JUST BEFORE THE WAR

Evening Star, Issue 23380, 25 September 1939, Page 8

JUST BEFORE THE WAR

DUNEDIN BDY IN BERLIN EFFICIENCY OF HITLER REGIME UNDERLYING JEALOUSY OF BRITAIN “He spoks English very well, but with a decided foreign accent, writes a vomit* man from Dunedin concerning the guide who took the writer and companions over a German school during the course of a visit to that conntry in July and August of this “ He was a most interesting man, with an arresting personality, keen to show everything and explain everything within his power. He was very keen on politics, and we had an hour in the school staff room later, when he explained the German point of view. A firm adherent to the Hitler regime, he could not understand why England should grudge Germany the return or her colonies or why England 1 and France should persist in their policy of-encirclement. It really boiled down to: 1 You give us what we want, and Germany wants to be friends.’ To the Germans the Treaty of Versailles is the root of the whole trouble.

“ Our informant waxed eloquent in regard to the prevailing happiness and freedom of the German under the present Reich. He was rather bombastic, and we received the impression that jealousy of England and a national inferiority complex were two obvious traits of the race. He gave us pamphlets translated into English and written by Goebbels. They were strongly sarcastic, and were not conducive to good relations between the two countries. Others gave the German point of view against encirclement, the Danzig situation, and the necessity of colonial expansion.

" Our informant did not like the ‘ lies ’ told about Germany in the English Press. He stated that there vat no foundation for the stories in regard to secrecy, repression, -and so on. Everything was straight and above board to him. A visiting Englishman could see what he liked and inquire into anything ho wished. English papers could he bought in Berlin. These stories did •not coincide with those told ns later by an American from Washington, who stated that if there was anything the Germans did not approve of in the English Press the paper for that day failed to appear. This gentleman also said that when he passed through Prague he wasn’t’allowed out of the train, the doors of the carriage being locked. . . . My opinion, to sum. Up, is that the people generally aro quite happy, and that Hitler has done wonderful work in building up the nation. At the same time, the people have to be careful, and they are quite safe as long as they do not criticise the leaders. That they do not want war is evident, but the militarists have reached a high standard. The.y have their eyes fixed upon a certain objective,, and they mean to get it. We didn’t give our guide all his own way, the members of our party arguing every point till they came to where our dear guide began to get a little bad-tem-pered.

Our guide agreed with the German' Jewish policy. To our contention that there must be good Jews, and that the expulsion of those must be a loss to the nation, he replied: ‘ If I had lice on my body, would I just scrape off the bad ones and keep the good ones?’ When we further criticised the in- - humanity and said that after all they were human beings, he answered; ‘So are negroes human beings.’

“ Our visit to a German school was instructive and enjoyable. The first building was complete in every respect. No doubt it was specially selected for our benefit, but 1 could imagine nothing better. Everything was clean and neat. It was lavishly equipped with a theatre to hold 600, a babygrand piano in the orchestral hall, specially designed lighting in the arts and crafts room, science .laboratories, fully-equipped gymnasium, libraries, film room and projectors, and finally a well-stocked teachers’ library in'the staff room. There were 30 teachers for 800 children.

“ I could not help noticing the bias towards war. The recent painting, sketches, and modelling were chiefly of aeroplanes, bombers dropping their ghastly destruction on cities, warships, soliders, and other military apparatus, Our guide told us it just happened that way that day, but it "was not usual. Photos of Hitler were in every room, and everyone our guide saw greeted him with the Nazi salute and ‘ Ueil Hitler.’ Teachers’ salaries are noT high. Fortv-eight years of ago and with a wife and two children, our guide received only £22 10s a month. Children attend school from 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. only. “ We were very grateful for the courtesv extended to us in Berlin. Our guide took a fancy to us, and after lunch took us to a fine type_ of beer garden for the afternoon. With jugs of keer and lemonade we watched the dancing and listened to the military orchestra in the Tier Garten forest, discussing at the same time all the questions under the sun. The beer gardens are really fine places, Surrounded by leafy trees covered with climbing roses, we were in a small open space stocked with small tables and oane chairs, with a band rotunda in one corner. In the middle was a circle marble floor for dancing. A smartlydressed waiter hovered about replenishing glasses. “ Another interesting feature was a visit to the Reichstag of the German Parliament. Everywhere we saw people greeting each other with ‘ Hei) Hitler,’ with hand outstretched in the same manner ns we would say ‘ Good day ’ or ‘ Hullo.’ I tried it ,myself and had many a secret laugh ns a flashly-dressed officer returned the greeting. At times it is amusing.”