Evening star., 1939-09-01
Berlin
Continued From First Page)

tary harbor at the Polish port of
Gdynia.
No casualties were mentioned.
German airplanes attacked with
great enthusiasm and DESTROYED
military establishments of the air.
drome at Rahmel, Putzig. Grauden,
Posen, Plock, Lodz. Tomaszow,
Radon, Ruda, Katowice, Lemberg,
KracoW, Brest and Terespol," the
communique said.
1t was also officially announced
that the German cadet training
cruiser Schleswig Holstein. anchored
IN Danzlg Harbor, opened fire on
the Polish munitions dump at
Westerplatte.
At noon an official announcement
said the Nazi air force had gone
into action over Polish territory and
that the German Army was count
er-attacking" all along the German
Polish frontier.
German land forces, the an
nouncement said, were determined
to break all resistance.
The official statement that war
was on came shortly after Fuehrer
Hitler left the Reichstag amid cheers
for his declaration that he would
enforce a Polish settlement or die
fighting in the army gray uniform
he wore.
The commanders in chief of
Germanys army, navy and air
force-Col. Gen. Walther Won
Brauchitisch, Admiral Erich Raeder
and Field Marshal Hermann Will
helm Goering-issued order of the
day pledging loyalty to Hitler and
the Reich.
The army and navy orders were
short, but Goering's command to
the air force was an exhortation:
Comrades! For weeks and
months you experienced unheard
of, unbelievable provocation with
clenched first and gritted teeth. '**
The measure now Is full. No
longer can the German people stand
for the criminal measures to which
hundreds and thousands of Ger
mans already have fallen victims.
THE Fuehrer has called. Your
great hour has arrived"
In his passionate 36-minute Reich
stag speech the Fuehrer declared
significantly that Germany does not
count on Italian help. On the other
hand he pictured Soviet Russia as
Germany's eternal friend
Hitler spoke as if war already
were under way, but he did not go
through the old-fashioned procedure
of formally declaring war.
1ntimates Rome Berlin Axis Dead.
He implied that the Rome-Berlin
axis had been smashed Germany,
he said, does not count on Italian
help. He vowed eternal friendship
for Soviet Russia.
The supreme Nazi leader declared
to his nation and the world that
Germany would fight until the
Polish government yields or is sup
planted by a government that will
yield.
He threatened to answer bomb
with bomb and gas with gas"-de-
pending on the sort of warfare
Poland wages.
The Reichstag unanimously shout
ed its approval of law annexing
Danzig-original bone of German
Polish contention.
The German radio announced
that the League of Nations COM
missioner for Danzig, Prof. Carl
Burckhardt, and his staff left DAN
zig at 9 am. g am, E. S. To.
Artillery Fire Heard.
Hitler declared his intention to
lead his forces at the front and
named Field Marshal Goering as
his first choice for succession to
the NaZi leadership if he were killed.
He called Germany's army the
best-equipped in the world and con-
f1dently assured Germany that
there will not be another Novem-
Der, 1918"
A few hours earlier Hitler had
ordered his mighty army to meet
force with force" and artillery fire
was heard near the Polish -Silesian
border.
The sound of cannonading rum
bled over the Silesian fields near
Gleiwitz on the Polish frontier.
The German fleet swung into ac-
ton on the Baltic. It blockaded
the Polish port of Gdynia, neighbor
Of Danzig.
Un confirmed reports were re-
ceived at Helsinki, Finland, that
the German fleet had bombarded