HARRIED CZECHS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 8, 4 October 1941, Page 9

HARRIED CZECHS

Hiding From The Gestapo MANY SUICIDES Executions Through Europe (■By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received October 3, 7 p.m.) LONDON, October 2. Besides 38 Czechs who were sentenced to death yesterday, and a further 228 persons who appeared before Moravian . and Bohemian courts-martial and have been handed over to the Gestapo for further interrogation, reports received in Czech quarters here reveal that there have been many more executions and arrests than those officially announced. Prague later announced that 15 Czechs were shot and three hanged and that 110 Czechs were handed over to the Gestapo today. It is reported that the dynamiting of a cliff 50 miles from Bratislava held up railway traffic for 16 days. The Gestapo is hunting in the most remote villages for suspects. Thousands of people have left their homes and are hiding 'in the woods and hills. There are appalling numbers of suicides, which include Dr. Rudolf Rumpl, a pioneer aeranaut. It is pointed out that nearly all the industrial districts 'in southern Mor; avia are now under martial law by which device the Germans are desperately attempting to maintain production. It is reported from Stockholm that President Hacha sought to resign as a protest against the mass executions, but the Nazis forced him to remain. Example to Europe. The arrested Premier, General Elias, was said today to be still alive. Earlier reports from Berlin said that he was shot yesterday. According to reports reaching London, since Heydrich started his terrorist campaign on September 28 in Czechoslovakia, 89 Czechs have been executed and several hundreds arrested (stated an earlier British Official Wireless message). The state of emergency now applies to hine districts. It would seem that the Nazis are making an example of Czechoslovakia not only to stop further resistance and sabotage in that country, but also to deter saboteurs in the other occupied countries. A message from Bucharest states that Greeks, armed with machine-guns, hand grenades, and revolvers, attempted an uprising in the mountain areas round Drama, in Thrace. The police and military are said to have “reestablished calm.” When two German airmen were shot in a dark street in Zagreb on September 30 the Nazis said that 10 Croats would die every time such incidents occur. The quisling Croat leader, Dr. Pavelitch, interviewed by the “Popolo d’ltalia,” admits that it_is impossible to stamp cut the guerrilla warfare in, Croatia, where every yard of railway and every bridge must be guarded. It is announced in Yugoslavia that 60 persons-have been executed for attempting wrecking, killing, and sabotage. In Norway the Germans have ordered the removal of the V signs from houses and also ordered it to be replaced with the words “Germany is winning,” of the same size as the sign replaced. Reports from Paris say that arrests of alleged French Communists continue. Seven were accused of possessing explosives, arms, and leaflets. Five were imprisoned and one shot. Free French headquarters in London state that 20 Frenchmen were shot by the Germans in Lille on September 26. Ammunition Train Blown Up. From a depot of explosive material in northern France on the night of September 22-23 several cases of high explosives were stolen, and on the night of September 24-25 a German train transporting ammunition was blown up, as well as two goods trains in the vicinity of Lille. On the following day, the Germans arrested and shot 20 French railway workers, who were executed without charge or trial. It is reported from Paris that Paul Colette, the assailant of M. Laval, M. Deat, and a French army officer, has been sentenced to death after a secret trial. Communist activities and sabotage are reported from The Hague, where four persons were shot and one received a life sentence after an espionage and sabotage organization was discovered. Himgarian Opposition. (Received October 3, 10.15 p.m.) LONDON, October 2. A Hungarian military tribunal has sentenced 18 persons to 13 to 15 years’ jail for treason; also in Bucharest five have been condemned to forced labour from seven to 25 years for political activities. The Hungarian Government newspaper “Magyarsag,” reported yesterday that 30 persons were executed in the Banat area. The Associated Press of Great Britain now reports from Budapest that more than 60 persons were executed there. The newspaper “Magyarorszag” also reports that the Germans have threatened that in the event of further violence they wil publicly hang 38 imprisoned Communists. Forty-two have already been executed in the part of Yugoslavia under Hungarian occupation. Communications between Thrace and Bulgaria have been cut off as a result of the reported armed Greek rising in the mountains in the Drama area. The Italian newspaper “Carriere della Sera” estimates that 543 persons were arrested at the Bulgarian port of Varna on September 27 and 28, and it states that arms and exldosives were seized. A dozen German soldiers who were walking to the Zagreb airport were fired on from the shadow of buildings, and two were killed and one seriously injured. Two Austrian Movements. In spite of warnings sabotage is in creasing in Poland. It continues to be aimed particularly against the German lines of communication to the Russian front. The main line was blocked for 10 days, when a bridge near Bialystok was blown up. The Germans arrested 300 persons, of whom they shot 15 and publicly exhibited the bodies. The Lisbon correspondent of the “Daily Mail” says that two underground movements in Austria are preparing a revolt against Hitler—the Communists and monarchists. Two secret radio stations are broadcasting regularly to the Austrians, and the Communists have revived their own newsppaer, which they are secretely circulating.