Nazi Tortures Detailed by Britain; Concentration Camp Horrors Told (10/31/39)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 10/31/39 | Raymond Daniell, Robert P. Post

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime”.)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

EVOLUTION OF PLAN YELLOW OCTOBER 1939-JANUARY 1940

This map will also be posted on my profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The European Situation – 1
Nazi Tortures Detailed by Britain; Concentration Camp Horrors Told – 1-3
Captain of the Columbus Believed to Be Drowned – 3
City of Flint Sails From Norway Port En Route to Reich – 4-5
Incidents in European Conflict – 5
Threat to Blow Up Flint Laid to Nazis – 6
British Flotilla Fights Off Raid – 7-8
5 Ships in Convoy Sunk by U-Boats – 9-10
British Note Gives Denial on Athenia – 11
Merchant Ships Sunk in War - 11

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

The really interesting thing about this prescient story is that in 1939, it was pretty much propaganda by the British since Hitler did not ramp up the big killing camps until after 1942 (following the Wansee conference)

[abb]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/oct39/f31oct39.htm

British hunt for the Graf Spee
Tuesday, October 31, 1939 www.onwar.com

In Britain... The Royal Navy begins a world-wide hunt for the German pocket-battleship Graf Spee. Four battleships, 14 cruisers and 5 aircraft carriers are engaged in the effort.

In Rome... Mussolini reshuffles his cabinet, replacing pro-Nazi members with neutral members. Six ministries and several secretariats change. Starace is no longer Secretary of the Fascist Party. Count Ciano remains Foreign Minister. Grandi, who is sympathetic to the British, remains head of the Department of Justice. Mussolini believes in occasional “shuffling” of government posts, and these changes are not believed to reflect a change in foreign policy.
In Moscow... At a meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, Molotov lectures Britain and France for continuing the war but gives no more than moral support to Germany. He stresses that the Nazi-Soviet agreements provide that the USSR shall be neutral if Germany is at war. Meanwhile, the first of three further sets of discussions between the Soviets and the Finns over the recent Soviet demands for border revisions begins (the final meeting ends November 9). Soviet negotiators demand strategic territory in the Karelian Isthmus, the Hango naval base and the ice-free port of Petsamo in the Arctic in exchange for Soviet territory along the eastern border. No agreement is reached.

In Occupied Poland... The death penalty is ordered for all Poles disobeying German authority, with the accused to be tried in SS courts.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

British hunt for the Graf Spee

Do they know who they are looking for? So far all the references have been to Admiral Speer.

[beebuster2000]

btt

[abb]

No. At the time of the hunt, the ship was presumed to be the KMS Admiral Scheer,

http://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=KMS-Admiral-Scheer

instead of the KMS Admiral Graf Spee.

http://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=KMS-Admiral-Graf-Spee

The ruse was deliberate and I think we had posted on that in an earlier thread.

It is easy to see how similar both vessels were in appearance. What is interesting is to see how much resources had to be expended to hunt for the Spee.

[PzLdr]

It’s interesting that at this stage, Manstein’s Sichelsschnitt has only 4 Panzer Divisions attacking through the Ardennes, while 5 attack through Belgium and Holland, with [I presume] 1 in general reserve.

I wonder if it was Guderian’s input, when Manstein consulted him, that caused the shift of three more Panzer Divisions to the Ardennes, and the reduction of the armored thrust in Belgium to two Panzer Divisions

[PzLdr]

Not sure how they mistook the two. SCHEER had been modified before the war, with the famous tower like bridge being removed, and a more standard bridge structure replacing it. She may also have received a ‘clipper’ bow [a la SCHARNHORST]. GRAF SPEE had none of those modifications.

[PzLdr]

While the Death camps didn’t appear until the war [Auschwitz started as a concentration camp, and became the only hybird Concentration-Death camp in the system], the concentration camp system led to a number of deaths [I believe it was at Dachau that a sign on the fence abjured the guards not to shoot the prisoners because bullets caused three pfennigs each]. Mauthausen was notorious for inmate deaths.

Dachau was called the ‘model’ camp, because that was where Theodor Eicke worked out the rules, regulations and system subsequently used at ALL the camps. One wof his prime requirements that the guards treat the prisoners with systematized [as opposed to sadistic] brutality.

[abb]

Those modifications to the Scheer took place in early 1940.

http://www.deutschland-class.dk/admiral_scheer/admiral_scheer_operation_hist.html

1 February 1940 The planned refit and major engine overhaul began at Wilhelmshaven.

15 February 1940 Admiral Scheer together with her remaining sistership, Deutschland, was officially reclassified as heavy cruiser and no longer Panzerschiff (armoured ship).

31 July 1940 Admiral Scheer emerged from the shipyard on 31 July with an altered appearance. From Frame 112 forward the stem had been modified better to combat breaking seas and the ship’s length overall had been increased by 1,9 m. The anchor cluses at the bow had been re-sited to reduce the ingress of water. The characteristic pagoda-like mast had been replaced by a tubular mast and the foretop had been remodelled to accommodate FuMO 26 radar equipment. The funnel platform had been enlarged and a slightly raked funnel cap fitted. About 1,8 m abaft the funnel a new mainmast had been erected with its support struts against the funnel. A degaussing system had been installed and the useless anti-roll device discarded.

[abb]

Here’s our discussion about this issue back on 10/4.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2354547/posts

To: Homer_J_Simpson
And haven’t we established that Admiral Scheer was not in the Atlantic at this time and that it was Graf Spee which sank Clement (See image #7)?

That is correct. The Spee and the Scheer were very similar in silhouette, so such a mistake is understandable. And, IIRC, the Kriegsmarine was deliberately trying to confuse which ships were where, even to the extent of sending fake radio traffic. It’s been a while since I’ve read Dudley Pope’s book, so I’m not for sure about that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_pocket_battleship_Admiral_Scheer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_pocket_battleship_Admiral_Graf_Spee
14 posted on Sunday, October 04, 2009 8:44:07 AM by abb

Yes! Found it!

http://books.google.com/books?id=EIyI8rRlJmEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false

page 35

page 39

16 posted on Sunday, October 04, 2009 8:59:34 AM by abb

I don’t recall how long Captain Langsdorf was able to maintain the ruse.

[CougarGA7]

Crazy busy day today, but wanted to get this posted.

CBS - Elmer Davis Reports on Molotov's Speech