FORTY FIRES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 243, 14 October 1933, Page 9

FORTY FIRES.

IN REICH BUILDING.

Rebuffs for Prosecution at Continued Trial.

NIGHT PORTER'S STORY. (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Received 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, October 13. At the trial of the men accused of causing the Leipzig Reichstag fire, the prosecution suffered a rebuff when the arresting policeman denied that he found a Communist membership card, or a proclamation card, when he searched the Dutchman- Van der Lubbc. The Prosecutor insisted that the proclamation was found, but the constable was unshaken in his evidence. Wendt, a night porter, further shook the prosecution's case by supporting Herr Torgler's alibi. He said that he telephoned the Communist party at 8.20 p.m., at the request of Torgler, who, with Herr Koener and Fraulein Reythme left the building at 8.35 p.m. They did not leave hurriedly and certainly did not give the impression they were fleeing, which had been one of the prosecution's allegations. Wendt then related a surprising story, saying that an unnamed deputy left the Reichstag at 10 p.m. when the fire was at its height, showing a deputy's card. He returned a quarter of an hour later to get something he had forgotten. Wendt then refused him admission and referred him to a policeman. Witness added that the deputy, for whose name nobody in the Court inquired, had not entered earlier at his door. Alexander Scranowitz, house inspector of the Reichstag, in evidence, denied that he sent his staff home early, as the Communists had alleged. He added that when he entered the burning Reichstag he stamped out smouldering carpets. He visited the Binning restaurant and went into the session chamber, where the curtains were blazing, and flames were coming from the reporters' bos:. Forty small fires of similar shape and size were burning in various parts of the floor, leading the witness later to declare his conviction that one person could not have caused such a fire in the short time available.

Scranowitz denied being a Nazi. He said the Reichstag staff had not been changed before the fire, and added that he found a burning torch, which is interesting in view of Lubbe's confession which referred only to firelighters. GERMAN JEWS. GERMAN BY INSTINCT. (Received 12.30 p.m.) BERLIN, October 13. "A German Jew is a German by feeling and instinct, and will regard it as his sacred duty to work for Germany's welfare whether or not his sincerity is appreciated," declared Dr. Max Nauniiinn, addressing the Association of German Jews. lie added that German Jews differed from Jewish immigrants and all the sufferings through which they had recently passed did not remove the fact that German Jews were part of the German people. The association would energetically protest against foreigners' interference in German affairs. FRIENDLY ACTION. UPPER SILESIA ORDER. (Received 11.30 a.m.) BERLIN, October 13. The Chief of Police in Upper Silesia has issued a proclamation warning that anybody insulting Jews will be sent to a concentration camp. This is the result of reports that Jews have been repeatedly insulted and beaten at night. JEWISH REFUGEES. POST OF HIGH COMMISSIONER. GENEVA, October 13. The High Commissioner to deal with Jewish refugees may be Mr. A 1 Smith, formerly Governor of New York, Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, or Mr. Nicholas Roosevelt. However, Sir Austen Chamberlain is a possibility.