HOW HITLER COPIED STALIN TWO SYSTEMS COMPARED

Evening Star, Issue 23753, 7 December 1940, Page 12

HOW HITLER COPIED STALIN

TWO SYSTEMS COMPARED

Last summer Sir Paul Dukes, K.8.E., went to Czecho-Slovakia via Germany on a special mission and search for a prominent Czech, Alfred Obry, who was missing, and whose Loudon friends were prepared to pay the Gestapo for his release. Sir Paul found Alfred Obry, or at least his remains, buried under another name, and the startling events leading up to this grim discovery are related by Sir Paul in his new book, ' An Epic of the Gestapo.”

The author’s dealings with the dreaded Gestapo in Berlin and Prague, their attacks of Anglophobia, and the desire of their victims , to get to England lire all recorded. Sir Paul’s unofficial standing and knowledge of Nazi Germany—he flew home on the outbreak of war in Sir Nevile Henderson’s plane—add conviction and realism to this modest account of his fearless quest of bearding the Gestapo lion on its favourite hunting ground of refugee baiting. His views on Hitler, and especially the Communist Pact, make most interesting reading at this juncture. Sir Paul was in Germany at the time of the agreement signed by Germany and Russia, and dealing with the many phases of agreement between Nazism and Commmunism, he writes: — “ It had taken us by surprise only in its suddenness and scope, following upon years of vitriolic abuse and the Fuhrer’s reiterated declaration that any form of alliance with Russia must inevitably spell doom for Germany. But was the agreement itself after all so unnatural? I had been studying the resemblance between the Nazi and Bolshevist administrations, and- there was plenty of ground for mutual understanding if rivalry was set aside. _ “ The Communist dictatorship of Moscow is the prototype of all totalitarian dictatorships, and upon it in •greater or lesser extent all subsequent totalitarian regimes, but particularly that of the Nazis, have been modelled. “ One of the most remarkable things about Adolf Hitler is that he has produced little or nothing that is truly ori-

ginal. “ Besides the Gestapo,ran exact replica of the Cheka-Ogpu, the Press and propaganda apparatus of both regime* is identical in character. Goebbels, indeed might have been a faithful disciple of the. Jewish founder, of the Comintern, Zinoviev-Apfelbaum. Those acquainted with the style of oratory and argumentation of both Goebbels and" Zinoviev cannot but have been struck by their marked resemblance, even in terminology, illustration and the talent for inventing cheap gibes., “ True in 1936, Stalin shot his erstwhile friend and comrade, Zinoviev-Ap-felbaum, together with many other associates of long standing who refused to toe the zig-zag Stalin line. But Hitler likewise has ‘ liquidated ’ no stnall number of his closest friends who ventured to oppose him in word or deed. “In the economic sphere the Nazi system of far-reaching and ever-increas-ing Government control of imports and exports, of production and distribution, of private banking accounts, and of prices of the commonest things such as household repairs and automobile parts, approximated even in peace time more and more closely to the system prevailing in Russia. T< True, Hitler has never officially abolished private property, nor Stalin officially recognised it. But wide deviation from theory on both sides brought them close together and under war conditions there is little to distinguish them in practice. • “ Under both regimes education is run on similar principles. It is calculated primarily to prevent the youthful mind from imbibing any but official doctrines. Essential subjects such as history, literature, and geography are all given a strong political basis. Dissidents teachers and professors are ruthlessly, persecuted, and instruction and ‘ culture ’ are made to serve first and foremost party ends. ... “ The system of * election ' and popu» lar ‘ representation * are closely alike. No candidates may be put forward other; than those approved by the dominant party, and the voters may only vote affirmatively or abstain. “ In consequence Nazi and Bolshevist ‘ parliaments ’ resemble each other in nature and function, being devoid of anv truly representative character. The Reichstag and the Soviet Union Council are merely audiences convened occasionally to listen to and ‘ ratify ’ the decisions already taken and acted upon by Hitler and Stalin. These bodies are not even endowed with consultative powers. ... “ The attitude of both dictators toward religion is similar. Hitler’s hatred of Christianity derives from the race of its founder, Stalin’s from the militantatheist nature of Marxist doctrine. By different paths they arrive on common ground and it is not surprising to find them there proclaiming a common detestation of the democratic principle* of liberty and political and social right* which are the ideal of Western civil isation. ... “ Where Nazi Germany and Bolshevist Russia must eventually come into contact,” sums up Sir Paul Dukes, “ i* in the contradiction between the hypernationalistic ideals of Hitler and tbit neo-imperialistic and ultimately worldrev.olutionary aims of Stalin. Hero clash is inevitable. But meanwhile* with slight accommodation on both side* for opportunist purposes, they may, even though jealously watching each! other’s moves, travel far together in their common hatred of democracy and Christendom.” . ‘An Epic of the Gestapo is mor* exciting than most “ thrillers,” but iM all the more interesting because it records actual happenings.