From 1916 until at least 1937, Emil Ludwig kept a shorthand diary in a number of small-format, leather-bound journals. It is thanks to his son Gordon Ludwig that carefully prepared transcripts of all the 29 diaries held by the Swiss Literary Archives are available today. This particular entry proves that Ludwig had already decided to write a book about the sensational case of Jewish student David Frankfurter just a short time after Frankfurter’s assassination of Wilhelm Gustloff, head of the Swiss national branch of the NSDAP, in Davos on 4 February 1936: “An early idea for the murderer: I will write the speech for his defence.” The book Mord in Davos [The Davos Murder] was written in just a few months and published by Querido that same year. However, following an edict by the Chief Public Prosecutor, it was banned not only in Germany but also in Switzerland. The ban was not lifted until the end of the war, presumably because the authorities feared the prospect of political conflict with Nazi Germany. The fact that Ludwig’s public support of Frankfurter caused irritation and also a certain nervousness in Switzerland, a country bound to neutrality, is evidenced for example by a letter sent to the author by Giuseppe Motta, a member of the Bundesrat (Federal Council) who normally cherished an affection for him. On 11 November 1936, Motta wrote: “Unfortunately, I cannot approve of the idea and purpose of your book. Its appearance shortly before the proceedings against Frankfurter is [...] rather regrettable from the viewpoint of our national interests.” (Emil Ludwig estate, Swiss Literary Archives SLA) Mord in Davos first appeared in Germany in 1986, when it was published by März Verlag.

Further reading:
Fuhrer, Armin: Emil Ludwig. Verehrt, verfemt, verbrannt. Eine Biografie. Reinbek: Lau-Verlag 2021.
Ludwig, Emil und Chotjewitz, Peter O.: Der Mord in Davos. Texte zum Attentatsfall David Frankfurter Wilhelm Gustloff. Hg. von Helmut Kreuzer. Herbstein: März 1986.