Nazis Deny Purge Rumor, Imperial Valley Press (Article, 1934)

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NAZIS DENY PURGE RUMOR

PARIS, Dec. 28. (U.P.)--A series of rumors regarding a new "purge" in Nazi Germany, all emanating apparently from a dispatch in a Prague newspaper, continued to circulate on the continent today, despite full and apparently authentic denials from Germany.

The sole basis for the rumors seemed to be an officially announced drive against homo-sexuals in German cities. It was announced yesterday that in this drive, long since completed, about 300 persons were arrested, of whom 200 were released and 100 held for investigation.

Several days ago the newspaper Weitbuhne of Prague published, on the basis of information said to have reached Prague from Strassbourg, France, that between 200 and 230 chiefs of the storm troop organizations and Nazi party leaders in Germany had been executed between December 1 and December [?].

This dispatch, with variations, apparently has been circulated over all Europe, each succeeding newspaper which publishes it being quoted as the latest authority for it.

The stories have been exaggerated with each rehandling, and the estimate of executions reached 1500.

These rumors have been denied repeatedly by German officials, and responsible newspaper correspondents in Germany have insisted that there was no sign of any "purge".