NAZISM IN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 151, 22 March 1939, Page 10

NAZISM IN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA

In the light of present events, the precautionary measures reported to have been taken by the Union Government in South Africa are of some significance. In the ex-German mandated teriitory, as in other fields of political activity, Nazi policy has pursued the now familiar method of stirring up discontent and proclaiming alleged injustices among the German nationals, hoping thereby to create grounds for action by Berlin. This has been going on for some years, and on several occasions the Union Government has been compelled to. assert its authority. At the present time it is engaged in a dispute with the German Government over the question of restricted immigration. On the German side it is argued that, as they cannot have their colonies, they should at least have the right to settle; the denial of this right, it is contended, strengthens the claim for the return of the. colonies. Serious friction only developed after the Nazi regime had got into its stride in Germany, and formulated a new concept of German nationalism for the “Auslanders”—Germans domiciled beyond her frontiers. In April, 1935, the Union Government appointed a Royal Commission to investigate alleged grievances. Reporting in June of the following year, the Commission found, inter alia, that the chief reason for dissatisfaction with the system of representation was the “Nazification” of all Germans in the territory, including those who had become naturalized. These were united as a solid block. Furthei, added the Commission: There has been continual interference from the “Auslands” organization (in Germany) in the affairs of the territory. As a result, freedom of speech, of political association, and even of personal conduct, has ceased to exist in the territory for large numbers of Germans who are Union subjects entitled to the protection of the Mandatory Bower against such infringements of their rights. The smooth functioning of the mandate system becomes practically impossible if such interference continues. It was considered by the Commission that it would be practicable.to constitute the South-West territory a fifth province, of the Union, with direct representation in the Union Parliament, without violating.the mandatory principle. The following year, however, the Union Government. reporting to the Permanent Mandates Commission at Geneva, stated that it had rejected the recommendation because it was not convinced that the existing system did not answer its purpose; dissatisfaction was due, not to any inherent defect, but to internal dissensions between nationals, a state of affairs which would make any system unworkable. It was hoped, however, that certain steps which, in the meantinfe, had been taken to deal with subversive activities would enable the situation to be more effectively dealt with. These measures, which created considerable tension between the South African and German Governments, were embodied in a proclamation forbidding, under several clauses, Nazi political activities and the recruitment of British or Union subjects for the German army or Nazi volunteer bodies. News of this was received in Berlin as “a blow directed against the Germans in the mandated area, and a Note presented by the German Minister to South Africa conveyed a strong protest from his Government, which felt compelled “to raise its voice in warning.” Another sidelight on the situation was a semiofficial announcement from Berlin to the effect that 600 German youths from the mandated territory had arrived in Germany.“to complete their professional education.” They were to be taken in charge of a KTazi organization “to be educated into a community so as to enable them on their return to their homes to maintain the German community in South Africa.” This, no -doubt explains, in part, the Union Government’s decision to restrict immigration from Germany. In present circumstances every German immigrant is a potential trouble-maker. Present developments in Europe have intensified Nazi zeal in the mandated territory, and it is not surprising therefore to read of the precautionary measures now being taken by the Union Government.