GERMANS AND HITLER REGIME

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 151, 22 March 1939, Page 15

GERMANS AND HITLER REGIME

Evidence Of Growing

Discontent

PEOPLE KEPT SILENT BY

FORCE

It may today be of some use to recall the evidences of the growth of discontent in Germany as they have come before me personally, says a former British resident in Germany in a letter to the editor of the •‘Manchester Guardian.” Let me remind readers that in November, 1932, Hitler had only 33 per cent, and even after the Keichstag fire and the arrests and suppressions less than 44 per cent, of the votes cast. Plainly, therefore, there was from the outset a great background of silent opposition. A great deal of conversion went on (some of it genuine), and the Nazis gradually acquired complete control of the training of youth. Any parent who ventured to bring the other side of the case before his children did so at the very greatest risk. But soon it began to be evident that though the butter was spread farther it was spread very thin. I dared make no notes, but I believe it was early in 1934 that a costermonger whom I knew said to me, “What used to da for one has to do for three now.” Even earlier a shopkeeper in my neighbourhood exclaimed (when we were quite alone in the shop), “They talk of the party favouritism of the old days, but”—with tremendous emphasis—“it’s a hundred times worse now.” In the spring of 1934 workmen to whom I spoke made no concealment of their hatred of the whole Nazi system. And as my memory calls these days back I hear again a Customs officer saying, with passionate earnestness that amazed me, “The way they drag everything through the dirt that their predecessors did is disgusting.” But, of course, only the individual alone spoke thus. Groups were mum. In private, too, again and again I heard business men, professional workers, social workers, and others defend the Jews. A report made to me by a formerly convinced Nazi is instructive, and I will give a few extracts: “First Serious Blow.”

“The first serious blow that the National Socialist Government suffered was the judgment of the High Court in the case of the Reichstag fire, and the National Socialist Press made a very great mistake in violently attacking the judgment and calling it shameful. These outbursts led. many to separate themselves inwardly from the whole movement. . . .

“Toward the end of 1933 there seemed a chance of increasing stability, inasmuch as experts were now to be permanently appointed to those positions on public bodies, semi-public organizations, professional and other societies which up to then had been only temporarily filled. To the amazement of all the test of suitability for the appointment was in these cases grossly neglected. The only thing considered was whether among the candidates there was an ‘old fighter’ In the movement or not. . . . The authorities did not even shrink from appointing men without any technical or other preparation to posts that had been filled formerly only by those of first-clas expert training. This whole proceeding still further shattered the belief in the whole National Socialist movement One began to see how purely demagogic the whole behaviour of the party was. . . . The continual repetitions in Hitler’s speeches grew obvious, and the number of voices that described these speeches as rubbish (Quatsch) increased. All the same, one had publicly to demonstrate that one was moved to the depths by the marvellous speech of the Fuehrer. . . . Grumbling Begins. Gradually, in 1934, murmuring became more widespread. Even the most complacent bourgeois began to at the unendurably persistent contribution-begging of the Government. Every Sunday, and often on weekdays, too, collections for every kind of purpose were made. Moreover, the collecting amounted virtually to blackmail, for it was known that those who did not give were marked men. Everywhere and from everybody, in an entirely unfair way, at home, in school, at the cinema, and at the theatre, these demands were made. One saw Hitler boys of from 12 to 16 years of age, with tired looks, collecting between 11 and 12 o’clock at night. Protests were wholly unavailing. It is noteworthy that the first who took action against this scandal was Rohm, and he managed at least to get these collections stopped in the cinemas and other places of amusement. And, in spite of the annoyance and th© other disappointments, it must be said that the great majority of the people remained worshippers of the Fuehrer. In many women this worship amounts to a kind of religious ecstacy. “In order to keep within bounds the discontent that was gradually spreading, the Minister of Propaganda saw himself obliged to start a campaign against ‘criticasters and grousers.’ ... It simply hailed denunciations. . . . The prying and spying stuck at nothing. Fathers denounced sons, and vice versa. Wives denounced husbands. Many happenings reminded oue of the days of the Holy Inquisition. This campaign compieted tbe corruption of the German character. , . .

Corruption Rife.

’•What happened on June 30 bad the effect of an earthquake. The corruption that had been rife was made plain. . . . For half a week the whole nation was in the dark. Foreign newspapers did not come through, or, when they did, were snapped up at once. People tried to get information through the Strassburg wireless. The daily talk among friends always began with the words; Have you heard what Strassburg says? .... These people, after a long struggle, had their eyes opened to the fact that at the head of the German State is a man who should be either on the scaffold or in a lunatie asylum. . . From 1934 on the number of letters Indicating disillusionment grew. In September a German mother wrote to her daughter in service in England: “Now we’re at it again, getting all the old clothes out and altering them." Toward the close of 1935 a working woman writes:— “1 don’t: know what they write about us abroad, but what we hoped for has not come. One can’t write anything about it, though. I send this letter without name or address." The writer had been a worshipper of Hitler. In 1936 she wrote to her friend: “It was cunning of you to get away. The wages here are too low and the deductions too many. , . . There’s so much that one daren’t speak about." This last is the refrain (more or less disguised) of almost all more recent letters. A friend of mine was scientific expert in a great Berlin factory. (They have lost his services now.). He told

me that on the day after the Mussolini visit in September, 1937, the workmen spent the morning undisguisedly denouncing the whole business. They had been transported virtually by force to stand for endless hours at this “spontaneous” demonstration. A letter from South Germany says:— “One can often today envy the dead. . . . In spite of all the lighted Christmas trees in the streets and squares, no real Christmas feeling comes to us.” Again,'a German scientific friend writes that his brother in Germany tells him the great majority of the German people condemn the recent horrors, but are kept silent by force. A fact that gives hope is that disgust spreads increasingly to the officials. Last summer a German friend was warned by a German frontier official that if he entered Germany he would be arrested. The wife of another friend visited Germany this winter for treatment. She was warned by one of the secret police that a warrant was out for her arrest. A German woman protested this winter to her “Biockwart” about the everlasting collections. “Moreover,” said she, “why should we give when you can afford to throw away so much?” The Blockwart looked round to make sure he was alone and then answered, “That is what very many say to me now, and we are getting much less than before."

A letter received the other day from a young German, formerly an enthusiastic Nazi, affords an interesting commentary on the Blockwart’s remark: “You are surprised to get so few letters this winter witii the special Winter Help stamps. The action of November 10 was, however, not without consequences, for all those who up to then had been stricken with blindness recovered their sight. We are living under the Four-year Plan, where every scrap is supposed to lie preserved and used again, ami by this action millions were destroyed, millions, too, that cannot be replaced because of the lack of raw materials. If, as is well known, the newspapers recorded that the collection on the Day of National Solidarity produced twice as much as before, one can only make the comment duss das Papier yeduldiij Ist (that paper is patient). Moreover, the final result was given out on Monday, though the collection had taken place only on the Sunday, and the result of the Army collections was not known till Tuesday. ... If you ever have the chance of travelling, travel everywhere you like except to the Alte Helmut. The Governments of Britain and France have done much for the dictators, but i begin to doubt whether all their sacrifice of others will in the end save Nazism in Germany. Perhaps when it crumbles there we shall be introducing it here.