FEW SIGNS SHOWN OF UNREST IN REICH

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 41, 18 February 1939, Page 6

FEW SIGNS SHOWN OF UNREST IN REICH

Underground Forces of Anti-Nazi Movement REVELATION BY EXILE LONDON, Feb. 2. The visible signs of internal unrest or opposition in Germany, for which foreign observers are on the alert, remain few.

Observers believe that it is entirely unwise to conclude from this that Germany ’a population of 80,000,000 is solidly united behind Herr Hitler, or prefers the Nazi regime to any other. Dr. Schacht’s removal, coupled with the fresh strain imposed by the new military decrees, moves the Times to prophesy in a leading article that life in Germany is to become even more strenuous than it already is. As if underlining this statement come reports from the Buhr of “orderly demonstrations against the prevalent food shortage.'* This, however, is the only reference to any visible signs of uneasiness on the part of the workers that has appeared in the British press for months There have been only whispers of unrest, some of which it is alleged, has been manifesting itself in “go-slow* strikes in certain factories. In answering questions about “ goslow '- strikes, German spokesmen in Berlin deny any general “go-slow'’ tactics, although it is admitted that in a handful of isolated cases German workers, who were dissatisfied with the longer hours of labour recently ordered to compensate for the labour shortage, slowed down, bnt at most, it is declared, this action involved only a few hundred men. The Berlin correspondent of the British United Press states that the report that drew this reply was an article signed by Mr W. P. Sims, the foreign editor of the Scripps-Howard chain of newspapers in the United States, stating that private and frank correspondence from diplomatic sources in London and Paris had revealed that the situation inside Germany was far from good. •‘Nazis Will Destroy Themselves" * * There are no signs here of a real crisis in industry and agriculture," says the British United Press correspondent. “Production is said to be relatively unchanged, except in the building trade, which has been hampered by the severe eold in December."

Whether the Nazi regime will ever be threatened or overthrown by internal revolution is something on which experts can merely speculate. For instance, Dr. Emil Ludwig, famous Swiss writer, who is of German origin, speaking at the Anglo-Pales-tinian Club in London, said he could claim to know the character of the German people—people who had never known a real revolution. He stated that their obedience and love of order was greater than their love of liberty. Thus he did not believe that the Nazi regime would be overthrown by violence. He was convinced that tho Nazis would destroy themselves.

Like such brilliant German writers as Leon Feuchtwanger, Arnold and Stefan Zweig and Thomas Mann, Dr. Emil Ludwig is an exile. Tactics of Opposition Group On the other hand Herr Walther Westphal, a German residing in Britain, in a letter to the Spectator, sees only one alternative to war—a change of the systen in Germany. He says that, in spite of the fear throughout Germany, there are many signs of oppositional feeling, and more heroism has been shown than is known to the world. “The opposition learned soon that their methods caused too many victims, and they changed them entirely," he says. “Instead of dashing and courageous tactics which had no visible effect, they have now adopted others which cannot be disclosed. “In the beginning only the Left Wing Opposition was organised on a nation-wide scale, but there existed many groups which had at least casual contacts. “Things changed when the German Freedom Party was formed, grouping the Conservatives, Liberals and Socialists and even former Nazis. This party believes Herr Hitler's stntemdfct that Bolshevism is the only alternative to Nazi-ism in Germany. Its different components all agree on a few essentials. They stand for democracy, freedom and peace. As a German who is in touch with these forces in Germany, and knows how many key positions are already occupied, I have no doubt about the final victory of this movement. I only hope that it succeeds before war breaks out in order to make it quite clear that the change is not wrought about by outside pressure. If they do not succeed in time the most terrible slaughter the world has ever seen seems to me to be inevitable."