THE NAZI STATE OF MIND.

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 242, 14 October 1942, Page 4

THE NAZI STATE OF MIND.

The scathing interpretation which Mr Churchill gave in his Edinburgh speech of the recent speeches of Ribbentrop. Hitler, and Goering must be particularly unpleasant reading for the Nazi leaders. It was a fine piece of oratorical invective, but it was more than that, for it was substantiated by the increasing and obvious pressure of factS on the Nazi mind, and the growing uneasiness that marked the latest utterances of Hitler and his accomplices was plain enough for the whole world to read. Mr Churchill has but made the approaching Nemesis a starker figure. "One note which stood out above all others was the dull, low, whining note of fear in men conscious of their guilt," he said " How different were those speeches from those of two years ago !" This is not a new note ; the cracks were! made visible by Hitler in a speech some weeks ago. The mood of elation and certainty of victory no longer prevailed in Germany. According to all the indications, Germany had lost what was psychologically her greatest asset, a blind, superstitious faith in Hitler 's infallibility. She can never recover it. All the rest of the world realises that in June, 1941, the Fuehrer made one of the greatest mistakes in military history in his gratuitous attack on Russia. His calculation was that the Russians would have been beaten and finished with before snow fell on the steppes. Now, after the most appalling winter the German troops had ever known, Hitler is trying to brace them for the next winter's war. What emotions this defeatism has aroused in Germany, where all emotion has to be concealed, is still matter for speculation ; but speculation in suc.h circumstances is not far removed from certainty. It is difflcult to believe that such speeches would have been made by the Nazi leaders unless there was evidence of weariness, disillusionment and criticism inside Germany. As to the evidence for this weariness, the Diplomatic Correspondent of the Manchester Guardian wrote : "The Germans are overdriven. Man and machine are worked to the utmist capacity. . . . In spite of the employment of 3,500,000 war prisoners and foreigners in agriculture and industry the crisis of manpower, and therefore of production, is grave and children are to be mobilised for spare-time labour. The shortage in foodstuffs, clothes, and eonsumers' goods generally was forcibly illustrated recently by the President of the Reichbank, who complained that even if workpeople were offered more money they seemed to work less. ' ' Germany 's desperate need of manpower is shown by the discovery of the enforced transfer of British residents from the Channel Islands. The fact that Germany is being filled with foreign labour will, however, make the eventual collapse moie sudden and terrible than otherwise would be the case. No wonder the dread spectre ot November, 1918 — that breakdown of civilian morale which he fears more than anything else in the world has begun to swim before Hitler's

vision. The impression in Allied circles of a general deterioration of German morale is shared by the neutral countries — Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. But deterioration in a country held in the grip of the Gestapo would have to go a long way before it produced any manifestations that would hinder the military effort. A notable military success — of which there seems to be little prospect — would do a great aeal to revive flagging spirits. On the other hand, a continuance of the R.A.F. 's relentless offensive will do a great deal to depress them still further. Y