GERMANY AND RUSSIA

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22183, 28 August 1937, Page 16

GERMANY AND RUSSIA

CHRISTCHURCH TEACHER'S IMPRESSIONS CONTRASTING OUTLOOKS OF THE TEOPLE The impression that there was a great deal of honest and genuine enthusiasm for the Hitler regime in Germany was formed by Mr A. L. M. Perry, of the staff of the Christchurch Boys' High School, who has returned to Christchurch after two years abroad. In Russia, however, he found that the dictatorship, although the intellectuals would discuss the philosophy of life with almost maniacal fervour, was accepted unquestioningly and with little enthusiam by the mass of the people.

Germany seemed very prosperous, he said, much more so than France. The people seemed well fed and well dressed, and there were large numbers of new motor-cars. There was intense general enthusiasm for the "cause." He did, however, come into contact with an anti-Nazi group. Two families to whom he had secured an introduction, were very strong in their diatribes against the Hitler regime. He visited them in Bonn, and for the first few visits there was no talk of the present Government in Germany. But later they spoke very strongly against Hitle- and his methods. There was no request that he should s?v nothing of what he had heard, as it seemed that the friends from whom he had secured the introduction had made it clear that they could talk safely. They were not Communists, and they spoke without bitterness or venom, but they strongly deplored the flag-waving and the general policy of the country. When he asked them if others held similar views they said that they could not name another person in Bonn who was of the same opinion, although there might be many, so dangerous was it to express such views publicly. . Feeling Against Jews

Much anti-Jewish propaganda was to be seen. Mr Perry said that a woman with whom he boarded would call on a Jewish woman in the same house at night, but in the streets the Jewish woman would save her friend from embarrassment by pretending not to see her. He noticed, however, that Baron Rothschild was still living in his castle at Frankfort. The greeting, "Heil Hitler" was universal, but the Germans deplored its adoption by foreign tourists, as they seemed to feel that it was being given in fun. The majority of people seemed to be convinced that a great improvement had come about in Germany since Hitler had taken over control, and even the anti-Nazi group he met admitted this. It was interesting to note that even teachers seemed to be so much in the grip of the Government that a large organisation of teachers passed a resolution that secondary education should be cut out except for a very few, in accordance «with Hitler's policy. It was the army, the manufacturers, and the technicians who opposed this policy. They demanded retention of general secondary education, not merely technical education, and prevented it from being largely eliminated. Ifoysica! Training

But throughout Germany the emphasis seemed to be on physical rather than mental training. Evidence of the enthusiasm for physical culture was to be found everywhere. In Russia there was a general level of mediocrity and monotony. The Russians believed in giving the workers "doses" of culture, but it was interesting to note the enthusiasm with which a group of workers waited to be shown round an art gallery and the boredom which they showed when they left. There seemed to be a frequent tendency to leave important undertakings uncompleted. He went to a settlement where there were seven large buildings housing thousands of people. They were poorly built and surrounded with thick mud. The underground tube system in Moscow, which was carried out with voluntary labour, seemed to have been left unfinished. after 11 miles had been completed.