Evening star., 1944-01-30
Balkan Report Hints
HimmIer Has Gone
To Quiet Bulgaria
By PAUL GHALI,


Foreign Correspondent of The Star and
The Chicago Daily News.
BERN, Jan. 29-Where is Hitler's
dreaded Gestapo chief? According
to private reports reaching here by
telephone late last night from
Bucharest, Heinrich Himmler crossed
Rumanian territory at the begin
ming of the week, heading in
southerly direction.
The Reich minister of the interior
Travelled through Rumania strictly
incognito, it is revealed, and there
was no representative Of the Ru-
manian government at the frontier
station to meet him. Rumanian
circles here believe he was headed
for Sofa. They connect his mys-
terious trip with events in Bulgaria,
where Allied bombardments, COM
bined with diplomatic pressure by
Russia, have led the opposition to
reiterate its demands for a more
reasonable foreign policy" and a
move toward the Allies.
Custer Rumored.
A few observers here link Hmm
ler's current mystery trip with a
sensational report in the usually
reliable Swiss newspaper, Journal
de Geneve. The report suggests
that Himmler no longer exercises
his functions as minister of the
interior owing to his disagreement
with Hitler.
(NBC Correspondent Paul
Archinard in a broadcast from
Bern, Switzerland, yesterday
quoted the Journal de Geneve as
saving that Himmler possibly had
been executed because OF am
bitions to replace Hitler.
according to the Associated
Press, Mr.. Archinard quoted the
paper as saying Himmler had
been replaced as interior minister
by Martin Bormann, chief of Hit
ler's private chancelleryD
Some Rumanians here believe
Himmler deemed it necessary to
adopt incognito this time while
passing through their country be-
cause his trip might lead him even
further afield than Sofia.
German Experts Differ.
It must be emphasized that this
later view is countered by the opin-
ions of all serious experts of Ger
man affairs here. They deny knowl-
edge of any weakening in Himmler's
prestige.
On the other hand, Himmler's
presence in Sofia this week is seen
to have been urgently needed. 1t
Is believed by close observers of the
Bulgarian situation here to have
been one of the main factors
prompting Bulgarian Premier Dobri
Bojilov to remain adamant to the
demands of his opposition.
Berlin dispatches today empha-
size the deep concern with which
Nazi circles have been following
the growing opposition developing
in Bulgaria against the pro-Nazi
government. These dispatches say
that Berlin in no way underesti-
mated the Importance of the pres
sure on Bulgarians in the shape
of air attacks and verbal or writ
ten propaganda.
In the circumstances, it is ar
gued, Himmler's sinister presence
was considered essential to put mat
ters right.
Himmler Is Trouble Shooter.
1t has been observed that when
ever large scale excavations are
ordered in occupied or satellite
countries, Himmler generally is
found on the spot, doubtless sent
by Hitler to calm" the wrath Of
local population against their Nazi
overlords.
When the Rumanians decided to
evacuate Bessarabia altogether, at
the beginning of January, Himmler
was in the Rumanian capital. A
few weeks earlier he had been re-
ported visiting the Baltic states
where large part of the population
had also been evacuated under the
impending menace of the Russian
advance
In addition to Sofia the four i'm
portant Bulgarian towns Of Bur-
gas, Sutschuk, Philippopol and
Plivna are now being evacuated,
Budapest dispatch today reveals.
Himmler and trouble are always
synonymous.
(Copyright, 1914, by Chicago Daily News)