FOUND IMPERVIOUS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 August 1942, Page 4

FOUND IMPERVIOUS

GERMANS IN RUSSIAN PRISON CAMPS. TASK OF RE-EDUCATION. MOSCOW, June 20. Many German prisoners in Russia, particularly the young men, are almost completely impervious to new ideas and have gained nothing from their decent treatment in the prison camps, according to Paul Winterton, 8.8. C. correspondent in Russia. After talking with dozens of prisoners for hours in a Russian camp, Mr Winterton came to the conclusion that '■here was no real disbelief in a Gernan victory and had the feeling that xf a German officer had marched in and given a sharp order, in five seconds these prisoners would have been a fighting unit once again, and would cheerfully have gone out into the neighbouring village and started smashing, burning, and looting all over again. Mr Winterton said he profoundly believed that re-education “is possible and will be achieved in the end, but it’s clearly going to be a long job. The methods have got to be driven into the Germans not by kindness, but by the smashing defeat of the German Army in the field, bringing . . . destruction to' the very heart of the Reich itself.” Mr Winterton said that at no time did he detect any sign of contrition or indication that any of them appreciated that they have been instruments in one of the greatest crimes the world has ever known.