Czechoslovakia's Amnesty The Easter amnesty granted by President Benes to
all political prisoners in Czechoslovakia except those charged with " military treason " freed 2,867 persons, of whom much the largest contingent (over 1,300) were Germans. The Henlein party, however, let it be known at once that while grateful they are not placated. It is becoming, indeed, pretty obvious that nothing of that sort will at present placate them ; for living like the rest of Czechoslovakia under the threat of a German invasion, they know that, if Hider came, he would show no mercy to Germans who had compromised on the full Nazi demand. President Benes and Dr. Hodza, his Prime Minister, are nevertheless well-advised to put themselves as far as possible in the right. Short of giving away their country's freedom—which is what " autonomy " for the Sudeten Germans would entail—they seem really anxious to meet every minority demand. British comment continues to be in some cases surprisingly ill-informed. One sees it said, for instance, that, if only Hitler could be allowed to incorporate the Sudeten Germans in the Reich, he would not want to annex the Czech and Slovak regions— he only wants Germans under his flag. Such commentators cannot have taken the elementary precaution to study Mein Kampf. Else they would know that his ideas comprise the annexation of non-German areas on a vastly greater scale than Czechoslovakia. The Sudeten Germans are very handy pawns in the game. But it would be played it they did not exist.
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