DEFENSIVE POLICY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24084, 1 October 1941, Page 7

DEFENSIVE POLICY

GERMANY'S INTENTION "AFTER BEATING RUSSIA" NAZI OFFICIAL'S STATEMENT ZURICH, Sent. 29 "Germany, after defeating Russia, will stand on the defensive in this war." This amazing statement was made by the director of the Press Department of the German Ministry of Propaganda, Fritsche, to a gathering of local Nazi leaders at Frankfurt. Speaking on behalf of the Ministry, Fritsche said: "It becomes necessary to take energetic steps against those many disbelievers, who now, after the Russian war, dare to state that Germany won many battles in the Great War, but just the same lost it. "The same people point to Napoleon's Eastern war and ask whether Germany is able to win this war. Government circles do not deny the seriousness of the Russian war and military leaders do not hide its gravity." Fritsche instructed the Nazi leaders how to counteract such talk. "It must bo stressed that the Eastern war will be won owing to the fact that the Red Army has already lost such a great part of its military strength and material," he said. "It is now unnecessary for Germany to penetrate too deeply into unlimited territory. Germany is now preparing to build up an iron ring around the Continent, thus frustrating any possibility even for President Roosevelt to intervene in Europe."