MYSTERY OF HITLER

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 3, 1 December 1944, Page 2

MYSTERY OF HITLER

HIMMLER-BORMANN STRUGGLE.

(Special Correspondent.) (Rec. 11.15 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 30. The whereabouts of Hitler, his silence and the apparent use of doubles to represent him at official functions have for some time been discussed in the British Press. His voice was last heard on the radio on July 20 after the attempt on his life. Since then his non-appearance in the annual ceremony in the Munich beer cellar, his absence at the swearing-in of tho Munich Volkssturm battalions and the reading of proclamations by Himmler and Goebbels all have served to heighten interest in the question "Where is Hitler?"

The opinion is expressed hy tho diplomatic correspondent of ( the Daily Herald that there is a struggle for supreme power now going on in Germany between Himmler and Bormann, who is the little-publicised boss of tho Nazi party machine. The correspondent says that, whatever Hitler's state of mind and health, lie is no longer acting as Fuehrer. His office has been divided between Himmler, Bormann and Goebbels. Himmler is in charge of all the armed forces and the conduct of the war, Bormann is in charge of internal affairs including police and security, and Goebbels is in charge of foreign affairs, labour mobilisation and propaganda. Gocring has been quietly pushed aside and is now little more than head of the discredited Luftwaffe. There is a quiet struggle for power between Himmler and Bormann, with Goebbels ready to back the winner with all his subtle cunning. As controller of foreign affairs his task is pushing Ribbentrop still further into the background, and three ambassadors who were proteges of Ribbentrop have been recalled from posts in Stockholm, Madrid and Lisbon.