of the German refugee colony in Paris. Its editor, Georg Bernhard, was a Jew, as were the publisher and most of the contributors. Nazi German propaganda characterized the "Tageblatt" as Jewish, liberal, cosmopolitan, and corrupt, and accused it of stirring up hatred for Germany. The "Tageblatt" originated in the Weimar left-liberal press, most of whose journalists fled to France after February 1933. It was founded in December 1933 with the help of Russian and Polish Jews, led by Wladimir Poliakov. By 1934, the initial French welcome had turned to hostility due to antisemitism, the economic crisis, and fear of diplomatic complications. In 1936 Bernhard and his associates took over the paper. The successor of the "Tageblatt, " the "Pariser Tageszeitung, " became enmeshed in political feuds and financial problems, and Bernhard left in 1938. Most of its contributors were interned on the outbreak of war, generally managing to escape to the USA. When the Germans occupied Paris, the archives were sent to Berlin.