Watch Out!—Don’t Talk!

Northern Advocate, 14 November 1941, Page 4

Watch Out!—Don’t Talk!

Til RLE is noiio who would intentionally take from parents and other relatives of soldiers any comfort they may derive from reports of the safety of loved ones about whose survival there has been grave doubt. That fact makes it a matter of delicacy to refer to the need for looking in the mouth the gift horses offered by Germany in the shape of news of prisoners of war. It should never be forgotten that the chief stock-in-trade of the Nazis has been, and is, propaganda designed to produce a spirit of complacency among peoples marked down as prev bv the Butcher Bird. “ ~ It is therefore but the exorcise of common prudence on the part of those who receive from prisoners of war letters which make eulogistic reference to treatment received that they should consider whether, after all, there is not more in the letters than meets the oye. They may justifiably rejoice to hear from a dear one that he has landed in a bed of roses and that his captors are the best of good lei lows, but it would lie the essence of wisdom to keep the information strictly for home consumption. We are loath to raise this question, but have been moved to do so by requests made to ns to give publicity to letters which have been so complimentary to the treatment received in* prison camps as to arouse suspicion that the writers may not have been the free agents their comments suggested. fn the same way, there is the best of reasons why enemy broadcasts of the names of prisoners of war should be regarded with caution. In none but rare eases are the names mentioned other than those to which publicity has already been given through official channels, but it is only natural that if there is believed to bo even a remote chance that hitherto unreported information may be obtained from a broadcast anxious parents and others will listen in. _ That is exactly what the Nazi propagandists want. They realise that the broadcasting of the names of prisoners of war is a most seductive bait, and that if they can induce British people and the people of other nations opposed to Germany to hear the subtle propaganda with which the few names of prisoners of war are wrapped they will do a great deal to weaken the spirit which must, be maintained till the end of the war, if Germany is to be defeated. We feel that the people of the Dominion will be wise enough to appreciate the subtlety of the Gorman propaganda department in this matter, and resolutely refrain from listening to the voice of the serpent. Germans, jt is well known, dare not listen to British propaganda save at the. risk of severe penalties. Freedom-blessed New Zealanders should see to it that they do not assist the enemy by accepting a gift horse filled with highly explosive material.