§ 72. Dr. Kingasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action the Allied High Commission propose to take under Allied Law 14, in view of the statements recently made by General Bernhard Ramcke demanding the release of all war criminals.
§ 73. Mr. E. Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action he has instructed the High Commissioner to take arising out of the provocative Nazi speech addressed by General Ramcke to the reunion of S.S. members at Werden in Lower Saxony.
§ 75. Mr. Noel-Bakerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government propose to take under their residual powers relating to the suppression of Nazism and the preservation of public order regarding the speech made recently by Herr Ramcke to a meeting of former members of the Waffen S.S.
§ Mr. EdenThe meeting at which the former General Ramcke's speech was delivered was ostensibly a reunion of an organisation of former members of the Waffen S.S., the published aims of which are not in themselves objectionable. 253W Ramcke, who was not a member of the Waffen S.S., was a guest speaker at the meeting. He was billed to speak for three minutes but went on for half an hour, ignoring efforts to stop him by the organisers who have since publicly dissociated themselves from his remarks.
I, and I have no doubt the whole House, strongly deplore speeches of this kind which undermine confidence in the honesty of Germany's intentions and her reliability as a European partner. But in the present case I have not instructed the United Kingdom High Commissioner to propose the use of the Allied High Commission's powers, because I do not consider that these remarks, however much we may resent them, constitute a real threat to the security of the Occupation Forces. Moreover, the House will have observed that not only the German Federal Government but also the German Press of all shades of political opinion have strongly condemned General Ramcke's remarks.