POST-RALLY BATTLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27404, 1 June 1950, Page 7

POST-RALLY BATTLE

German Youths Attached ANTI-COMMUNISTS’ ACTION NZPA—Reuter—Copyright Rec. 10 p.m. LONDON, May 31. Thousands of infuriated antlConununists of the town of Helmstedt, in the British zone of Germany, last night attacked West German youths returning from the Communist Whitsun rally in Berlin. They burned the blue shirts and flags of the youths and injured many of them. It is officially estimated. that 10,000 youths participated in the rally. The police said that the trouble started when the West German youths began singing the “Internationale.” The infuriated citizens of Helmstedt replied by singing “Deutschland Über Alles.” It was then that the fighting started. The Helmstedt people caught the West German youths and battered them in the streets. The Berlin marchers, who less than two days before had been acclaimed by their Communist cohorts in Berlin, appeared bewildered at the violence of the West German attack. They begged for a truce and said they would leave the town without shirts and flags if only they were guaranteed safety, but the citizens blocked off the streets and in effect held them prisoners. Short Shooting Affray

A five-minute tommy-gun and revolver battle—Berlin’s first serious shooting in 18 months—was fought in the Soviet sector yesterday, 15 yards from the British boundary. A car with four men travelling towards the British sector opened fire with a tommy-gun on the East German people’s police when challenged to stop. The police fired back, stopping the car, and then arrested the men. One passenger in the car and one policeman were wounded. Four of the men wore Polish Army uniforms, and it is believed that they were attempting to escape to the west.