GERMAN MORALE

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 101, 23 January 1943, Page 5

GERMAN MORALE

Prisoners In Russia

LONDON. January 21. In a report from Moscow the “News Chronicle’’ correspondent describes interviews he has had with German prisoners which throw some light on the state ot morale in -the German army. The first interview he mentions was with a pilot of the Luftwaffe, a typical tall, blond, blue-eyed officer ot the young Nazi type, who had been piloting a Junkers 02 with supplies lor the encircled army before Stalingrad. He had been shot down by a Russian lightei. J-his German did not appear to be worried by the course of events recently.. “We retreated last year, ’ he said, . and we shall take it all back in the spring. Asked if he knew that Hitler had pledged the capture of Stalingrad, he said that the lighting strength of the Red Army had been under-estimated. The correspondent asked him if the opening of a second front in Europe would affect Germany. “Ihere can be no second front,” was his reply. Dm whole coast of Europe is too strongly fortified, and Britain has not got enough shipping.” Ho admitted, however, that .it a second front was opened it would have a very bad effect on Germany. . The second interview was. with a depressed young sergeant who, it appeared, had absorbed the statements ot German propaganda to her soldiers that Russia shot all her prisoners. “But you haven t been shot,” remarked the correspondent. “•Not yet,” the sergeant replied. He did not know why Germany'was fighting Russia ho admitted. His view of when the war would end was when every German had been killed, and that was what he thought would happen. Ho shrugged his shoulders when Winterton asked him if he thought Hitler was a great man. The third interview was with a _o-year-old gunner. He also was depressed. In his opinion Germany had occupied too much of Europe, and was now short ot men. “We thought we would get away with the fight against Russia m 1941, he said. Now SO per cent, of the German army was fed up with war, he stated. From these and other interviews, the correspondent says that lie finds the morale of the German army still strong, in spile of its reverses, and sees heavy ami long lighting ahead.