ENTRY INTO PRAGUE

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22661, 16 March 1939, Page 11

ENTRY INTO PRAGUE

iSiiiiii

City Stunned By Event MOVING GESTURES OF PATRIOTISM (THfITBO P&BS9 A.MOCIATTOB—COBTBIGHT,) (Received March 16, 2 a.m.) BERLIN, March 15. It is officially stated that Herr Hitler is accompanying the German troops occupying Bohemia and Moravia. A Prague message says that the city was stunned by the news of the impending occupation, which many heard by wireless first thing in the morning. They responded to the appeal to go quietly to work. The Czech broadcast stated that the Germans, with powerful mechanised forces, were entering Bohemia and Moravia from all directions. The Government had no alternative but to surrender. Resistance would only involve loss of nationhood. The Germans must be well, not provocatively, received. The German troops entered the heart of Prague at 9.20 a.m. A scouting force of 100 crossed the border near Melnik, 20 miles from Prague, at 6 a.m., in a blinding

Prague, at 6 a.m., in a blind snowstorm.

DK. HACHA There was no resistance. War aeroplanes, believed to be German, flew over Prague at 7.30 a.m. Silent villagers watched the troops march to Prague. .Women wept openly. One of the first moves by the troops was to force traffic to the right side of the road, as in Germany. A company of military motorcycles, heading the German column, roared into Wenceslas square, Prague. The troops quickly followed, while crowds rushed into the streets. A crowd of 5000 in Wenceslas square fervently and tearfully sang the Czech national anthem, and gave the clenched *fist salute. The crowd hissed and booed the German troops. The police quickly suppressed fist-fights among the crowd. Sudeten Germans with swastika arm-bands paraded the streets unchallenged. German flags appeared over some private houses. In the city, activities were normal. Crowds packed banks and travel offices with the idea of migrating, but there was little hope of that. The representative of “The Times” in Prague states that it is believed that the Czech President (Dr. Hacha) offered- Germany a Customs Union to prevent German occupation of the Czech State.