GERMAN EMBARRASSMENT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 May 1941, Page 5

GERMAN EMBARRASSMENT

FOREIGN PRESS COMMENT FIRST CRACK IN NAZI MORALE [British Official Wireless) Rugby, May 15. It has been disclosed that the Duke of Hamilton, fresh from his talks with Hess, flew to London to meet Mr Duff Cooper, j j Minister of Information. He was j j accompanied by Mr Kirkpatrick, j ] the Foreign Office official who j was sent to Scotland to verify I j the Deputy-Fuhrer’s identity. !The Duke of Hamilton was able! to tell Mr Duff Cooper of the result of his interview with Hess, | for which be was granted special J leave from the R.A.F. This was the second time , the j Duke had flown to London. On j the first occasion he saw the j Prime Minister, and during this | interview he told Mr Churchill j details of talks he had had with j the Deputy Fuhrer. The embarrassment and anxiety displayed in Germany over the sensational Hess episode has not been relieved by any further official statement here. It is known that in the military hosiptal where he is confined as an ordinary prisoner of war. Hess, who is in excellent spirits, has talked freely and that records of his observations have been conveyed to the authorities. Meanwhile German propaganda is floundering hopelessly. In foreign coun- j tries speculation regarding the now his- : toric incident is rife. Even in the Axis countries there are indications that the story of mental derangement is dismissed out of hand and in Japan the newspaper "Asahi” remarks categorically that “in any case the Hess incident is taken to indicate the first crock in the German morale.” There is confirmation for this view from the countries neighbouring on Germany, where, it i: reported, perplexity and consternation prevail. These feelings have been aggravated rather than relieved by the wrigglings of the Nazi leaders as shown in the conflicting statements they have issued in the effort to extricate themselves from their embarrassing dilemma. In certain foreign countries, Spain, for example, where the Press is friendly to the Axis, the absence of comment has not checked gossip and the whole escapade is proving a source of much entertainment. In Portugal the newspaper, "Voz,” strikes a cautious note and, while remarking that the German explanations are being minutely examined for any improbabilities and impossibilities, it observes that the facts are as yet insufficient on which to form judgment, adding that meanwhile it may be said that Britain has \ gained a great political success. While all Europe is quietly amused at the German discomfiture a much more outspoken line is taken in the United States. The New York “Daily Mirror” says the example of Hess represents the ultimate and inevitable cracking up of tyranny. Observers in Stockholm point out that no mention has been made of the affair in German propagandist sheets which are circulated daily throughout the country. Comment has been aroused by Hess choosing Scotland instead of Sweden ■ as his destination, but the Stockholm newspaper “Tidingen” says that this 1 does not disclose evidence of mental ■ derangement. If Hess had something to tell the world Sweden would not provide a platform, since the first moment any newspaper whispered anything about the Deputy Fuhrer, it would be suppressed. GERMAN RADIO STATEMENT The German Propaganda Ministry is still trying hard to wriggle out of the difficult position into which it has cirifted over the flight of Herr Hess. The German radio has now announced that the flight of the Deputy Fuhrer has been completely unravelled, and describes it as a perfect tragedy. Hess did not act from dishon- 1 ourable motives, said the radio. ( Latest reports from the German capi- 1 tal indicate, however, that the people 1 are still very worried, and think of no- 5 thing else. The correspondent of a Spanish * newspaper says the German Govern- * ment is severely applying the laws re- \ gyrding listening to foreign broad- ‘ casts, and has issued the names of J people found guilty as a warning to (thers. c MR BEVIN’S BELIEF The motives which brought Hess to ( Britain are still occupying the atten- 1 tion of commentators all over the world. Some of thj suggestions are that Hess escaped after a quarrel with Hitler or other Nazi leaders, that he was appalled by the horrors of the £ war and thought he could patch up a | peace on his own, and that Hitler sent him on some desperate peace mission. t Mr Ernest Bevin, British Minister j of Labour and National Service, sup- j ports the view that Hitler is behind { Hess’s flight to this country. Speaking c to-day in London, he said: “I do not . believe that Hitler did not know Hess f intended coming here.” N He declared that Hess was a man he t would not negotiate with, and added <= that they could understand his feel- j ings when he told them that it was j Hess who had collected every index t card of the German trade unionists and German Social Democrats, whom, f when the time came, he caused to be sent to concentration camps or mur- \ dered. Mr Bevin said he had had to s deal with these totalitarian gentlemen c and Communists before, and he was *] not going to be dcce : ved by any of r Ibem. i i