"Svenlng Public Ledger" Philadelphia
April 6, 1940
Nazi Minister Here
Is Diplomatic Mystery
By L. S. WILLIS
Philadelphia was Just a flag sta-
tion to Germany for thirty-three
years, but it suddenly has become
so important to Adolf Hitler that
an Envoy Extraordinary and Min-
ister Plenipotentiary has taken over
the consular offices here.
He is Erich Windels, Minister U
Canada until the outbreak of the
war and a major figure in the Ger-
man Diplomatic Service. The rea-
sons for assigning him to Philadel-
phia are mysterious and possibly sig-
nificant,
Windels, a genial, middle-aged
man with a friendly smite and sharp
gray eyes, slipped so quietly Into the
city last January that his arrival
went unnoticed.
MOVED HEADQUARTERS
One of the first acts was to move I
the consular headquarters here from
an office shared with the North Ger-
man Lloyd to a new and less public]
location at 15th and Locust Sts
Until Wlndels' arrival there was no
representative of Germany here ex-
cept an honorary Consul. Since the
war started, trade between the
United States and Germany has
dropped to almost zero. Yet the Ger-
man Government has seen fit to in-
stall one of its major diplomatic
figures permanently in Philadelphia.
"Why were you sent here?" Win-
dels was asked.
"I cannot answer that," he said
with a smile. "Our Governments do
not usually give us reasons—Just
orders/'
SAYS DUTIES ARE ROUTINE
How does he spend his time?
"Just routine matters. Just the
ordinary duties of running a con-
sular office. I have a thick book
here on what a Consul does, if you're
interested.
"However, Philadelphia is such an
ERICH WIN DELS
important city, even aside from 1U
large German population, that it
should have had more than an hon-
orary Consul here. Doubtless, the
reason was economy."
He did not explain why Germany
no longer found economy necessary.
Windels' first appearance in Phila-
delphia was on January 4. when he
took a suite at the Drake, where the
French Consul lives. He remained
a few weeks, then left to mingle
with socially prominent Americans
at Pinehurst.