U.S.S.R. SEEKS MAJOR GERMAN INDUSTRIES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 254, 26 October 1945, Page 5

U.S.S.R. SEEKS MAJOR GERMAN INDUSTRIES

SECRET LIST OF 40 Removal Of Vital Plants To Russia Demanded N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 10 a.m. LONDON, Oct. 25. A secret list of 40 German industrial plants in Western Germany which the Russian Government is seeking to remove to Russia as reparations, includes a high percentage of the most vital factories, says Reuters correspondent in Stuttgart. It is learned that the list includes both the Krupp and the Hermann Goering works, and it is thought that two big I. G. Farben chemical plants and three shipyards are among them, Blohm and Voss included. Over half the list is located in the British zone. The correspondent is of the opinion a debate on the demands at the highest level is inevitable. The Potsdam agreement gives Russia 25 per cent of surplus plants from the western zones, but the removal of those sought would strip Germany of industries considered so essential for her subsistence. They have been repaired and reopened for operation. Five groups of Super Fortresses will form part of the American occupational air force in Germany, says The Times. They have not previously been used in Europe. Flying patrols will serve as a constant warning against any quickening of militarist ambitions. American engineers have so far restored 45 airfields and are now adapting the runways for the Super Fortresses, whose operational headquarters will be at Bad Mergentheim, south of YVurzburg. The American occupational air force, in addition to a first-line strength ox 250 Super Fortresses, will include ten fighter and three medium bomber groups and several reconnaissance night fighter squadrons.