RULE IN GERMANY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25293, 29 August 1945, Page 7

RULE IN GERMANY

FEWER BRITISH TROOPS AMERICAN CONFERENCE (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Aug., '_»S The number of troops in Berlin is being reduced by 3000, partly because a large protecting force is no longer necessary and partly because the French have assumed control of two boroughs formerly in the British area. Major-General Lewis Lyne announced the reduction when he revealed that lie was retiring on Friday as British member of the Kommandature in order to resume the leadership of the Seventh Armoured Division. Major-General E. P. Nares is his successor. Kommandature Praised General Lvne praised the work of the Kommandature. "In under two months it established itself as an efficient international machine for the unified government and control of Berlin," he stated. "The Koinniandature has had seven meetings, and on not a single subject have we ever had disagreement that could not be solved after discussion." General Lyne added that there were many urgent problems to be solved, particularly those affecting the German population's health and living conditions during the coming winter. However, every possible precaution was being taken and he said he was sure workable solutions would be found. Great efforts were being made to keep additional German refugees from entering the crowded capital. Occupation Army's Aims Defining the aims of the United States Army of Occupation at the opening of a three-day conference in Frankfurt on the Military Government in the American zone in Germany, General Eisenhower said: "We must understand what we are doing in Germany. The Army until May 8 had the job of whipping the enemy, but since then its main job has been the support of the Military Government." General Eisenhower's deputy, Lieu-tenant-General Lucius Clay, said: "If we fail in our policy of denazification it will be an indication to the Germans, besides our own people, that we are unable or unwilling to accomplish our major war aim. The Germans themselves attach almost an equal importance to denazification." General Clay added that the responses to a recent radio inquiry indicated a real anxiety on the part of the Germans for vigorous Allied policy regarding the Nazis. Mr Robert Murphy, United States Ambassador at Large, presided over the conference. MASS MURDER CHARGE KRAMER AND ASSOCIATES POLE SENTENCED TO DEATH LONDON, Aug. '27 Josef Kramer, commandant of Belsen Camp, and 46 Belsen guards, 19 of them women, were today officially charged wi th conspiracy to commit mass murder in an indictment sent from London. Between two and three weeks will probably be required for the Germans to prepare their defence and the trials are not expected to open at Luneburg until about September 17. * The first death sentence by a British court-martial since the British entered Berlin was passed on a 23-year-old Pole, Joseph Halabuda, for being in possession of firearms. Halabuda. who had been in the Dachau and Buclienwald camps, said a Russian officer had given him a pistol to hunt Nazis. The Court sentenced a German, Ernst Alsleben, to life imprisonment for having an automatic pistol. AIDING THE ENEMY ANOTHER AIRMAN CHARGED NINE ALLEGED OFFENCES LONDON, Aug. '27 Another court-martial, in which a Royal Air .Force ex-prisoner of war is charged with aiding the Germans while in captivity, has been opened at Uxbridge. The accused, Flight Sergeant J. Alcock, a 32-year-old air gunner from .Manchester, pleaded not guilty to nine charges of giving the Germans information regarding Royal Air Force formations, details of Halifax aircraft, information regarding secret radar equipment known as "monica," asking fellow prisoners to fill in German forms and accepting parole from the German authorities. The prosecution stated that the alleged offences occurred at the German interrogation transit camp Dulagluft, where Alcock was imprisoned after he was shot down in a raid on Mannheim. A Luftwaffe officer, Lieutenant Bauer Sehliglitigroll, stated in evidence that Alcock, in return for the offer of a little more freedom, accepted the job of taking forms to prisoners in their cells to have them filled in. The witness said that he listened in by microphone to the cells. Alcock was not a good helper. He approached prisoners clumsily and made them suspicious. witness did not think he brought one form filled in. Alcock, after he took up the job, was given other quarters and allowed to wear civilian • clothes, but he received no payment.

ITALIAN ELECTIONS NECESSARY CONDITIONS LONDON, Ausr. 27 The Italian Prime Minister, Signor Parri, addressing the foreign pres;s, promised that elections would he held as early as possible subject to the four following conditions: —(1) The signing of a peace treaty by which Italy would cease to be controlled under the armistice conditions; (2) the completion of the technical task involving the provision of polling booths for 30,000,000 voters; (3) public order must be ensured; (4) all parties must guarantee peaceful conduct at the elections. Signor Parri added that he could not guarantee the holding of elections in any case before the end of the year. He was not satisfied about the state of public order, but things had improved. Twenty years of Fascism, followed by war, had created unsettled conditions and the country could only recover slowly. LENIENCE FOR DESERTERS NEW DELHI, Auk 27 The Government of India has decided to treat with mercy and generosity rank and file soldiers who yielded to pressure and were so misguided as to i join forces raised by the enemy, states an official announcement. SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 President Truman has ordered scientific and industrial information seized from Germany and Japan to be placed under the jurisdiction of the chairman of the War Mobilisation and Reconversion Board, Mr John W. Snyder, for release to industry. SYRIAN CABINET (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) DAMASCUS, Ausr. 27 The new Syrian Cabinet, headed by Fares Khoury, was formed after a fiveday deadlock. It is the first time a Syrian Cabinet has been formed in accordance with democratic custom, the President consulting the leaders of all three recently-formed parties. Efforts to form a National Government failed. The Government, which includes two ex-Prime Ministers, is made up only of Liberals, who hold a slight 'Parliamentary majority.