NAZI SILENCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 May 1941, Page 5

NAZI SILENCE

NO FURTHER MENTION OF HESS NEW PARTY CHAIRMAN APPOINTED. COMMENT IN AMERICA. LONDON, May 13. Most German broadcasting stations are discreetly silent today on the Hess affair. There is not even mention of the fact that he arrived in Scotland. In the meantime it is announced from Germany that a new chairman of the Nazi parly has been appointed to succeed Hess. The “New York Times” comments that the diplomatic consequences of Hess’s flight are serious and that it is a heavy blow to Nazi prestige—more than" off-setting the successes in the Balkans. It is stated in London that Hess knew that if he had gone to a. neutral country he would have been in imminent peril of being killed by Nazi agents. It is announced in London that Hess is to be treated as a prisoner of war and that no one will be allowed to see him. NAZIS FOOLED CIRCULATION OF FALSE STORIES. OFFICE HELD BY HESS ABOLISHED. LONDON, May 12. The authorities here expect that Herr Hess is disclosing facts about Germany under the Nazis which Herr Hitler would “give anything to conceal.” It is added that his escape indicates a serious split in the Nazi Party. The Germans were fooled when in the weekend they did not receive the news and they spread the story of an air crash but branded Hess as insane, still expecting that a successful landing was possible. Hess is a skilful aviator, and the medical examination has definitely belied the German version. A Berlin message says that Hitler has abolished the post of (lie Fuehrer’s Deputy and has created a new office for Hess’s Chief of Staff. Herr Martin Bormann. Hitler decreed that “the former office of Fuehrer's Deputy henceforth will be known as the Party Chancellory. It will be personally responsible to me. The Leader will be Martin Bormann.” Borman has been the Nazi Party leader's Chief of Staff since 1933 and also a member of the supreme Reich Leadership of the Party. He was sentenced in March, 1924, to one year’s imprisonment for his share in the unsuccessful Birkeller putsch. He is aged 41.

SUPPOSED DISPUTE WITH OTHER PROMINENT NAZIS. BULLET HOLES IN TAIL OF HESS’S PLANE. (Received This Day. 10.45 a.m.) LONDON, May 13. It is stated in London that there are available thus far only Berlin reports regarding the reasons' for Hess’s flight, but it presumably resulted from disagreements with other prominent Nazis, and possibly from a natural and unbearable revulsion from other members of the gang. It is not known why Hess gave a false name, but possibly there has been some mistake regarding this. Any suggestion of lost memory is incorrect. A photograph of Hess’s plane showed bullet holes in the tail. Officials suggested that Hess might have outdistanced German pursuers, who opened fire.