Citizens Held in Bonds of Fear

Evening Star, Issue 23325, 22 July 1939, Page 9

Citizens Held in Bonds of Fear

ARRESTS MADE ON FLIMSIEST PRETEXTS

This is the second of a weekly series by Carl Harder, who escaped after two years in a concentration camp for reading an anti-Nazi paper, and made his way to the United States.

The concentration camp is one of the most effective methods of the Gestapo to rid Germany of political opponents, as well as all those who arc not outspokenly for the Fuhrer. The concentration camps are not under the jurisdiction of the courts, but are independently in the hands of the Gestapo, which consists of S.S. men, the Elite Guards of the Third Reich. The Gestapo respects no law but its own. It can arrest and send to concentration camps all those whom it considers “ questionable.” But that is not all. Every political prisoner who has been condemned to a concentration camp, a penitentiary, or an ordinary prison must he turned over to the Gestapo one day before his dismissal. For an indefinite period he will be sent to another camp, even though he has served his term. The power of the Gestapo is such that it can arrest persons who have.been acquitted by the courts|" ' Upon leaving the courthouse

the victims are seized and put in “ protective custody.” SPIES ARE EVERYWHERE. A well-thought-out spying system holds every German citizen, every family, every group in fearful bondage. No one knows who the informer might be —a neighbour, the waiter in the cafe, a guard in the public park, a brother, a “ friend.” That’s why Germans are whispering nowadays—and before whispering they make absolutely sure that there cannot possibly be any spies who might overhear fragments of the conversation. The fear of the secret police and its methods is great. Only trusted friends can exchange comments about tlm high cost of living, about the poor quality of the food, and. perhaps about the_ luxurious mode of living that goes on in the headquarters of the Black and Brown Shirts, or about dictatorship in general. Arrests are made on flimsy reasons. A report of someone who has a grudge

against his neighbour, a statement of a moron, a criminal —or no reason at all —is justification for arrest. .And while the prisoner is safely hidden in the dungeons of the secret police his mail is directed to police headquarters, ms apartment or his house is turned upside down, his trunks are broken into, ms library is searched for forbidden books, his bank accounts are confiscated. The Gestapo does anything to find evidence which might be incriminating.

OUTDO TORTURE OF DARK AGES. A “ trial ” is a beastly, bloody procedure that surpasses the methods of torture employed during the Dark Ages. The prisoners are “ broken m while they are confined in damp, dark* underground holes; they have to suffer brutal beatings, hunger, confinement in the dark, and those mental agonies which spring from the fear that friends and members of their familis might be drawn into this. After such an experience a prisoner must break down; he admits, signs, and swears to anything; he says that he is guilty, that he is an enemy of the State. Then, after an indefinite length of time—sometimes that amounts to IP months—a prisoner is brought to trial before a court and a judge who, feverish with haste and eagerness to punish, are determined in their efforts to prove the guilt of the accused. The judge goes by the statement signed during the “ questioning ” by the Gestapo. The prisoner may exclaim

in despair that, under such brutal treatment he would have signed anything, admitted anything, just to bring those beastly beatings to an end —all this is of no avail. He has signed the statement —that is enough to give him two and a-half years or more. EYES ON EVERY GERMAN. But the duties of the Gestapo are not just confined to discovering enemies of the Third Heidi. It has to watch all German people in their reaction to the Nazi regime. Supposing someone applies for a passport. Although this is a matter which is handled by the passport office, the document cannob be issued without consent of the Gestapo, which has found that the applicant is “ politically dependable.” In addition to that, the approval of general military headquarters has to be obtained, and every male between the ages or 18 and 45 is subject to their restrictions and regulations. , . ~ Ultra-modern methods of recording with which the offices are supplied register everything about the prisoner—to which party he has belonged; whether or not he is a member of a Nazi organisation; whether or not he is a Jew; if at all times he has willingly and generously contributed to the frequent collections made by tne Government; if he is a member of the church—not a phase of the prisoner s life is left uncovered. . A person who has been punished for political reasons cannot obtain a driver’s license or a work permit; he cannot engage in any form of business. His existence has been destroyed, and all means are employed to prevent a possible comeback. Such men and women are branded, marked, persecuted, until another reason turns up which justifies reimprisonment.

SECRET POLICE IN CHURCHES. Church services are not free from Nazi spies. Secret policemen in civilian clothes listen carefully to the sermon. No excursion boat leaves the pier unless the Gestapo men who mingle with the crowd have taken all the pictures they need to check up on ” suspicious “ persons. Gestapo spies are in the streets, in the stores, in the restaurants. Even in neighbouring countries, such as Henmark, Holland, Switzerland, the individual is not safe from Nazi supervision. The spies mingle with the tourists—they look like tourists, _ they act like tourists —and every critical word which is spoken unguardedly means persecution and punishment. The Gestapo is the ogre which terrorises the German people, which educates them to lies and hypocrisies It is only because of fear that votes for Hitler are given; only fear makes the citizens hang out Nazi banners and swastikas; only fear quiets all discontent about food shortage; only fear is behind ail those contributions made to the frequent drives arranged by the Government; Only fear makes hundreds and thousands yank up their arms in the stiff Hitler salute—for when a Gestapo car stops in front of your house, when the door bell rings, and two strangers take you between them and lead you back to the car—then then, the end has come!

Then it is too late; then there is no future but the concentration camp.