Two Men Beheaded On Treason Charges

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 132, 5 June 1937, Page 6

Two Men Beheaded On Treason Charges

MURDER PLOT CONFESSED HITLER SUGGESTED VICTIM United Press Association—Br Kloctrlc Tslesrraph.—CopyrlirhL Received Saturday, 1.5 a.rj. BERLIN, June 4. Helmut Hirsch, an American Jew, who bad been mentioned in connection with a plot on Herr Hitler’s life, was beheaded. A German, Oskar Denner, was also executed for high treason. 0 A Berlin cable on April £4 stated: Although Helmut Hirsch, a Jew, aged 21, confessed only to having planned to assassinate a high official, before he was sentenced to death on a charge of high treason on March 8 for bringing explosives into Germany, he is thought in some quarters to have been connected with a plot against the life of Herr Hitler. The fact that the sentence on Hirsch was not announced until March 20 is regarded as supporting this rumour. It has only now been revealed that Hirsch is an American citizen. The American Consul visited him in prison and found him doubtful as to the sue* cess of his appeal for a commutation of the death penalty. He asked the Consul to tell his parents in Czechoslovakia that he was calmly awaiting his end. The American Government is now supporting the plea for clemency.