Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 1, 1939. NAZIS’ REVENGE.

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 November 1939, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 1, 1939. NAZIS’ REVENGE.

lingering doubts as to the capacity for brutality inherent in the Nazi regime must have been dispelled by the disgusting evidence, published in. a British White Paper, concerning the treatment of prisoners, mainly Jews, in the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. Rumours have at various times been circulated in connection with these camps, but their nature was so startling that it led to a certain, degree of scepticism in other countries, suspicion being aroused that there might be a leavening of propaganda. Some reports have stated that the name of Buchenwald inspired terror among the Germans themselves, and that they were, reluctant to refer to it even in whispers, lest they should make its personal acquaintance. Even the worst of lhe stories must now be regarded as true, however, in view of lhe circumstantial evidence of a corroborative nature provided by the statements of exprisoners, which are supported by the observations of named Consular officials. It is not, and never has been, the practice of Britain to publish unfounded statements, and the fact that the prison camp revelations have been given the standing attached to a White Paper publication is sufficient proof that they are well authenticated. In the circumstances, they constitute a terrible indictment of

the Nazis, but one which, at the same time, is quite consistent with the previous record of Herr Hitler’s thugs. According to one of the victims of modern persecution, the Jews were informed that they were merely experiencing similar treatment to that meted out to their forefathers in Egypt, and that Pharoah “had not gone half far enough.” Bad as Pharoah probably was, however, he would doubtless feel seriously slandered, to know that his actions were even compared with those committed under the rule of the swastika. The Jews have had their troubles in the past, but it is a regrettable comment upon the progress made towards civilisation in two thousand years, that their lot is just as bad as ever it was, so far as those unfortunates under German authority are concerned. The Nazi treatment of defenceless prisoners is an additional warning to the rpst of Europe,—if any were required,—as to the fate awaiting peoples who are unlucky enough to find themselves under Nazi domination. The Czechs and the Poles have learnt from bitter experience, and the latest tales of murderous bullying and nauseating tyranny will further strengthen the Allies’ determination to fight Nazism to the finish. Thus the tactics sanctioned by Herr Hitler and his colleagues are defeating their own object. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe has aptly described the destruction of the great Catholic kingdom of Poland as “one of the most-unscrupulous and horrid crimes in international history.” This is emphasised by the Consular reports of the anti-Catholie outrages in Vienna. In the light of such occurrences, the reluctance of Italy to throw in her lot with Germany is evenmore understandable, while there is no room for doubt as to the thoughts in the mind of Pope Pius XII., when he prepared his recent encyclical. Tracing the present evils in the world to disregard and forgetfulness of the natural law, whose foundation is in God, he pointed out that after the denial of God comes the denial o£ law, and the result is religious and moral agnosticism. His reference to dictatorships,—“to consider the State as something ultimate, subordinating everything, cannot fail to harm the true and lasting prosperity of nations,” — is particularly applicable to Germany, where State autonomy, as administered by the Nazi regime, has resulted in the trampling underfoot of the “sacred and inviolable’’ rights of conscience. Herr Hitler and his colleagues have consistently demonstrated that, so far as they are concerned, nationalism and the totalitarian State are utterly irreconcilable with Christianity. In their case, the quality of mercy has become so strained that it has ceased to flow altogether, and the springs of human charity have completely dried up. If the war puts an end to the exercise of the Nazi doctrine of racial and religious bigotry, that alone will justify the making of the necessary sacrifices.