Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1945)
1i ' i s r-nr Mia. O 41 ftaia traro fcurc ..-, Salem, r . ' , Irtiuid ,, , Seattle -. . 45 . WUUmctt rtvcc VXD ijjQLg FORECAST! f V. V Weather an rem MtSaxy fiW, SJem) Oeu to y.wiUt a. MUlmuft temporatare .at PCUNDDD 1651 U ccfrees CTiwm. NINETY-FIFTH .YEAR 23 PAGES Salem, Oregon, Sunday Morning, May 8, 1845 m a a m . i in 1 c i w .1 i ill a i v "Ti . It looks as though the allies will have to post -DEAD OR ALIVE" posters bearing offers of liberal rewards all over the world if they '.want to get hold or the fugitives from Justice" who started this war. So far, in spite of the fact that virtually all organized resist ,,, ance within Germany has ceased, there is no trace of Hitler, of Goering, of Goebbels, of Himmler, of von Ribbentrop, of Ley, Plenty of high-titled officers of the army and navy have surrendered, but not a trace is found of the top nazis. - Himmler was in Lubeck on April 24th last, according to the report f Count Bernadette of Sweden, Goering reportedly was relieved 1 . of command of the luftwaffe ft few-weeks ago. No authentic word backed up with corroborative evi dence has come regarding Hitler and Goebbels. Admiral Doenitz - broadcast from Hamburg news that Hitler was killed at his command post in the reichs - chancellery, i: Hans Fritsche, deputy to Goebbels, who was captured by the Russians, reported Hitler and Goebbels both had committed suicide. But when, the reichs-chancellery was cap tared the bodies of these men Were not found. Here is the top crime case of all time. Detectives : must be put to work at once. : The situation lends itself ad mirably to the development of a liitler-nazi legend. Unles adequate proof comes of Hitler's death both friends and enemies will insist he ; Ss alive. He will be reported as bobbing up in all quarters of the globe The rumor mill will never cease turning out Hitler stories. , He escaped by submarine. He took flight (Continued on editorial page) Rededication Cards Ready ForV-EDay ; j Whenever and however tUe an iiouncement of yE-dayrcome, cards J:cf dedication to further service in : the , war efforl will be available ' to 'everyone who will wear them, ; the VE-day committee said Satur- . ay. '. . ; They will be available at schools. stores, the salvage depots to be set ; tip at the Victory center, and at -t bond booths throughout Salem. The -cards, under' the- ""honor i system? for everyone, testifies that the wearer has recognized that the i war isn't over, and that he or she will donate more blood, buy more I bonds, contribute more papers, . tin or fat and aid in any other ' way, perhaps in ' writing an extra letter to a serviceman. j ,i If VE-day: comes Sunday, the cards will be available Monday j end the committee is hoping for t widespread use of their message of rededication to the task still re- snaining. i i Allied Armies Swinging East For Thailand - CALCUTTA, May 5H7P-Allied ' armies -swung eastward toward Thailand today, pursuing the Jap anese retreating from their decis ive defeat in the battle of Burma The communique said the en emy was withdrawing toward - Moulmein, across the Gulf of Mar- taban east of the liberated capital of Rangoon, with the British 14th . army in pursuit. In- the pursuit, the British were driving beyond captured Pegu, 50 miles north of Rangoon and near - -the head of the gulf, where the ; tnain railway swings back south east SO miles into Moulmein. i Four Famous French Freed From Prison , ITTER. Austria. May 5 - UP) Former French Premiers Edouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud and Generals Maurice Gamelin and Maxime Weygand were freed from months - of German political im prisonment today when two bat- tlions of the 35th "Texas' infan try division fought their way into Itter castle. i i'.The world famous four French leaders were among a number of other famous persons who were liberated. i Among them were a sister of Gen. Charles De Gaulle, a former head of the French trade unions, and Tennis Champion Jean Boro tra who. In a melodramatic fash ion, got out of the castle at noon to bring word to American troops of the plight of those imprisoned Capitulation in Norway Said Almost Certain STOCKHOLM, Sunday, May . un-Th Swedish newspaper Da- Nvheter in a dispatch from the Swedish - Norwegian border said today. that German capitula tion in Norway was "practically certain" with only a few technical details left to be arranged. .... i 5 : ' 1 1 : r- r- 1 1 " . . - J : : ' " : Prague Is Objective Of Fight Radio Declares Negotiations Are Under Way LONDON, Sunday, May 6 -Ktf5) The British Exchange Telegraph agency said today that the Prague radio had broadcast orders from both the Germans and Czech pat riots . to ; cease - fighting in ithe Czech capital. . j The broadcast was timed at 9:24 i . 1 a.m., a mile more man two nouns after the Prague radio had indi cated that Czech patriots and Ger man occupation troops apparently were engaged in a swaying battle for control of the city. The news agency said the broadcast, over short wave, de dared that negotiations were fin der way for handing over the ad ministration of the protectorate of Bohemia, and Moravia to jthe Czechs. Call for Help At 4:20 ajn. a speaker on jthe Prague radio, identifying himself as a liberated "British prisoner! of war, declared, "we are holding Prague; the whole city is under control, but you, the allies, rriustT get help here today." i 'Another speaker, identifying himself as a red army, officer, ap pealed for JRussIan - aid' 1 for the capital, saying "Germans tanks are surrounding Prague from ' all sides." - The patriots announced by radio from Prague at midnight that 'Prague is in Czech hands," but ess than three hours later the German high command for Bone mi a and Moravia: broadcast, also from Prague, that "irresponsible Czech elements in Prague are dis turbing order in Prague and are using the radio transmitter.' Shortly before the German broadcast the patriots made an urgent radio appeal for the allies to send them troops, tanks and planes quickly. Says Rumors False The German broadcast said the patriots "are spreading rumprs which do not conform with facts and added all , rumors mat an armistice with' the red army has been made are false." ' In one broadcast the patriots accused the Germans of breaking a truce and at 3 ajn. the Czechs said "we are fighting in all dist ricts, the Germans are heading for the city from the north, south, east and west" 1 Just before signing off for the night, the patriots declared at 3:42 ajn. that "Germans are surrend ering here by the thousands, In their first appeal for help the patriots said street fighting started in the center of the city. : Oregon Traffic Deaths Aggregate 23 in March iOregon traffic fatalities during March aggregated 23 of which number 8 or 36 per cent involved pedestrians, Secretary of State Robert S. Farrell, jr., announced here Saturday. Thirty two per cent of the fa talities resulted from accidents in the rural areas. Nearly 2 Million Men Will Be Released From WASHINGTON, May 5-(ff)-The army, virtually done with fighting in Europe, is going to pare its force down from 8,300,000: to 6,963,000 for use in the wax against Japan. Altogether about 2,000,000 men now In uniform are to be out in a year, but that in cludes many who would be re leased normally and be replaced. It Is planned to send overseas all able-bodied men who have not had such service, as fast as vet eran replacements can be brought back for any necessary jobs they are doing at home. " Draft calls, the army said, will itay higher than combat- losses, o more veterans can be released, rhe draft also will cut into the anks of men who have been de erred "for one reason or anoth ir." Released veterans of long ser- Act are depended on to take the Jap Plane Misses U. S. Carriei II -; J 5 7 Shot out of a : sky filled with deadly flak, a Japanese plane crashes dangerously close to an American light carrier during action off ' Kynkytts. (APj wlrephoto from Big 3 Claslies Anew Qyer Pole Problem as Russians Admit Arrest of Leaders By Douglas B. Cornell ..-!. - ; . SAN FRANCISCO, May 5-P-Russia clashed anew with Britain and thel United States over Poland today at the very in stant of reaching broad agreement on measures intended i to strengthen a worldorganization of United Nations. i I ; .. The latest ; row over Poland was revealed by Secretary ; of State Stettinius who reported that of . prominent - Polish democratic leaders." A Moscow broadcast said, there are 16 of them. Stettinius ind! British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden have de- manded a "full explanation." . Until they get; it, there will be no talk with, the; Russians on set- ting up a Polish government satis-J factory to all thjfee powers. Agree On Changes The recurrent Isquabble over Po land contrasted I with a spirit pf harmony and good-will engender-. ed at the United Nations confer ence by the ability of the four sponsoring powers-M2hina; Russia, Britain and the United States to get together on all but two amend ments they wanf to incorporate in the Dumbarton 'Oaks charter for world peace. The broad sweep of changes ac ceptable to all four embraces such points as: , "Specific assurances of equal rights and self-determination 'of peoples, t promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, non-interference1 in a nation's do mestic affairs unless they threaten world security, lair representation for small and middle-sized nations on a powerful security council, and - expansion Sot the council's powers so it notf only could recom mend procedures but also actual terms of settlement of disputes. Russia Asks Time In addition, Britain, China and the. United States are agreed on provisions for review of threaten ing international situations ancTfor fitting regional security systems into the scheme'; of a world organi zation. Russia I asked for more time to consider; those points and may yet join in sponsoring them. Army in Year home jobs of such heretofore de ferred men. The war department announced its plans today lin a report, which showed, among other things, that about 1,300,000 veterans of j long fighting in. Europe and the;" Pa cific will be released and 'that, combined with; . other discharges for physical and similar reasons, about 2,000,0001 men now in ser vice will be out a year from now. The general staff reported that "our best judgment is that we can defeat Japan Quickly and com pletely" ; with an army which by May, 1946, will be at about the seven million level. The enemy in the Pacific, said the department, has a force of about , four million men, with many millions "more who can be mustered If needed. The Japanese forces, however, are divided and. moreover, the United States will have the help f its allies. - A U. S. navy) . r y Russia had arrested "a number Superforts ':4h 1 H Hit 3 Times ' S : ' TV i n une uay GUAM, Sunday, Majy 6 - (IP) Striking three times hi one day against the . Japanese (homeland, American Superfortresses Satur day lashed a major aircraft plant on Honshu island and strategic airfields on Kyushu. $ It was the first strike of the war. against the sprawling naval plane manufacturing! plant at Kure. : " A In support of the American In vasion? of Okinawa, the B-Z9S twice blasted airfields on Kyushu island, : 325 miles northward. An early morning raid by between 25 and 50 of the giant bombers was directed against Iota and Tachiari airfields on the northern part iof the island. Late in ther afternoon about 50 of the Marianas-based Superforts bombed the Kanoya naval air station and the Shiran and Ibusuki airdromes on. south ern Kyushu. I Truman OKs ; Island Policy WASHINGTON, May 3-UP)- President Truman today endorsed the Philippine independence pol icy as laid down by the late Presi dent Roosevelt and named a com mittee of nine to accompany Sen. Ty dings (D-Md) on a special mis sion to Manila to examine condi tions there and report to him. ti - The chief executive in a formal statement expressed the hope that he would be able to accept the In vitation of President Osmenai to visit Manila at the inauguration of the Philippine republic. '! As a result of discussions he has had . with Osmena, - Mr. Truman said he is "prepared to endorse and carry through to their conclu sion the nolicies laid down bv President Roosevelt respecting the islands , and the Independence of the Filipino people." Red Cross Blood BJink Short 123 Donors For' Next Tuesday The Red Cross blood bank last Saturday was short 223 donors,) in connection with the weekly visit of the mobile unit here next Tues day, and officials declared the need was more urgent than, ever for volunteers. , Thousands of wounded men need blood plasma, and the lives i of other thousands still fighting can be saved if sufficient quantities are available for them. The mo bile unit will be at the First Meth odist church Tuesday. Advanced registration may be made by tele- Big Port ! On Baltic .Captured Swinemuende Is Taken by! Reds;' Advances, Made- . LONDON, Sunday; May ;6-4P)-Russian troops captured the Ger man naval base of Swinemuende yesterday, toppling the last big German Baltic port .as Soviet mountain, fighters ripped H miles across the Nazis shrinking Czech o- slovakian redoubt and smashed II. ' . 9 I .A i J within 12 miles of the arsenal! city Of Olmuetz (Olomouc). j i .1 Some 215 -miles west of Swine muende on the Pomeranian ! bay, Soviet forces also cleaned ut the tast square miles of East Prussia after they hurled back enemy' for ces along the mile-wide frische Nehrung and reached Danzig ter ritory at Schottland on the narrow sandspit. ,' ' . ! 1 I U i Marsal Alexander M. Vasilev- sky's Third White Russians rwere within five miles of the Danzig mainland where a German ' hold out group was isolated on the Vis- . j.ti. i . '; ima river ueiia plains. , - Swinemuende, a city, ofi 20,500 persons Situated on Usedom island north of the great port; of Stettin, fell to Marshal Konstantin K. Rok ssovsky'S Second White Russian army pressing .the final mop-up of the Baltic shores. . ; Swinemuende's capture was an nounced, in an order of the) day is sued ' by Marshal Stalin. ' At the same time, ftokossovsky'si troops cleared all Usedom Island,! taking the. former V-bomb experimental station of peenemuende, and seiz ed the entire adjoining! island Wollin.' j : Meanwhile, southwest of ruined Berlin, N Marshal Gregory K. Zhu kov's First White Russian ; army rapidly was wiping out the last big German pocket remaining lin cen- tral Germany. J Osmena's Sons Suspected of Jap Dealings WASHINGTON, May 5 - () Philippine President Sergio Os mena said today he had directed that two of his sons, suspected of dealing with the Japanese, be dealt with "as with the others sus pected of such dealings." i At a news conference, Osmena denied an earlier report that he had actually ordered the arrest of the two, Nicasio, 35 and! Sergio, jr., 28. ; - j ! '. He said lie. understood that no specific charge had been brought against them. . ' ; ?' Asked whether he believed them guilty or innocent, he said he simply jdid not know. ; - The Osmena brothers were com modity brokers in Manila before the ' war and their father said he understood that they continued in business after .the Japanese occu pation. Red Easter Celebration Gayest Since Revolution : MOSCOW, May 5(JP)-The gay est ': Russian Easter celebration since the revolution called-a mil' lion of the faithful! to Moscow's churches tonight for all-night re ligious services. ', -i , - Archpriest Nikolai F. Kolchitskl, manager of the synod, said 15 per cent more churches were open to night than at any time sinde . the revolution. ;i Nephew of Fallen Duce Arrested by Partisans ROME, Sunday, May 9-HP)-A Swiss telegraphic agency dispatch from Berne quoting frontier re ports said' today that Vito Mus solini, nephew of the fallen duce, had been arrested' by partisans In northern Italy along with several other fascists. " . -Vito Mussolini was the editor ol Popolo d'ltalia' of Milan, fascist newspaper. (- .. f Nazis Fight Way To Yankee Lines So They Can Ouit LONDON, May 5-CflVThe Ger man high command is reporting 'fighting advances" to the last The German' high command said today: ."Further units of our Ninth and 12th armies have fought their way through to American occupied ter-t ritory west of the Elbe." I Whereupon, it may be added paranthetically, . they surrendered to the US. Ninth army.. Americans Kill ! 33,462 Nippoiis Oh Okinawa i GUAM, Sunday, May 6 -(Jfy American troops have killed 33,462 Japanese and taken 700 prisoners on Okinawa since their April 1 invasion, Fleet Adm. Chester Vf, Nimitz announced today. Prison! ers include 297. labor troops. . : The figures are to May 5, : Until May 3, Nimitz reported, the Ui. loth army comprising four army and two marine divi sions suffered 14,283 casualties. These were 2337 soldiers and ma rines killed, 11,432 wounded and 511 missing. The admiral did not separate army and marine figures, as he has previously, .' UJS. ground casualties thus were less than half as many as the en emy's and the number killed Was at a rauo or nearly lo enemy troops to one Yank. - - Total UJS. casualties for the en tire Ryukyus ' campaign, begun March 18, thus are 19,834. These mclude 5551 navy,' of whom 1131 W.ere killed. Reds Uncover Food Stores Hid in Berlin MOSCOW, May 5-P-The Red army has uncovered in starving Berlin well-stocked food stores re served for Nazi - storm troops, a dispatch to the Moscow newspaper Trud said today, but these stores are not sufficient to put down the threat of general hunger now grip ping the German capital. t The dispatch said the storm troopers' stores included canned meat, flour and canned vegetables and that these now were being dis tributed to people who are fight ing, in the streets for the meat of dead horses. . ' Meanwhile, the elaborate under ground forties of the German general staff, like the relchschan cellery, failed today to yield , the body of Adolf Hitler and the mys tery of h3 fate deepened. , j Biiigenlieimcr Buys Salem Seed Firm E. H. Bingenheimer, Salem bus iness man for nearly 20 years, has acquired ownership of the Salem Seed and Implement company through the, purchase of the in terests of Walter H. Smith with whom he was in business for the last five- years, it was disclosed Saturday. , . Bingenheimer, who was presi dent, of the Salem Chamber of Commerce in 1940 and headed the Oregon Seed Dealers' group for two years also is opening a branch office here for the Miller Products company,' makers of insecticide. He has been agent for the. firm and now will be branch manager. Bingenheimer formerly man aged the Irish Cash stores in Sa lem, and ' operated Bing's Feed company - prior to. entering the firm he now owns, Francois Poneet Freed ; From German Prison ! PARIS, May 5. CP Francois Poncet, former French ambassa dor to Berlin and Rome, was lib erated by French troops in south ern Germany, it was announced today. " - - Albert Sarraut,- former presi dent of the French council, and andsco Nitti, president of the - talian ministerial - council, also were, freed from Nazi Internment camps. Wlrfhffn (rbfrbfrb DfU i a i m m m. w ' l s . mm - m . n Vis Aii 44 ' 1 Dim AoosMsi UvUJ Mil : By JAMES M. LONG . PARIS, Sunday, May 6 (AP) -Two German armies in Austria, numbering possibly 400,000 men, surrendered to the Americans yesterday while Gen. Patton hurled his UJS. Third army into the attack against the German Seventh army in Czechoslovakia. Outside Norway, this was ins; the western allies. Patton's attack to spur gained up to 12 miles into Czechoslovakia against weak to moderate opposition while Czechoslovak patriots announced that they had liberated Praarue and . taken control of Bo hemia and Moravia. Farther east in Czechoslovakia massed Russian forces which were spearhead. Capitulation in central Austria armies to Gen. Devens Sixth army group came less than 24 hours after similar unconditional surrender of 1,000,000 German soldiers In the north to the British and Canadians. . I - i j Despite the surrender, British with some resisting Germans as they marched i into Copenhagen. ' Entry into Holland's great cities awaited the clearing bf mine fields, dispatches. from the liberated nation said.'.', j Attention Focuses on Norway i ) : s Attention . f ocussed on, occupied Norway where Fuehrer Karl Doenitz may have taken refuge,- but the Swedish foreign , office de clared officially that reports of imminent surrender in; Norway were premature. - - '"-. An order by Doenitz read oyer the Flensburg radio before the British occupation said surrender in the northwest had been forced "because the struggle against the 'western powers had became sense less.; .-, , '. . , -j ' H ";!. : Silent on Norway, Doenitz called on his troops on uie'TLussian . front to fight on "tosave as many Germans as possible jfrom.,bolshe t vization and, enslavement," ".' j i SHAEF Summed it up.by saying all resistance to Eisenhower's armies on the active fronts where his forces were engaged had ended, : save for the Seventh German army on Patton's sector. . Even as Patton struck on the Czech front, a Czechoslovak minis-; ter in London said the capital of Prague "has risen" and had driven -out the Germans in the rear of the enemy's Seventh army. Big Austria City Occupied ' - j . The surrender in the south covered part of the UJS. Third army front in Austria and here Austria's third city of Linz was occupied by Patton's troops unopposed. . ' Whereupon, the Third army went over to the attack on a 110 mile front, driving as much as 17 miles into Czechoslovakia. . Cracking into the Czech's little Maginot.line against small arms and sporadic artillery fire, Patton's troops were 22 to 27 miles west of the arsenal city of Pilsen, which in turn is SO miles west of Prague. ' As American tank columns roared across the border they accepted surrender of the 11th panzer division, the last, fullfstrength elite armored force of the German army in all Europe, lit ' . rl ; The attack rolled east along a front extending from a point. 30 miles northwest of Linz to the city , 'Five divisions went over to the attack, and advanced column were battling both west and southwest of Pilsen. ' . - After Linz fell, the 11th armored and 20th infantry divisions captured a bridge across the Danube, rolled on across and captured the twin city of Urfahr. ' i , Early Linkup Probable . ! --y: Thus the Third army laid bare paved. the way for an early, linkup Austria west of Vienna. " . ' . " i Gen. Devers, emerging from nich, told correspondents "It's all To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, both the American and German commanders broadcast to their .troops to cease firing at once, al though the order does not become' effective until noon Sunday. Lt Gen. Foertsch, commander of the German First army, sur- ' rendered army group "G" on orders of its commander, Gen. Fried rich Schultz, and Field Marshal i Albert Kesselring, commander of all enemy forces in the south, r ' ' ! I Kesselring thereupon found himself in command of only a single army, the Seventh. , WPB Speeds Up Reconversion By Releasing Machine Tools WASHINGTON, May 5-()-The war production board tonight approved well over. $103,000,000. worth of machine tools and plant construction for 72 major indus tries to ' break:, any bottlenecks which would delay reconversion; The action grants priority aid for the retooling and reequipping Job which must be done in - ad vance If the automobile refrigert ator and ' other, -industries ' are v to swing Into peacetime goods prtN duction " without long shutdowns and idleness when the reconvert sion signal finally is given. : WPB announced also that it has appointed "reconversion adrninis trators" for each of the 72. Indus tries, but did - not name them; Their role will be the same as that Iof Henry P. Nelson, recently nanv 'Werewolves' Ordered , i To Cease Activities r LONDON, May 5-P)-The Dan ish radio at Flensburg, in a dis patch reported tonight by Reuters; said Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz had ordered the German were wolves" organization to abstain from "any illegal fighting activ ity' in allied-occupied territory "by virtue of the- truce which .neanwhile has been put into eft feet,"- . it i . - UJ UU J - . ' the last German army oddos- t - - the Germans to ouit or fieht. . the Germans still were resisting less than 55 miles from Patton's ' of the German First and 19th troops engaged in a brief fight of Asch in Czech's Sudetenland. Czechoslovakia's south flank and with the Russians fight through ; j the surrender conference near Mu- over on my front'S v ed coordinator of reconversion for the motor industry at Detroit. . The preparedness allotment fa intended to prepare the industries only for a "break-even" rate of civilian rnanufacturing. .This is uie minimum amount deemed nec essary for companies to meet op erating expenses. For automobiles it represents more; than two mil- -lion cars a year, as against a pre- war peak of better than four mil-' lion. The lion's share, or $83,000,000 worth will go to the automobile in dustry because of its economic dominance and Its potentialities of layoffs and. hardship if retooling Is delayed. The motor industry . will get $50,000,000 worth of tools and $35,000,000 worth of plant ex pansion. Wilhelmina Addresses People From.' Own Soil EINDHOVEN, Holland, May 5. -Cfj-Queer Wilhelmina of the Netherlands addressed her people by radio from her own soil for the first time in five years tonight when she gave thanks for the lib eration of all Holland and remind ed the people of the Ilherlanda that a great task still awaits then: in the Pacific. ' - uwuu r n j n Jill buUUUS)