Scandal at Salzburg

INTERNATIONAL

While the Western Allies were belatedly liquidating their Flensburg fiasco, the Russians last week established a Berlin municipal council of German non-Communists and a few Communists (see below). In Vienna, the Russians had long since installed a national government headed by non-Communist Dr. Karl Rentier--and so far had ignored U.S. and British disapproval of this government.

A possible consequence of Soviet speed and order was that Germans and Austrians might gain a new respect for the U.S.S.R., lose what respect they had for the U.S. and Britain. In Salzburg, near the Austro-German border, TIME Correspondent William Walton last week found a scandalous situation which not only enhanced this possibility but suggested another one--that in the long run Naziism may be the gainer. Cabled Walton:

We cannot be proud of the contrast between the U.S. and Russian occupied zones of Austria. After three weeks of occupation, the Americans have not yet set up a government or indicated to the Austrians what we plan for them. Whatever one may think of the Vienna government or of the Russians' unilateral action, the fact remains that the Russians have moved with dispatch and are displaying their wares to the Austrians. So far our shopwindow has been filled chiefly with confusion.

The confusion on our side of the demarcation line is typified by the story of Salzburg. Captured on May 4, Salzburg has since been run by five different military government teams. No sooner would one set up shop than it would be superseded by another. So far the original team trained for this area has not arrived. When it will, no one knows. Each team operating in Salzburg has never known whether it would be here the following day to continue its job. Naturally, nobody is able to lay down any long-range plans or impress the Austrians with a clear-cut program.

The Problems facing the military government were as complicated as is the entire issue of Austria. To begin with, the Nazis had burned all the city records, including food-rationing files. Worst of all was the fact that Salzburg had always been plagued with a strong element of ardent Nazis, whose numbers were augmented by thousands who streamed in from Germany.

With a strong policy and action by the occupiers, these problems might have been met, and even the Nazis might have been convinced that Americans are as good administrators as they are field soldiers.

The Failure. Instead, the German refugees remain here and terrorize Austrians with open boasts that the Nazis will return within two weeks. Many Austrians are afraid to cooperate with the Americans because they know the area teems with fanatical Nazis, many of whom have taken to the mountains with both food and arms.

Already there are signs of Nazi underground activity. Salzburg streets throng with a motley array of hikers in lederhosen and rucksacks, sunburned Wehrmachters still wearing parts of uniforms, soldiers in Hungarian, Czech, Yugoslav, Italian and other uniforms with doubtful political loyalties--a melange which has made good hunting for the Army's Counterintelligence Corps. To deal with such a situation requires both a firm, coherent policy and a well-directed administration. So far we have lacked both.

The Future. We have not yet given the Austrians any clues as to what we plan for their future, what part they are to have in their immediate government, how the three areas are to be coordinated, what the requisites are for Austria becoming truly independent. Liaison with Russia is obviously poor. How much is Russia's fault and how much is ours, I do not know. Certainly the thread of confusion apparent in Salzburg is traceable to the highest levels of our three Allied governments.

While we delay, the Nazis have time to organize their underground. The first shock of defeat is wearing off and eventually the Germans are bound to realize what defeat means to them as a nation. When that realization comes, we can expect more signs of action.

On the bridge over the muddy Salzach River, where it twists through troubled Salzburg, a U.S. Army sign says: "Free Swing Concert Tonight in the Mozart Theater." In Salzburg it is swing, in Vienna it is a tune somewhat more familiar to European ears. But unless the orchestras get together, the Austrians are more likely to listen to a new variation of that old Horst Wessel Lied, sung by men who are now fugitives in the mountains.

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