GUARDING HITLER

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 September 1939, Page 12

GUARDING HITLER

MURDER-PROOF RULER. Many people have asked l me' —it is indeed a world-wide topic — why Hitler still lives (writes Peter Forrest from Berlin). Even more have asked me why it is that nobody, so far as they know, has even taken a shot at him or thrown a bomb. They point to his entries into Austria and the Sudeten areas, into Czechoslovakia proper, and Memel —-apart from hisi tours, parades, and public appearances in his country, where' -there are scores of thousands of persons who hate him with a deadly hate, and thousands who have ‘lost loved ones at the hands j of his -secret police and storm troop-j ers, and who blame one man —-the leader. [

The riddle can be answered in two words. The first is Leibstandai’te. The second is Gestapo. Of course, one- really has to add a third—Hitler. If that does not make immediate sense to you, let me remind you that in Chicago there reigned, whole, for many a year, a gang chief named Al Capone. This gentleman lived through a phase of terror —which he started and maintained —blood, and bullets, excelling, in its own peculiar way, anything that Hitler has had to live through, because Hitler, since he became Chancellor, has always been able- to command all rhe forces of protection, public and private, whereas' Capone had to rely on his wits and his private organisation. Still, what saved Capone, was his system and 'his guards. And; that is what saves Hitler, who has! made himself mofe assassin-proof i than any other ruler in history. 1 Glance at the Gestapo first. Himmler, tireless and adroit, a born secret police chief,, commands the 200,000 members of the Gestapo-, and personally attends to Hitler’s protection on a'll" public occasions. His men wear the black S.S. uniform. They work, in with and dominate the local police.; One of Himmler’s headquarters men visits every town before a. Hitler visit, and checks with the local headquarters. Everything is on military lines. The local police are not “requested” to do this or that. They are paraded and given their orders. The secret police handle the local police as their superiors. A local policeman, for all his smart uniform and arms, jnmpsj when a secret State policeman or-J ders him.

GESTAPO GARRISONS

Himmler’s'Gestapo arc organised into divisions and battalions, and every town has its "garrison” and headquarters. The local area colonel attends to -details when the leader is visiting the town or passing through. He parades the police and addresses them. He gives the police captain his orders, working over a large-scale map.- -Eaoh-st-reet-~etreh corner, is di-:ill with. The Nazi party chief is called in. ,

They check the list of inhabitants

I along the route. The inhabitants' are I checked with the secret records at the I Nazi party local headquarters. Police I visit each tenant and warn- : him. He jis responsible for the behaviour of [his family, lodgers, guests. ■ 'No visi,'tors are permitted. Landlords and } porters are made equally responsible, i One person is made to check on anJ other. < I The front line of the crowd is selected. That is the party’s business. I The local Nazi chieftains put their j trusted members in the- front and secjond lines. The Yo.uth Movement will I pack a risky corner with picked boys and girls. i That is all local organisation. The [secret State police, -having settled all [that, put their own men onthe roofI tops and at strategic corners. They j are trained snipers. They, shoot at sight. Ono suspicious ihoyiei? in the [crowd, cue move not covered by the j watchers and party men on the I ground, and a bullet wings from a iifle with a silencer on the muzzle. Down there a man or woman “faints” and is carried away. He or she has a bullet in shoulder, backyoi- stomach. The secret police never shoot at the head. They want a. suspect alive for examination. Fanatics they are not afraid of. But an organisation is always something to fear. The local police stand facing the crowd. They are trained in watching for the only two suspicious movements that matter: somebody trying to get elbow-room to draw a gun or throw a bomb. If they see such a movement, they hurl themselves headlong into tire cro-wd. They may not I be able to reach their man, but their action will barge the crowd and hustle tire assassin, disturbing .his aim or enabling those around to grab him. The only thing that, matters is to stop the fellow taking aim and shooting or throwing.

The organisation these days is so thorough that Hitler can maintain an appearance of unconcern and! confidence. He has been told when it is safe to rise in his car and extend his arm in salute, and ’when he must sit. Sitting he is- guarded by bulletproof glass shields extending along the sides of his 1 car. King George VI was protected the same way during his Paris visit.

| ASSASSIN'S DIFFICULTIES. Try to imagine yourself as an assassin. You have to get to the crowd and stand for hours for a start. You cannot, get. into the first four rows, anyway. Party members and Brownshirts there, with a line of police in ft out. What chance have yoit.to shoot or throw a bomb? Practically' none. When the leader gets out of his ear the distance between him and the nearest line of cheering subjects is 15 yards—and you are behind those cheer leaders, and Hitler is masked on all sides by bodyguards.

But. Hiller does not completely trust anybody, not even Himmler and bis Gestapo. He Ims bis own privul'e , Loibstandar.te, his Praetorian Guards. , nominally part of Himmler’s S.S.

army,, actually a personal pB division of four regiments, c<H| cd by Joseph Dietrich, one tie group of intimates' who calls him “Sepp.” sponsible to Hitler alone. • wear the old Prussian badge on their black caps, Bl' their belt buckles the “My Honour is Lqyalty” ist di<? Treue). .There are IH| them, and they are the worlcMJ remarkable guard corps. r.” They average 6ft in height.■ one is an athlete', and' every traced his Aryan ancestry a century. They are . “oflicM men in every case, in educatM character. Each cpmes Youth Movement—-and each and therefore enthusiastic. drilled more severely than any Bj regiment. Half the volunteer H are dropped out after the firsß they cannot stand the pace. BM of thousands of German boyß youths yqarn and work, to be M for the Leibstandai’te. Qnpe S are hall-marked. The best job« party and the State service aiM to the men from the Praß Guard, reward for loyalty to thM er - -B You will see them, with theiiß uniforms with white braid, theß shirt with black tie, and the J party button as a pin, guard'iß Fuhrer in Berlin and Berchtes® and moving with liim .in carsß planes, trains', battleshiiis—-liisß shadows, ready for anything,H pledged to die for him. t ■ The division has its own ■ which co-operates with the Department lA—the secret men who- handle all .St'ate cast® take care of ■ with these, experienced.qem’et men checking day-and .night wi® police, who in turn check da® night with the leaders and intell® men of the various Nazi org® tiqns, and. the Labour -Front, Str® through Joy, A.R.P. Bund, ® Movement and' a score more,.eat checking and rechecking in-jts circle, a plot has small chance velcping, sin.ee the whole popu down to each household is unde veiljance and control. 12;. In fact, only one attempt Wasmade on Hitler’s life. He went t funeral service for Gderings wife, a lovely Swedish countess, i Schorfheide Forest, outside B That was before he achieved p A sniper .had concealed himself tree 400 yards away. He fired a s shot. .The bullet hit the adj walking .beside Hitler and car the Fubrer's.yvreiath. The sniper no time to fir-e another shot, i more may have wanted to, and-d less many guns have been bre within shooting range, but none been fired. The gunman simply never had a chance. !