21. Mr. Skeflington-Lodgeasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement regarding the incidents in Berlin in which German Social Democrats and others were mobbed and beaten up at the City Hall.
§ Mr. MayhewIt appears that this incident began when a crowd, a few hundred strong and led by Communist organisers, surrounded the City Hall, at which a meeting of the City Assembly was due to take place. Some of these persons managed to enter the building, but the crowd finally withdrew when the Chairman of the City Assembly agreed not to called in the police. After the meeting, the crowd, urged on by some Communist councillors, attacked councillors leaving the building, injuring at least three of them, two of whom were members of the Social Democratic Party. The attitude of the police was passive throughout, and as a result of their unwillingness to afford protection, many councillors were unable to leave the City Hall. Assistance was finally obtained from a Social Democrat police officer and five policemen. This police officer was dismissed the following day.