Czechoslovakia's Germans The split in the ranks of the Henlein
section of the Sudeten... deutsch Germans in Czechoslovakia may turn out to have considerable significance. The Henlein party has suffered many vicissitudes in the last two -months. -First one of its leading figures, Herr Rutha, was arrested on the charge of an offence against morals, and committed suicide before trial. Now the heads of the trade union section of the party, Herr Kaspar and Dr. Gonak, both of them deputies, have fallen foul of Herr Henlein and been expelled from the party; their defection is clear evidence of a serious cleavage. On top of that comes news that a number of leaders of the youth movement in the party have been expelled for other reasons. The Henlein Party indudes only about two-thirds of the Germans in Czechoslovakia, the remaining third being supporters of the Government, and it is manifestly impossible for Germany, in the light of recent developments, to speak of the Henlein section as a united bloc. The Czechoslovakian Government has announced, very wisely, that the ban on the admission into the gendarmerie and police of German- speaking candidates is removed, though successful candidates will be required (quite reasonably) to learn Czech within two years. A small but wise concession.
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