NAZI NERVES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 273, 18 November 1943, Page 5

NAZI NERVES

PUBLIC FEAR GROWS “GERMAN MORALE SLIPPING”

(By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) Reed. 9.45 p.m. London, Nov. 16.

Never has the German public shown such intense interest in the eastern front or devoured the newspapers more hungrily in the hope of finding something to dispel 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 in 1939 stipulated tiie age of 16, but the decree states that children are now maturing earlier and therefore those from 12 to 16 are subject to the same punishment as adults in exceptional cases or when found incorrigible. There will be no Christmas or New Year holiday in Germany, states the decree, but if the workers want to spend either with their families they must make up the lost time by working overtime and Sundays without pay. Another decree stipulates that air raids must not interrupt factory work. Foreign workers who have oeen allowed to visit their homes if raids closed down their works will ho longer be allowed to do so. German newspapers give prominence to these decrees unuer the headline “Not a single hour must be lost. ’ General Dietmar, broadcasting over Berlin radio to-night, declared; — “Despite definite obstacles our faith is unshaken. Confidence is our slogan for the moment —confidence whicn is no blind optimism. vve know the setbacks of the last months. The Russians are still able to mass superior numbers at all strategical points, but it becomes increasingly diuicult for the Red Army to wia-en its bridgeheads. This proves the improvement in our defence system. It is possible the British and Americans will want to shorten the Italian campaign oy landings in other sectors of the Mediterranean front. It is well known that this possibility is the reason tor pre-occupation on the part oi the German public. The Balkans and Aegean regions must be left for later discussion. The fighting fronts in the east and in Italy are most important at present.” “The Fuhrer in his speech last week expressed his certain belief that sooner or later our people's way will certainly lead them upwards again to victory,” continued Dietmar. “it would oe presumptuous to try to discover the reasons which led this unique personality to this conclusion, since nis ideas come from sources beyond the scrutiny of cold reason. Such an attempt would be doomed to failure, because the vision which is the 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 clear appreciation of the military situation, by a responsible, supreme commander.”

Harold Nicholson, broadcasting on his recent visit to Sweden, said: “Swedes who have recently returned from Germany gave me the impression that the Germans have lost all sense oi destiny and have acquired a sense of doom. A wave of disillusionment, distrust and Mar 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 wtII break, as the German Army will break.

“Moreover, extreme nervousness is reported from Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria. All would gladly get out oi the war if they could, out they cannot. If the Russians win a great battle at Krivoi Rog it would seem that nothing could halt their onrush to the former Rumanian province of Bessarabia. The recent Allied raid on Sofia is another portent which has shaken all Balkan countries.”

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

GOEBBELS’ “IFS”

Recd. 6 p.m. London, Nov. 16. “We have every chance oi: winning if only the German people remain determined to exploit their chances,” said Goebbels in a two-hour “pep” talk to the Nazi Party.

Goebbels was quoted by Berlin radio as saying; “The positions we have conquered in four years of brilliant victories are pledges of final victory. We now have only to defend them. What matters in this war is that our national existence and our due place in the community of nations should be maintained. We shall solve the problems of the future of our people for generations if only we keep our nerve to the end and do not lay down our arms until after the twelfth hour.”