MUNICH EXPLOSION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 28, 13 November 1939, Page 5

MUNICH EXPLOSION.

ACTIVITY OF THE GESTAPO. LONDON”, November 11. The size of the reward (75,000) offered for the apprehension of those responsible for the Munich beer hall explosion, has brought in thousands of clues, which are so numerous that they are hampering ytha efforts of the police. The Chief of the Gestapo (Herr Himmler) announced that a workman, whose description was broadcast, is suspected of causing the explosion. He added that the plot- began in the middle of August. The Gestapo has doubled iHerr Hitler’s guard, and has arrested more than 1000 suspects, A report from Copenhagen states that Herr Hitler has (returned from Berlin to Munich and taken charge of the investigation himself. Another report states that Herr Hitler has gone to an unknown destination. believed to be a village ixi Thuringia. Considerable quantities of documents have been removed from the Chancellery. .

The German Freedom Party radio in a broadcast stated: “The first bomb against the dictatorship exploded at Munich. Many will follow. The device which Herr Hitler has frequently used against the freedom movement, for the first time has been turned against him. Though Herr Hitler again eluded the, lie deserves, he cannot escape his fate. Munich’s ififernal machine has smashed the Hitler myth'.” The German propaganda, machine is now in top gear. It lias two main ob-' jectives. The first is to attack Great Britain and pin the blame for the ex plosion on to her. Fragments of the bomb show that it was made abroad, it is stated, but the German newspapers go. further and accuse Britain directly. The second aim is to deify Herr Hitler, and every edition of the newspapers lays great stress on the “protection of Providence.” The Gestapo is extremely active, and announces that it will charge someono within a week. It is now said that the explosion was caused by a time bomb, and that the culprit must have been a long time in the hall beforehand.

The Gestapo is said to be not very happy about the whole affair, and many changes are being made. Storm Troopers in Berlin and at other places under Herr Hess are making the explosion the opportunity to stage big demonstrations under the slogan of “God Defend Our Fuehrer.V The French press is increasingly sceptical of the explanations of the Munich incident. It is pointed out that the German official news agency would have been forced to conceal, at least for some time, any true attempt against Herr Hitler. On the contrary, within, a quarter of an hour of the Munich explosion the agency announced the fact and circulated statements to the wireless, press, and embassies with' the news, also the official reaction. These, it is claimed, must hare been prepared beforehand.