GLOOM IN GERMANY

Waikato Times, Volume 193, Issue 22198, 18 November 1943, Page 5

GLOOM IN GERMANY

WAVE OF DISTRUST NO CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS (United Press Assn. —Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Nov. 16 Never has the German public shown such an intense interest in the Eastern front or devoured the newspaDers more hungrily in the hope of finding something to dispel their growing fears, report neutral observers in Berlin.

According to the Times correspondent on the German frontier a new German decree permits the death penaltv for children aged 12 years. The law of 1939 stipulated the minimum age as 16, but the decree states *.hat children are now maturing earlier and therefore those between 12 and 16 are subject to the same punishment as adults in exceptional case or when they are found incorrigible. There wil be no Chrlistmas or New Year holiday in Germany, states the decree. II workers want to spent either holiday with their families they must make up the lost time by working overtime and on Sundays without pay. Another decree stipulates that air raids must not interrupt factory work. Foreign* workers who have been allowed tc visit tneir homes if raids closed down tneir 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.” Broadcast by General General Dietmar, broadcasting over ; the Berlin radio tonight, said: “In j spite of definite obstacles our faith !is unshaken. Confidence is our j slogan for the moment—confidence j which is no blind optimism. We know the setbacks of the last months, i The Russians are still able to mass i superior numbers at all strategical ! points, but it becomes increasingly j difficult for the Red Army to widen i its bridgeheads. This proves an im- | provement in our defence system. “It is possible that the British and i Americans will want to shorten the | Italian campaign by landings in j other sectors of the Mediterranean front. It is well-known that this possibility is a reason for the preoccupation of part of the German public. The Balkans and the Aegean regions must be left for later discussion. The fighting fronts in the East and in Italy are the most important at present.” Dietmar continued: “The Fuehrer, in a speech last week, expressed his certain belief that sooner or later our ! people’s way will certainly lead them | upward again to victory. It would i be presumptuous to try to discover ! the reasons which led this unique j personality to this conclusion, since j his ideas come from sources beyond ' the scrutiny of cold reason. Such jan attempt would ,be doomed to I 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 Fuehrer’s confidence is based on a clear appreciation of the military situation by the responsible supreme commander.” , Germans’ Sense of Doom

Mr Harold Nicolson, M.P., 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 but 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 and ont day it will break, as the German Army will break. Moreover, extreme nervousness is reported from Hungary, Rumania and Bulgaria. All would gladly get out of the war if they could, but they cannot. If the Russians win the great battle of Krivoi Rog, it would seem that nothing could halt their onrush to the former Rumanian province of Bessarabia. The resent 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 bombing, the entire German organisation in the Balkans would be paralysed. It is small wonder that “extreme nervousness*’ is being felt.