Evening star., 1955-02-16
Three Invaders
OF Red Legation
Give Selves Up
Surrender Comes
After Bern Troops
Serve Ultimutum
sy III. Asseeias.d Pres.

SStVS OlttbHutUm
by The Asseciaisd Press
BERN, Switzerland. Feb. 49,
All three anti Communists hold.
ing the barricaded Romaniar
Legation here surrendered with.
out bloodshed today.
Capt. Hermann Alboth Of the
Swiss Army said there were only
three men ID the building at the
end and the fourth man was
"only q bluff"
Police officers who entered the
legation after the three men
walked out, ending their dra-
matte 42-hour occupation of the
legation, said the building was
strewn with torn-up Communist
propaganda material Other
wise. they said. the building was
not seriously damaged.
The three men were between
n and IS years of age. They
refused to give their names. Po-
lice said the leader of the band
told them his father had been
killed by the Russians in Ro-
mania.
Wanted Prisoner Freed.
The group, which slew the
legation chauffeur when he re-
sisted them early Tuesday. had
vowed to hold the legation
buildings in this capital of neu-
tral Switzerland until their Red
homeland freed five resistance
leaders from Imprisonment be-
hind the Iron Curtain.
The decision of the three to
surrender was announced by Al
fred Zehnder, secretary of the
Swiss Governments Political
Department.
Long rows of cantonal police
and Swiss troops lined the street
in front of the legation as the
police patrol wagon left for the
Bern Prison.
Surrender of the men in face
of a police ultimatum ended an
occupation which started at 10
pm. Monday night. The men
forced their way into the lega-
tion. held several attaches and
their families prisoner for sew
eral hours, and fatally wounded
the chauffer. Aurel Sedu.
Romania May Not Get Them.
The men viii face trial in
Switzerland for the killing of
the Chauffeur. It is understood,
however, the Swiss government
--as part Of the capitulatioii
deal--had indicated that extra
dition to Romania as demanded
by the Communist Romanian
government, would not be
granted. The surrender came
after a Catholic priest visited
two Of the men who had re-
quested him in the legation to
release them from their vows to
hold out to the end.
Police had been prepared to
proceed with a planned cam
paign to eject the band from the
building forcibly. Police officials,
under pressure from the Swiss
government to get the men out
of the building quickly, had even
called in army tank experts to
survey the terrain around the
legation. The tank man agreed
that a large scale evacuation of
the neighboring premises would,
have been necessary.
One police officer said it was
probable that two men managed
to escape through a police
Gordon thrown about the build
ing early Tuesday after neigh
bors had reported a fusillade of
machinegun fire in the legation.
One man was captured. He is in
the Bern city jail.
Pistols Brought Out.
Police who came out Of the
legation after the surrender
brought with them three auto
matte pistols which the anti
Communists had.
Emeric Stoffel, Romanian
charge d'affaires. and six mem
bers of his staff entered the
building only a few minutes
after the three men had been
taken to Jail.
The incident plunged tradi-
tionaly neutral Switzerland into
the midst of, the East-West cold
war and dominated life in the
normally quiet and conservative
capital. Thousands flocked to
the park surrounding the Lega-
ton for a quick look at the war
like scene.
Bucharest Note Bitter.
A blistering official note from
Bucharest yesterday demanded
the arrest and extradition to
Romania of the invaders. It
held Switzerland responsible for
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