Poland Prepares to Balk Nazi Coup in Danzig; 2 Wounded in Clash

Two Danzig Nazis were seriously wounded last night in a clash which marked German celebration of Chancellor Hitler’s birthday with clear warning that Poland was prepared to battle any aggression from outside or within the Free City. Polish authorities feverishly rushed undercover preparations against any attempted coup. No troop movements were to be seen, but Polish sources disclosed that all routes leading in and out of Danzig were well protected.

While the Fuehrer’s birthday passed in comparative calm, new rumors circulated that the Nazi “putsch” had now been set for April 28, when Chancellor Hitler goes before the Reichstag to answer President Roosevelt’s peace plea.

Despite the wholesale arrest of opposition leaders, Danzig was flooded with copies of an anti-Nazi tract reviling the privations caused by Nazi domination and declaring, “enough of Hitler!” Six persons were arrested. Nazis in turn broke the windows of the Polish school at Sidlice and smeared the walls with the warning: “Out with Poles! The Poles took matters into their own hands, attacking a uniformed band of Nazis. Two pro-Hitlerites were seriously wounded.

Poles insisted that any threat to Danzig would provoke war. There may be 15,000 or more armed storm troopers here, it was said, but the Poles are ready for anything.

Deriding the Nazi theory of “guns instead of butter!”, the anti-Hitlerite tract said: “Heil Butter!” It declared: “Come as our guest, Hitler. Give us half of what you have promised. First you took butter and fats from us. Now you want to take away our margarine. Give us not a single plate, nor herring, but what you yourself eat. The cattle are becoming fodder, the people without butter, mouths without bread….punishments become more and more severe, and the people more and more lean. That is why we thank you.”