SIGNS OF DISUNITY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 19 May 1941, Page 5

SIGNS OF DISUNITY

GERMAN PEOPLE SHAKEN HESS’S FLIGHT TO BRITAIN [British Official Wireless! Rugby, May 17. | Mr Greenwood. Minister without portfolio, speaking at Deptford said: “When a man occupying such an im- j portant official position in the Nazi j hierarchy as did Herr Hess flees his country and puts himself in the hands of the enemy it looks as though all is not well on the German home front. Disunity, doubt and disillusionment are growing and will continue to grow within the German Reich. The Nazi foundation upon which Germany's grandiose edifice of military aggression rests has begun to show signs of internal stress and strain. I will not say it is cracking, but it is certainly becoming chipped. It should be additional encouragement and incentive for us to increase our efforts still further anci j endure still greater hardships to speed ! our victory. “We have proved that our spirit is i unbreakable, our island is unconquerable. but we have still to make our arms irresistible. Let us then draw new faith, strength and energy from the knowledge that all is not well within Germany. Let us redouble our efforts to increase the stress and strain which has already begun to undermine Nazi unity and loyalty till the pressure brings the Nazi tyrant down into the dust of defeat and retribution.” PIECE OF MELODRAMA The Home Secretary, Mr Morrison, speaking at Hackney said: “We can at least be grateful to Herr Hess for providing the British people with a good deal o* entertainment in the midst of grim times. He has been the hero or villain of a piece of real life melodrama that would have won rounds of applauj from the Drury Lane gallery in the old days. “I have no Hess guess. Instead I will give a few hard facts. Hess, Hitler’s right hand man, is like the rest of them, a brutal thug, whose hands, like his master’s, are stained with some o- the worst political crimes of modern times. Hess takes his share of the guilt for the murder of hundreds of comrades in 1934. “So highly did Hitler think of his peculiar capacities, that he made it his task to out-Gestapo the Gestapo. This g ngster is now in our hands. It does not matter what kind of animal he is—whether he is rat number one of the Trojan horse, or just over here in the vain hope of finding innocents to play with. The main thing is that he is caged. “There is just one more fact to add to this. Whatever his reason for coming here, the German people, to put it mildly, are very much shaken by the whole episode. They chose between two or three different explanations, all of them equally unpalatable. Meanwhile we have seen the edifying sight of Goebbels spending the last few days revolving rapidly on his axis—chasing hi* own tail.” SPECULATION ON MOTIVES Though interest in Herr Hess is not being allowed to obscure the wider issues of the war, speculation is still rife about the motives of his escape from Germany, and the meaning of contradictory contortions of Dr Goebbels's propaganda machine tc explain the astounding event in a manner palatable to the Nazis. The fact that it was revealed to-day tl*-t the letter from Herr Hess which the Duke of. Hamilton immediately handed to the authorities contained a suggestion for a meeting on neutral territory to distuss peace certainly lends colour to the latest Nazi picture of Herr Hess as a messianic idealist, but it is. no reflection whatever on the sanity of a man who may have thought a negotiated peace was the only possible hope for Germany in the dangerous situation to which her war adventure is leading her. At the same timo, the picture of Herr Hess as an idealist, the latest figment of the overworked imagination of the German propagandists, hardly squares with the truth as stated by the “Daily Telegraph.”

“Hess, more than any other man but Hitler, is responsible for the abominations of the concentration camps and the Gestapo,” it says. “He lived and throve and made himself important by murder, torture, and persecution. Such is the Hess religion.” The “Daily Telegraph” adds a timely warning. “Though one of the chief Nazi gangsters has deserted,” it says, “that does not diminish by one jot the urgency of the development of our utmost fighting power now. We must not be deflected or deterred from the toll and sacrifice of our task by the fantastic melodrama of Hess.” Sir Nevile Henderson, former British Ambassador in Berlin, gave his view on the escape of Deputy Fuhrer Hess to Britain. He described Hess as an absolutely fanatical supporter of the Nazi system who wa~ honest and sincere. The impression Hess's flight had created in Germany, he said, ruled out the theory that he had come to Britain on a secret mission. In Sir Nevile’s opinion, the Deputy Fuhrer had become convinced in the last two years that Nazism as it had developed was on the wrong track, ana that it was being used to serve the lot of the thorough-going scoundrels of Germany such as Himmler, Ribbentrop. Goering. and the general party bosses who acted solely for themselves. He regarded Hess as an adopted son of Hitler, a man to whom Hitler was devoted, and who was devoted to Hitler. Hess was one of the first men to join the Nazi movement. Sir Nevile thought his number was 21, and Hitler’s 7. It was considered in Germany tv. be a great distinction to be among ! the first 100. Sir Nevile said he did not think that ! Hess had come to Britain to give away , | German secrets or that he had come as I ■ ■ a spy. His momentous step showed j 'how deep the feeling in Germany must , j be to-day. knowing as he did when he ;, j took the step that it would cause fury , ai 1 resentment on the part of the lead- , I In reply to a question. Sir Nevile said: “You can be quite easy. The Government will not treat Hess as any- , thing but a Nazi." Colonel Frank Knox, United States , Secretary for the Navy, expressed his , personal view of the Hess affair in ! Washington to-day. He concluded that J j Hess was sane and that he fled to t Scotland “two jumps ahead of the [ gun." "You know. I com : from Chi- e cago.” said Colonel Knox, “and there ( they put the finger on you. That is c what they are doing to Hess.” v NAZI ATTITUDE 1 The German Government is doing S everything possible to stop the people of Germany thinking about the Hess ) affair. Thursday’s German broadcast declared that the flight of Hess had j been completely unravelled, and that statement was intended effectively to s put an end to the story. Friday’s German broadcast for home listeners made no mention of the Deputy Fuhrer, and j neutral correspondents in Berlin arc now being told that the incident will soon be swamped by bigger news. Dismissing the Hess affair as set- ' tied so far as Germany is concerned, [ the Berlin radio said that everybody j [ was again turning attention to the a military campaign. The Fuhrer, after * 2

numerous unsuccessful offers, had recognised that only the might of German arms could break the British rulers, with their mad ideas. The Berlin correspondent of the United Press states that reports are current that Professor Karl Haushofer, a leading exponent of the “Lebensraum” theory has been arrested. German officials neither confirm nor deny the report. but state that it would not be surprising if the whole firm (meaning apparently Hess’s associates) are being rounded up. Hess, who was Haushofer’s favourite pupil, was the means of bringing Hitler and Haushofer together. Hess's plane is not to be exhibited in London. Circumstances make its showing impracticable. A German broadcast disclosed that Hess's plane was a long-range reconnaissance type, not yet in service with the Luftwaffe.