SWAYED BY MYTH

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4811, 17 July 1939, Page 2

SWAYED BY MYTH

THE GERMAN PEOPLE. ILLUMINATING REVIEW OF CONDITIONS. Having recently returned from a visit to Danzig, Warsaw, Berlin and Paris (wrote Commander Stephen King-Hall in the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post recently), I find friends are inclined to say, "Well, what do you make of things?" This is not an easy question to answer, because the shape of things to come largely depends upon the ideas and intentions of the Fuhrer, and it is both his strength and his weakness that he is a man whose mind combines flexibility of procudure with rigidity of purpose. The Danzig question —like that of Tunis—could be settled to-morrow to the satisfaction of all the peoples directly concerned in the matter if it were to be dealt with as a local problem on its merit as such. But if—again the parallel with Tunis is exact —it is to be used as a smoke screen behind which larger •scehems are to be developed, there is no peacful solution to the Danzig question. The last people who can tell you what is likely to happen to them are the Danzigers. They will tell you that, their fate is in the hands of the Fuhrer, and there io no means of checking the genuineness of this apparent acquiescene.

There are plenty of Danzigers who would like to enjoy the ideological thrill of being part of the Third Reich without participating in the economic sacrifices required of those who have already achieved that questionable distinction.

In the city itself the Nazi Party is as much in control of affairs as it is in Nuremburg. But commercially Danzig is still one of the two great ports of Poland, and although the citizens of the Free City, look with jealous eyes at Gydnia, they will admit that business is not too bad, and that if only Europe would settle down there is plenty of trade to keep both ports fully occupied. Around the boundaries of the Free City sit five Polish divisions. These troops—say the Poles—would be in Danzig in half an hour if the Germans were to play any monkey tricks. On the horizon, to the north of Danzig, one can see a low-lying spit of sand. It is Polish territory, and is reputed to bear heavy artillery which could range across the bay and reduce Danzig to ruins. The Germans in Danzig look eastward towards their common frontier with East Prussia. But the Vistula, deep and broad, separates Danzig from East Prussia, and is only spanned by a single bridge at a place called Tczew (you pronounce it as if you were imitating a steam engine), which is just in Polish territory. Troops are sitting on this bridge and explosives are beneath it. There is no more striking proof of , the success with which the encircle-1

ment myth is being put across than the change of attitude which has taken place in Germany towards the seizure of Prague. Immediately after that event the prestige of the Nazi regime sank precipitately. It was freely said that the Fuhrer had made his first big mistake. What was the object of introducing millions of tough non-German Czechs into the body politic of the Third Reich whilst the Danzig Volk were still in the wilderness?

But now there has been a complete reversal of this attitude, and it is being said that even in seizing Bohemia the Fuhrer showed his wisdom and foresight, since it is now seen in its true light as a masterly countermove against encirclement. The Italian alliance, highly unpopular for many reasons, is also justified as a counter-move to encirclement, which has now become the blessed word of the German propaganda machine, and can be, and is being, used to excuse and explain everything. Vital Defence Measure.

In the last resort an aerial attack on London would be "counter-encircle-ment." Indignant readers need not write to me and tell me that these Germans are labouring under a grave misapprehension. I am simply telling you what I believe they believe, and my information is confirmed from a great variety of sources, including many letters I have received from people who have been in Germany during the past few weeks.