NAZI PILLAGE IN BERLIN

Southland Times, Issue 23664, 12 November 1938, Page 7

NAZI PILLAGE IN BERLIN

Synagogues In Ruins And Shops Wrecked TEN THOUSAND JEWS ARRESTED (United Press Assn—Telegraph Copyright) LONDON, November 10. The British United Press correspondent in Berlin telephoned a graphic story from the Friedrichstrasse while he witnessed appalling destruction, pillage and arson. He declared that every window in the street was broken. Gangs of halfdrunken men were systematically smashing the Jewish shops. A dozen groups of 50 strong raided the fashionable shopping centres, where they are committing the worst destruction. A German insurance-agent when he protested was told that he was doing the filthy work of the Jews. “Within 90 minutes I saw at least 200 shops smashed,” says the correspondent. “The interiors were demolished and police patrols and fire brigades are speeding through the streets almost ceaselessly. Altogether seven synagogues are in flames. Five thousand Jews have been arrested.” In Munich the orthodox synagogue is ablaze and there are similar scenes in Hamburg, Cologne, Vienna and Linz. In the afternoon the Minister of Propaganda (Dr Josef Goebbels) ordered the cessation of the anti-Jewish demonstrations. Reports from all parts of Germany show that 10,000 Jews have been arrested and that at least 10,000 shops have been wrecked. With few exceptions the synagogues are smoking ruins. The work of destruction was carried out under the supervision of Storm Troopers in civilian clothes. Children were turned out of their beds and their parents assaulted. Between 50 and 60 Jews in Vienna attempted to commit suicide. Twentytwo took their own lives in Berlin. Those awaiting visas from the British Consul were arrested. LIKE AN AIR RAID The Jewish quarter of Berlin resembles a city after an air raid. Nine synagogues have been destroyed. The Templegasse synagogue was blown up with a bomb and the great West End synagogue is an empty shell. The police are searching the Jews for arms, the penalty for which is 20 years’ imprisonment. Synagogues were also destroyed in Leipzig, Hanover and Frankfurt. At night the Berlin mob renewed its shop wrecking, looting and assaults on Jews. This resulted in the entire police force and hundreds of uniformed Black Guards being called out. They were powerless to enforce Dr Goebbels’s pronouncement two and a-half hours previously, ordering the immediate cessation of demonstrations against Jewry. Crowds in a shoppng centre, watching hats and coats being hurled from the second story of a big departmental store, took what they fancied. A restaurant in the Marburgerstrasse was wrecked and 8000 persons watched the wrecking of the premises of a Jewish clothing firm in the Friedrichstrasse. One hundred and fifty youths started smashing up small Jewish shops near the Reichsbank with iron bars; the police arrested two and dispersed the rest. A dozen lorry-loads of Jews arrived at the police headquarters at the Alexanderplatz, where an excited crowd shouted: “Send them to Palestine!” Other lorry-loads were taken to an unrevealed destination by a police escort.