While most political groups in the Saar supported its return to Germany before Adolf Hitler came to power, opponents of Nazism in the Saar began having doubts and misgivings after it.[7] Due to Hitler's oppression of their German counterparts, communists and socialists supported a continuation of the League of Nations administration and a delay in the plebiscite until after the Nazis were no longer in power in Germany.[7] Roman Catholics were divided in regards to returning to German rule.[7] In order to achieve victory in this referendum, the Nazis resorted to "a mixture of cajolery and brutal pressure".[8] In 1933, Sarah Wambaugh, one of the members of the Plebiscite Commission, stated that complaints of a Nazi "reign of terror" were made by non-Nazi Saarlanders and by the foreign press.[9] These complaints included allegations that the Nazis engaged in intimidation, "espionage, secret denunciations, kidnappings ..., ... interception of letters and telegrams, [and] listening-in to telephone conversations", among other things.[9] In response, the Saar Governing Commission had to "promulgate several restrictive decrees for the maintenance of public order".[10] In November 1934, fearing armed intervention by France, the Nazi German government reduced its belligerency and changed its tactics.[11] Joseph Burckel, Hitler's commissioner for the Saar, banned the wearing of uniforms within a 25-mile zone along the Saar frontier between 10 January 1935 and 10 February 1935.[11] Burckel also banned meetings, parades, and processions in this area.[11] Jakob Pirro, the Nazi leader in the Saar, told his followers to obey the strictest discipline and implemented harsh penalties for any infractions.[11]