Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression H. The Campaign Within Czechoslovakia.
The military preparations for aggression against
Czechoslovakia had not been carried out in vacuum. They had
been preceded by a skillfully conceived campaign designed to
promote civil disobedience to the Czechoslovak State. Using
the techniques they had already developed in other ventures,
the Nazi conspirators over a period of years used money,
propaganda, and force to undermine Czechoslovakia. In this
program the Nazis focussed their attention on the persons of
German descent living in the Sudetenland, a mountainous area
bounding Bohemia and Moravia on the north, west, and south.
The Czechoslovak government's official report for the
prosecution and trial of German major war criminals,
entitled "German Crimes Against Czechoslovakia," sows the
background of the subsequent Nazi intrigue. (998-PS; 3061-
PS)
Nazi agitation in Czechoslovakia dated from the earliest
days of the NSDAP. In the years following the First World
War a German National Socialist Workers Party (DNSAP), which
maintained close contact with Hitler's NSDAP, was active in
the Sudetenland. In 1932, ringleaders of the Sudeten
Volksport, an organization corresponding to the Nazi SA,
openly endorsed the 21 points of Hitler's program, the first
of which demanded the union of all Germans in a Greater
Germany. Soon thereafter they were charged with planning
armed rebellion on behalf of a foreign power and were
sentenced for conspiracy against the Czech Republic. Late in
1933 the National Socialist Party of Czechoslovakia
forestalled its dissolution by voluntary liquidation, and
several of its chiefs escaped across the frontier. For a
year thereafter Nazi activity in Czechoslovakia continued
underground. (998-PS; 3061-PS)
On 1 October 1934, with the approval and at the urging of
the
[Page 543]
Nazi conspirators, Konrad Henlein, an instructor of
gymnastics, established the "German Home Front" (Deutsche
Heimatfront), which the following spring became the Sudeten
German Party (sudetendeutsche Partei SDP). Profiting from
the experience of the Czech National Socialist Party,
Henlein denied any connection with the German Nazis. He
rejected pan-Germanism, and professed his respect for
individual liberties and his loyalty to "honest democracy"
and to the Czech state. His party, none-the-less, was built
on the basis of the Nazi Fuehrerprinzip, and he became its
Fuehrer. By 1937, when the power of Hitler's Germany had
become manifest, Henlein and his followers were striking a
more aggressive note, demanding, without definition,
"complete Sudeten autonomy". The SDP laid proposals before
the Czech Parliament which would, in substance, have created
a state within a state. (998-PS; 3061-PS)
After the annexation of Austria in March 1938 the
Henleinists, who were now openly organized after the Nazi
model, intensified their activity. Undisguised anti-Semitic
propaganda started in the Henlein press; the campaign
against "bolshevism" was intensified; terrorism in the
Henlein-dominated communities increased. A storm troop
organization, patterned and trained on the principles of the
Nazi SS, was established, known as the FS (Freiwilliger
Selbstschutz, or Voluntary Vigilantes). On 24 April 1938, in
a speech to the Party Congress in Karlovy Vary, Henlein came
into the open with his "Karlsbad Program". In this speech,
which echoed Hitler in tone and substance, Henlein asserted
the right of the Sudeten Germans to profess "German
political philosophy?', which, it was clear, meant National
Socialism. (998-PS; 3061-PS)
As the summer of 1938 wore on, the Henleinists used every
technique of the Nazi Fifth Column. As summarized in the
Czech official report, these included:
(1) Espionage. Military espionage was conducted by the SDP,
the FS, and by other members of the German minority on
behalf of Germany. Czech defenses were mapped, and
information on Czech troop movements was furnished to the
German authorities.
(2) Nazification of German Organizations in Czechoslovakia.
The Henleinists systematically penetrated the whole life of
the German population of Czechoslovakia. Associations and
social and cultural centers gradually underwent
"Gleichschaltung", i.e., "purification, by the SDP. Among
the organizations conquered by the Henleinists were sport
societies, rowing clubs, associations of ex-service men, and
choral societies. The Henleinists
[Page 544]
were particularly interested in penetrating as many business
institutions as possible and in bringing over to their side
the directors of banks, the owners or directors of
factories, and the managers of commercial firms. In the case
of Jewish ownership or direction they attempted to secure
the cooperation of the clerical and technical staffs of the
institution.
(3) German Direction and Leadership. The Henleinists
maintained permanent contact with the Nazi officials
designated to direct operations within Czechoslovakia.
Meetings in Germany at which Henleinists were exhorted and
instructed in Fifth Column activity were camouflaged by
being held in conjunction with Saenger Feste (choral
festivals), gymnastic shows and assemblies, and commercial
gatherings such as the Leipzig Fair. Whenever the Nazi
conspirators needed incidents for their war of nerves, it
was the duty of the Henleinists to supply them.
(4) Propaganda. Disruptive and subversive propaganda was
beamed at Czechoslovakia in German broadcasts and was echoed
in the German press. Goebbels called Czechoslovakia a "nest
of Bolshevism" and spread the false report of "Russian
troops and airplanes" centered in Prague. Under direction
from the Reich the Henleinists maintained whispering
propaganda in the Sudetenland, which contributed to the
mounting tension and to the creation of incidents. Illegal
Nazi literature was smuggled from Germany and widely
distributed in the border regions. The Henlein press more or
less openly espoused Nazi ideology to the German population.
(5) Murder and Terrorism. The Nazi conspirators provided the
Henleinists, and particularly the FS, with money and arms
with which to provoke incidents and to maintain a state of
permanent unrest. Gendarmes, customs officers, and other
Czech officials were attacked. A boycott was established
against Jewish lawyers, doctors, and tradesmen. The
Henleinists terrorized the non-Henlein population, and the
Nazi Gestapo crossed into border districts to carry
Czechoslovak citizens across the border to Germany. In
several cases political foes of the Nazis were murdered on
Czech soil. Nazi agents murdered Professor Theodor Lessing
in 1933 and the engineer Formis in 1935. Both men were anti-
Nazis who had escaped from Germany after Hitler came to
power and had sought refuge in Czechoslovakia. (998-PS; 3061-
PS)
The
original plaintext version
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Volume
I Chapter IX
The Execution of the Plan to Invade Czechoslovakia<(Part 14 of 29)