CHAOS IN RUMANIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 November 1940, Page 7

CHAOS IN RUMANIA

CIVIL WAR IMMINENT ’ GERMAN CONTROL PLANNED [BY CABLE. —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT]) LONDON, November. 29. General Antonescu, the Rumanian dictator, is conferring with the leaders of the Iron Guard after conferring with the military chiefs. The Iron Guards declare they will oppose the formation of a military Cabinet. The Government has ordered troops from the provinces to the capital ,to assjst in maintaining order. In spite of the obscurity of the situation, the Rumanian censor, who deleted 525 words from one message to the Associated Press of Great Britain and treated other correspondents similarly, has authorised reports which give a gruesome picture of anarchy and chaos with General Antonescu struggling hard with German aid to restore order. A state of emergency was proclaimed throughout Rumania tonight, and one report from Bucharest states that civil war seems to be imminent.

It is learned that 20 additional suppporters of King Carol have been executed at Ploesti. The blood-bath was given a new touch with the revelation that many victims were bludgeoned to death with pickaxes. It is reported that 26 members of the Iron Guard committed suicide after participation in the murders. Thousands of members of the Iron Guard entered Bucharest to-day by train, lorry, and car. All public buildings are guarded and all Germans in Bucharest are i} mobilised for action. The Bucharest correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain states that the Iron Guard’s power ?s indicated by the election of M. Radu Mironovici, who owns the Iron Guard newspaper, as chief officer, after the Iron Guard had refused to accept two of General Antonescu’s nominees. High Rumanian officers are threatening to resign unless the perpetrators of the murders are severely punished. Indignation and disgust at the reign of terror instituted so soon after Rumania’s linking up with the Axis are sweeping the. country, feeling being particularly high in the army. The Rumanian Army ’s standing by in- readiness fox- any eventuality, and Cabinet is sitting almost continuously. Important changes among officials are expected. General Keitel, Chief of the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces, is reported to have flown to Bucharest. The /, ‘Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent on the Rumanian frontier suggests that young Fascists were used _ during General Antonescu’s absence‘from the capital in order to show the world that the authorities are-unable to control the country without German aid. • Reports from American correspondents indicate that more German troops are moving in to join those that have been' in the country for some ‘months. It is an opportune time for Germany to assume complete control of Rumania.

ALL-PARTY GOVERNMENT? BELGRADE, November 29. M. Bratianu is reported -to be under a close police guard. He lengthily conferred with M. Manui (Peasant Party Leader). There consequently are rumours that an, All-Party Government may be formed. The Iron Guard has declared itself opposed to’ a military Cabinet. Dr. Fabricius (German envoy) has left for Berlin, after a long conversation with General Antonescu. It is reported that Queen Helen has left Bucharest, because she disagreed with the Rumanian Nazis, and also because the Legionaries are hostile to Queen Helen. DEAD MAN’S RETRIAL BERLIN, November 29. ' The News - Agency stated that a retrial of Cornelius Codreanu, whose death in 1938, was the cause of the present crisis in Rumania, has begun at a Bucharest Supreme Court, on the appeal of M. Cosmovici, now under-secretary to the Prime Minister, who, defended Codreanu, when he was sentenced to hard labour for treason. He is reconducting Codreanu’s case.

RAILWAY COLLISION BERLIN, November 29. The News Agency stated that two were killed, and ten injured, when two trains collided near Bucharest. The line between Ploesti and Bucharest is closed as a result. LONDON LEGATION’S PROTEST. RUGBY, November 29. There was never any doubt that the disorders and excesses in Rumania, under German control, would excite the reprobation of patriotic Rumanians all over the world. It is now learned that the greater part of the staff and members of the Rumanian j Legation in ,London, are forwarding their resignations to the Bucharest Government, as a protest. V. V. Tilea, former Rumanian Minister in London, issued a statement: “I make an appeal to the whole civilised world not to judge the freedomloving Rumanian nation, by the shameful horrors from which every human being must shrink. Rumanians had not known in modern times political assassination,—it was introduced to them by foreign inspiration. That a handful of young men, who are suffering from the European mental disease, should have committed such crimes is due to Himmler’s instjgation. I pan affirm, with complete confidence, that it is condemned by 99 per cent, of the Rumanians themselves, but these acts of lunatics prove how weak and unpopular the present pro-Nazi regime is in Rumania. The Rumanian nation has survived for two thousand years, in that dangerous corner of Europe, the cross-road of all invasions. It will still survive and rise, to a free, peaceful life, so as to be able to collaborate with other nations in a civilised human commonwealth. That explains why, to-day, practically the whole country is praying, for an Allied victory, which alone can grant them freedom. Those who know the Rumanians, or know something about them, will agree with me.”