The Nazi government today officially replied to the French memorandum submitted yesterday to the Council of the League of Nations asking for protection of minorities in the Saar.
The Nazi regime rejected all suggestions that the Saar region be treated as an international territory after the plebiscite, if the territory votes to return to Germany, and also declined to discuss any reference to the present status of the Saar population.
“The people of the Saar know very well that their interests will be served best by their own nation,” the German reply stated.
The French note to the League asked for complete protection for minority groups in the Saar after the plebiscite of January 16, no matter how the population voted. The French authorities declared that they were willing to grant full protection under the minority clauses of the Covenant of the League, if the territory voted to adhere to France.
Nazi Germany is now in the midst of a hectic campaign designed to win the Saar voters to the Third Reich. In the recent mass demonstration at Coblenz, Reichsfuehrer Hitler declared that the Saar was German territory and that Nazi Germany would never surrender the area.
Saar voters will be offered three choices; adherence to Germany, inclusion in the French republic, or a continuation of the present rule under the League Saar Commission.
The League commission recently declared that the Saar police were being terrorized by the German secret police and asked for permission to recruit a force of 2,000 police outside the region.
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