DO YOU SUFFER FROM "RUMOURTISM"?

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 61, 23 August 1940, Page 9

DO YOU SUFFER FROM "RUMOURTISM"?

New Zealand Radio Laughs At Hitler

€ NCE again we present a QO Silly Symphony entitled ‘Three Blind Mice of the Reich’" For over @ week now, as you may have heard, New Zealand radio stations have been laughing at Hitler. At least, they have been inviting their listeners to laugh at him. It is laughter that is inspired with a purpose-a purpose that is far from being humorous. Hitler’s propaganda has been seriously devised. To aid him in his campaigns there is a so-called "psychological laboratory" attached to the Propaganda Ministry in Berlin employing scientists and propaganda experts of the Nazi Party, the Army, the Gestapo and the Ministry of ‘Foreign Affairs. Theirs is the serious task of disseminating propaganda. Just as seriously we have to deal with it. That we do so with a laugh or two doesn’t lighten our purpose. We know with what we are dealing. And we know that at any moment in these times a plague may descend upon us-a plague that calls for no skilled medical diagnosis, nor medical treatment. It’s plain "verbal rumourtism"’ the seeds of which have been carefully nurtured in Hitler’s "psychological laboratory"

and then scattered abroad to find fertile soil wherever they may fall. How it is Done If you want to see some of these seeds growing just observe the people about you. You'll see the first signs of their growth when someone starts off to tell someone else something serious about the war, something that is always told in a semi-whisper, with a quick glance over the shoulder to make sure that no one is listening, something that usually begins in this fashion. ‘ "Don’t tell anyone, but I believe ..." or, "I heard only yesterday 2 or, "T’ve a brother in the Army who told me that .. ." or, "TIT know a chap in the Intelligence Department who " "Saps" and " Suckers " As soon as anyone begins to tell you anything which starts off like that you know they’ve contracted this disease --‘"verbal rumourtism." From such _ statements begin Tumours that are dangerous

_- -dangerous because if they are true they may be supplying vital information to the enemy and if they are not true they are helping to destroy public morale. By passing on a rumour we are doing just what Hitler’s "psychological laboratory" hoped we would do when they sowed the seed of that rumour, In the emphatic words of the Americans, we're being "saps" and "suckers"! A Taste of the Antidote This is the message of the announcements which have been popping mysteriously into our radio programmes. Sometimes they have been just a straightforward announcement appealing to reason and common sense. But sometimes they’ve been tinged with comedy to drive home the message. And, strange to say, the comedy is always directed at the same people. In case you are just the very person who didn’t hear any of these little patches of humour, here’s a sample in print: ANNOUNCER: Once again we present a Silly Symphony entitled "Three Blind Mice of the Reich." Hitler, the maniac from Munich, is sitting at his desk, Suddenly he rings a bell. (DEEP CLANG). Enter Goebbels. (DONKEY BRAY).

GOEBBELS: Heil Hitler! ... and Goering (LOUD CRASH). GOERING: Sorry chief. My medals got caught on the door knob. HITLER: Sit down boys, there’s work to be done. GOEBBELS: Heil Hitler! GOERING: Heil Hitler! HITLER: Heil myself! Where were we? Oh, yes, yes. These foreign propaganda broadcasts, Goebbels. They’re not convincing. The people of New Zealand don’t believe a word you say. GOEBBELS: Sorry chief. I’ve told all the lies I know. HITLER: They must be bigger and better lies. It’s the big lie that’s always believed. GOERING: What do you suggest? HITLER: Sink the Ark Royal! GOEBBELS: Heil Hitler! We’ve already sunk it three times. HITLER: Sink it again! Sink it a dozen times! GOEBBELS: Heil Hitler! GOERING: Heil Hitler! ANNOUNCER: Just a bit of irresponsible. foolery, ladies and gentlemen. But the German broadcasts are irresponsible foolery, too. Irrespon-

sible because they pay no attention to fact, foolery because they are designed to deceive the public. Treat enemy propaganda with the ridicule it deserves and don’t pass it on, ok Ed * The Attack From Within But it’s no laughing matter! Hitler has planned carefully, and the "attack from within" is part of his strategy. He attacks from within by indirect propaganda. He doesn’t worry about trying to fool all the people all of the timea few here and a few there are all he needs for his purpose, and his purpose is to break down the morale of our people. "Rumourtism" is just one of the forms of the propaganda that he uses for this purpose and it’s a form that is easily set in action. The machinery of German propaganda and our knowledge of it demands the use of common sense in listening to German shortwave broadcasts. They are designed to spread alarm, but the remedy is possessed by everyone-just an ounce of common sense. So. next time you hear a rumour, just think of " Three Blind Mice of the Reich" and don’t be alarmed by "Lord Haw-Haw, the. Humbug of ’ Hamburg "!