DISTURBANCES BY SUDETENS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22507, 15 September 1938, Page 11

DISTURBANCES BY SUDETENS

NAZIS SEIZE POLICE DUTIES TOTAL DEATH-ROLL NOW SEVENTEEN (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (Received September 14, 7.10 p.m.) LONDON, September 14. It is officially stated in Prague that the total death-roll yesterday was 17, of whom five were Germans and 12 Czechs. Sudeten Storm Troopers have taken over police powers at Marienbad. The party has issued instructions for all businesses and factories to close. Thousands demonstrated in the streets, rendering it impossible for the police to carry out their duties. Nazis wearing swastika armlets appeared and took over the police work. The police yielded to avoid bloodshed. Tourists and Jews are leaving the city en masse. Henlein Party officials normally resident in Prague have departed. Twenty lorry-loads of Czech troops passed through Carlsbad last night on their way to the disturbed areas.

Four gendarmes and one Sudeten German were killed in a clash at Falkenhau. The Sudetens allege that Czech tanks and soldiers are patrolling the streets at Eger, where two Sudetens were shot dead and two children were wounded. They also allege that the Czechs used armoured cars to disperse a crowd o' singers. The Czechs say that the Sudetens fired the first shot at Assig. The Czechs, unfortunately, replied. Attempts on Police Stations In several places the demonstrations reached such alarming proportions that the authorities had to intervene with the utmost energy. The crowds sometimes attempted the occupation of police and railway stations and taxation offices. Three Czechs were among those killed. Three more towns, Carlsbad, Falkenhau, and Krumau, have been included in the emergency decree, under which the police are empowered to restrict personal liberty, the carrying of arms, the wearing of emblems, search houses without warning, control correspondence, and forbid meetings.

The special correspondent -of the “Daily Telegraph” in Prague, who has completed a wide tour of the inflamed areas, declares that there is no room for doubt that these were not sporadic disorders but a concerted attempt at a Henleinist revolution. There has been shocking vandalism in the fashionable shops in Carlsbad and many were looted. At Eger shops were wrecked and plundered, and the destruction in the main sc •■are resembled an air bombardment. The rioters vanished immediately the police appeared. The Prague correspondent of the British United Press says Czech troops yesterday surrounded the Sudeten town of Schwadenbach, where 1000 Sudetens, many armed, had besieged the gendarmerie. The Sudetens have issued a manifesto ordering their followers not to show themselves in the streets.

A Government communique which uses the term “martial law” calls on the public in the area where there are disorders to remain quiet. It assures the public that the forces are sufficient to preserve oruer.

French official circles arc discussing the formation of an international brigade of British, French, and Germans to maintain order in Czechoslovakia, similar to that in the Saar. No Signs of Panic Tens of thousands are crowding the streets of Prague and the newspapers are sold the moment they leave the presses. There are no signs of panic. On the contrary, the resolution of the populace is very impressive. Herr Henlein’s paper, “Der Teit” has suspended publication on the grounds that it is not in a position U present its views uncensored. Reuters correspondent, who motored through the Sudeten regions, states that a tense atmosphere is everywhere apparent. The Prague correspondent of “The Times” states that the disorders in the Sudeten areas vary from peaceful demonstrations to what Czechoslovakian officials call “open revolt.” The authorities are making special inquiries into the origin of the troubles, which are believed to be far from spontaneous. A Czech officer fired oh Major Sutton-Pratt, an observer attached to the British Legation, who arrived at Eger when armoured cars were firing in the streets. Major SuttonPratt went to the police station and explained that the firing must cease immediately. His orders were obeyed. Sentences of Court-Martial The Prague correspondent of the “News-Chronicle” states that it is reported that 10 have already been sentenced to death by court-martial for revolutionary activity. Eger is the chief centre of the disorder. The • Sudeten headquarters in Prague have closed down as a protest against the Government. An official declared that the Sudetens would have their headquarters only in Sudeten territory. Reports of incidents continue to pour in from the frontier districts. German customs officials are reported to have torn up the frontier posts and barriers at Eisendorf. In order to avoid an incident, the Czechs did not intervene. Crowds destroyed the Czech coat of arms on public buildings. Two thousand assembled in front of the post office and threatened to hang the postmaster if he were found on the premises to-morrow.

Telephone lines, have been cut in some districts.