THE NAZI PARTY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 10 January 1944, Page 2

THE NAZI PARTY

ARRANGEMENTS TO GO UNDERGROUND HITLER’S PRESENT POSITION New York, Jan. 9. Well-informed Berlin circles say Nazi leaders have already arranged for the party to pass underground as soon as necessary, states the Stockholm correspondent of the “New York Times.” A vast number of the Hitler Youth Party as well as potential legions of critics of whatever conditions defeat would impose on Germany, would be sufficient to establish a new organisation which, working from below, would become a factor for unrest and trouble in post-war Germany. Many recent statements by prominent Nazis make it plain that the idea of disaster has occurred to them as something more than a remote possibility. It is clear, however, that so long as the Nazis rei lain in power, and until the last shots are fired, the party will not acknowledge defeat any more than will the military hierarchy. Both factions are working hand in glove with Himmler, and the Wilhelmstrasse blandly envisages that even generals will be thrown on their own resources if the eastern front splits under the weight of the Soviet onslaughts. With the nerve centre of Berlin systematically hammered by air blows the Nazis’ State is already cut up into sections working independently with administrative offices scattered in dozens of different directions. This disruption naturally gives the Dictator plenty of time for loafing, making office more or less superfluous, a fact which Hitler probably realises. In any case his public appearances are steadily becoming rarer and evidently the only use the party has for him is as a figurehead.