"A NONENTITY"

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 36, 13 February 1933, Page 3

"A NONENTITY"

HITLER DISPARAGED

FEUCHTWANGER'S ESTI-

MATE

"Adolf Hitler, the idol of the German masses, is a colossal non-entity. A fool. and a mediocre actor, whose knowledge of mass psychology has saved him from complete oblivion. This word picture of the German, leader was drawn by Dr. Lion Feuchtwanger, one of Germany's outstanding writers,'says the "San Francisco Chronicle.'J/ -;-

' "Basically, a stupid man, the. leader of the German Nationalist Party has the aims of an actor, performing roles that please him emotionally," said Dr. Feuchtwanger. ."'.'.■ "Paced with the problems of living rather than acting a role; Hitler would be an utter failure. He fancies himself in the role of a great man, but actually his power is vastly overrated. "Hitler is an agitator; not a leader. He is an orator whose public speaking ability has won, him,a certain following, but take the masses away from the sound of his voice and the man would fall to greater depths, than those heights to which he has apparently risen." The. author of such, searching books as "The Ugly Duchess," "Success," and "Josephus," Dr. Feuchtwanger is a gentle little man, amiably. nearsighted, whose love of Ms fellow men is only equalled by his uncanny awareness of their faults and immediate difficulties. The condition of the Jew in Germany is daily becoming more of d problem, - said Dr. Feuchtwanger, whose book, "Power," was written to counteract anti-Semitic propaganda in his native land._ "In a country of 65,000,000 people there are but 500,000 Jews, 200,000 living in Berlin," he said. "Each day 15,000,000 anti-Semitic pamphlets are circulated throughout the country urging drastic action against the , Jews. The individual Jew has no chance in Germany, and I see no hope of bettering his condition." : America, Dr. Feuchtwanger sees as a country of "vast emptiness," to which the depression has come as an outright blessing. \ . '. "I look with pessimism upon - the external aspects of the depression iin America, and with high, toptimism; upon its internal aspects. I believe that America will grow spiritually under *his calamity, and, that the great physical and spiritual emptiness whici. is so apparent to the new-comer will be used to the country 's betterment rather than to her detriment."

America's self-sufficiency has been" in part responsible for her.downfall, said Dr. Feuchtwanger, who believes that the infusion of new European ideas and ideals will aid in recovery. On the other hand, Europe has gained much frpm, America. American literature has greatly influenced European life. , ; . •

"Writers like Hemingway, Dos Passos, Hergesheimer, even more so than Sinclair Lewis a,nd Upton Sinclair,- have turned European cities into external imitations of American cities," said Dr. Feuchtwanger. ■' . • "Berlin, for example, is almost-com-pletely Americanised, standardised. American ; writers, with their ■ kaleidoscopic methods of presenting American life in European terms, have influenced us> greatly, whether for; better or .worse is yet to be seen." ' , " ;

The total amount collected •in Britain on Armistice Day by means of Flandere poppies has "increased in 10 years from £133,000 in 1921 to £574,000 last-year..