BESIDE THEMSELVES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 22 October 1941, Page 8

BESIDE THEMSELVES

BUT NOT WITH JOY tv 11. VI GERMANS THINK Ol lit SSI AN W.vit Hiller has found it necessary m the a necessary evil. The attitude of the German people in the Russian war i Korps.” tho organ of the S.s'. which complains that the rapture lelt at home m> far is not commemorate with the ; magnitude of recent military aehioveselvcs with transports of ecstasy -or we show that we lack the faculty oven faintly to understand what lias occur- ; red. The fact that wo really do lack such a faculty—that is our punishIn his speech of sth October, which launched his propaganda drive. Hitler declared. “In August and September last, year one thing could be realised: the settling of accounts with England was no longer possible, because in our rear was standing a state preparing to Series of propaganda meetings are to be held all over the country in these next weeks and films arc to be shown German victory and to stimulate those Germans who are thinking about the great difficulties of the coming winter." Four lines of approach are to be used. ; First, the people are to be convinced that the war with Russia was an I absolute necessity—that Russia must be ! eliminated before Germany can conquer Britain and take her rightful place as the master of the world. This : was the theme of Hitler's speech. Secondly, people are to be terrorised. I They are to be made to understand what would have happened to them | had the Fuhrer been foolish enough to I hold his hand and allow the Bolshevik hordes to strike first. Vivid and dramatic reports from the front line are! j broadcast, reports that leave out nothing of the horror and vileness of j modern war. Letters from the front! are published in the press. "We cannot be grateful enough for preserving our Fatherland from the horrors of | war. Apart from the regrettable vie-1 tims of air raids and the excitement 1 and the worry of relatives, you in Ger-1 j many feel very little of the war. You ;should conic to the front and see what] our infantry are going through and ■ contemplate the misery of evacuated i civilians and destroyed villages. You) should have a look at the prisoner-of- ; ■war camps and you would realise how those hordes would have ravaged ourj (Fatherland. After that sight I would l j like to see the men who would utter l a word of complaint about the sacrij flees of the home front." j Thirdly, excitement is to be kept at ; fever pitch. Victory after victory has' already been proclaimed with all the ] trappings and fanfares and trumpets; iso dear to the German citizen. “The ■ Fuhrer’s headquarters declare that the Eastern campaign has ended in the 1 complete smashing-up of Timoshenko's} Army Group. The decision from the I military viewpoint has been definitely} rendered.” (October 10.) Lastly, the people are to be shamed ' into endurance. Dr Goebbels in “Das i Reich” has told them that to grumble I lis futile, that to envy the English is j mad and that to listen in to enemy i broadcasts is criminal. He had told 'them they must prove themselves worthy of their birthright and their race. That is the plan of the propaganda drive. But, shout as they may, Hitler's publicity agents will not bring peace and forgetfulness to the mothers and wives of German soldiers whose lives have been wantonly thrown away in the struggle.