DANZIG

Grey River Argus, 28 August 1939, Page 10

DANZIG

UNDER NAZI TERROR. (By Wilhelm von Altenberg). “Vve alone and no others can ..peak! The individual Nazi in Danzig again has a task; to seek his ideological up ponent, find him, and convince him or, if nothing helps, 10-destroy him.’ 1 The Editor-in-Cliiei of Ihe Danzig Vorposten. Provocative speeches of Nazi leaders have been broadcast over the ‘ wireiess, other forms of propaganda are speaking choruses, imported Nazi ■ gangs, and commandeered school ‘ classes. For years lhe Nazis have I practised a brutal terror against the inhabitants of the Danzig district. The 1 history of lhe Nazi seizure ot power in Danzig is a series of violent acts, ’ blackmail, lies, torture methods and ■ murders, characteristic of the policy ■ of the Third Reich. > The Nazi domination was made pos1 sible due to the violation of the pledge of the League of Nations to see that ’ the Constitution was maintained. Add- ; ed to this was the lack of a deter- ? mined defence front of all anti-HiLer - forces. 1 Before Hitler came to power the 1 Nazis in Danzig were very weak. 1 Later a concentrated effort to Nazify the Free City was begun, the finances ' for this coming from lhe coffers ot ‘ the Reich. Already in July. 1933. a ' Nazi Government was lormeci, :u- -’ though the majority of the “Volkstag” was made up of the parties ol the opposition, the Social Democrats, ' the Communists, the German Nation- ’ als, and of the Centre parties such as the Polish Nationals, 'the Communist • Party was immediately forced into ’ illegality, and in May, 1934, was of- ' ficially banned. 1 A high point in the reign of terror : was reached during the election cam--1 paign for the “Volkstag” on April 7. 1935. A great number of Nazi leaders, including Goering and Goebbels, came to Danzig and took part in the electioneering. This intervention by ' tiie Ministers of one country in the election campaign in another was, of course, a violation of the Constitution. During the election fight the opposition was only able to organise six meetings, of which only two could be carried through to the end. The others were dissolved by the police “in the interests of public safety.”| Brown Shirts were everywhere. The, Nazis organised brawls and attacks on all anti-fascists taking part in lhe election campaign. i The result of the eleclion —58 per cent. Nazi votes, and 42 per cent, opposition votes—-was a great disappointment to the Nazis, for they had |not achieved the two-thirds majority necessary lor changing the Constitution. As they had exercised uncon'stitutional and illegal pressure on the i election committee and had done ■ everything Io prevent a free and sec ret election, the Supreme Court was ,'iorcd to act. It stated that the acI cusations against the Nazis had been /proven, but did not declare the eleclion to be null and void. On the night of May 1, 1935, the Senate decreed the devaluation of the gulden bv 40 per cent. With one blow, the workers’ wages were decreased by this amount. The unemployed were mostly sent to Germany under compulsion. To rob the workers of their last support, in autumn, ,11935, the Workers’ Alliance that had 4 taken the place of the free trade ' unions, was banned. In the summei • of 1935, the Workers’ Sports and Smg- . ing Alliance was dissolved. At that ’ time there were already more than ' 300 political prisoners who were most- ' ly taken over to the jails and prisons 1 of the German Reich. : Here is an example of how the ’ Nazis tried to intimidate and destroy. One night at the beginning of February, 1936, a gang of about au unixornied S.A. men forced their way into the residence of the Social-Democratic municipal councillor, Kuschel. The man and his wife were bestially maltreated. Even an infant was taken from its be d and thrown on the floor. Furniture was knocked to bits \ chel was a relief worker and liven in very poor circumstances. tne house presented a gruesome picture in [ the morivng. Pools of blood were on 1 the floor and the walls spattered with - In October, 193 G, there followed the ■ dissolution of the Social-Democratic > Party and the Railway Alliance. Som. 1 of the party leaders were taken into ; “protective arrest.” The Nazis sys- • tematically broke into the houses of 1 functionaries, beat the inhabitants and • broke up lhe furniture. They forced - their way into a Zentrum meeting, 1 maltreated those who were present and wounded 30. Jews were attack"ed on the streets and beaten. Ttie old charge of “corruption” was • brought against, the leader of the ; German Nationals, Weise. In the fol--1 lowing months the leaders of the German Nationals were blackmailed into “co-ordination.” Many of the aeputies 1 were arrested without a constitutional extradition by the “Volkstag. > Thereupon it was decreed that the arrested deputies had voluntarily forfeited their mandates. . Thus n> methods of terror the Nazis gradually attained the two-thirds majority, with which they changed the Danzig constitutions to the pattern of the Third Reich without regard to the League of Nations. In this way the statue of the “Free City of Danzig that was guaranteed by the League of Nations was changed into a prison regime for its citizens. At the beginning of 1937 the terrot was increased against all those who were fighting for the preservation Mid restoration of constitutional ligh s. The pastors of the Confessional Church, Heck and Walter, were arrested because they refused to substitute Hitler for Christ. The independence of the judges is an empty word. The Chief Magistrate, Dr. von Hagen was forced to resign and was replaced by a dyed-in-the-wool Nazi, one Dr. Wohler. The freedom of Danzig to-day lies trampled beneath the boots of the Nazis. In spite of everything, the erstrict is to-day in no wav “appeased. The great majority of the Danzig population to-dav longs, for the restoration of democratic rights and the pl,reservation of peace, fearing war with a pitiful terror.