The Nazi Mutiny On April 1st, Captain Stennes, commander of
the North German group, one of the most important of the Nazi storm detachments, was dismissed from his post for heterodoxy. Like many of his fellow-soldiers of fortune in the Nazi ranks, he has been chafing under the imposed " legality " of method to which Herr Hitler committed himself last autumn. He refused to accept his dismissal, issued a statement violently attacking his leader, and seized the Berlin Nazi headquarters. Herr Hitler rode the crisis with superb assurance. The mutiny was sum- marily quelled and his own ascendancy reaffirmed. By Easter Day Captain Stennes had faded into an unspecified part of the background and all was over bar the shouting. Nevertheless, the rebellion was significant. Coming on the heels of Dr. Frick's resignation as Thuringian Minister of the Interior, it shows that there are sparks of dissension in the air ; and, no matter how effectively controlled, the Nazi organization is a vast potential powder-magazine.
Previous page
