Soviet Tightens Blockade

Grey River Argus, 29 October 1948, Page 5

Soviet Tightens Blockade

BERLIN, October 27. . Seeking to plug the last loophole in their inner blockade on Western Berlin, the Russians to-day had military police as well as German police stopping intra-city traffic, even pedestrians. One such force, armed with machine-guns and pistols, stood at Brandenburg Gate, the dividing line between the Soviet and British sectors. Vehicular traffic was halted and cargoes confiscated unless they held written Soviet authorisation. The Russians have also intensified the blockade round Berlin in an effort to prevent the Western sectors getting food or other supplies from the surrounding Soviet occupation zone. All vehicles entering the city are halted for inspection and their cargoes confiscated unless they have a written authorisation from the Soviet authorities. - The Russian-controlled newspapers are attempting to justify the Soviet action in the Security Council. They contend that the Western Powers are “blocking a Berlin solution.” Among new measures taken by the Russians to win over Berliners is an order for a general wage increase for all workers in the Soviet sector of the city. The increases range from five to thirty per cent, over the level established in May, 1945, after the German capitulation. German anti-Communist leaders have told Western Berliners of the hardships of a winter blockade and urged them to remain defiant to Russian pressures. Anti-Communist spokesmen were pessimistic about further attempts to solve the deadlock at Paris. They urged the Western Allies to increase the air lift to pull the city through the winter.