J GUOF N'.TIO:;, C. 121,1.:, 44.12 34/711. Communicated to the Council and Members Geneva ; inarch 17th. 19 34. of the League. SAAR E^STN. PETITION FROM IHE "SAARL.iNPISCHE WI RT5C1IAFTSYE RE INI GUNG” . Note by the Secretary-Genera 1, The Secretary-General has the honour to circulate for the information of the Council and Members of the League a letter from the Chair : .an of the Governing Com­ mission of the Saar Territory, dated March Oth, 1934, enclosing a petition from the Saarl&ndische Wirtschafts- vereinigung", dated February 19th, 1934. Translation) Saarbruck, March 8th, 1934. To the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. Sir, I have the honour to send you herewith a petition, dated February 19th, 1934, addressed to the Council of the League of Nations by the Saar Economic Association ( :,Saarl9ndische Wirtschaftavereinigung”) „ The Governing Commission, referring to its last periodi­ cal report and to the special reports submitted by it to the Council in January 1934, considers that the measures concerning the allocation of meeting-halls, licensed premises, etc . seem to come vri thin the province of the Plebiscite Co emission which is to be appointed by the Council. I have the honour to be, etc., (Signed) G. G. KNOX, 2 - nslation from G-êrrrrn j SAAR ECONOMIC AS SC 01, TION Saarlouis, February 19th, 1934 The undersigned Committee of the Saar iicononic Associa­ tion, Saarlouis, has the honour to acquaint the League of Nations with the following : The League of Nations has devoted special attention to the question of the plebiscite in the Saar Territory and has appointed a sps cial Commission for this purpose. While those Saarlanders who carry on propaganda in favour of union with Germany deny the existence of National-Socialist terrorism in the Saar Territory, the facts prove the contrary. Our Associa­ tion, whose obJect is to fight for the maintenance of the status quo in the Saar Territory, is encountering in this campaign an opposition which proves in the clearest possible manner the existence of terrorism and boycotting. We venture to enumerate below a number of eloquent facts : The National-Socialist party hus given the word that the propaganda of those in favour of the status quo must be hindered, particularly in the portion of the Saar Territory bordering on France. The part of this Territory belonging to the Saarlouis Division is popularly known as the ''Gau' . Our Association, nevertheless, already has a con­ siderable number of adherents in this area. Until 1815 the greater part by far of the present Saarlouis Division was French territory. Although German is now spoken there, the the Secretariat of the League of Nations, Geneva. French origin of the population is shown by the names of many localities, such as Saarlouis, Bous, Beaumarais, Picard, and many surnames of inhabitants of the Saar Territory, such as Levacher, Ney, Fissenê, Fissabre, Donnevert, Dupont, Titeux, Beaumont and numerous others. The speech «f this district also contains a large number of French expressions, such as : "mais", "ouvrage", ,T flemme" , "plafond" , "huissier", "tour", "rideaur1', etc . Many outwardly National-Socialist families still keep up the old historic traditions. Some of the old Saarlouis families are descended from French generals and officers, such as Ney, Grenier and many others. From the economic point of view, too,, the closest relations exist between Saarlouis, the ^Gau'' and France. Three important Saar railway lines., starting from Merzig, Dillingen and VSlklingen, are French State property, In the campaign for the Saarlouis Gau, it is our duty to hold meetings in the villages in this district in order to rally our adherents round us and win fresh support. The population is terrorised and intimidated by the officials to an outrageous extent. At heart the population is sound, and it holds the view that in the campaign which is already in full swing, all currents of opinion should have the same rights. A few weeks ago we obtained the consent of an inn­ keeper at Ittersdorf, of the name of Pallier, (please note the French name !) to hold a meeting in the room of his inn. But the innkeeper’s son succeeded in talking his father round, and the latter went back on his promise at the last moment in the most illegal manner. On February 18th, 1934, leaders, speakers and members of our Association went to Bedersdorf. On February 14th, 19-34, - 4 - the innkeeper of that locality, who bears the French name of G-illot, had definitely promised Peter 'Vagner, of Picard, a member of our Committee, in the presence of another of our members, the architect Schmidt, of Neue .,'elt, to place a room at our Association's disposal at 4 p.m. on February 18th. When 77e went there at the appointed hour in order to hold our meeting, we found that the whole of the Hitler youth organisations of the villages of Itter sdorf, Felsberg, Dur en and Fer lin-yen had gather­ ed at the inn. They were led by the schoolmaster Lratz, of ’■.erlingen, and a member of the Kreistag with the French name of Loreng. '.Then we entered the inn we were greeted by the schoolchildren with noisy cries of "Heil Hitler I " and "Sieg Heill" and with the singing of disgraceful bellicose songs which spoke of nothing rut daggers, rifles and bullets. One of our speakers asked a schoolboy who was singing one of these bloodthirsty songs whether he wanted to become a murderer; this the misguided youth denied. The room in which re were to hold our meeting was occupied by the Church choir. We left the inn and discussed the matter outside with the innkeeper. The innkeeperf s brother, an employee at the "Kruwag" at Saarlouis, came up and in front of us all said to the innkeeper in the most emphatic way: "Your livelihood is more important to you than anything else, If you do this and give them the room you will be boycotted on every side and will no longer be able to earn your bread". e all heard these words. We then went into the room of the inn which we had duly hired, after the three gendarmes who were present had told us that they could not intervene in our behalf. In the room the choir practice was still going on„ When we made as if to begin our meeting, those very "neutral" gendarmes came in and called upon us in the name of the terrorised innkeeper to leave the room. In spite of our expostulations the gendarmes persisted in this demand. Although we:nrü within our rights, we consented, as evidence of the terrorism which was being exercised, and mindful of the proverb : "It is the wiser man who gives way”, to leave the inn and return home under protest. We consider, however, that this case is a typical example of the terrorism reigning in the Saar Territory. The remarks of the innkeeper’s brother, which might perhaps be inter­ preted only as indicating the existence of terrorism, were calculated and intended to intimidate the still hesitating inn­ keeper by the threat of National-Socialist terrorism, and te break down his resistance. Another highly instructive aspect of this case is the part played by officials, the schoolmaster Kratz being the most prominent figure in the occurrence. Another point to be noted is the disgraceful mentality of those who brought irresponsible children, under the influence cf political agitation,, into this little plebiscite comedy as actcrs and supers. As Jur supporters marched home through the villages singing songs of freedom they were molested by no-ore. Only the excited schoolchildren ran after them and repeated their cries of "Heil Hitler". This was clear evidence of the systematic agitation of the teachers against a l l who do not submit completely to Hitler fasc ism. In drawing the attention of the League of Nations to these facts we arc serving the cause of a free plebiscite, which has been solemnly guaranteed to us by the Saar Statute. ve serve this cause still more when we clearly ask in this petition - g o d our demand is supported by the passionate wishes of countless thousands of fighters for the freedom of the Saar - that steps should be taken to put an end to this disgraceful oppression of freedom of conscience, and particularly of the freedom of votingThe reasons put forward >y our opponents will not bear examination. Their weapons are violence, boycotting and terrorism. They are already systematically stirring up the younger generation to uar a gainst I r: r:ce. The above are only two examples, In almost every ether locality v:s have the same experience. In a territory governed by the League of Nations they are sowing the seeds of racial and national hatred. The so-called Christian teachers are furthering this disintegra­ tion of the soul of the people. While on other Sundays the Gillot inn at Eedersdorf is almost empty, they do not hesitate to mobilise ignorant children against the adherents of the movement for freedom. Such are the methods against which we have to fight. We demand freedom of voting, v-e demand protection of the liberty of thought and conscience in the Saar Territory, We demand the suppression of the terrorism and boycotting practised by our adversaries against all those who do not worship the fetish chosen by the officials and those who think only of money. Above all, we ask that our movement should be afforded the same opportunities as are given to our opponents, in order that we may be able to resist the s ecret and sinister terrorism of the officials.