GERMANY THROBBING WITH PARTIES, LEAGUES AND PLOTS

Chronicle (Levin), 17 December 1949, Page 5

GERMANY THROBBING WITH PARTIES, LEAGUES AND PLOTS

(N.Z.P.A — Re

uter

Small Pofential Fuhrers Everywhere

CopyrtghtJ

Received Friday, 7 p.m. ... - ... . LONDON, Deeember 16. "With the restraints on German sovereig-nty bemg- whittled away steadily, ber sell-respect growing, and talk in the Western.' World of rnaking German soldiers again, it is not surprising tliat the country. is throbbing with tentative parties, movements, leagues, and plots, says 'Mr. Alexander Clieford, writing in the Daily Mail. ; There are,- he continues, small potential fuhrers everywhere. Dozens of factions are jockeying for position and trying to canalise the- rising tide of nationalism in their owri direction. "These parties are sprinkled all ovcr Germany, and they are of bewildering complication.

"They amalgamate, split into fragments, chaiige their nanies, ehange their leaders. and re-interest their programmes until the ordinary observer becomes dizzv. The words 'German,' ' united, ' ' 'democratic,' and 'free,' have now been used in every coneeivable eombination. "There are dozens of parties and dozens of prospective leaders — Lorits, Fuler, Koegler, von Ostau, Dorl — there is no end to the list ofeeontenders. "At least two rival organisations c-laim to support the 'Blaek Front' leader, Otto Rtrasser, who is in Canada. Some work on the basis of fiercelv irredentist literature from Argentina. All have extremist bees in their bonnets, though all elaim to be enthusiasti eally democratic. "All have long, flamboyant and basically similar programmes. All are ultimately aiming at nationai leadership, and the string they all harp on is mai ionalism. "None of them is yet organised on nationai lines. Tiiey are little local mushroom growths, eaeh hoping to be the nuelens of an All German movement, and if they seem puny and laugh-

ab'le now they can always eomfort themselves with the thought that Hitler onee seemed punv and laughable. t'The nearest open thing to a mationally organised movement is Dr. Haussieiter 's 'German Union' which is in process of ehanging its naine to > ' German Communitv. ' It pretends to be • ' above politics' as de Gaulle's movement u'sed -to do. "Underground are the old Nazis. Their stronghold is Bav&ria and the neighhouring regions of Austria. They work a Munich-Salzburg axis. They have got a pretty tight potential grip on public life in these parts. Over 20,000 Bavarhan public officials are ex-Nazis. In some ministries they form as much as 75 per cent of the personnel. Nearly half the local newspaper world is in their hands. "This does not inean that all these people are now aetively working for the Nazi eause. It does not even mean that they are not all behaving like good demoerats now. Tt does meao that they were onee people who wero easily convinced into Nazism and that (they could jnst as easily be convinced ' again. ' '