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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1945)
So504ir,edleif,::lf 'Hopes and Fears of S r - . V ' ' - i , - " ' ''. V" ,'4 ... V ,. i ; - . i ' " ' - . ' I i ,rt,' ill 1 Fr - i I v-.-j.vii V. , 1 ir- r! 4 ..;'-J .;Jf K i Bymbolle of a hurt nd weary world is this dramatic phot of tw wounded veterans watchinr and ium la San Francisco where allied nations seek a lastinr peace. Ther are Marine Tvt. James Enoch and Seaman Thomas Kyle late ti Iwo Jima. But their names aren't news. They're your son, husband, brother, sweetheart. Are their prayers being answered? (International photo) The allied world held a death watch all day Saturday. Wires and radio waves crackled with rumors of German offers of sur render, culminating: just after 5 pan. with an AP bulletin front San Francisco crediting a "high American official" with the state . ment that Germany . had surren- ' dered, followed an hour and a half later.-with the .statement from - President Truman denying the re ' port. But no one has denied that overtures for surrender have been made. " .. . - The falling apart of Germany is so obvious that were any govern ment of character in charge sur render would long since have been tendered. Now authority has shrunk to near a vanishing point Who is left to surrender? What does he have to surrender? There Is no civil government save in lo calities. The capital Is surround td. The most of the reich is in allied hands. What is left is but a miserable remnant, a mixture of fanatic nazi storm troopers, of ; frantic civilians, of a shattered Wehrmacht: a remnant though which Hitler and Himmler still assert authority. Hitler has said that Germany would die rather than surrender, The octopus that was Germany, bleeding from all its extremities and from its very heart, is dying, writhing in death-throes, lashing fiercely where strength and will are left, but dying. Surrender now races with death for the reich. The report that Himmler pro posed surrender to the western al - lies may be authentic. The Ger mans may hope for more consider ate treatment from the western al- ' lies than from the soldiers of the red army. . But it may have been pride as well as fear which promp ted the gesture to the west. The Germans must, hate to admit their! defeat at the hands of the "bolshevik barbarians," led by mil itary idiots." Yet the superb Ger man piilitary machine was defeat ed and decisively and continuous ly bv the armies of Soviet Rus sia. : By every test the Russians have :earned a large share in any surrender. ' 'inevitable is German doom that surrender now lacks the dra jaatiC climax of the armistice of 181.t But the end of the war, by - nurrender or by proclamation, of victory will release emotions Jong pent-up, will occasion celebration and thanksgivinf throughout' the allied world. That day, praise God, 'seems near at hand OtP earns Mblotov Presides Over Bay City Conference: Like a tamb By nenry C. Cassldy v AMoeUted Presa World Sarvica WMUr SAN FRANCISCO, April 287') Foreign. Commissar V. M. Mblotov, who came roaring into this United Nations conference like a lion, pre sided, over its plenary session to day as gently as a lamb. r. After sitting patiently in his un btrjisive seat all morning, jotting dori notes as delegates of coun tries from Czechoslovakia to Leb anon spoke in the half-filled opera hbuse. he picked up the gavel this afternoon to exercise for the first time his rizht as co-chairman of in conference. , .. . J.;: . lit was applauded heartily as he All the Years' waltlnr aotslde toe treat auditor Bay Meet gates In Dither By Douglas B. Cornell SAN FRANCISCO, April 28-. Hopes of the united nations con ference for a speedy German sur render rose and fell like a tide tonight and through the confusion delegates saw their peace-shaping task growing more difficult They cheered at word that an American delegate, Senator Tom Connally of Texas- had declared that the nazia had surrendered and I the announcementwould: come I entarnThehd dismay that President Truman; in Washinifton, - had pronounce4 the iAnt MvivMm van I surrender report unfounded. But most of them felt -that a nazi collapse, if it does not come now, can't be long delayed. Con nally repeated, after the Washing ton denial, that he expects the announcement of surrender "mo mentarily." And the delegates' hopeful at titude was based on one dear fact that gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler had offered surrender to Britain and the United States and had been turned down be cause he made no overtures to Russia. , Two different possibilities lay ahead of the delegates: " ; 1. A shift to high speed to ac complish as much as possible to ward molding the pattern of a peaceful world before top states men have to leave San Francisco. 2 A longer and more complicat ed -job if such men as Eden of Britain, Molotov of Russia and Stettinius of America have to rush to their capitals in the hour of victory. Delegates split their time be tween listening to two . sessions of formal speech-making and clus tering in groups to go over the unconfirmed reports that the nazis had offered to yield uncondition ally to the United States and Brit ain and were turned down be cause Russia was omitted. (Ad ditional details on page 2.) v Portland Bus Hangs 100 Feet Above Rails PORTLAND, Ore., April 28-) A driver and four passengers es caped death tonight when a trac tion company bus crashed through steel railing of a high bridge and hung poised in space v 100-feet above S. P. & S. railroad tracks. Clair Huff, 60, bus operator, said as he turned onto t?k rement, . Jt duct, wheel . of the slipping on wet pavement,. struck two automobiles before trashing the railing. Three pas sengers were hospitalized. strode onto the stage. Indicating the delegates ' had . dropped ; the doubtings aroused at the start of the conference by Molotov's insist ance on sharing the chairmanship with Secretary of State Stettinius, Foreign Secretary . and Foreign Minister Soong: ; - -- - Molotov. smiling broadly, said, "First of all permit me to thank you for having1 elected me, the So- viet representative, as one oc we lour cnairmen m me emucrwicc. Dele Pausing for an outburst of ap8tti clause, he resumed, "Assuming the discharge of my duties, I express my gratitude that the Russian lan- guage ffl be heard from this high tnbunaL - - NTNETY-FITTH YEAR Strangle HoldHeld By Reds Nazi Resistance Grows Weaker, JJlany oUrreiiaer By Richard Kaslschke LONDON, Sunday, April 2$-JF) Soviet armies, taking a final strangle hold on dyjng Berlin, hurled its defenders back into a shell-raked 25-square-mile pocket in the city's center yesterday while thousands of German troops gave up the suicidal struggle and sur rendered to the red army. German resistance was fanatical ''but it was tottering. Almost all the city but the central pocket,! which was forged by a red army inner ring of encirclement, was in Russian hands. - ' The Paris radio said early to day that the Russians had occu pied the reichstag in the center ' of Berlin, adding "It is believed that the end of German resistance hi the capital is immineht' By Moscow, account, howeyr,, ihe DitaMa raa titfA MSi Aa 'm tha I Russians were two miles from the reichstag. " Smash Northward While the c i t y lashed in its I death agonies, soviet forces north of the capital smashed out across the Mecklenburg plains on an ex- panding 81-mile front and gained Hamburg in a clean-up of the iso lated northern half of Adolf Hit ler's now-bisected third reich. These forces captured five ma jor "towns, Including Pasewalk, where Hitler, blinded by gas, in November, 1918, resolved in a military hospital to become a poli tician, rebuild Germany's mili tary power and avenge the Ver sailles treaty.. Three major Berlin city dis tricts and parts of three others were captured by the First White Russian and First Ukrainian ar mies as they battled up to three miles through blazing streets and linked up in western Berlin, Mos cow revealed. " Many Nazis Qvit More than 13,000 enemy troops straggled through desert-like clouds of dust to red army lines where they surrendered, whfle it of Berlin another 14,000 southeast enemy troops were taken prisoner in a giant , trap which had been forged several days ago. In two days more than 32,500 enemy troops of the Berlin garri son have been killed or captured. The majority have preferred to end the vain struggle. Front dis patches to Moscow, afternoon newspapers f yesterday ;. reported wholesale German efforts to es cape the holocaust in the heart of the capital, where only fanatical nazi elite guards were forcing a prolongation of the battle. ' - South Santiam Road to Open '. : : 1 , . . , " The South Santiam highway, closed Monday afternoon, wOl be opened to traffic Monday morn ing, R. H. Baldock, state highway engineer, declared Saturday. ;; ;A state highway crew, aided by recruits from Sweet Home, will work today removing last of the water and mud impounded by a slide so that full logging: opera tions may resume. ; The highway was dosed because of danger that the pressure created , when a cul vert was blocked might carry away a portion of the road. and endanger lives of persons travel- ing there, Baldock said. Weather J gaBl i-,.! Mix. Mia, 45 ftUta . .3 .1 47 44 i rruaac .54 41 St Hulunttta rtvtr s ft X la. omc ASTy (y v. CiHr wita aonkl rain. TmPr- Sy&Vff nets, ...... 1 1 22 PAGES , Allied Fences Are Airtight Against Separate Peace WASHINGTON, April 2MjP) Allied fences appeared airtight to day against the possibility of any separate peace for Germany or one short of unconditional surren der to all three principal Allies. Amid persistent rumors of an attempt by Gestapo. Chief Hein rich Himmler : to t surrender the reich to America and Britain but not to Russia it was pointed out agreements commit the ' Allies tion. Meanwhile Jonathan Daniels, the White House press secretary, told reporters he knew nothing about any surrender proposals. and added that it was "perfectly clear" that thore can be no uncon ditional surrender unless made to all the Allies v Last 2 German Escape Routes IniWytlosed " By Lynn ITenwrHng ' - ROME, April . 28 , -P)- V. B. 6?""ln7&ZU " " " w w western iltaly - captured -Brescia and Bergamo at the loot of the Alps today, .blocking the last two German - escape routes to , the Brenner pass into Austria, and an unofficial Milan radio report said they already had reached the gwiss Rt Como 30 (The Swiss radio said that the Germans had agreed to surrender in the provinces of Lombardy and Piedmont, which border on south ern Switzerland and embrace northwest and north central Italy. This report was without ..confir mation in Rome or elsewhere. (Another unconfix ned Swiss radio report said the fallen duce, Benito Mussolini, had been taken to Milan by Italian patriots and would be tried by a patriot court martial.). The last German troops were cleared from Genoa, last big west coast port held by the enemy, and 6000 prisoners were taken, a spe cial allied communique said. ' FrenchForce ' ' 4 llofaifci tli! VllBU llAsl9 Wl Army's Drive PARIS, April 28-(P)-Supreme headquarters declared -today the French were obstructing the U. S. Seventh army drive on the nazis southern redoubt by ' occupying Stuttgart and unless they moved out the Americans would have to find . "a less desirable and .less efficient" supply base. ; ; At last reports the French First army, which. captured Wuerttem- berg province's capital, was still there, backed by the French coun cil of ministers, s". V-C'V : .The council disapproved of the request to move out the troops on the grounds that the Big Three had not taken any action on France's postwar occupation zone claims in southwest Germany. Sugar' Allowance for. Canning to Be Slashed WASHINGTON, April 28.-i)-The OPA Is expected shortly to reduce allowance of sugar for home canning from a maximum of 20 pounds to 13 pounds a person for the 1945 canning season. This was v reported In authoritative quarters, but officials declined to confirm or deny it. ' 32 'Junior Secretaries' I At Round Table Here Thirty-two junior secretaries,' men who have been in x&hja work two years or less,' are: at tending the round-table training conference which opened in Sa lem on Saturday and closes this noon, f '"-i. : ' ' . , -. The men are from Tfs in Seat tle, piympla and Ellensburg, Wash.; Kellogg and Boise, Idaho and Poraand and Salem, rv i rrsn " , ' -'.x : i Salem, Oragon. Svuiday Morning; April 29, 1945 "lnn3n r-TN n ry-i rtn nrn fRIAnir-q U LQJUUVJ unich 22 Miles ForU-S; : . . M . - T Reich Split Into Two Traps, One Starts Cnmihling By James M. Long PARIS, Sunday, April 29-P- American armies crushed down to day, on Germany's last major stronghold, rolling an unstoppable wall of tanks to within 22 miles of Munich, cradle of nazidom that already was reported torn by re volt The reich now is split into two traps, one on the north barely the size of Indiana and one on the south little larger than Colorado. The southern one was crumb ling badly at its very core under the blows of the UJS. Third and Seventh and French First armies. 'The Seventh' army "was but 22 miles west of Munich," considered the northern bastion of the Alpine redoubt, and the UJL Third army was 27 miles away pnhejiorth. --"'As 'the tide of Third army tanks andtroops struckdpwn a -super highway: toward Munich,, their field radios picked Up a broadcast on the city's wavelength announc ing a "free action of Bavaria" re volt-and asking the Americans to bomb Field Marshal Albert Kes selring's .headquarters at Pullach, six miles south of the city. Later Gauleiter Paul Giesler of Munich went on the air and de clared the revolutionaries had been dispersed and that a "treas onable transmitter" was trying to spread confusion. Meanwhile, Munich was' being deeply outflanked by Lt. Gen. Al' exander . M. Patch's rampaging Seventh army, which seized 23,000 prisoners and with a lightning blow captured Augsburg, third city of Bavaria 35 miles northwest of Munich. v ' ' Tenth armored division tanks in 20-mile dash drove up to Fuessen on the Austrian frontier 50 miles southwest of Munich, then poured on across. Here, 37 miles northwest of Innsbruck northern gateway to the Brenner Pass leading down to Italy the Americans stood at the entrance to vthe - Austrian Tyrol, through . which pass all the main east-west communications "in the Alpine redoubt r - No Shutdown Due V-E Day X WASHINGTON, April 8.-(V- War plants will operate full work schedules on V-E day If they fol low the advice of chairman J.. A. Krug of the war production board. Krug issued a statement today appealing to all workers to put In a full day's work, "pausing only to give thanks for the sue cess of allied arms on one front of this multi-front war." ; Krug said, however, that; he approved of V-E day ceremonies In war plants where facilities are available for them, provided they do not interfere with production. M War-Shy Sweden Still Clings Grimly to neutrality Policy By Daniel De Lnee v STOCKHOLM, April 28 -(ff) Cautious, war-shy Sweden Is fitngtng grimly today to ber pol icy of official neutrality and mak ing no commitments to any allied power to fight- the Germans in Norway. - ' ' J The sure-tiling-, bet in bioct- holrn was that Sweden will con tinue intact the tradition of 130 years of peace. . " " The controversy over interven tion was hrought into the open by the Norwegian government-in-exile. It is orfy the latest of many embarrassments the Swedes en dured ia this war without slip ping from the tight rope of non belligerency. Anwhre obi wLhes a Swede can be chosen V f - .. -i" - nn '-'- pcunddd 1651 : - . . Momentarily'-mm?m PDuDS ' . ... . ..-. v-.-v'. . . v Sen. Tom Connally (D-Texas), chairman of senate foreign, re lationa committee, who "an nounced" German capitulation and later declared Nasi sarren der weald be made known "mo mentarily.' Denial Given Peiace Report WASHINGTON, April 28 - (JP) President Truman tonight author ized the following ' direct quota tions on his denial that Germany has surrendered: "WelL I was over here, as you can see, doing a little work, and the rumor got started. I had a call from San Francisco and the state depart ment called me. X just got in touch with Admiral Leahy and had him call our headquarters -commander-in-chief in Europe-and there is no foundation for the rumor. That is all I have to say." PAKIS. Anril -2 - (Sunday) (AVThe Paris radio said today tremendous events were Im pending. w LONDON, April 28-(ff)-Prime Minister Churchill declared today that rumors of a German offer to surrender were, "in harmony with the enemy's desperate situation," and strongly reaffirmed that any German -capitulation would be ac cepted only on a joint basis by the Big Three. .The London Sunday Times political correspondent said flatly tonight he had reliably in formed ."Germany may cease fighting during the next 24 hours." LONDON, April t-(-The Stockholm , Srenska DarbUdeV qaottng "reliable circle said that Hitler had suffered a cereb ral hemorrhage! and was near death tn Berlin and that "it was believed . an - immediate an nouncement of - III tier's death would . mean , mass - capitulation of a great number of troops." LONDON, April 28 -(ffh Paul Giesler, gauleiter of Munich and upper . Bavaria, disclosed today in a Munich radio broadcast that German army deserters had at tempted to arrest him" and seize the government of Bavaria last night in an unsuccessful coup.- ' , at random - in drawing rooms, on street corners, In the shops and he -will reflect the unmistak able majority ' opinion on the question : whether1 the - country should fight now for Norway's sake. ' - "v "Why should our sons be killed merely to end the war a month or two earlier?" replies the aris tocratic lady active in Norwegian charities..; : . - . . "Oijx government has been wise all the way' along, and we trust it" says the textile manufacturer. "We don't want any V-2s fallinf here, snaps the taxi driver. s In the crowded restaurant a lunch time a waitress just married to an army reservist sighs, : T5ta praying there will be an agree ment without any fizhtbg.", -,. Pithy : Diico Dcportod lillod ' v -Ct: -- Mussolini and other fascist leaders were . ' ' . - . reported by the have been executed by - Italian partiots. Pric5a- 'KSasi Siuirireinidleo" Reds (infirm Rejection of Himmler Appeal; Coiinally Sees Nevs Momentarily By tha Associated Presa . - Moscow announced early today (Sunday) thatvHeinrich Himmler had attempted to surrender Germany uncondition ally to Britain and the United States, but a startling report at San Francisco that a surrender actually had been made to all three major allies was Truman to-be unfoQndcd." These developments climaxed a climactic day of world news. - The United States ana offer because it did not include cow broadcast by the official The San Francisco report that a surrender had been made with "no strings attached, originated with Senator Tom Connally, chairman of the senate foreign relations com mittee and rice chairman of the American delegation to tho United Nations conference. v t: ? i : ' This information, given at first with the stipulation, that Con nally not be identified, was carried by the Associated Press St 7:2ft p. my Eastern war time, Saturday. . v --, -- j Report Denied by President . , 4 , - - - One hour-and forty minutes later President Truman told an extraordinary press conference at tho White House in Washington that he had gotten Admiral Leahy to telephone General Eisenhower ' in Paris "and there is no foundation for the rumor." Learning of the presidential ized identification of himself as source of the surrender report and a told a reporter that he still expected the surrender announcement to be made "momentarily." He said he believed the official news would be forthcoming in a matter of hours. White House Press Secretary reporters, "the lid's on," signifying last night . General Eisenhower issued a paper, Stars and Stripes, that he German surrender. Stettinius Silent on Surrender Connally had said the announcement . might come from Eisen hower's headquarters. The senator did not give the source of his information about a surrender, but another high official in San Fran- ascesaid tnat ne too had received Secretary oc state Stettinius made no statement and planned nonr" This series of developments culminated a 24-hour period in which Germany's .' complete military collapse was so imminent that sur render reports and rumors sprang up in many parts of the world. , The Tass announcement carried by the Moscow radio was tho first official announcement that a surrender offer of any kind had actually .been made. ; . - . Himmler, according to Senator Connally, explained that Adolf Hitler was ill and that Himmler was acting in Hitler's stead. Himmler was reported to have said that Hitler was mortally ill and undoubt edly would die when he learned of a surrender. ' ' Himmler Given Until Tuesday . . . . . . The western - allies promptly rejected the Himmler offer and were reported in San Francisco, to have given Himmler until Tues-' day,' May -I, to surrender unconditionally to the three great powers, Russia, Britain and the United States. - ' The. alternative was increased destruction of Germany and total crushing of her army. . --r -v. y, .--' - - .r ' TTtTmvMlakia uar a asaif ti VlA frvtnet 4o mo'lrA'A aaI a tm awm a Bw - 4A4MSUUVA V Wkm OWAV V A J rsonal safety before accepting the Then Senator Connally passed the word that surrender had been accepted and that formal announcement could be expected at any. moment He said it previously had been set cor 4 p.nx, eastern war time, Saturday, in Washington, but that it had been delayed.:, The Stockholm paper Dagens . Nyheter said that Himmler had made his surrender bid through Count Folke Bernadotte, vice chair-, man of the Swedish Red Cross and a frequent visitor to Germany on mercy missions. ' :' - y' : -' " : Conference Thrown fat Uproar: ? At San Francisco the fourth plenary session of the United Nations conference Saturday was thrown into an uproar and delegates cele-' bra ted prematurely when a newspaper, was held up with pig red headlines, "Nazis Quit." - For five minutes there were yells, applause ana xne-xiasn oi nun- dreds of flash bulbs as cameramen swarmed over the floor. ' - ' As Julian Caceresy chairman of the Honduran dekgatioiv held up : the newspaper for colleagues to see, there was a moment of bewfl-; dered silence. Then pandemonlum.i : y j 1 -.r ; - . Not realizing what was happening, unairman v. moioiov;. rose to' his feet. There was a bewUdered .look on his face but ho applauded along with the more than 800 delegates in. the hall. x, ; , f ts H.iMtM trMmd Mit of the buildinc as the speech el, . Uruguayan Foreign Minister Jose English, was ccmpieteo. ' ri.r4t;- -.' Allied Chief Readying Statement .s. : J- - The celebration carried over into hotel delegation headquarters, but was dampened quickly by word from Washington that President Truman had said the victory report was unfounded. - . V. - . . But the delegates still felt victory in Europe was Imminent , At least one allied chief of government was known, to be writing a statement to be issued upon the formal announcement of German '' surrender. -" . --.- ' -. - - 4 C6uld Hiimnler ; 1VONT)ON, AprU IgHflPW"" F. King. AT staff eorresaondent, in an analytical story tonight, ssid TVheUer Himmler had spUt with Kitler and eoaid de liver, even if he sought peace In good faith," was problematical as evidenced by the fact that the battle for Berlin has raged for a week with der fuehrer reported by Nail propagandists leading the fight inside tie jinj eapitiL BIilan radio today to flatly declared by President Britain rejected the Himmler Russia, according to the Mos-. soviet Tasa agency. statement, Senator Connally author- " Jonathan Daniels, however, told that nothing more was expected .' statement in Par is. to the army. had no information at all on any the same report - V-J HHIWy OJi V4a SVI VlfU JTfl v allied demand. i 4 -- i r :. j . 4 . r - ' , ; Serrato, then being translated into. Effect Peace? WASHINGTON, - April 28--The Nazi salute is a thing of the past In German prisoner .of war; camps in the United States! "Since organized .resistance by the Ger man army, apparently ceased," a ' war ?; department announcement , said, Iand the . Nazi -government apparently no longer exists, It hsi , been decided that German prisoii era will be made to use -the old army sarate.': That means rigbt arm, bent elbow. . . - . .. ' .