IN NAZI GERMANY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 60, 8 September 1938, Page 24

IN NAZI GERMANY

SOCIETY LIFE TODAY

GOERING-GOEBBELS FEUD

IDEALS & BEHAVIOUR

Time was when society life in Nazi Germany was uniform. Immediately after the great moral "clean-up" of the Nazi revolution, society was quiet, simple, well-behaved, almost puritanical in its obedience to Nazi ideals. Now, like Gaul,- it is divided into three parts, writes Dorothea Schick in the "Adelaide Chronicle." Hitler belongs to none of them. He does not like society. He attends the minimum of social functions, and usually manages to fulfil all his obligations at his monthly receptions. For the rest, he prefers the peasant atmosphere of his mountain home near Berchtesgaden. This- is quietly, almost simply, furnished in a practical, modern style. The only luxury the Fuhrer allows himself is art—beautiful pictures and carpets. The three parts are the high officials of the Nazi Party, the industrialists^ and the officers of the Reichswehr. By far the most important of these is the Nazi part. Like all satellites, the high officials of the Nazi Party take their cue from those above them. While those on high were quiet and sober, the underlings were quiet and sober, too, but it was all too" good to last. There always was ' considerable rivalry between the Fuhrer's two chief lieutenants, burly blustering, Goering, and small, suave Goebbels. Goering was too exuberant a spirit to run in the Puritan harness for long, and very soon after the Nazi Revolution he began to blossom forth in a series of spectacular and unique uniforms which made his name a household word throughout the civilised world. These uniforms also formed the declaration of war in the gigantic bally-hoo battle between Goering and Goebbels which has raged ever since. I Goering runs the Staatsoper in i Unter den Linden, Berlin, so Goebbels runs an opposition establishment in Charlottenburg. There is great rivalry in the matter of gigantic parties for poor children, these being good publicity. • GOEBBELS'S ADVANTAGE. Talking about parties, Goebbels has had an advantage at Christmas, because, as a proud father he can attend them all. Wicked rumour says, however, that sometimes his thunder is stolen,- for Goering, with his great physical endowments, occasionally appears as Father Christmas. For a time Goering lived in the Air Ministry, and a wdnderful place ' he made it. He hung the walls with wonderful pictures, showing a decided preference , for the rich cloying art of Rubens. In the magnificent halls he placed marble statues, surrounded by daily renewed flowers. When, Hitler set a new fashion with his "berghof" (mountain home) at Berchtesgaden, Goering promptly established himself at his magnificent "shooting box" in the Schorfheide, north of Berlin, and called it the "Waldhof" (forest home). Just as Hitler has his branch of the Chancellery at the Berghof, Goering has his branch of the Air Ministry at the Waldhof. He is'passionately fond of hunting, possesses the largest hunting estate in' Germany, and has made his diplomatic hunting parties almost as famous as his uniform. He is also passionately fond of food, and his banquets are gastronomical events. He has a steward and a genius of a French chef,' but he composes i'the menus for everyday meals and his banquets himself. ':'*. He would never entrust such an important task to his wife. She, poor thing, of humble origin, could not do it, anyhow. She is far too busy trying to keep pace with her husband's magnificence. FRAU GOERING. .From the day when her bridegroom abandoned her at the Cathedral steps to review the guard of honour drawn up outside, Emmi Goering-Sonnemann's life has been one continual struggle. She has made it her life work to appear and live exactly like Countess Elizabeth yon Thuringen auf der Wartburg. She is very active in charity work, and spends much time visiting the poor. Never in any way a great actress, she is determined to live in the history of the theatre, and so founded at Weirmar a home for old and ageing' actors and actresses. She is said to have been responsible for the famous preparations for the opera ball, when workmen worked for a week to hang the walls of the Opera House with thousands of yards of white silk bound with thousands of yards of heavy gold thread. Ladies were ordered to appear only in white or pastel-coloured dresses, and she herself wore a magnificent long ermine cloak. \-."." Goebbels tries to combat the effect of Goering's massive splendour with taste and refinement, although he. is not above taking a leaf out; of, his rival's book when need be» There was the famous festival on beautiful Peacock Island, near Potsdam, when the army was called out to build a pontoon bridge from the mainland to provide easier access for the guests, and all theatrical forces at the disposal of the Minister of Propaganda were mobilised for the occasion to perform on an open-air stage lit by thousands of Chinese lanterns. As a.matter of fact, with the theatre war between Goebbels and Goering so highly developed, actors are in a quandary. Knowing not which master to follow, they attend every- function given by each of them and hope - for the best. HIS SUMMER VILIA. In summer Goebbels lives in a palatial villa on Schwanenwerder Island, also near Potsdam, which formerly belonged to the Jewish banker Sobernhoem. As Goering monopolises hunting, Goebbels has taken up yachting. In i comfort, of course. His motor yacht, on which he sails around the lakes near Berlin, is the most magnificent thing ever seen on German inland waters. Frau Magda Goebbels is a great help to her husband. She learnt her technique during her married life with her first husband, Magdeburg, sugar magnate Quandt, and is now a perfect hostess at her husband's tasteful receptions. She has also made herself the fashion dictator of Germany and achieved the reputation of being Germany's smartest woman. Corresponding with the puritanism of the first Nazi years was a period of severe, undecorative, Aryan fashion, during which the dewnfall of Paris and paint and powder was celebrated. Fashion dictator at this time was Hella Strehl, a brilliant young woman who lived in a most unpuritan manner. Blonde, pretty, and a noted sportswoman, she lived in a flat in the Bayerischen Platz, furnished in the latest and most exquisite style, with an ostentatious winter garden and luxurious roof garden. She drove to her office in her magnificent white car upholstered in red fox fur. She finally fell into disfavour as a result of'an interview she gave in Paris, during which she opened her mouth just a little too wide, and, Frau^Goebbels took over,

Frau Goebbels immediately began to preach simplicity, so much, so that one expected her to sit down at the spinning wheel and show young German womanhood just how to make their own dresses from the raw material. Unfortunately she forgot, or ambition to be recognised as Germany's bestdressed- woman would not permit her, to practise what she preached. She wore only the latest Paris models. A SHATTERING BLOW. At the last Press,ball in Berlin she appeared in a full-length silver-fox cape over an elaborate white gown which dealt a shattering blow to the Nazi fashion ideals of spartan simplicity, and' set a pretty problem to Germany's obedient young Nazi womanhood. Those on high preached simplicity and practised magnificence. Obedient to official orders, a party of Hitler girls visited the opera in their puritanical party uniform. Their organisation was immediately informed from those on very high that it was not desired ihat Hitler girls should visit the theatres, in uniform. They were expected to appear at such functions in suitable attire. Of course,- that ended it. It was not long before the makeup ban was also abandoned. With this example of competitive splendour on high, it was only natural that the satellites, lesser chiefs, and leaders of the party should imitate it to the best of their ability. They set the model for the Nazi part of society. The industrialists have their magnificence, too, but they do not flaunt it in public. Their, fortunes, mostly inherited, but considerably revived by the profits made from armaments, are colossal, but they live mostly on their magnificent estates ,in the Ruhr region and .the Rhineland, and are not content to leave the limelight to the Brown Shirts. It is a point of honour with them never to be seen in the luxury hotels they used to haunt. The only people still to uphold the ideals of discipline and sobriety with which the Nazis started are the officers of the army, faithful to the Prussian standards of an officer's behaviour. In their manner of life they share the ways of the Fuhrer. However much the officers object to simple, humble Frau Erika yon Blomberg, who is reported to-be considered "unfit" to be the wife of an officer, nothing can be. more certain than that she is far more in keeping with the life of an officer today than either Magda Goebbels or Emmi GoeringSonnemann.