"BRITAIN WILL WIN THIS WAR"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 66, 27 September 1940, Page 14

"BRITAIN WILL WIN THIS WAR"

Eloquent Address by

Dorothy

Thompson

Readers of "The Listener" will remember the keen interest aroused a few weeks ago by a talk on the air given by the American writer, Dorothy Thompson. The other day Dorothy Thompson gave another talk through the BBC. Here it is, slightly abridged:

British Broadcasting Corporation paid me the great honour of inviting me to address the people of the British Isles. Twice I set the date for this talk, and twice I postponed it at the last moment. Words have become so debased in the mouths of the Hitlers and Goebbels of this world that one sometimes despairs of restoring the word to its great function as the instrument of truth and light. Once the word " peace" was a holy word. Now, when it has become the very synonym of betrayal, of lying, of cynicism, it is hard to bring the word across one’s lips. Peace has become the chief weapon in the verbal armoury of the Nazis, whose whole programme boils down to war and nothing but war. Never in history, I thought, has a regime so used the words that express the noblest and best instincts of men for the purpose of destroying those instincts. Nazi words are like Nazi Marks, they have whatever value the Nazis choose to attach to them at any moment, and they have a different value at home and abroad. The word "pacifism" in Germany carries a death sentence with it, but it is exported in handsome packages to other countries. The word " socialism" once represented in our minds the |: is now several weeks since the

struggle of men to found a more reasonable and just society, but the Nazis have made it the synonym for "slavery." Words can be a Weapon For seven years the world has been attacked-not only your world, but our world over here, and not with bombs, but with the barrage that preceeds the bombs, with the babble of stink words, sweet words, sly words, seduction words, lie words, treason words-all so debased that their leaders can’t even utter them in a normal tone of voice, but have to shriek them out at the top of their lungs. But when I listen to your Winston Churchill I know that words can be made one of the greatest weapons in the battle for humanity. We all have read that " they who take the sword shall perish by the sword." But in this war, which is far more than a battle between nations, I have faith that not only will this prophecy come true but that another can be made of it. "‘ They who take the word will perish by the word." Poets on Your Side One evening this summer there was a great concert in a small Massachusetts town. It was given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to raise money to aid you. A few of us spoke, and among the speakers was one of our most gifted

poets, Archibald MacLeish. In speaking to that very large audience he said something very true and very important. He called attention to the fact that all the poets of the world are lined up to-day on the side of Britain. Now, of course, practical men say that that is of no consequence, but if you study history you see that it is of consequence. Every great world movement that has ever made history and retained its hold on history has been heralded, not by propagandists, but by poets. Every great moment in history has claimed the firmest, strongest allegiance from the guardians of the word. When I speak of the poets, I do not mean only the maker of verses. The great poet is only that one among us who sees farther than others, He is the man or woman who still comprehends and appreciates the greatness of the past and sees farthest into the future. He sees deepest into the human soul, and he is able to express what is in all of us, striving for articulation. What the poet says when he says it greatly, is true not only for his own time but for all future time. Speeches of Abraham Lincoln have not lost their meaning because the crisis for which they were written is past. And they’re not only speeches, but, because they were made out of a full heart and a great mind, they belong to the poetry of the world, and indeed, the crisis for which they were written will never be past as long as some men try to oppress other men on this earth. And so I say to you-take it as one of the great good omens of your cause that the poets of the world are with you. The poets of the world have turned their faces against the Nazis. They were the first men of all to declare war on the Nazis, for they, the poets, are the champions of the human spirit, and they recognise their enemy immediately. " Between Hitler and Me" A little while ago I made a broadcast to Canada. It was re-broadcast in England and Australia, and as a result of it I received many remarkable letters for which I deeply thank the senders. They came from all sorts of people-from men and women of title, from clerks and workmen. Those letters were great writing. They told a story of fidelity, loyalty, courage, humour. One man said -TI’m -quoting him-‘"I am writing this

Tetter at home with my wife and little son, Hitler wants to destroy everything that will make my son’s life worth living. Therefore, this is a war between Hitler and me." The words haunt me, because, far away, and protected I’m told by three thousand miles of ocean, I feel just the way that Englishman feels. I also have a little son. Hitler wants to destroy the mental and spiritual heritage of my child, therefore this is a war between Hitler and me. Our struggle with Hitler arises not only in defence of our children, but

it is against Hitler’s perversion and exploitation; it is the revolutionary spirit which everywhere is pushing forward for the liberation of the exploited and the oppressed, Toward a Better Life But I think it is true that this war is an incident in the world-wide revolution. The whole world is struggling toward a better life. In all of our hearts and all of our brains is the realisation that we have not used our resources as we should have done. We all have bad consciences. We all know that it is a crime that to-day in the twentieth century and before this war began, men and women, who are made of the same flesh and blood as ourselves, should be unemployed or living in slums, badly fed and inadequately clothed. The democratic world is paying for its complacency about these things. And Hitler knows how to exploit our bad consciences, But what Hitler has done in debasing words is parallelled by what he is doing to debase the great revolutionary movements of our times, for National Socialism insofar as it has improved the material resources in Germany, has done so by robbery of other people and other nations. The workers want more than bread. They want a little thing known as human dignity. They want to be men, and not wellfavoured animals. Twentieth century revolution is actually being made, but it is being made against Hitler, not by him. "You Will Win" All over the free world to-day men and women are dreaming as they never did before, of the world that is going to come when this reign of oppression is ended. All over the world free men are voluntarily relinquishing comfort, are

ceasing to be deeply concerned about their individual fate when their minds are rushing eagerly into the futureinto the coming era of the great peace which must be built for their children and their children’s children. You fight ing there on the British Isles are fighting not only for the security of all free men, but for all our dreams of a better future, and you will win this war. You will win it because although England can lose a war, mankind cannot lose a war. Just as it is written in Hitler's fate that he can never stop until he is stopped, so it is written in the fate of all free men,

that when one nation lays down its arms another rushes to catch them up. This country is arming. When I left Europe in May, I would have said it was impossible for the United States to introduce conscription before autumn. Well, we’ve done it. And against whom are we arming? Against Fascism. The world is not going to live on Hitler’s terms. In all your distress and suffering be sure of that. The world knows its enemy. Although some of us vacillate from day to day, deep in our hearts and clear in our minds we know our enemy, On the history of every nation there are blots.

There are blots on our history-there are blots on the history of Britain, But it is seldom given to a people at any one moment of history to erase those blots by one great feat of heroism and sacrifice, Great Britain has known more power than she has had in the last thirty years, but never in her history has Britain been so beloved by all the brave, and all the good, and all the free wherever they may live on this earth, Never has she been more truly Great Britain than to-day, when you write the greatest chapter in the history of freedom.