NAZI TERRORISM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23954, 1 November 1939, Page 7

NAZI TERRORISM

WHITE PAPER INDICTMENT TREATMENT OF OPPONENTS JEWS AND CATHOUCS TERRIBLE BARBARITIES (British Official Wireless) . (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) RUGBY, Oct. 30. A White Paper on the Nazi treatment of the inhabitants of Germany states that the Nazis were avenging themselves terribly on their opponents, while Storm Troopers wantonly assaulted Britons in the streets. A man who was at one time detained in Buchenwald camp described it as filthy and knee-deep in mud. His face is unrecognisable owing to the torn flesh. There were 100 straw sacks for 10,000 men, who were beaten if they lay on their backs, the order being to lie on their sides. Sentries used their rifles without warning, saying, “ a bullet costs 12 pfennigs, which is all a Jew is worth.” Eventually no Jews were accepted as sick. They could only be well or dead. Many were unable to stand, and had to be forcibly held up at roll call. Many virtually committed suicide by feigning flight in order to be shot down. The Consul-General (Mr Smallbones) at Frankfurt-on-Main wrote last December that if the Government of Germany depended on popular suffrage those responsible for these and similar outrages would be placed against walls and shot. Anti-Catholic Outburst Describing the Vienna anti-Catholic demonstration, the Consul-General recorded that the Cardinal’s palace was entered, windows smashed, religious pictures destroyed, valuable chalices and three episcopal rings stolen, and robes, even the personal wardrobe of the Cardinal, thrown into the courtyard and set on fire. A priest who endeavoured to restrain the attackers was mishandled and an attempt was made to throw him out of the window. He was badly cut about the hands and arms by broken glass. A similar attack was made upon the residence of the Dean, and a priest there was actually thrown out of the window and had both legs broken. The police were telephoned for seven times from the palace, and arrived threequarters of an hour after the first call, when the leader of the mob blew his whistle and the attackers, forming column, marched off unmolested. Jews Brutally Treated The remaining documents in the White Paper deal mainly with antiJewish demonstrations and the barbarities to which prisoners at Buchenwald and Dachau camps are subjected, and the observations of consular officers. The experiences of two exprisoners in Buchenwald, in statements communicated to the Foreign Office by a charity organisation in Germany, reveal in close detail the conditions which those who are interned endure. During working hours, which are 16 hours seven days a week, says the statement of a well-to-do Jewish business man, we were forbidden to drink, even in the hottest weather. The food was not bad, but quite insufficient. While he was there the work J the Jewish prisoners was doubled and rations were halved. The work consisted of moving heavy stones far beyond the strength of even a normal well-fed man. Jews were sneeringly told by the guards that they were only experiencing the same treatment as their forefathers in Egypt received and that Pharaoh had not gone half far enough. The men were kept standing at attention for many hours on end. Floggings were frequent for such small offences as drinking water during working hours. The usual punishment was 25 strokes, given alternately by two guards. This often produced unconsciousness, but Jews were told that the Fuhrer had given orders that Jews might receive up to 60 strokes. Another ex-prisoner, a small business man, was arrested in June. 1938, in a round-up in the streets of Berlin, without cause or pretext. Describing the floggings, he said the normal punishment was 25 strokes, carried out by two guards standing on each side with riding whips. The prisoner was lashed to a board. If he cried the strokes were increased to 35. The guards used all their force, sometimes springing into the air so as to bring the arm down with increased momentum. Other punishment was in hanging men up, three metres from the ground, by their arms, which were violently bent back for the purpose. Special men were employed to carry out these punishments. The hanging lasted from 10 to 12 hours, and was in public. The Consul-general (Mr Gainer) reporting on November 11, 1938, on the anti-Jewish demonstrations m Vienna on the occasion of Dr von Rath s murder in Paris by a Jew, said that when a large number of Jewish shops ana houses and Jewish prayer houses and synagogues were set fire to, the police obviously received instructions not to interfere. “ Vienna presented an extraordinary spectacle, with fires raging all over the city, and Jews were hustled along the streets, cursed at and assaulted by crowds of hooligans, whose pride it is to belong to one of the greatest and most civilised nations of me world,” said Mr Gainer. PRISONS AND CAMPS THE PURGE INTENSIFIED PARIS. Oct. 30. The Paris Soir states that the Gestapo and party organisations have intensified the purge, of prisons and concentration camps. A thousand prisoners are reported to have been shot since October 12 in order to exterminate suspects, impress the survivors and make room for further inmates. REASON FOR PUBLICATION PUBLIC OPINION TO JUDGE LONDON, Oct. 31. (Received Oct. 31, at 11.55 p.m.) “ Even after the outbreak of the war, his Majesty’s Government was reluctant to take action which might inspire hatred, but the German Government’s attitude and the unscrupulous propaganda it is spreading compel his Majesty’s Government to publish these documents so that public opinion here and abroad may judge for itself.” says a foreword to the White Paper. It adds: “The German Government complained of maltreatment of German minorities in foreign countries and of ‘ Macedonian conditions ’ reigning there, but it will be seen from these documents that under the present regime the conditions in Germany itself and the maltreatment accorded Germans are reminiscent, not of Macedonia, but of the darkest ages in the history of man.”