Evening star., 1941-01-24

|AnfonescuHo|ds
Upper Hand After
Three Day Riots
Witness Tells Narrowing
Story Of Clashes in
Buchorest's Streets
Continued From First Page.)
fighting through an unforgettable
night and the hollow-eyed face of
Corneliu Zelea-Codreau, the mar
tyred idol of the Guardists, stared
down into pools Of mud from the
balcony Of the International Thea
ter, where the Legionary leaders had
waited.
Fighting at High Pitch.
On Tuesday night the fighting
reached such a pitch that it be-
came necessary for your correspond
ent to join with two fellow American
newspapermen, Robert st. John Of
the Associated Press of Chicago and
Edmund Stevens of the Christian
Science Monitor, to do what we
could to rescue some of the fallen.
Accidentally, caught before our eyes
in crossfire of guns on the other
side of the empty street from door
way where we were pressed, sallow
young man fell to his knees. We
went across and after helping apply
a tourniquet in a sheltered arcade,
sidled along the streets carrying 1t
in such a way that he could not COM
plain of rain because he was asking
for his patton" which meant his
overcoat.
Most Of the hospitals were full
and we found a relief station. One
Of its two operating tables already
was occupied by a civilian, presum-
ably a Guardist, badly struck on
the head, back and shoulders. Four
haggard, silent men stood at the
doctors elbows watching the work
when we left as more wounded ar
rived.
Our next vehicle was a comman-
deered boulevard bus, lately serving
as a hearse for dead Legionnaires,
which conveyed us back to the fight
ing zone. We sat on the floor until
q Maryland-educated guardian re-
minded US that more courage was
expected of Americans. The Amer
leans jumped out last, but only be-
cause they had back seats.
Germans Remain Neutral.
The streets were filled with the
hoarse shouts of soldiers and the
challenges of the Guardists. During
this phase the Germans remained
strictly neutral, officers studying the
street battles with interest from field
cars, infantry men remaining with
In their barracks.
While several Jewish stores, mark
ed by Guardists, were afterward
watched by detachments Of them
against looting, and while soldiers
formed a Gordon around synagogue
after crowd with axes turned 1t
into a shell in a few minutes. no
municipal police or federal constab-
ulary were visible.
Among the newspapers only the
Universal appeared and 1t was
| limited to government DEGREES. Gen.
Antonescu's soldiers were applied in
the course of Wednesdays cleanup
to occupy, strip and close the Office
of the newspaper before which the
revolutions largest demonstration
took place Tuesday night. The pub
Usher and at least one reporter
| were arrested.
During most of the morning Of
liquidation, German chaser planes
cruised barely over the business
houses and dwellings According
to the official view, only dissident,
terrorist faction of the Iron Guard
was involved in the uprising. The
Legionnaires were difficult to round
up because they were almost all in
their teens or early 20's and have
no insignia except a secret men,
bership card and wear only such
arms as can be concealed about
their clothing.
Fires Break Out.
Fires broke out In Jewish dwell
ings. The villas of Magda Lupescu
and Carols former chancellor, Ern-
est Urdarianu, were occupied by the
Guards.
With anti-aircraft searchIghts il
Eliminating the skies, the mud
splashed streets seemed like a dis
orderly backstage set because many
of the big chancellery buildings al
ready were so weakened by earth
quake shocks that only the scaf-
folding buttresses held them over
the huddling pedestrians.
Despite intermittent gunfire, the
Rumanians walked down town to
their jobs and found German en-
gineers stringing over boulevard
poles and supplementary telephone
lines connecting up some of their
various hotel quarters.
While several Guardists held
buildings during the night, includ-
ing the Ministries of Interior and
Justice, we found them alertly de-
Tended but lacking communications
because of the governments timely
capture and severance of the tele-
phone service. BY similar foresight
five private airplanes held at a
secret field for Sima's men were put
out of action when governmental
regulars eliminated them by strip
ping their crudely mounted ma
chine guns.
Fighting Shifts.
The fighting shifted across the
thawing and misty city unpredict-
ably. At one time the huge Central
Square before the Royal Palace was
wholly cut off, only to become a