Monday, December 29, 2008
Restrictions on Jews on Trains
Friday, December 26, 2008
Declaration of Lima
Twenty One American Republics met these past few days in Lima, Peru. Those in attendance signed the Declaration of Lima on Christmas Eve. The document highlights the particular unity among American nations not just as a geographical means but a sprititual one. It provides for pan-American consultation in case of a threat to the “peace, security, or territorial integrity” of any state.
This meeting is a regular occurrence. American nations meet every few years to discuss topics that of interest and concern to these nations.
Members are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
*************************************************************
The Eighth International Conference of American States,
Considering:
That the peoples of America have achieved spiritual unity through the similarity of their republican institutions, their unshakable will for peace, their profound sentiment of humanity and tolerance, and through their absolute adherence to the principles of international law, of the equal sovereignty of states and of individual liberty without religious or racial prejudices;
That on the basis of such principles and will, they seek and defend the peace of the continent and work together in the cause of universal concord;
That respect for the personality, sovereignty, and independence of each American state, constitutes the essence of international order sustained by continental solidarity, which historically has found expression in declarations of various states, or in agreements which were applied, and sustained by new declarations and by treaties in force; that the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace, held at Buenos Aires, approved on December 21, 1936, the declaration of the principles of inter-American solidarity and cooperation, and approved, on December 23, 1936, the protocol of nonintervention; the Governments of the American States
Declare:
First. That they reaffirm their continental solidarity and their purpose to collaborate in the maintenance of the principles upon which the said solidarity is based;
Second. That faithful to the above-mentioned principles and to their absolute sovereignty, they reaffirm their decision to maintain them and to defend against all foreign intervention or activity that may threaten them;
Third. And in case the peace, security or territorial integrity of any American republic is thus threatened by acts of any nature that may impair them, they proclaim their common concern and their determination to make effective their solidarity, coordinating their respective sovereign wills by means of the procedure of consultation, established by conventions in force and by declarations of the inter-American conferences, using the measures which in each case the circumstances may make advisable. It is understood that the Governments of the American Republics will act independently in their individual capacity, recognizing fully their juridical equality as sovereign states;
Fourth. That in order to facilitate the consultations established in this and other American peace instruments, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, when deemed desirable and at the initiative of any one of them, will meet in their several capitals by rotation and without protocolary character. Each government may, under special circumstances or for special reasons, designate a representative as a substitute for its Minister for Foreign Affairs;
Fifth. This declaration shall be known as the "Declaration of Lima."
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Italy forbids Jews in Military
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Danzig Pogroms
Unlike in Germany, there were protests against the violence by those in power. The League of Nations Commisioner, Dr. Burkhardt of Switzerland, lodged complaints against the pogroms but he was barely heard.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Libyan Jews no longer Italian
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
German Jews can't go to University
Friday, December 5, 2008
Seventh Ordinance
Father Coughlin goes on...
Despite his Anti-Semitic remarks, it appears the Catholic priest is well-liked among the American public. Americans have gathered to let their voices be heard claiming that when Hitler gets here, he'll change things for the Jews.
The Roman Catholic Church does not condone Father Charles Coughlin's beliefs.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Aryanizing Jewish Businesses
Also today, Jews were forced to relinquish their driver's licenses and their vehicle registration papers. An earlier proclamation also forbade the movement of Jews from different localities.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Danzig Jews included in atonement
Father Coughlin continues to Anger
He leads a political party by the name of the Christian Front out of Detroit. He led the National Union for Social Justice until its transformation into the Christian Front last year. He has claimed that there is a Jewish-Bolshevik Threat to the United States. He has also joined in with the Isolationists in saying "Less care for internationalism and more concern for national prosperity."
The Roman Catholic Church has said that they can only disagree with the priest. They cannot make him stop using the radio as a medium to reach the masses.
He again made inflammatory remarks on his November 30th broadcast. With the increasing violence against Jews in Europe, there are murmurs that Coughlin is accepting money from the Nazis. It may be possible. He has been growing further critical of FDR in the past four years and praised Hitler for his anti-Jewish policies.
He has also found it harder to fund his radio broadcasts as of late. Even with a 1 million and more circulation of his journal Social Justice Weekly. It is assumed that he must be accepting money from abroad. Not even the Bishop of Detroit could fund this.
This journalist assumes the FBI to look into any Nazi connections the priest may have. If the agency is not currently doing so, then get to it!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Great Britain picks up the pace
Despite Chamberlain's assurance "Peace for our Time", it appears the British are not so assured after all. However, it may be noted that it was initiated due to Germany's illegal presence in the Rhineland and its own surge in military building and manufacturing.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Jewish Movement Restricted
The Nazi authorities left it to the local municipal Presidents to establish curfews and locations that are off-limits for Jews.
This came down yesterday.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Jewish Protests against Kristallnacht
The Rallies were held in Odessa, Kiev, Leningrad and Moscow itself. The Soviet Police did not interfere with the protests.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Schutzstaffel for a Jewish State
"The German people are not in the least inclined to tolerate in their country hundreds of thousands of criminals, who not only secure their existence through crime, but also want to exact revenge... In such a situation we would be faced with the hard necessity of exterminating the Jewish underworld... The result would be the actual and final end of Jewry in Germany, its absolute annihilation."
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Nuremberg Laws in Danzig
The Nuremberg Laws passed by the Nazis in the fall of 1935 are now in force in Danzig and applies to Jews regardless of nationality. The Nazi organ Vorposten, commenting on the action, ironically hopes that the Poles will be grateful to the Danzig government for its efforts to secure "racial purity" for the Free City's inhabitants.
Warsaw, however, does not see the situation in that light. It is understood that the Poles are preparing to protest this new discrimination.
The anti-Semitic drive, which began with the German excesses, continues unabated. Several Jewish-owned stores, which had reopened, closed again after the police had indicated that their reopening was a "provocation".
More than 100 Jews have been arrested during the last three days. Those who seemingly were Polish citizens were sent across the frontier. Many of them were arrested on the Polish side as deserters from the Army.
Danzig's great synagogue, damaged in the recent rioting, now is being torn down to enable the extension of the police station.
The adoption of the Nuremberg Laws is a violation of the Free City's constitution guaranteed by the League of Nations, but Commissioner Carl J. Burckhardt de Reynold is not expected to take any action. in fact, he is understood to be disillusioned and wishes to resign. The Nazis, naturally, would welcome the event.
One month ago there were widespread pogroms against Jews throughout the city-state.
Freemasonry Dissolved in Poland
Attempts to revive the masonic movement, the establishment of clandestine lodges, and so forth, will make those involved liable to five years' imprisonment and heavy fine.
Dissolution of the ladges was ordered by the Masonic leaders themselves a few moths ago when a violent anti-Masonic campaign was launched in the Sejm. The Government issued a decree to silence persons form all ranks who would probably have raised the Masonic issue again the new Parliament.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Seven Americans get Awards by Hitler
Three of the professors, William Alpha Cooper, Karl Frederick Geiser and Frederick K. Krueger, received the order in the first degree. Professor Ralph Haswell Lutz, Fritz Hailer, a lawyer amd F.W. Elven received it in the second degree and E.C. Miller in the third.
Dr. William Alpha Cooper is professor Emeritus of Germanic Languages of Stanford University, California, having retired in 1934. He was born in Batesville, Ohio, in 1868. He studied at some point at the University of Bonn in Germany, the University of Leipzig and the University of Berlin. In 1934 he received an honorary degree from the University of Cologne.
He was for many years on the Stanford faculty and is a member of a number of American and German philological associations. In 1908 he translated Bielschowky's "Life of Goethe".
Dr Karl Frederick Geiser, a native of Iowa, has been a Professor of Political Science at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, where he resides since 1908. He has been teaching since 1893. He was a lecturer in Berlin, Marburg, Goettingen, Muenster, Danzig and Koenigsberg Universities in Germany during 1936 and 1937.
His "Democracy Versus Autocracy" was published in 1918 and in 1934 he published "American political ideals" in the German language.
Dr. Frederick Konrad Krueger, Professor of Political Science since 1923 at Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio, was born in Kottbus, Germany, in 1887. He studied at the University of Berlin and Tubingen University in Germany. He was naturalized as an American citizen in 1930.
He has been an exchange professor at Goettingen, Germany. He is the author of works in German and English, including "Government and Politics of the German Empire" (1915), and is a contributor to the encyclopedias of articles on Germany.
Dr. Ralph Haswell Lutz, a well-known historian is chairman of the Hoover War Library of Stanford University and dean of graduate study at Stanford. He is a native of Ohio and took his PhD at Heidelberg, Germany in 1910.
He served with the American Forces during the World War as first lieutenant of infantry, and was later in the American Military Mission in Berlin, the Supreme Economic Council in Paris and the special mission to Poland.
In a speech in Berlin in 1934, Dr. Krueger attacked the American press for making "no effort to understnad the new German soul or to play fair". He described the boycott of German goods as "a crime against America". He further went on to say that "[s]ome day America will be forced to deal with the problem presented by the Jew". He was then lecturing at the Nazi Academy for Political Sciences.
Jews taken out of Economic Order
On November 21st, German Jews with assets over 5,000 Reichsmarks are required to pay a 20% tax on their registered assets with the Reich treasury. At this point, there are likely few Jews who have that much in assets left.
Two days later, November 23rd, an Administrative order came down that dissolved all Jewish own plants and businesses. The Nazis didn't even bother to transfer the properties to non-Jewish owners. They were just ended. All Jewish owned firms ceased to exist.
With many Jews left with no way to work, no money to support themselves and their families, they are rendered destitute in a land where they are despised, beaten, raped and murdered.
No word yet on the 30,000 to 100,ooo Jews that were arrested during Kristallnacht a fortnight ago.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Czech Jew will not be forced to return home
Federal Judge Philip L. Sullivan granted a writ of Habeas Corpus to the Jew, Solomon Weinberg and then freed him from custody. His Honor stated that to deport the Jew to Central Europe at the present time would be "cruel and unusual punishment".
Mr. Weinberg, 31, was born in a part of the late Hapsburg Empire that became Czechoslovakia. He immigrated to the United States in August, 1927, while employed on the liner Berlin. After missing the ship, he remained here.
He used another man's identity to acquire a passport to visit his dying mother in Poland in 1931. In May of 1932 he returned without a legal visa. He was married in June of 1936 in California but is now separated from his wife.
He was arrested this past June and deportation hearings were arranged soon after. The Judge who heard his case pointed out that Mr. Weinberg has always supported himself and never required state assistance.
He also stated "I do not believe the immigration laws contemplate and such strict compliance with the letter as would oblige the court to return a Jew to a country where his property would be confiscated and his life might be in jeopardy".
Unless Attorney General Homer S. Cummings decides to appeal the case, Judge Sullivan's decision will permit Mr Weinberg to remain in the this country.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Catholic Priest takes on Jews in Radio Broadcast
Now, two weeks after the pogroms of Germany and Austria, Father Coughlin has been making anti-semitic remarks in his broadcast. In the most recent, November 20th, he said "Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were persecuted." This was a reference to the many Christians killed by Russian Marxists during the Russian Revolution. He has also said that the Nazi Party is essential to hold the Soviet threat in check.
The Roman Catholic Church has yet to comment.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Synagogue blown up in Romania
The Iron Guard did do things thoroughly and dynamited it. This was not a simple case burning and looting.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
German Jewish Visas extended
Political Asylum may also be an option for many of these Germans who may be unable to return to their homes.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
American Virgin islands make offer to Jews
French Socialist criticize Government for inaction
French, since the days of the French Revolution, have considered themselves a bastion for Civic Rights and Virtues. It is with this view in mind that many have risen to ask why France is not doing anything to stand up for the Jewry of Central Europe.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Anti-Jewish Laws in Italy
Despite Fascist laws in Italy, there has not been a systemic Anti-Semitic rhetoric in Mussolini's government. This past autumn, Italy has made several changes to its Jewish policies. These laws ban miscegenation between Jews and "Aryans," and placed Jews, defined by racial criteria much as in the Nazi legislation, under further restrictions. Alien Jews have also been expelled from the nation and teachers and students pulled from schools.
Jewish Children expelled from Schools
The next day, the British Cabinet met and discussed the issue. It has announced that it will take the British Jewish Community up on its proposal to save the Jewish Youth of Central Europe.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Jewish leaders ask Chamberlain to save Jewish children
Among other measures, they requested that the British government permit the temporary admission of Jewish children who would later re-emigrate. The Jewish community promised to pay guarantees for the refugee children.
In light of Kristallnacht and the public outrage against the Nazi Party, the Prime Minister has assured the British Jewish Community that he would take their concerns and proposal to the cabinet for discussion today.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
British sever Diplomatic relations with Germany
This comes only six weeks after brokering a deal with France and Italy to bring the Sudetenland under Nazi control.
Friday, November 14, 2008
International Reaction to Pogroms
The United States will be recalling its ambassador. President Roosevelt stated that he could "scarcely believe that such things could occur in a twentieth-century civilization". As an expression of the condemnation by the people and Government of the United States, the President ordered Ambassador Hugh Wilson to return from Germany at once.
No word yet on whether diplomatic ties will be severed. France has said it will ending any diplomatic connection with Germany in protest.
There has been talk among some politicians to declare war on Germany just for the atrocities it inflicted upon its own people. In addition, there has been an increase in German Jews trying to flee their homeland.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Jews forced to repay Reich
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Reichskristallnacht
According to Minister Heydrich, 191 Synagogues were destroyed (constituting nearly all Germany had), with 76 completely demolished; 100,000 Jews were arrested; three foreigners were arrested; 174 people were arrested for looting Jewish shops; and 815 Jewish businesses were destroyed.
It is believed that 7500 Jewish stores and businesses were destroyed by violent Germans. The event has begun to be called Kristallnacht, Reichskristallnacht or Reichspogromnacht.
At this time there may have been a total of 91 deaths due to mob violence. It is unclear how many of these were Jews but it is believed to be all. Many Jews were beaten to death with other Jews being forced to watch on.
Synagogues were not merely damaged and burned but also looted with much of ceremonial treasures stolen and destroyed. Many Temples even had their mezuzot taken from the doorways.
Jewish cemeteries were not spared violence. Tombstones were uprooted and graves violated. Fires were lit, and prayer books, scrolls, artwork and philosophy texts were thrown upon them, and precious buildings were either burned or smashed until unrecognisable. Even the ancestors and the dead were not spared violence and the peace of being dearly departed.
Goebbels ascribed the events to the "healthy instincts" of the German people. He went on to explain: "The German people are anti-Semitic. It has no desire to have its rights restricted or to be provoked in the future by parasites of the Jewish race."
Events in only recently annexed Austria were no less horrendous. Of the entire Kristallnacht only the pogrom in Vienna was completely successful. Most of Vienna's 94 synagogues and prayer-houses were partially or totally destroyed. People were subjected to all manner of humiliations, including being forced to scrub the pavements whilst being tormented by their fellow Austrians, some of whom had been their friends and neighbors.
Thousands were arrested throughout the riots with no word on what the charges are (many were arrested under the pretence of protection as the Nazis call it) or when they will be released. Countless Jews commit suicide during the pogrom as well.
Internationally, the reaction to the extreme violence has been shock. Many foreign papers have printed accounts of the series of events and destruction of Jewish temples.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Riots against German & Austiran Jews subside
Much Jewish property was damaged and destroyed throughout the violence which has now come to an end after Propaganda minister Joseph Geobbels requested it, though it sounds more like an order. They have been accounts of several deaths during the riots. Figures of the actual destruction is still being accumulated. It mat be some days before the total figures are known, including the dead, injured and arrested.
Italian Jews under harder Laws
Monday, November 10, 2008
Riots in Germany & Austria
Last night was also the fifteenth anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch which the Nazis look back fondly as an important day in the formation and evolution of their controversial political party.
Destruction of Jewish property has been widespread. Many synagogues, large and small, have been damaged and burned by angry German people. Using sledgehammers many shops windows have been shattered leaving glass shards and pieces all over the streets.
Jewish homes have been ransacked all throughout Germany and Austria. Although violence against Jews has not been explicitly condoned by the authorities, there have been cases of Jews being beaten or assaulted. In an interesting twist, foreign Jews have generally been left alone.
The Riots continue. The Police is not interfering with the mobs but many men are being arrested nontheless. A unsubstantiated rumor is the men are Jews being rounded up for further deportations.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Goebbels speaks at Bürgerbräukeller
The night was set aside for all the Nazis to celebrate this event in the formation of the party. Chancellor Hitler was in attendance and was expected to speak as has been the tradition for numerous years. He was seen discussing a matter with associates and then abruptly left the event.
This left Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels to carry on with the event. Goebbels, though in charge of propaganda, lacks the fiery and passionate rhetoric and charisma of the Chancellor. He also has been seen as something of a failure due to his tepid performance during the Sudeten Crisis. Goebbels told those in attendance that "the Führer has decided that… demonstrations should not be prepared or organised by the party, but insofar as they erupt spontaneously, they are not to be hampered." Which seemed to say that if violence against Jews began in retaliation for the death of Ernst vom Rath, the Nazi Party would not interfere.
Ernst vom Rath dead from wounds
Polish Jew Herschel Grynszpan claimed it was in retaliation for 12,000 Polish Jews being treated extremely poorly in the Polish border town of Zbąszyń. The Polish Jews are in Zbąszyń and the German-Polish border due to a decision by the Polish Government to end the citizenship of Poles living outside Poland for longer than five years.
Grynszpan is still in French custody. He has made accusations that the deceased was a homosexual.
The Nazi Party has reacted harshly to the events in Paris.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
German diplomat shot in Paris
The perpetrator was a Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan. The 17-year-old used a gun to shoot vom Rath five times in the abdomen. At the time of the shooting, he claimed it was for 12,000 Jews stranded on the German-Polish Border town of Zbąszyń.
The victim is still alive. He is in the hospital and in critical condition.
Friday, October 31, 2008
War of the Worlds
Many Americans were confused by the format of the hour-long broadcast. It used the format of narrative mixed with planned interruptions that were fake news flashes.
Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the Air program have been criticized by many newspapers. The radio play also used a real location with Grovers Mill, New Jersey rather than England in the original novel by H.G. Wells. This and the heightened tension many Americans feel following the recently resolved Sudeten crisis led many to a state of panic.
Some people called the local CBS Radio to see what was really going on particularly in the areas of New York and New Jersey.
Jack Paar was doing the announcing duties that night for Cleveland CBS affiliate WGAR when the phone lines to the studio started to light up with panicking listeners calling in, Paar attempted to calm them on the phone and on-air by saying, "The world is not coming to an end. Trust me. When have I ever lied to you?" When the frightened listeners started charging Paar with 'covering up the truth', he then called WGAR's station manager for help. Oblivious to the situation, the manager advised Paar to calm down, saying it was "all a tempest in a teapot".
CBS informed officials that listeners were reminded throughout the broadcast that it was a performance.
The program was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and CBS itself. For this reason, there was no need for commercial interruption. The expected commercial interruptions would have helped listeners distinguish between fact and fiction. The resulting mass hysteria could have been averted.
Polish Jews at the German-Polish Border
Reports have surfaced that there is not enough to feed the 12,000 Jews in the border town of Zbąszyń. Some are forced to sleep in horse stables still filthy with horse dung.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Polish Jews deported to German-Polish Border
The German Government, remembering full well the results of the Évian Conference when no nation stepped up to take Jewish populations, is anxious to get rid of these Polish Jews. With their citizenship set to expire due to a Polish stipulation on passports and length of time outside Poland, they would become stateless and Germany's responsibility.
Regardless of Poland's refusal, the Germany gathered the Jews and have forced them to leave their homes in Germany. The trains are taking many thousands of them to Zbąszyń, a village on the frontier and also the village of Beuthen.
Polish passports must be revalidated by October 29th, today, for the Jews to be allowed to re-enter their homeland.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Polish Jews arrested in Germany
Since Poland is unwilling to take them, an order went out from Berlin last night to arrest all Polish Jews within 48 hours. It is unclear where the Polish Jews will go.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Lipski leaves Bertesgaden
The Free City of Danzig is administered by the League of Nations in accordance with the stipulation in Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versaille in 1919. Citizens of Danzig opposed this at the time.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Lipski meeting with Ribbentrop
The Free City of Danzig, a Baltic Sea port, was created on 10 January 1920, against the wishes of the local population but in accordance with the terms of Part III, Section XI of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919.
The Free City includes the city of Danzig and over two hundred nearby towns, villages, and settlements, all of which had been a part of the former German Empire. As the League of Nations decreed, the region is to remain separate from the nation of Germany, as well as the newly-resurrected nation of Poland. The Free City is not autonomous; it is under League of Nations "protection" and put into a binding customs union with Poland.
Poland also has other, special utilization rights towards the city. A peninsula, Westerplatte, is a munitions dumping ground as well as a military post. Poland also has a Post Office there and other support services.
Yesterday, October 24 is also the 17th anniversary of the Treaty of Warsaw.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Beneš Returns to Europe
He went to Paris but then travelled on to London when it appeared the French Government was lukewarm about hosting a Government-in-Exile. In London, he and his wife Hana were more warmly received. Yesterday, the President formally established a Government-in-Exile in Putney, London. His residence is believed to be on Gwendolen Avenue.
He has yet to name other members of the government.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Communist Party banned in Czecho-Slovakia
Jews in Czecho-Slovakia are also beginning to have the same treatment that Germans and Austrians have. A systemic persecution is beginning to take shape there.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Crown Jewels of Holy Roman Empire go to Germany
No New Businesses
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Czechoslovakia complies
Newly installed Prime Minister General Jan Syrový said in a nationwide broadcast "As soldier and as Premier ... I am passing through the saddest moment of my life, for I am fulfilling a most painful duty, a duty which for me is worse than death. . . . We were confronted with a choice between desperate and hopeless defense, which would have meant the sacrifice of our whole younger generation, their children and their wives, and acceptance of the conditions imposed on us under pressure and without war, which in their mercilessness are unexampled in history. There are smaller states than ours that lead healthy existences. . . . We shall be within narrow frontiers, but we shall be all together in one family! . . . Our army will stand guard over the nation as before. . . . Trust us!"
The soldiers, as they withdrew, gave bystanders dark scowls and muttered oaths, the Czech officers avoided meeting civilian eyes, discharged their bitter duty with compressed lips. Nazi folk of the Sudeten town of Cesky Krumlov were the first Germans to dishonor themselves by opening dastardly fire upon the retreating Czech soldiers' backs. These Sudetens were also the first to smash windows and pillage shops and homes owned by Czechs, Jews and non-Nazi Sudetens such as Communists, Socialists and Social Democrats. Such outrages were not typical but exceptional, according to latest dispatches. The German army entered those parts of Czechoslovakia which it is to take over progressively by October 10 in the same peaceful fashion as it entered Austria, was cheered last week by civilians.
The German troops, ordered to swing across the frontier at three different points between Helfenberg and Finsterau at 2 PM. precisely, had set their legs in motion on German soil at 1:58 PM by the wrist watch of their commander, Colonel General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. They entered first that part of the Bohemian Forest in which Schiller laid his play The Robbers. Since in these rustic parts there were no accommodations deemed suitable for high officers, these, on the first night, left their German troops sleeping in tents or peasant huts, themselves returned to sleep in hotels in Germany, hurried back next morning into Sudetenland.
Fifty-eight hours after the German Army, Dictator Hitler entered Czechoslovakia under a drizzling rain this week. Every German car on this road which might possibly have contained the Führer had been wildly cheered by Sudetens for hours beforehand, and when Adolf Hitler finally reached Eger, "The Sudeten Capital," its throngs were both hoarse and hysterical. It was less than seven months since Austrians had similarly welcomed "our Deliverer," and the Führer seemed much moved as he made what was for him an exceptionally humble speech: "In this hour I want to thank the Almighty for having blessed us in the past, and to pray that He may also bless us in the future. . . . Germany is happy! . . . All are comrades ready to stake their lives for each other. . . . Over this greater German Reich is laid a German shield protecting it and a German sword defending it!"
"Vote for the Fatherland!" In Prague, although the sweeping catastrophe was obvious, editors took up the task of putting as bright an aspect on the situation as they could. The optimistic vigor of President Beneš remained dauntless. As the Chief Executive, he at once turned on every organ of propaganda and reassurance to persuade Czech refugees from areas in which plebiscites are to be held to return to the homes from which they fled under Nazi threats and "Vote for the Fatherland!"
Everywhere food was still plentiful in the land, much more so than in Germany, and there was no break in the amazing Czech morale, which endured nearly 400 years of oppression under Habsburg masters. With backhanded cheerfulness, the Narodni Listy reminded its readers: ''The history of the Czechs is almost an uninterrupted tragedy!"
Friday, October 10, 2008
Japanese close in on Wuhan
Thursday, October 9, 2008
What of Germans outside Sudeten?
Hungary and Poland take land
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Details of Munich Agreement hashed out
Slovakia has been given a far-reaching autonomy, but one which falls short of independence (which seemed likely earlier in the week). The Hungarian ultimatum expired yesterday, but the Czechs say they can’t respond to it due to the change in foreign ministers.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
House of Commons backs Chamberlain
Winston Churchill, one of Chamberlain's own Conservative Party, has never been on the same page as the Prime Minister. He has been the leader of a group called the Churchill Group which consistes of himself and two other members, Duncan Sandys and Brendan Bracken. They are also referred to as "The Old Guard". These MPs are largely anti-appeasers and favor a stronger foreign policy.
Churchill, as expected, was one of those who gave a speech in condemnation of the agreement.
We have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat...you will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi régime. We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude...we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road...we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged, and that the terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies: "Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting". And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.He also declared this of Neville Chamberlain and his agreement with Hitler:
You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war.Not all are as vocal as Churchill. Anthony Eden, another Conservative, was believed to be a rallying point for many MPs who opposed Chamberlain's actions, has kept quiet and avoided confrontation. He even abstained from the vote.
However, the vote was held and the Prime Minister won handedly with a final tally of 366 to 144. With a margin of 222, there is little chance the Prime Minister is going anywhere anytime soon.
Regardless of recent events, rearmament of Great Britain continues on the same pace it has been.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Poland revokes passports
Nazis revoke Jewish Passports
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Beneš Resigns
The Celebrations continue in Sudeten.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Hitler in the Sudeten
The ecstasy continues as many Sudetens claim this to be a liberation. The area had been for 400 years under Hapsburg Imperial control but was taken by Germans during the Great War. Many regions within the Sudetenland are heavily populated with German nationals.
Hitler's arrival in Eger increased the joy and happiness beyond what many would have believed possible. It is as if Christ had been walking the streets of Eger. Many Sudeten Germans saluted the German Chancellor in the customary Nazi salute. He was greeted with flowers and the proverbial baby to kiss and bless.
Before arriving in the political hot spot of Eger, Chancellor Hitler also visited the border town of Asch. He and his entourage also stopped in the spa town of Franzensbad where he and Heinrich Himmler sampled some of the water from the Francis Spring thought to have curative powers.
Japanese capture Xinzhi
In response, the 101st division was ordered to support the beleaguered 106th. They crossed the lake on August 20th and breached the defensive lines of the Chinese 25th army. In addition, they were also able to capture Xinzhi.
Sudeten Germans welcome Nazis & Wehrmacht
The Czech people have much to be sad about. They lose 3.5 million citizens but also has lost 70% of its iron and steel, 70% of its electrical power and the famous Škoda Works. Even the very name of the young state has been changed: Czecho-Slovakia.
President Benes has had the the military print the march orders for his army and put the press on standby for a declaration of war. The nation is not giving in quite as easily as the major European powers would like.
Sudeten Germans have been jubilant and celebratory since the Munich Agreement was announced. Seemingly from nowhere Nazi flags and banners bearing the red, black and white colors and Swastika appeared in windows, on homes, businesses and on streetpoles. Children have notably been excited and have not been in schools since the announcement.
Two days ago Hitler marched unopposed into the Sudetenland. He said that it was the start of a 1000-year German Reich.
Polish troops continue to occupy Teschen as well.
Czechoslovakian Anger
The people of Prague gathered to protest the sacrifice of their lands, economy and people for Appeasement.
Friday, October 3, 2008
British Politics in the wake of the Munich Agreement
Chamberlain is still "The Man of the Hour". The new Westminster Hospital has been endowed with £1,000 for a bed, to be named ‘The Neville Chamberlain Bed’, ‘in perpetual remembrance of great efforts made by the Prime Minister in the cause of European peace’. Lucio, in the Manchester Guardian quotes some of the more fulsome paeans of praise from the press, for example this one from James Douglas in Saturday’s Daily Express:
God has raised up in Neville Chamberlain a deliverer. Are we going to waste him? Are we as great as he is? Are we as noble? Are we as pure in heart? Beware of the old evil that is lurking within us, thirsting to destroy us.More prosaically, there is speculation that if the House of Commons is hostile to Chamberlain’s report on Munich today, then he may take the country to a general election to capitalise on his popularity among the people. (An election isn’t due until 1940.) Chamberlain has already lost one minister over Munich, Duff Cooper, the First Lord of the Admiralty. His resignation speech, if fiery enough, could spark a revolt among those backbenchers who think too high a price has been paid for peace. Certainly Labour will be critical: one prominent Labour MP, Harold Nicolson, spoke in Manchester on Saturday and said
We have betrayed a valiant little country and a great democratic idea. There are many people who feel that in so doing we have achieved peace for a generation. They are wholly mistaken. We have not achieved peace for a generation: we have achieved it only for eight months.And the ‘Peace Pact’ which Chamberlain signed with Hitler was "not worth the paper it is written on".
The preparations for war are winding down. But there are still political activities after the Agreement. Sydney King-Farlow, in a letter to the editor of The Times, describes the disaster which has been averted:
He asks if this is not an opportune moment to try to reach an international agreement to prohibit the bombing of architectural and historical treasures in the great cities?Had war come upon us, and it was hanging on a hair, it would have begun with repeated attacks by fleets of aircraft which speedily would have converted the capital cities of Europe into heaps of smoking rubble. The noblest works of man which belong not only to particular countries but to the whole world would have disappeared for ever and the destruction of human life would have been appalling.
Germany begins taking the Sudeten
House of Commons on the Munich Agreement
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Secretary Hull responds to the Munich Agreement
"As to immediate peace results, it is unnecessary to say that the afford a universal sense of relief. I am not undertaking to pass upon the merits of the differences to which the Four-Power Pact signed Munich on yesterday related. It is hoped that in any event the forces which stand for the principles governing peaceful and orderly international relations and their proper application should not relax, but redouble, their efforts to maintain these principles of order under law resting on a sound economic foundation."
Reactions in Great Britain to the Munich Agreement
In spite of the joy that is in the air after the momentous event, there are detractors. The First Lord of the Admiralty Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich has resigned from his position due to the Munich Agreement. He criticised the Prime Minister for employing an Appeasement policy which is just as a effective as losing a war.
The King has accepted the resignation and noted that despite his acceptance of the resignation that he had enormous respect for Lord Cooper for standing by his convictions but that he is unable to agree with them.
It might seem churlish to express any doubts about the Munich agreement, given this tremendous outpouring of gratitude and relief. But doubts there are. Of course, having accepted, under enormous pressure, the terms of an agreement dismembering their country that they were not party to, the Czechs are none too happy about it: there have been massive protests in the streets of Prague. (The authorities had to blackout the streets in order to get them to disperse).
In Britain, Sir Norman Angell calls the agreement a ‘disgraceful sacrifice of innocent third parties’ and Robert Boothby, Conservative MP, calls it a victory for force. Sinclair, leader of the Liberals, says that ‘if war has been averted, peace has not yet been established’. For Leo Amery, the respite from war might be only brief, and should be used to bring in national service at once. The leader-writer of the Manchester Guardian admits that even if a war had been fought, there was no way that Czechoslovakia’s borders could remain as they were. But it remains to be seen whether Hitler is sincere in his desire for peaceful territorial revisions. And nobody who reads the terms carefully ‘can feel other than unhappy’, so harsh are they.
The London correspondent says that ‘At first it seemed like Armistice Day. The resemblance soon passed, but it is peace, however high the price and whoever has had to pay it’. The ARP and defence measures already taken are to remain in place, but nothing further will be done for now. Boxes for gas masks are to be procured and distributed, however! And Poland still wants Teschen, and it seems Czechoslovakia is unwilling to give it up.
Mussolini has also extended an invitation to Chamberlain to visit Rome. It is believed that similar accords can be made between the British Empire and the Fascist Italian State.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
"It is Peace for our Time"
...the settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement in which all Europe may find peace. This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine (waves paper to the crowd). Some of you, perhaps, have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you. "We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.Later, he also had to speak to people outside his residence at No. 10 Downing Street.
Many of the Prime Minister's colleagues have registered their pleasure at the resolution reached earlier today. Cabinet members whooped and hollered when the Prime Minister was accorded an honor never given to a Prime Minister in British History. He was asked to Buckingham Palace and appeared at the balcony usually occupied by the monarchy.
My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds.
Before arriving at Buckingham Palace, King George VI sent the Prime Minister a letter telling the statesman of the Empire's gratitude for the deals brokered by the Prime Minister. The King also told the British People
After the magnificent efforts of the Prime Minister in the cause of peace, it is my fervent hope that a new era of friendship and prosperity may be dawning among the peoples of the world.Reaction has already started to pour in throughout the country and the world and it is largely positive.
New Riots against Jews in Poland
Agreement in Munich
What follows is the agreement as signed by the four countries. It is still protested by the USSR's Joseph Stalin due Czechoslovakia's absence.
GERMANY, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, taking into consideration the agreement, which has been already reached in principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have agreed on the following terms and conditions governing the said cession and the measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement they each hold themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure its fulfilment:
(1) The evacuation will begin on 1st October.
(2) The United Kingdom, France and Italy agree that the evacuation of the territory shall be completed by the 10th October, without any existing installations having been destroyed, and that the Czechoslovak Government will be held responsible for carrying out the evacuation without damage to the said installations.
(3) The conditions governing the evacuation will be laid down in detail by an international commission composed of representatives of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia.
(4) The occupation by stages of the predominantly German territory by German troops will begin on 1st October. The four territories marked on the attached map will be occupied by German troops in the following order:
The territory marked No. I on the 1st and 2nd of October; the territory marked No. II on the 2nd and 3rd of October; the territory marked No. III on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October; the territory marked No. IV on the 6th and 7th of October. The remaining territory of preponderantly German character will be ascertained by the aforesaid international commission forthwith and be occupied by German troops by the 10th of October.
(5) The international commission referred to in paragraph 3 will determine the territories in which a plebiscite is to be held. These territories will be occupied by international bodies until the plebiscite has been completed. The same commission will fix the conditions in which the plebiscite is to be held, taking as a basis the conditions of the Saar plebiscite. The commission will also fix a date, not later than the end of November, on which the plebiscite will be held.
(6) The final determination of the frontiers will be carried out by the international commission. The commission will also be entitled to recommend to the four Powers, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, in certain exceptional cases, minor modifications in the strictly ethnographical determination of the zones which are to be transferred without plebiscite.
(7) There will be a right of option into and out of the transferred territories, the option to be exercised within six months from the date of this agreement. A German-Czechoslovak commission shall determine the details of the option, consider ways of facilitating the transfer of population and settle questions of principle arising out of the said transfer.
(8) The Czechoslovak Government will within a period of four weeks from the date of this agreement release from their military and police forces any Sudeten Germans who may wish to be released, and the Czechoslovak Government will within the same period release Sudeten German prisoners who are serving terms of imprisonment for political offences.
ADOLF HITLER,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN,
EDOUARD DALADIER,
BENITO MUSSOLINI.
The agreement was signed at 1.30 this morning and the terms of the agreement were issued an hour later.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Munich Conference
Despite the location of the problem being Czechoslovakia, it is not represented at a conference to decide it's fate. Joseph Stalin, premier of the USSR has voiced anger at this exclusion.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Jews barred from Legal Practices
It should surprise few that the Nazi Party would take this away. At this point, it would be indecent for Jews who are not accorded the same rights under the law to practicing law.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
"A Last Effort"
Then Hitler made an announcement that he would meet with France, Great Britain and Italy in Munich to discuss and resolve the conflict.
Friday, September 26, 2008
World War?
Great Britain assured France and Czechoslovakia that should Germany invade, it would stand by France in its agreements. The USSR also made similar statements to that effect. French and British Governments discussed military plans today.
Adolf Hitler also took the day to make speeches on the situation. He told the German people that once this situation is resolved, there will be no more territorial problems for the Germans. He also alluded to a severe relocation program that will likely occur in the Czech lands. Hitler even said "it is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe, but it is the claim from which I will not recede."
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Chamberlain leaves Bad Godesberg
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Mobilization
In the Sudetenland itself, the land that started this whole debacle, violence broke out. On the Czechoslovakian-German border there has been fighting back and forth. The Czechoslovakian troops took Eger back from the Sudeten Germans.
German troops continue to increase in number.
Talks continue between Hitler and Chamberlain at Bad Godesberg.
Strasbourg Riots against Jews
Jews have found an uneasy life in Strasbourg throughout history. In the 14th Century, many were burned alive. There were laws in 1308 that forbid beards and male circumcision. There have also been infrequent pogroms against the Jews.
No Jewish Doctors in Danzig
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
New Czechoslovakian Government
Monday, September 22, 2008
Hodza Resigns
Hitler's New Demands are Rejected
Hitler makes new Demands
Czechoslovakia Capitulates
Despite this, crowds of Czechs gathered in Prague demanding Czechoslovakian troops remain in the Sudetenland. This seems all for not since the presence of German troops on the border and a promise of invasion would bring a very swift war.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Soviet Union talks War
Litvinoff included in his speech that the Soviet War Department was ready to discuss military plans with France. The Soviet Union it seems is ready to back up its ally Czechoslovakia.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Czechoslovakian Response
At the same time, Prime Minister Chamberlain travelled for his second meeting with Hitler in BadGodesburg. A joint declaration has been issued by both the French and British governments telling Czechoslovakia to capitulate to the German demands in 24 hours else face invasion.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Details of the Agreement
This would effectively end the Czechoslovakian nation as we know it.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Hodza talks tough
Italy's own Benito Mussolini also chimed in that if there were to be a plebiscite there should be one for all races within Czechoslovakia.
At that time, Chamberlain had returned from Bertesgaden meeting with Hitler. Many assume there was a plebiscite agreed upon between Hitler and Chamberlain. Chamberlain is now discussing the situation with French Prime Minister Deladier in London.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Lord Runciman returns from Prague
The situation in the Sudetenland remains as untenable as possible.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Chamberlain visits with Hitler; Henlein's Flight
But not before all talks between Henlein and the Czechoslovakian Government completely end. Sudeten Party leader Konrad Helein had laid out an ultimatum to rescind Martial Law, recall the reserves to their barracks, withdraw the state police from the territory, and accept this by midnight or all negotiations would be called off. When his demands were not met, he fled to Germany.
With all this continuing to worsen, Nazi radio and Czechoslovakian radio transmissions have been having their own war of words. Even Hungary has joined in and reiterated Germany's narrative on events. Czechoslovakian radio continues to refute the claims made by Germany.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Martial Law in Sudetenland
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Hitler rattles more sabres
Hitler has demanded the direct annexation of the Sudetenland by the Reich, hinting that if necessary, he would resort to war. He also has said that the Sudentenland is an internal matter for Germans, and supposedly Central Europeans. It is no place for international statesmen, no doubt referring to Prime Minister Chamberlain.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Pope Pius XI speaks
"Mark well that in the Catholic Mass, Abraham is our Patriarch and forefather. Anti-Semitism is incompatible with the lofty thought which that fact expresses. It is a movement with which we Christians can have nothing to do. No, no, I say to you it is impossible for a Christian to take part in anti-Semitism. It is inadmissible. Through Christ and in Christ we are the spiritual progeny of Abraham. Spiritually, we [Christians] are all Semites".
The Pope has been published in Mit brennender Sorge a German Catholic encyclical last year condemning Nazi Party policies against the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism.
Beneš appeals to the World for Peace
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Changes in the German Army Command
General Franz Halder has now become the new Oberkommando des Heeres. He began this post on September 1st. These events are just now being noticed due in part because of the tension in the Sudetenland.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Impasse!
Monday, September 8, 2008
German Sudetens protest
Plan No. 4 adds both financial and political concessions such as "states rights to minorities in Sudeten. President Beneš offered to lend a billion Czechoslovak koruny ($35,000,000) "on the most favorable terms" to stimulate industry in Czechoslovak districts now suffering from unemployment, with 700,000,000 koruny earmarked for Sudeten districts. Britain and France stood ready to lend this money to Czechoslovakia, it was understood in Prague, and Dr. Beneš clearly hoped many observers of the Sudeten Germans had been right in reporting recently that what they want is a return to prosperity, not Germany.
Plan No. 4 went further than Plan No. 3 in offering Sudeten Germans and other minority peoples State jobs (including "irremovable judgeships") in the same proportion as their numbers bear to the total population of Czechoslovakia. Moreover, each ministry of the Czechoslovak Cabinet would have a separate "section" corresponding to each minority, and each section would be headed by a member of that minority to guard its interests. As the most fateful concession of Plan No. 4, Dr. Beneš offered that in each minority canton the preservation of order should be "divided" between Federal gendarmerie in the countryside and town police of the Sudeten German or other minority faction.
In Germany, every paper printed atrocity stories describing how a Sudeten German Nazi Deputy had been "horsewhipped" by a Czech mounted policeman at the industrial town of Moravská Ostrava. Mounted police had tried to disperse a Sudeten German crowd which had gathered to demand immediate release from jail of 82 persons arrested for possessing arms smuggled from Germany. The prisoners were charged with preparing to organize an attack from the rear upon troops defending the Czechoslovak frontier in case of war. One blow from a riding crop was afterward proved to have struck, without injuring, a man who turned out to be a Sudeten Deputy. Next day the Czech mounted policeman responsible and two others were withheld from duty by Police Chief Baca, who then suspended himself for good measure. But by this time, German papers were well started on a flood of stories under such scareheads as SAVAGE HORSEWHIPPING OF SUDETEN DEPUTY BY BESTIAL CZECH OFFICER.
The No. 1 Sudeten, Konrad Henlein, was at Nürnberg with Hitler, but in Prague the No. 2 Sudeten, Ernst Kundt, tersely announced that "satisfactory amends" had been made at Moravská Ostrava and he then withdrew the Sudeten Party's previous refusal to negotiate on the basis of Plan No. 4. Obviously they were tempted by the 700,000,000 koruny—for there are only 3,500,000 Sudeten Germans.
Smart Dr. Beneš, although relying on money to do some talking in a situation basically desperate, fully realized that Plan No. 4 impressed millions of Czechoslovaks, apart from the Sudeten Germans, as offering such extreme concessions that it imperiled the State. If accepted, Plan No. 4 risks turning every Cabinet ministry into a debating club of minority groups. How democratic Czech gendarmes and totalitarian Nazi police can "divide" responsibility for keeping of order in Sudeten cantons was an unanswered question. In an impossible situation, under crushing British pressure to concede without limit, President Beneš had conceded so much that he realized some of his own people were becoming scared. To reassure the nation, Dr. Beneš went on the air with a calm, firm and tactful broadcast, only a few minutes after he learned that in a speech at Nuremberg General Göring had just gone out of his way to abuse the culture and traditions of the Czechoslovak Republic.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Plan No. 4
Roughly, the plan would accede the Sudeten to Germany due to the high amount of Germans in the region. Czechoslovakia has said that ceding this land would cripple the country economically and would put the nation effectively under German control.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Plan No. 3
The danger of war was not acute enough to keep Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in London. With his fishing rods and guns sticking ostentatiously out of his limousine, Mr. Chamberlain left for Scotland to play trout streams and shoot grouse with King George. Lloyd's pointed out in London last week that, although they stopped writing war-risk insurance on British property some months ago, and although they have been unwilling to cover either the risk of war breaking out in Europe or of Franklin Roosevelt announcing he will seek a Third Term, they were still quoting cargo insurance at far below "wartime rates." Thus, although the rate on South African copper shipped to Germany was raised last week from .025% to .125% the latter figure spells "Peace" in comparison with the 42% premium charged on shipments bound for war-torn Spain.
Up and down Europe a new factor working for peace was sighted by anxious millions in the behavior last week of U. S. Ambassadors. In London, after the British Cabinet had reviewed the Czechoslovak situation for nearly three hours, U. S. Ambassador Joseph Patrick Kennedy was invited in for an hour's conference. Next day Mr. Kennedy was back in Downing Street, conferring this time with Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax, and red-ink London placards shrieked this as good news. Mr. Kennedy, interviewed by transatlantic telephone, told the Hearst Boston American, ''No war is going to break out during the rest of 1938."
Frank Trelawny Arthur Aston-Gwatkin, Lord Runciman's Man Friday. It was taken by Sudeten German Führer Konrad Henlein to Berchtesgaden last week and there laid before the German Führer. Details were kept secret but it was understood that Plan No. 3 embodied these main points: 1) a three-month truce to be declared, to give time for much further negotiation between the Sudeten Germans, the Czechoslovak Government and other interested parties; 2) Czechoslovakia to become after these negotiations a Federal State composed of Gaue or "Cantons" modeled on the Swiss Federal State, whose structure has often been compared to that of the U. S. The Sudetens complain this would give their Gaue only a rough equivalent to American States' rights, whereas they have demanded "autonomy" comparable to British dominion status.
Viscount Runciman's entourage began complaining fortnight ago that they have found Konrad Henlein nothing but a "straw man," and last week the Sudeten Führer went to Berchtesgaden only to take the orders of his boss, Führer Hitler—for the fourth time this year.
Present with the No. 1 Nazi were No. 2 Nazi Göring, No. 3 Nazi Goebbels and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, who arrived from Berlin with what was said to be a personal piece of advice to Adolf Hitler from Neville Chamberlain.
This had been verbally delivered in Berlin by the British Ambassador, Sir Nevile Henderson, who brought it by air from London. As Sir Nevile was leaving Croydon, he added an E. Phillips Oppenheim touch by portentously remarking to cameramen : "You had better be quick—this is the last chance you'll get."
Henlein, after four hours' conference with Hitler, returned to his home in the village of As. Three days later one fact seemed obvious: the "strawman" had been instructed to reject Plan No. 3, to compromise on nothing, to hold out for full, unqualified Sudeten autonomy. The Czech Cabinet then met with President Benes and drafted its "last" offer to which a response was expected from Dictator Hitler this week in one of his numerous speeches at the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg.
Meanwhile, local bigwigs of the Sudeten German Party were reported from Czechoslovakia as be ginning to show signs of fear lest they be thrust aside by Nazis from Germany, much as in Vienna the Austrian Nazis have lost all the biggest plums to German Nazis. Supplementing cables to this effect was a statement by pro-Czech Chairman George Boochever of the American-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce, who stepped off the Dutch liner Nieuw Amster dam in Manhattan. "In my talks with Sudeten Germans," said Mr. Boochever, "I gained the impression that they had no real wish to be annexed to Germany. . . . I think Henlein is but the mouthpiece for Hitler's views and if it were not for the propaganda and subsidies from Germany received by Henlein and his group there would be no agitation. . . ."