SENSE OF DOOM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25386, 18 November 1943, Page 5

SENSE OF DOOM

GERMAN FEAR GROWING NEW DECREES ANNOUNCED DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILDREN (Rec. 9.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 16. Never has the German public shown such an intense interest in the Eastern Front or devoured the newspapers more hungrily in the hope of finding something to dispel its growing fears, report neutral observers in Berlin according to The Times correspondent on the German frontier. A new German decree permits the death penalty for children aged 12 years. The law of 1939 stipulated an age of 16, but the decree states that children are now maturing earlier and therefore those of 12 and 16 years must be subject to the same punishment as adults in exceptional cases or when found to be incorrigible. There will be no Christmas or New Year holiday in Germany, states the decree, but if workers want to spend either holiday with their families they must make up the lost time by working overtime on Sundays without pay. Another decree stipulates that air raids must not interrupt factory work. Foreign workers who have been allowed to visit their homes if raids closed down their works will no longer be allowed to do so. German newspapers give prominence to these decrees under the headline: “ Not a single hour must be lost.”

General Dietmar, broadcasting over the Berlin radio to-night, declared: “ In spite of definite obstacles our faith is unshaken. Confidence is our slogan for the moment—a confidence which is no blind optimism. We know the setbacks of the last months. The Russians are still able to mass superior numbers at all strategical points, but it becomes increasingly difficult for the Red Army to widen its bridgeheads. This proves that there is an improvement in our defence system. It is possible that the British and Americans will want to shorten the Italian campaign by making landings in other sectors of the Mediterranean front. It is well known that this possibility is the reason for the preoccupation on the part of the German public. The Balkans and ,®gean regions must be left for later discussion. The fighting fronts in the east and in Italy are the most important at present.” General Dietmar continued: “The Fuhrer in his speech last week expressed his certain belief that sooner or later the way of our people will certainly lead them upwards again to victory.’ It would be presumptuous to try to discover the reasons which led this unique personality to this conclusion, since his ideas come from sources beyond the scrutiny of cold reason. Such an attempt would be doomed to failure because the vision which is an integral part of all outstanding greatness cannot be made the subject of reasoning and calculations. On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that the Fuhrer’s confidence is based on a clear appreciation of the military situation as a responsible supreme commander.” Mr Harold Nicholson, broadcasting on a recent visit to Sweden, said: “ Swedes who recently returned from Germany gave me the impression that the Germans have lost all sense of destiny and have acquired a sense of doom. A wave of disillusionment, distrust, and fear is passing over the land.” *

“There can no longer be any doubt that alarm and despondency are written large over the German Reich,” says the Daily Mail. “ German morale is slipping. One day it will break, as the German Army will break. Moreover, extreme nervousness is reported from Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria. All these countries would gladly get out of the war if they could, but they cannot. If the Russians win the great battle for Krivoi Rog it would seem that nothing can halt their onrush to the ' former Rumanian province of Bessarabia. The recent Allied raid on Sofia is another portent which has shaken all the Balkan countries.”

The Daily Mail concludes by suggesting that if the great sidings and station yards of Bucharest, Budapest, and Vienna were wrecked by continuous bombings, the entire German organisation in the Balkans would be paralysed. It was small wonder that “ extreme nervousness ” was being felt.