Arrest and Imprisonment
Hirsch arrived in Stuttgart late in the evening of December 20. When his friend failed to meet him as arranged, he checked into the Hotel Pelikan, across the street from the railway station. In the early hours of the morning of December 21, agents of the Gestapo arrested him in his hotel room.
Hirsch was interrogated, first in Stuttgart, then after his transfer to Berlin's Plötzensee Prison. He was charged with conspiracy to commit high treason, and was indicted for possession of explosives with criminal intent, despite the fact that he had no explosives at the time of his arrest.
He was held in solitary confinement for 9 weeks while awaiting trial. He was permitted to communicate with his family or relatives who still lived in Germany. A letter he wrote to his uncle, in Stuttgart, was held back by censors.
Read more about this topic: Helmut Hirsch
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