LIKE A NIGHTMARE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 142, 19 June 1939, Page 9

LIKE A NIGHTMARE

GERMANY OF TODAY GENERAL AIR OF TENSION A WORKSHOP FOR WAR TWO MAJOR IMPRESSIONS A general air of tension . . . armament factories working day and night .... terrific taxation . . . Air Force ’planes massed on the Belgium-Hol-land line ... soaring prices .. . dwindling trade . .. These are some of the impressions produced by Germany to-day upon an Australian visitor at present travelling in Europe. He describes tfiem in a letter to a friend in Melbourne, written from Berlin on April 8. "My travels this far have brought me to Berlin,” he writes. "This is not a pleasant country to be in. Each day the Press prints anti-British headlines, and although people are polite, they are imbued with the Nazi cry of ’Encirclement,’ and the former friendly feeling toward England is changing. The air of tension is very pronounced. "After a few days here one is impressed by two things: (1) the extraordinary efficiency of the whole country. (2) The conviction that Germany aims ruthlessly at European—and, as an ultimate aim, world—domination. “This efficiency permeates Government, Army and people. Germany is a gigantic workshop, working day and night, presumably for war. I have seen no food storage, except butter and pork. Taxation is terrific, and I am told the economic and financial situation ’cannot go on.’ Treat on Germany’s Terms. "The people I talk with are foreign news correspondents, British Consuls, English-speaking Germans and others. They all agree—and this is confirmed by a man in the Embassy here— that Britain’s difficulty in future will be the impossibility of negotiating with Germany, except on Germany's terms. "All the English people, and there are only a few now left in Germany, are on the verge of nervous breakdowns. Consuls and newspaper men are applying for transfers elsewhere. The tension is high and people are scared. Hotels are empty owing to loss of American and European tourists, and altogether it is no country in present circumstances, except for those who must remain. "There are no unemployed and there is a shortage of (1) unskilled labour (to meet this, 180,000 Italians are coming in on May 1 for the summer season in Agriculture); (2) of trained technical youths for engineering and allied industries. This is due to the removal from civil life of nearly 2,000,000 youths of 181-21 drafted to labour camps and the army. “The army is a superb war weapon. It is first-class and now the senior generals are entirely loyal party men. They say the Germany conscript is better fed, better trained, better clothed and better housed than the Briish Tommy, who gets a margarine ration ■while the Germans get butter! "I saw the 4th. Division, motorised and mechanised, moving out of Hanover, and they looked a magnificent war machine. The Reichswehr views S.S. and S.A. with ill-concealed contempt, and I notice that the latter's Nazi salute is not returned by the Army. "I learned that 70 per cent, of the Air Force is concentrated on the Belgium-Holland-Sylt line—only 30 per cent, on the eastern frontier. The new Tempelhof ’drome is staggering in size and scope, as is also Goering’s new air headquarters. Nightmare Life. "It is almost impossible to learn details of Army dispositions and Air Force units. Our intelligence in Germany is not good, and is hampered by several factors. No British officers on

the active list are allowed in specified prohibited zones—the published list of which includes nearly all Germany! Telephones are contiuously under surveillance. The Times man tells me he is conscious of day and night supervision; the Consuls at Kohn and Hanover also. It is a spy-country. Life in a Police State such as this is a nightmare, particularly for English people at the present juncture. “Retail prices are higher than expected and inflation is feared. Trade with Britain is dwindling and a bunch of commercial travellers I met are making their last visit to Germany. One is conscious of a terrific drive, the four-year plan in full spate, of which the dominating facto< is the continuous semi-mobilisation of the Army and Air Force. "But here again it is whispered that in aircraft production Germany has reached her peak capacity, while Britain and France have only begun to go up the curve. " "The technique against Poland is to be the same as Austria and Czechoslovakia—no overt military action, but a progressive breaking down of Poland’s nerve and morale, accompanied by minority demonstrations.”