MEMEL NAZIS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23219, 13 December 1938, Page 11

MEMEL NAZIS

"BACK TO REICH" RECORD POLLING EMERGENCY DECREE TWO KILLED IN RIOTING JEWS BEADY TO FLEE By Telegraph—rress Association—Copyright (Received December 12, 11.45 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 12 The Nazis claim to have won at least 26 out of the 29 seats in the Diet, says a message from Memel. There was a record poll at the election of 96 per cent. The Government created a state of emergency last evening by issuing a decree during the elections tantamount to a form of martial law. The measure is directed against the Opposition after the discovery of an alleged plot by the National Democrats to overthrow the President. Many persons were arrested, including several prominent men. There were frequent clashes between Nazis, Lithuanians and Socialists. Sixteen Storm Troopers were admitted to hospital, and two Lithuanians were shot dead. 'Anticipating the return of Memel to the Reich, the local Jewish community is preparing to leave. Hundreds have already migrated in recent weeks, and the remainder are arranging their businesses in readiness 1:o depart at the shortest notice. Likelihood ol Trouble Dr. Neumann, loader of the Memel Nazis, in an interview with the correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, fully confirmed the "back to the Reich" movement, and added that the Germans had so far been disciplined, but it was doubtful whether he would be able to control his younger and more hotheaded followers after the election. Asked how the return of Memel to Germany was compatible with Herr Hitler's declaration that he had no further territorial claims to make in Europe, Dr. Neumann declared that the Germans of Memel, like the Austrians and Sudeten Germans, could not be deterred from exercising their right of self-determination. Attack on American Mr. Robert Sellmer, a young American journalistj complains that he was beaten during an hour's detention at the poHce station. He says he was attacked in the street by Dr. Neumann's uniformed guards for not acknowledging the Nazi salute. Policemen intervened and took Mr. Sellmer to the station. They seemed angry because, knowing little German, he replied in English, and they clubbed him six times, eventually throwing him out on to the street. During a demonstration in Kaunas, the capital of Lithuania, last night students shouted anti-Semitic slogans. Thirty arrests were made. The Lithuanian Government has issued a protective decree applicable to Kaunas and the surrounding districts.