Russian Police Ordered By British To Leave

Northern Advocate, 24 May 1949, Page 5

Russian Police Ordered By British To Leave

BERLIN, Mon. (1.30 p.m.).—A British public safety officer today ordered Russian sector, police to leave the Zoo railway station in the British sector of Berlin after two strikers had been killed.

The strikers died in renewed fighting when Communist railway police fired into a mob which tried to storm the station following a lull in hostilities today.

Following the shooting the British officer, accompanied by West sector policemen, ordered the Russian sector police to leave the station and gave them 20 minutes to get out. He said that if they refused to go Western sector police would go in after them.

However, the commandants said that prompt permission for Western sector police to intervene would be given if a “breach of the peace” occurred. In urging support for West sector police, the City Council stated: “It has become Intolerable for the Berlin population that police duties bn the West sector railway installations should be carried out by members of an organisation regarded by the population as hostile and illegal.’’ The council said the tension caused would lead to grave breaches of the peace.

While the British officer was talking a mob of 2000 strikers milled about outside the station.

Their tempers were aroused by the death of their comrades. The Communist police decided not to wait for the train which had been put on for them, but ran down the tracks towards the Russian sector. The strikers stoned them from the street shouting “Go back to your Rusgion ** The head of the German Eastern sector police (Paul Markgraf) has threatened striking railwaymen in Western sectors with severe punishment, even the death penalty, if they carry out acts of violence. The head of the anti-Communist Railway Workers’ Union. (Heinz Bracht) said the strikers would not be intimidated. The United States commandant in Berlin (Brigadier Frank Howley) said Russian sector police would not be allowed to take strikers out of Western sectors for prosecution, but admitted that the kidnapping of strikers would be difficult to prevent. REQUEST REJECTED

The three Western Berlin commandants rejected a request from the Western sector City Council that its own police be allowed to take'over Western sector railway stations from the Soviet sector police. _ _ .