TELLING THE GERMAN PEOPLE

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 299, 15 September 1941, Page 6

TELLING THE GERMAN PEOPLE

One of the most significant comments on the present state of the war in Eastern Europe is that in which the German Propaganda Bureau through its official organ sets out for the information of the German people and the heartening up of their spirits the difficulties of the campaign and the unexpected problems their armies have had to face. “Every day brings new surprises,” “the fighting is completely different from all the experiences of the German soldiers on the other war fronts,” “the Red soldiers and their officers never react normally,” are some of the statements made to a bewildered people who had been previously assured that the Russian affair would be over in a matter of a few weeks. The truth is that for the first time the Germans have come up against a weight of numbers that has tried their, capacity to the utmost. They are fighting, also, an enemy well fortified against the fifth column strategy which in other countries invaded and conquered had previously undermined the military effectiveness and sapped the morale of the victims; an enemy, furthermore, that has had the opportunity and the time to revise his military tactics in the light of the experience of others. Added to the disappointment and manifest impatience of the German people at the dragging nature of the campaign against Russia is the daily terror of the increasing weight of the British bombing raids, a terror their leaders had assured them at the beginning of the war they would have no reason to fear. Taking one thing with another, the German propagandist chief, Dr. Goebbels, must find the task of holding the morale of his countrymen one of increasing difficulty.