THE REAL REASON FOR THE OUSTING OF THREE GERMAN NEWSPAPERMEN FROM ENGLAND THIS WEEK WAS THAT THEY HAD BEEN SPYING ON GERMAN REFUGEES HERE, LONDON PAPERS REPORTED TODAY.
THE EXPULSION OF THE GERMAN CORRESPONDENTS, AND THE GERMAN REJOINDER OF CALLING FOR WITHDRAWAL OF THE LONDON TIMES CORRESPONDENT IN BERLIN, HAS BROUGHT INTO THE LIGHT THE MATTER OF NAZI POLITICAL ESPIONAGE IN ENGLAND.
THE GERMAN JOURNALISTS’ OUSTING WAS ENTIRELY DUE TO THEIR ACTIVITIES AMONG FELLOW-GERMANS HERE, AND HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT THEY WROTE FOR THEIR PAPERS AT HOME OR WITH MILITARY ESPIONAGE, THE BRITISH PAPERS REPORTED. FOR SOME TIME, BRITISH AUTHORITIES HAVE BEEN OBSERVING THE TACTICS OF NAZI AGENTS WHO KEEP WATCH ON THEIR COUNTRYMEN TO BE SURE THEY REMAIN LOYAL TO THE NAZI REGIME.
ANY WHO WERE HOSTILE OR EVEN WAVERED SLIGHTLY IN THEIR SUPPORT OF HITLER WERE WARNED THEIR ATTITUDE WOULD BRING TROUBLE EITHER FOR THEMSELVES OR RELATIVES REMAINING IN GERMANY.
ONE STORY OF THE TROUBLES THAT CONFRONTED A GERMAN GIRL AND GERMAN-JEWISH YOUTH WHO FELL IN LOVE ILLUSTRATES THE WATCHFULNESS OF THE NAZI AGENTS. THEY BECAME ENGAGED WHILE STILL IN GERMANY, AND TO ESCAPE THE CONSEQUENT PERSECUTION THE GIRL CAME TO ENGLAND, WHERE SHE FOUND WORK AS A MAID WITH AN ENGLISH HOME.
WHEN HER FIANCE FOLLOWED HER, THE SYMPATHETIC ENGLISH INVITED HIM TO STAY WITH THEM. NEITHER THE GIRL NOR HER EMPLOYERS MENTIONED HIS PRESENCE TO ANYONE, YET SOON AFTERWARD SHE WAS STOPPED IN THE STREET BY A GERMAN WHO SHE SAID: “I HEAR YOU HAVE BEEN HARBORING A REFUGEE. OUR LOCAL LEADERS KNOW ALL ABOUT IT.”
ACCORDING TO THE HERALD, THE THREE EXPELLED GERMANS, WERNER VON CROME, WOLF DIETRICH LANGEN AND FRANZ OTTO WREDE, WERE CONNECTED WITH AN “INNER RING” OF NAZI AGENTS WHICH HAS BEEN WATCHED BY A SPECIAL DIVISION OF SCOTLAND YARD DETECTIVES.
THIS NAZI SECRET BUREAU WAS IN DAILY TOUCH WITH BERLIN, THE HERALD SAYS, AND “IN A GREAT NEW BUILDING OPERATED UNDER CONTROL OF THE GERMAN FOREIGN OFFICE THERE IS AN INDEX FILE GIVING THE NAME, ADDRESS, OCCUPATION, FRIENDS, ACQUAINTANCES AND SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF EVERY GERMAN RESIDENT ABROAD, WHETHER A REFUGEE OR A NAZI SYMPATHIZER.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
