Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 24, 1995 TAG: 9505240049
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Greg Edwards Staff Writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Alfred Rosenberg, dandy, scented arch-philosopher of Nazism and leader of Germany's anti-Russian crusade, was caught in an Allied dragnet for fugitive Nazi leaders. The hunt continued for Nazi hangman Heinrich Himmler.
The South and West won their long fight for parity in rail rates when the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered that freight should have the same classification whether it started or stopped east of the Rocky Mountains.
Japanese resistance on Okinawa was reported to be finally cracking as U.S. 10th Army soldiers and marines cut down hundreds of enemy troops in hand-to-hand battles through the hills, caves and streets of the island doorstep to Japan.
Col. James M. Stewart was awarded the French Croix de Guerre by Lt. Gen. Martial Valin, France's air force chief of staff, at a ceremony in London. Stewart was better known to movie fans before the war by the name of Jimmy.
Food shortages in Virginia and elsewhere around the country were worse than earlier in the war, with many restaurants closing on Sundays because meat could not be found. In Roanoke, shortages included beef, bacon, other pork cuts, veal, black pepper, baking chocolate, dried fruits, sweet pickles, canned fruits, oranges and potatoes.
Art works stolen by Nazi leader Hermann Goering were valued at $200 million. A banner outside an Austrian hotel invited people to come look at the treasures. It read: The Hermann Goering art collection - courtesy of the 101st Airborne Division.
Karl Voelkner sat fidgeting in the middle of a room insisting that he was a good, kind, gentle German as U.S counter-intelligence officers questioned him. Yes, he admitted to the disgusted Americans, he had been commander of the SS guard at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
The U.S. command announced that Gen. Courtney Hodges' 1st Army, which had played a critical role in the war in Europe, would join the fighting in Japan.
Appalachian Power Co. announced a new liberalized plan to extend electric service to all rural areas in its service territory.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill resigned as chief of Britain's wartime coalition government, forcing Britain's first general election in 10 years.
Attorney General Francis Biddle, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and Secretary of Agriculture Claude Wickard resigned from President Truman's cabinet.
The German high command and members of Admiral Karl Doentiz's Reich government were ordered arrested by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and made subject to trial as war criminals. Still no trace, however, was found of Himmler.
A school system that would graduate students in 12 years instead of the current 11 was advocated by State Schools Superintendent Dabney S. Lancaster.
Heinrich Himmler, Gestapo chief and symbol of all that was bestial in Naziism, killed himself by biting into a vial of cyanide he had hidden in his mouth. Himmler, who was being held at a villa in northwestern Germany by British troops, died with only his socks on, having been stripped in a search for poison.
Humphrey Bogart married Lauren Bacall.
500 B-29 Superfortresses showered more than 4,000 tons of a new type of fire bomb onto the heart of Tokyo.
by CNB