AMERICANS BAR ALL RUSSIANS FROM RAIL HEADQUARTERS

Grey River Argus, 5 April 1948, Page 3

AMERICANS BAR ALL RUSSIANS FROM RAIL HEADQUARTERS

Red Army Officers All Turned Back

(Received April 4, 8.40 p.m.) LONDON, April 3. American troops have halted all traffic within a radius of three streets of the German railway headquarters building in Berlin. The building is the key control office for virtually all of the railway traffic in the Russian zone of Germany.

At least one Russian General was in the building at the time of its being surrounded by the Americans.

Germans were allowed to enter and leave the building freely. The officer in charge of the American troops said: “My exact orders are that no Russian soldiers or civilians are to enter this building controlling the Russian railway headquarters, because the Russians have recently sent guards there, after dark.” He said that the American soldiers would remain until the situation is clarified. The Russian Commandant in Berlin, General Kotikov, told Americans that he had sent the Russian guards to the building because, criminals among the Germans in the Russian sector are planning to destroy valuable records in the building. A Russian officer, with two armed guards, arrived at the railway headquarters in a lorry with food for the Russians who were still inside of the building. Six American military policemen, with tommy-guns at the ready, stood to attention as the Russians drew up. LieutenantColonel F. W. Hilton, officer-in-Charge of the American Guard, told the Russians that they could put the food on the pavement. The Russians did so, and then they drove off. Soon afterwards, a bus arrived with twenty-one Russians, comprising fifteen soldiers, four women, and male civilians, and two Lieutenant-Colon-els, who told Colonel Hilton that they were administrative officials and that they wished to enter. Col. Hilton suggested that the Russians should return to their headquarters, and should contact General Clay. The Russians then drove off. The next development was a visit by two high-ranking Russian officers, who marched briskly to the entrance. There, however, they were blocked by the American police. The Russians glared abruptly. They then turned and walked back to their car. Later, five more Russian officers attempted to enter the railway control buildine- but, after a friendly argument and an exchange of cigarettes with the American guards, they left in cars. The Americans permitted Germans who were employed in the building, to enter after only a perfunctory examination of their papers. The Russians employ about eleven hundred Germans in the building. The' Americans established a temporary road-block at the Wannsee, close to the Russian boundary, so as to check all of the persons in vehicles using the highway from the American sector in Berlin to Potsdam, where Marshal Sokolovsky has a residence. The Americans have also instituted a supervision of the vehicles on the other roads from the Russian zone into the American sector in Berlin. This has meant that Russian vehicles bound' for the Russian Headquarters at Karlshorst, in Eastern Berlin, have to make a wide detour to avoid showing their papers, REPLY TO RUSSIAN CHARGES The United States Deputy-Com-mandant (Colonel William Babcock) replied: “The Soviets have hit an all-time low. It is incredible that .vou Soviets should accuse us of plundering practically everything that existed in Berlin.” T, he French Deputy Commandant (Colonel Jean le Bidault) and the British Deputy Commandant (Brigadier Benson) backed Colonel Babcock. Brigadier Benson said: “When we came to Berlin we found it a wilderness. The Russians had taken all the factories, machinery, and materials. I won’t listen to such malicious, untrue statements from the Soviet delegate.” Colonel Yelizarov replied that he would produce a. list of items the Western Powers had), taken at the next meeting. Brigadier Benson said: “This statement of robberies ties in with the inexplicable and sudden control on transportation.” FOOD AND PASSENGERS MOVING A United States Air Force spokesman said that the American authorities did not regard a Russian notification of operations by fighter aircraft as any threat, but merely, as a traffic warning. He said that Ameri-.

can aircraft had moved to Berlin more than one hundred and fifty tons of food, and two hundred passengers during the past three days. Berlin City Council departments have reported that the Soviet traffic control measures had affected neither food 'supplies nor postal and telegraph services. The distribution of food was being carried out smoothly, with supplies arriving in the city regularly. A Military Government spokesman said freight trains to Berlin were running normally and were bringing all the food necessary for the British population. “There is no danger of a shortage. There is no plan to move food by road convoys, and it is not intended at present to bring supplies for the British sector by air,” he said. RUSSIAN RESTRICTIONS SPREAD Russian travel restrictions spread to the Germans. The Russians turned back 1500 Helmstedt workmen who normally cross into the Russian zone daily, saying that they would require new passes. The Russians also refused to admit to Berlin sixty-seven former German prisoners of war from France who had signed contracts to remain in France as free workers. The French authorities who were bringing them to Berlin for holidays with their families in the French sditor took them back to the French zone. KOMMANDATURA BREAKING UP The break-up of the four-Power Allied Kommandatura for Berlin appeared to be in progress to-night when the Russian delegate, after charging that the Western Allies had robbed and plundered Berlin, announced that the Russians could no longer participate in the work of the Kommandatura’s six key committees. The Berlin correspondent of the Associated Fress states that the Russians’ decision to no longer participate in the work of the Kommandatura’s six key committees followed the Russian delegate’s request that these committees should be merged with the other committees. He said that whatever the others decided, Russia would be unable to provide members for six committees. No action has been taken on the Russian proposal.

UNITED STATES ACTION.

LONDON, April 3.

General Clay announced that trains carrying food and supplies to the Americans in Berlin would be resumed to-day. There was no change in the policy of refusing to allow the Russians to search American trdins. Americans were always prepared to furnish waybills for United States goods and would do so now. General Clay added that if the trains got through successfully it would mean at least a temporary ending of the air supply to Berlin. Seventeen United States planes with cargoes totalling 54.0001 b of food had arrived on Berlin’s Templehof aerodrome by mid-day yesterday. The United States Air Force and Army authorities in Frankfurt have placed a black-out on information saying that the situation is no longer normal. A high Army officer said: “Why should we tell the Russians what we are doing or what we have got.” He said there would be no ordered evacuation of families of Americans working in Berlin. The American Military Government’s water transport branch said that the Russians were also not interfering with barge traffic bringing supplies for rthe Germans.