Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression [Page 563]
L. Extension of Fifth Column Activity
As in the case of Austria and the Sudetenland, the Nazi
conspirators did not intend to rely on the Wehrmacht alone
to accomplish their calculated objective of "liquidating"
Czechoslovakia. With the German minority separated from
Czechoslovakia, they could no longer use the cry, "home to
the Reich." One sizeable minority, the Slovaks, remained
within the Czechoslovak State. The Czechoslovak Government
had made every effort to conciliate Slovak extremists in the
months after the cession of the Sudetenland. Autonomy had
been granted to Slovakia, with an autonomous cabinet and
parliament at Bratislava. Nonetheless, despite these
concessions, it was in Slovakia that the Nazi conspirators
found men ready to take their money and do their bidding.
The following picture of Nazi operations in Slovakia is
based on the Czechoslovak official report. (998-PS; 3061-PS)
Nazi propaganda and "research" groups had long been
interested in maintaining close connections with the Slovak
autonomist opposition. When Bela Tuka, who later became
Prime Minister of the puppet state of Slovakia, was tried
for espionage and treason in 1929, the evidence established
that he had already established connections with Nazi groups
within Germany. Prior to 1938 Nazi aides were in close
contact with Slovak traitors living in exile and were
attempting to establish more profitable contacts in the semi-
fascist Slovak Catholic Peoples Party of Monsignor Andrew
Hlinka. Out of sympathy with the predominantly anti-clerical
government in Prague, some Catholic elements in Slovakia
proved willing to cooperate with the Nazis. In February and
July 1938 the leaders of the Henlein movement conferred with
top men of Father Hlinka's party and agreed to- furnish one
another with mutual assistance in pressing their respective
claim to autonomy. This understanding proved useful in the
September agitation when, at the proper moment, the Foreign
Office in Berlin wired the Henlein leader, Kundt, in Prague
to tell the Slovaks to start their demands for autonomy.
(See 2858-PS.)
By this time, mid-summer 1938, the Nazis were in direct
contact with figures in the Slovak autonomist movement and
had paid agents among the higher staff of Father Hlinka's
party. These agents undertook to render impossible any
understanding between the Slovak autonomists and the Slovak
parties in the government at Prague. Franz Karmasin, later
to become Volksgruppenfuehrer had been appointed Nazi leader
in Slovakia and professed to be serving the cause of Slovak
autonomy while on the Nazi pay roll. On 22 November the
Nazis indiscreetly wired
[Page 564]
Karmasin to collect his money at the German Legation in
person. The telegram, sent from the German Legation at
Prague to Bratislava (Pressburg), reads as follows:
"Delegate Kundt asks to notify State Secretary Karmasin
that he would appreciate it if he could personally draw
the sum which is being kept for him at the treasury of
the embassy.
"HENCKE" (2859-PS)
Karmasin proved to be extremely useful to the Nazi cause. A
captured memorandum of the German Foreign Office, dated
Berlin, 29 November 1939 eight months after the conquest of
Czechoslovakiathrows a revealing light both on Karmasin and
on the German Foreign Office:
"On the question of payments to KARMASIN
"Karmasin receives 30,000 Marks for the VDA (Peoples'
League for Germans Abroad) until 1 April 1940; from
then on 15,000 Marks monthly.
"Furthermore, the Central Office for Racial Germans
(Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle) has deposited 300,000
Marks for Karmasin with the German Mission in
Bratislava (Pressburg) on which he could fall back in
an emergency.
"Furthermore, Karmasin has received money from Reich
Minister Seyss-Inquart; for the present it has been
impossible to determine what amounts had been involved,
and whether the payments will continue.
"Therefore it appears that Karmasin has been provided
with sufficient money; thus one could await whether he
would put up new demands himself.
"Herewith presented to the Reich Foreign Minister.
"/s/ WOERMANN" (2794-PS)
This document shows the complicity of the German Foreign
Office in the subsidization of illegal organizations abroad.
More important, it shows that the Germans still considered
it necessary to supply their under-cover representatives in
Pressburg with substantial funds even after the declaration
of the so-called independent State of Slovakia.
Some time in the winter of 1938-1939 Goering conferred with
Durcansky and Mach, two leaders in the Slovak extremist
group, who were accompanied by Karmasin. The Slovaks told
Goering of their desire for what they called "independence,"
with strong political, economic, and military ties to
Germany. They promised that the Jewish problem would be
solved as it had been in Germany and that the Communist
Party would be prohibited. The notes of the meeting report
that Goering considered that the
[Page 565]
Slovak efforts towards independence were to be supported,
although his motives were scarcely altruistic. The undated
minutes of this conversation between Goering and Durcansky,
captured among the files of the German Foreign Office, are
jotted down in somewhat telegraphic style:
"To begin with DURKANSKY (Deputy Prime Minister) reads
out declaration. Contents: Friendship for the Fuehrer;
gratitude, that through the Fuehrer autonomy has become
possible for the SLOVAKS. The SLOVAKS never want to
belong to HUNGARY. The SLOVAKS want full independence
with strongest political, economic and military ties to
Germany. BRATISLAVA to be capital. The execution of the
plan only possible if the army and police are SLOVAK.
"An independent SLOVAKIA to be proclaimed at the
meeting of the first SLOVAK Diet. In the case of a
plebiscite the majority would favour a separation from
PRAGUE. Jews will vote for Hungary. The area of the
plebiscite to be up to the MARCH, where a large SLOVAK
population lives.
"The Jewish problem will be solved similarly to that in
Germany. The Communist party to be prohibited.
"The Germans in SLOVAKIA do not want to belong to
Hungary but wish to stay in SLOVAKIA.
"The German influence with the SLOVAK Government
considerable; the appointment of a German Minister
(member of the cabinet) has been promised.
"At present negotiations with HUNGARY are being
conducted by the SLOVAKS. The CZECHS are more yielding
towards the Hungarians than the SLOVAKS.
"The Fieldmarshal considers; that the SLOVAK
negotiations towards independence are to be supported
in a suitable manner. Czechoslovakia without Slovakia
is still more at our mercy.
"Air bases in Slovakia are of great importance for the
German Air Force for use against the East." (2801-PS)
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
ftp.
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Volume
I Chapter IX
The Execution of the Plan to Invade Czechoslovakia<(Part 22 of 29)