The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-17
HITLER HOLDING
 BACK ON PEOPLE
Germans Not Told of Loss of KharkOv; QuarreIs
 With Generals Tinted
lRx limited Pressl

Adolf Hitler, srnarting under his greatest military defeat of the war, still had not told the German peo- pie of the loss of Kllarkov today, more than 12 hours after the Rus sians announced that capture of that Ukranian stronghold.
 German broadcasts beamed abroad acknowledged that the sys- tematic evacuation of Russia's 4th city was about to be concluded" but home listeners still were being informed that the Soviet's had pene- trated no farther than the out- skirts.
 Bitter fighting continues at Kharkov," the German home broad- cast service said. "An encircled Soviet unit was wiped out in the southern part of the town. The en- emy, attacking, broke into the outskirts in the northern part and met stubborn resistance"
 The Germans were much frank CT in their foreign broadcasts and the London radio quoted a German military spokesman as summing up the evacuation of Kharkov with:
 We have suffered 8 defeat lln- precedented in this war"
 The acknowledgement that the evacuation was nearing completion came in @ German transocean broadcast only three hours after the Russian announcement of Khar- kov's capture.
 "All war important Installations and supply depots will be destroyed before evacuation" the broadcast said. "The withdrawal of Ger man forces will be covered by strong German army and armed SS for nations, which encompassed several Soviet groups in the course of these operations"
 Meantime, reports continued to reach London of bitter quarrels between Hitler and his generals over direction of the Russian carn- campaign.
 An Allied intelligence source in London told the United Press that Hitler at a recent meeting flew into a rage when his generals proposed that he give Up supreme command of the army and leave the strategy to the generals.
 The German radio took cognizance of the recurrent reports that Hit Ter already has given Up the su- preme command by issuing a cate- gorical denial that he had agreed to turn over direction of campaign in the east to anyone.
 Private advices to the Columbia Broadcasting System reported that 30 German officers were arrested by Gestapo last month and executed for toying with a plot to remove Adolf Hitler" z,
 From Ankara came 6 report that Hitler has refused to see anyone but his military advisers and Ge- stapo Chief Heinrich Himmler dur- ing the past six weeks. Even Foreign Minister Joachim Won Rib- bentrop and other members of his government were turned away, the report said.
 Fighting continues "inside and around' Kharkov. Radio Berlin said today, quoting the official German communique.
 In the area between the Sea of Azov and the region southeast Of Orel an "embittered" struggle is in progress, the broadcast said, while on the Kuban bridgehead, in the northwest Caucasus, rather strong attacks weer repulsed with heavy losses to the enemy"
 North of Kursk, enemy offensive activity decreased somewhat in comparison with the last few days, the communique said, and Soviet thrusts were beaten back.
 The broadcast said the Russians continued attacks southeast of Lake linen, between the Volkhov river and Lake Ladoga.
 On the Tunisian front, enemy units were annihilated and much war material was either destroyed or captured, the high command said.
 Fast German planes, 1t said, car ried out low-level surprise attacks against British motorized columns and dispersed them"
 Probably referring to the heavy American raid on St. Nazaire, the communique said: during c day. light raid of an American bomber formation on a French Atlantic port yesterday, eight four-motOred