GERMAN TROOPS IN SPAIN

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20821, 3 June 1939, Page 6

GERMAN TROOPS IN SPAIN

Germany’s complete change of front regarding the Spanish civil war has surprised Europe. Although Germany participated in the non-intervention agreement and indignantly denied that German troops were fighting for General Franco, now that the war is over the German troops returning from the battlefields are being acclaimed enthusiastically as heroes, and all have been presented with medals by Field Marshal Goering. Nazi-controlled newspapers which throughout the war heatedly contradicted rumours that German troops were in the field are now loud in their praises of the men who won the war for Franco. While as far as the rest of the world is concerned the fact that foreign troops are being removed from Spain is of chief importance, such an extraordinary change of face cannot be passed over lightly. It is just part of the downright international dishonesty that has complicated relations in Europe in the past few years. The fact that such a deception could be practiced is due largely to the fact that the German press is completely controlled by the Nazi machine; otherwise the facts could not have escaped world notice. The press of the rest of the world frequently published reports that Germany was taking a substantial part in the war, and just as frequently the Nazi press published categorical denials with apparent authenticity. The Nazi Government during the currency of the non-interven-tion agreement issued decrees forbidding Germans to take part in the civil war and declaring substantial penalties for disobedience of the order. Now the men who have qualified themselves for those penalties are receiving medals instead, and the popular acclaim of the nation as well. How can Germany reconcile those two ludicrous extremes ? And how can she expect to earn the respect and trust of other nations when she deliberately condones such deceit ? The war is over and the foreign troops are going home, but the world cannot forget for many a day the circumstances that accompanied it.