AFRAID OF NAZIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 67, 21 March 1938, Page 7

AFRAID OF NAZIS.

ARISTOCRATS FLEE. De Rothschild Palace Raided in Austria. REFUGEES' REPORTS. United Press Association.—Copyright. (Received 10 a.m.) LONDON, March 20. "The Times" Vienna correspondent says the palace of Baron de Rothschild, friend of the Duke of Windsor, was ransacked by Black Guards, searching for papers. A guard is now in charge. It is reported that Archduke Otto's brother, Archduke Felix Hapsburg, with his sister, secretly crossed the Hungarian frontier and is ;roiiig to Italy. Baron von Wiesner, leader of the Royalist movement, has also fled abroad. I Although a year ago he advocated leniency for Austrian Nazis, Herr Odo Xeustadter-Sturmer, former Austrian Minister of Public Security, shot himself while in protective custody. It is revealed that Baron Karl Karwinsky, Minister of Justice under the late Dr. Dollfuss, who was present in the Chancellery when Dr. Dollfuss was assassinated, has been held in custody by the Nazis for several days. Dr. Schuschnionr, the former Chancellor, who is still under house arrest at Belvedere Palace, refused to sign a declaration binding himself to abstain from political activity in return for a safe-conduct enabling him to leave Austria, says the "Daily Mail" Vienna correspondent., British Journalist to Quit. The Nazi secret police have ordered Mr. G. K. R. Gedye, the London "Daily Telegraph" correspondent, one of the most outspoken and best-informed British journalists in Europe, to leave Austria within three days. Refugees arriving in Prague from Austria reveal that the archives of the Austrian Chancellery and Foreign Office, hitherto believed to have fallen into Nazi hands, were mostly saved and have been deposited with a friendly Government. They include documents relating to events after the Berchtesgaden conversations, and their removal will save numerous people from dangers. Nevertheless, suicides among Jews and Catholics who were associated with Dr. Schusehnigg are growing, and there were CO yesterday. Youths of 15 or 16, wearing Swastikas, assaulted the chief rabbi and shaved off his beard. Storm Troopers were posted outside Jewish synagogues, on which placards were posted bearing the words: "No Sabbath service to-day." NOT DISPELLED. Cloud Hanging Over Future Of Czechoslovakia. POLITICAL ACTIVITY. i ______ (Received 2 p.m.) PRAGUE, March 20. Herr Hitler's speech in the Reich has not dispelled the cloud hanging over Czechoslovakia's future. Officialdom does not feel any relief, especially after the Fuehrer's references to injustices in German minorities. The Government is introducing a bill giving the German minority a share in local administrations on a population basis. ■ The German Agrarian party, of which there are five members in the Chamber of Deputies, will soon merge with Herr Henlein's Sudeten German party, according to a party announcement. Cabinet's majority will be unshaken as the National Association, which is the only Czech opposition party, intends joining the Coalition Government.

Dr. Benes has nominated M. Frantisek Jezek. Conservative opposition member, to Cabinet without portfolio, thereby broadening the basis of the Government, which now commands a majority of 185 of the 300 seats. AMERICA'S ATTITUDE. De Facto Recognition of Nazi Seizure. "BRUTE FORCE" CONDEMNED. (Received 11 a.m.) NEW YORK, March 20. The Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull, indicated that the United States would not recognise, at least for the present, the legality of Germany's annexation of Austria, says the Washington correspondent of the United Press. This followed an intimation from Herr j Prochnik that the affaire of the Austrian Legations would be absorbed by the German Embassy. Mr. Hull indicated that the Government would treat the German Embassy as a representative mission of Austria. This was a mere matter of mechanics, anß v.-as not involved in the larger question of the legality of the union between the two countries. "The extent to which the Austrian or similar incidents are calculated to endanger the maintenance of peace and the preservation of the principles in which this Government believes is a matter of serious concern to the United States," said Mr. Hull. The "New York Times" Washington correspondent 'says that although Mr. Hull sent Notes neither to Herr Prochnik nor Dr. Dieckhoff, German Ambassador, his statement to the Press is regarded as tantamount to de facto recognition of Austria's incorporation in the Reich. It» is also interpreted as an expression of condemnation of the method Germany utilised since Mr. Hull spoke on March 16, when he denounced the use of brute force to attain national objectives. Observers are surprised by this action, since the United States was expected to await fuller declarations of the French and British positions. • '