GERMANY TO-DAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21926, 9 October 1934, Page 9

GERMANY TO-DAY

WORLD BEWILDERED INTERVIEW WITH HITLER A PROFESSOR'S IMPRESSIONS BY A. L. WILLIAMS LONDON, August 30 With the death of Hindenburg and Hitler's combination of the ofßces of President and Chancellor in his person, one phase of the NationalistSocialist revolution in Germany has . ended. A propaganda for and against the Nazis, which almost equals m intensity that marking the Communist Revolution in Russia, has bewildered onlookers the world over, but through the haze facts have emerged, and from these certain deductions of the true position may be made. Hitler still commands the support of the great majority of Germans, 90 per cent of whom endorsed his accession to the Presidency, but the rote seems to show a reservation of final judgment, and to point to hopes for the future rather than to satisfaction with results achieved during the pasit 20 months. In his foreign policy Hitler has suffered almost total defeat. Germany :is morally isolated. The world has been shocked by the shootings of opponents, the persecutions of Jews, Catholics and Protestants, and the rigours of the concentration camps. The one positive achievement, the 10-year truce with. Poland,, is offset by the antagonism of Russia because of that treaty, and her rapprochement with France and the Powers constituting the Little Entente —Gzecho-Slovakia, Rumania and Yugoslavia. Proved guilty of provoking the abortive rising in Austria which led to the death of Dr. Dellfuss on July 25, Etitder has suffered a setback, perhaps temporary, in that quarter. Mussolini's prompt despatch of troops to his frontiers has checked Hitler's Austrian plans, for the nvoment.< The so-:rec:ent Italo-German friendship has withered right away. Friendly overtures to Britain and France have elicited responses the reverse of satisfactory. Instead more intensive defence measures have been undertaken against Germany. Relations with foreign Powers, then, can give little pleasure to the German people. Conditions at home are also far from reassuring. Foreign trade has as steadily declined as that' of Britain and United States of America has improved. Berlin Joyless and Depressed A conversation to-day in London with a friend, Professor G. Waterhouse, occupant of the chair of German at Sydney University, was illuminating on present conditions in Germany. The professor lived in. Germany pre-war, and has lately spent three* months there. He describes Berlin aa quiet, joyless and depressed. While middle-aged intellectuals were critical, the younger intellectuals were not anti-Nazi. One said, "Hitler ;a more than a man to me." His hold on young people was remarkable. The aristocrats said little, but they were obviously concerned for the future. Through all the criticism there stood out a great regard for Hitier. He gave a sense of dignity and self-respect. Up to June 30 admiration was tempered by a belief that he was not a strong man, and it is-" Professor Waterhouse's conviction that the clean-up was, i;n part, prompted by a desire to correct that impression. The frankness of the first disclosure gave relief. Only ten executions, so said the bulletin, lrafc rumour quickly began to add to the number killed. The German press said that the foreign press lied. On July 10 Goebbels denounced ill® foreign press in a great speech entitled, "Germany as Mirrored in the Foreign Press." As a constant reader of foreign newspapers the Australian realised that Goebbels' summary w;as very inaccurate; but he carried his audience. The Truth About Executions "He is the cleverest orator I have heard since I heard Jaures (the French Socialist), but he is entirely a dema* gogue," said Professor Waterhouse. "This man is a terrible danger to Germany. Something quite good might be made of Hitler, but Goehhels and Goering are so ruthless and severe that they are a menace to Germany's interests/ 3 Professor Waterhouse had an interview with Hitler nest day,. July 11. Friends arranged it. "My. first impression was tragic. He stood at the far end of his office like a man soliloquising with himself," he said. "I advanced and saluted. Hitler returned my salute, shook hsinds and motioned me to a couch. He seemed to be mute." "I thanked him for the honour of the interview. Hitler, to my surprise, started to declaim against the foremen press; a great disappointment to me this. He said that the clean-up had taken place with the greatest order and least possible disturbance, but the foreign press spread lying rumours. They were out for sensation, but ho could not always supply fresh copy." "I said, 'What you say about order is true, but when the foreign press said that more than ten were executed, and the rumours grew, my feeling of relief gave way to disturbance. We now feel that more than ten were executed.' " "Hitler's reply was significant. T immediately told the German people all that it was necessary for them to know,' he said.' 1 ' . "I suggested that there would be no further communication, to which Hitler replied that he would make., a communication to the Reichstag; two days later. He then admitted that 77 were executed, but the well-informed Berlin correspondent of the Manchester Guardian states in to-day's issue that 238 were executed in Berlin, Munich and elsewhere. A Fanatic and Visionary "How did he impress you?'' I asked. "He in a fanatic and visionary. A man of tremendous nervous energy, a man who at times borders on hysteria." said the professor. "As he spoke to me he raised his voice, and almost shrieked. Then he calmed doWn, but soon became excited again." "He seemed to lack balance and selfcontrol, as. we English coiaceive it. He is not a refined man, b'st he is human and approachable, having a fund of kindliness. I-d'elt that he wished the German people well. He did not appear to mind my interrogation. He was agitated because he was working up his Reichstag speech. He has great_p?wer of thought, but his thought is not crystallised in definite form. But he makes the Germans believe in themselves. I had had Jin interview with Mussolini in Rome a few months earlier. Mussolini has a moro forceful personality, and he is a statesman. Hitler is learning hii! politics as he goes along." , - "Is war likely?" I asked. "I don'b think there is immediate danger of it. The Germans have not got the equipment. But the spirit or the German people is being trained m a way.that will make them favourable is on top, Hitler or the ReichsI cannot say. The Reichswehr has sworn fealty. My impression is that Hitler is firmly in the saddle—for a few months I came away from Hitler with "he conviction th&t National Socialism could not succeed without great modifications."