The disturbances of the past few days in Germany which culminated in the execution of a still undetermined number of Nazi leaders at the orders of their one-time supreme commander, were not, as the Hitler government insists, the purging of the Nazi system, but a serious manifestation striking at the roots of the Nazi rule, according to all indications reaching here from scores of sources.
In the first place, it is now established almost beyond a doubt that the Hitler-Goering-Goebbels triumvirate was incorrect in its statements that the Nazi private army of two million men had not been affected; that the disloyalty to Hitler had been confined to a small circle of leaders.
Every move of the regime in party matters now is directed toward the dissolution of the large storm troop army to eradicate any danger of a palace revolt. The month’s vacation decreed for the storm troops, it is believed now, will be extended indefinitely. Every effort is being made by Goering’s police, the Nazi elite guard and other trusted forces, to prevent any moves by disgruntled S. A. leaders and men.
The extent to which disaffection within Nazi ranks had spread can be gauged from the fact that the Brandenburg and Berlin general staff of the storm troop has been put under formal arrest and the troops severely warned by Goering not to wear their uniforms and not to discuss the orders for the execution of their erstwhile leaders.
PRINCE UNDER SURVEILLANCE
Prince August Wilhelm, son of the Kaiser, while a member of the general staff, was stated not to be under formal arrest but under protection surveillance, as were other members of his family in Germany.
The Hitler regime was relying
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.
