NEW NAZI GUILE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24612, 17 June 1943, Page 3

NEW NAZI GUILE

POLICY IN RUSSIA CO-OPERATION SOUGHT METHODS OF "KINDNESS" (Real. p.m.) LONDON, June 10 A new turn in German policy in! Russia, aimed at enlisting the help of discontented elements among the Soviet peoples for carrying on the war, is emphasised in reports fo'in Stockholm. ' The Berlin correspondent of the Tidningcn says the Germans, knowing that their military power alone cannot conquer Russia, are making this fact the basis of a new policy aimed at consolidating their present position. German sources state that Russia has abundant manpower and, with the help of her industries beyond the Urals and the aid'of the Allies, could replace all her material losses. However, by securing the co-operation of the peoples in occupied Russia, the Germans hope to engineer a Soviet civil war. "Impossible to Conquer" The Stockholm correspondent of the Times says tho favourite theme of German military experts in the past few days has been that German leaders are convinced that it is absolutely impossible to conquer Russia against the will of the L'ussian people and without enlisting the aid of the local population. Fxperis say this is why the Germans lately have altered their methods. They are now inducing Russian peasants to raise crops by restoring private ownership. The Times says German apologists now represent tho Russians as willing to co-operate under kind treatment, but impossible to exploit by compulsion. They constantly refer to active military assistance from an anti-Stalin army alleged to be forming under a renegade Russian general, Vlassov. Independent reports from the Baltic States affirm that Vlassov's force does not exceed a few hundred. Land For Peasants 'J here is little real evidence of the new German "kindness policy" being applied seriously on the spot, although since tho spring the Nazi Party chiefs have been giving land to peasants here and there in White Russia and the Ukraine. The slackening of tho bridle has also been, tried fitfully since March in the Baltic States, without gaining for the Germans widespread, willing support. A military commentator, Captain von Schramm, in a statement in Berlin, mentioned for the first time authoritatively the withdrawal of men from the Russian front to strengthen the Western front. He said that the essentia! war objectives of the Axis in Kurope and East Asia had been attained in the main. The strategy at present was to await the enemy's blow. RABAUL AGAIN RAIDED 19 BOMBERS ENGAGED NIGHT FIGHTERS ENCOUNTERED -(Special Australian Correspondent) (Heed. t3.;io p.m.) SYDNEY, June 10 .Night lighters are being used by the Japanese over Rabaul, New Britain. This new development follows the continued Allied hammering of enemy aerodromes in the area. The raiders have intlicted heavy losses among grounded aircraft and it is believed they have destroyed a considerable quantity of ammunition and supplies. Nineteen heavy bombers made live separate attacks on the Lakunai and Rapopo airfields on Tuesday. General MaeArthur's communique today says: "Twenty-three tons of fragmentation and incendiary bombs were concentrated on grounded aircraft in dispersal areas. Many explosions, seven large fires, with flames visible 60 miles away, and numerous small fires in revetment areas, indicating burning planes, were caused. In spite of intense anti-aircraft and searchlight activity and attempted interception by night lighters, all our planes returned." An aerial reconnaissance made after the latest raid showed 254 aircraft on four enemy aerodromes near Rabaul — namely. Lakunai, Rapopo, Malaguna and Vunakanau. A force of 27 -Japanese bombers and MO lighters attacked three native villages in the Ben a ben a area, near Madang. Some damage was done. There were emergency landing strips in the .Heuabena area before the war. Nine . enem.v planes made a night raid on Dobodura. causing slight damage, but no casualties. CRUDE OIL SHORTAGE (Reed, (U5 p.m.) WASHINGTON, June .15 "The crude oil shortage is such that the United States rapidly is passing from an exporting to an importing nation," said the Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Harold Jekes, at a press conference. "The nation, by tho end of the year, will not be producing enough crude oil in California to meet the needs of the Pacific war theatre and civilian needs in that area." Mr. Jckes added that the shortage was not because the oil wells were running dry, but because of the shortage of manpower and transportation. ARGENTINA'S POLICY (Reed. 8.-20 p.m.) BUENOS AIRES, June 15 General Ramirez, the new President of Argentina, said at a press conference that Argentina was seeking to strengthen ties with the Western Hemisphere and was following a policy of "practical pan-Americanism," at the same time maintaining true neutrality toward the rest of the world.