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Now many of those who had been standing retook their seats, unwilling to give the appearance of approval to such radical talk. Halstead continued on, unabated. “You heard it here first! On May Seventh, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles will be made public! And, my fellow Germans, those terms shall not be favorable to Germany! Alsace-Lorraine will be handed over to France, Eupen, Malmedy, and Moresnet will be handed to Belgium, Schleswig to Denmark!” There were shouts of Nein! at the mention of each territory, the protests growing louder with each parcel of land. “And that is certainly not all, my fellow Germans! That vile nation of Poland will be recreated, will be carved out of German lands in the east! Poles shall be made masters of Germans!” Now the hall was rowdy once more, this time with a combination of shouts of anguish and accusations of Halstead as a liar. “I tell you only the truth! A truth which shall be made evident one week from this very Wednesday!” Halstead was shaking his right fist in the air high above his listeners, and shouting above their screams. “East Prussia shall be separated from the Reich by a Polish Corridor running all the way to the sea! The City of Danzig shall be torn from the Reich! Germany shall be forced to accept responsibility for the war! The Kaiser and hundreds of others shall be branded ‘war criminals’!” More than one stone stein crashed against the cloth-covered wall behind Halstead’s back after narrowly missing his unmoving head. Beer spilled everywhere, and Ordnertruppe guards had to step forward from the line they had formed in front of the speaker to subdue those who were overcome with rage at both the news and its bearer. Now both of Halstead’s fists were in the air. “My fellow Germans! Now is the time to prove your worth as Germans and as men! Tomorrow shall be a day of reckoning for these Communist swine, and tonight shall be the moment of creation of the New Germany, of the Third Reich!” Halstead stared over and beyond the handful of hecklers in the front of the hall who were being subdued with riflebutts and boots. “Tomorrow the Reichswehr and our fellow Freikorps shall help us in overthrowing this Communist regime!” |