Two million killed in war during 1944
Germans top all with 800,000 dead
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Simms: Big explosion long overdue in Germany
Nazis worsen fate by surrender delay
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard foreign editor
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Editorial: How long can Hitler last?
How long can Hitler hold out? Government experts, military and political, are asking the same question as the man in the street – and not coming up with any more definite answer.
But there are differences in emphasis between the official and the curbstone opinions. Officials are less optimistic. They got caught far out on the limb of prophecy last fall, and want no more of the same. Another difference is that the cracker-barrel strategists figure the Russians will take Berlin soon and end the war, while the professionals doubt that the capital will fall quickly or that Hitler will surrender when it does.
On the military side, Germany is still much stronger than the 20-mile-a-day sweep of the Red armies across the Polish plain indicates. The Germans withdrew from a large and sprawling flat area, which offered no strong natural defenses, to a long-prepared line on the Oder River. This withdrawal, which apparently began before the Russian attack, was not unexpected. At any rate, Germany still has a vast and well-trained army, with magnificent weapons and shorter supply lines.
More military importance is attached to the Russian breakthrough on the northern and southern flanks, in East Prussia and Silesia, than to the spectacular leap across central Poland. On its face, the speed with which the Russians cracked the great natural defenses of the East Prussian lakes looks like an all-time military miracle.
But why didn’t the Germans try to stand on that “perfect line”? Did some Junker generals cooperate with their old friends, Marshal von Paulus and Gen. von Seydlitz, of Stalin’s “Free Germany Committee”?
If the Junker generals – who hoped to use Hitler but were used by him, and who tried to have him assassinated last summer – are making deals with the Russians in any large numbers in response to Paulus’ pleas, part of Germany may fall soon. Reports of another Nazi purge of Junker commanders suggest Hitler fears this.
Civilian disorders, of course, would help. Hitler’s warning last week, and the fact that two trusted mayors of Breslau had to be purged in rapid succession, plus reports of German unrest by neutral travelers, all are promising – particularly because of millions of foreign slave laborers there, waiting to rebel. But the Nazis have foreseen and prepared against revolt for a long time, and their capacity to carry out fast mass murder of their opponents is only too well demonstrated. So, the Allies can make no definite plans on the basis of a probable successful German revolution.
Even if the Russians – with or without the aid of Junker generals and popular revolt in some industrial centers – are able to take Berlin quickly, and Gen. Eisenhower plunges through from the west, the Nazis may go on fighting from central and southern German bases. Prolonged destruction and chaos in Germany seem more probable than a quick and clean-cut peace for the whole country while the Nazis survive.
They have advantage –
Fight looms over levying taxes on cooperatives
By Don E. Weaver, Scripps-Howard staff writer
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Cooperation of powers insurance against war
Americans identified with League of Nations appraise its achievements
By Harry Hansen
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Hollywood is paging ghostly Mr. Jordan
And he’d better hurry up before fantasy cycle gets out of hand!
By Maxine Garrison
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I DARE SAY —
War movies of today lack appeal of Big Parade, Journey’s End
By Florence Fisher Parry
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Majors evade election of new czar
Anti-Frick bloc wins delay as loops vote to continue in 1945
By Chester L. Smith, Press sports editor
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Profiteering charged in war surplus
Congressional ban on auctions considered
By Roger W. Stuart, Scripps-Howard staff writer
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U.S. State Department (February 4, 1945)
Tripartite dinner meeting, 8:30 p.m.
Livadia Palace, USSR
| Present | ||
|---|---|---|
| United States | United Kingdom | Soviet Union |
| President Roosevelt | Prime Minister Churchill | Marshal Stalin |
| Secretary Stettinius | Foreign Secretary Eden | Foreign Commissar Molotov |
| Mr. Byrnes | Sir Archibald Clark Kerr | |
| Mr. Harriman | Major Birse | Mr. Vyshinsky |
| Mr. Bohlen | Mr. Gromyko | |
| Mr. Pavlov |
Bohlen Minutes
Yalta, February 4, 1945, 8:30 p.m.
Top secret
Subject: VOICE OF SMALLER POWERS IN POST-WAR PEACE ORGANIZATION
Before dinner and during the greater part of the dinner the conversation was general and personal in character. Marshal Stalin, the President and the Prime Minister appeared to be in very good humor throughout the dinner. No political or military subjects of any importance were discussed until the last half hour of the dinner when indirectly the subject of the responsibility and rights of the big powers as against those of the small powers came up.
Marshal Stalin made it quite plain on a number of occasions that he felt that the three Great Powers which had borne the brunt of the war and had liberated from German domination the small powers should have the unanimous right to preserve the peace of the world. He said that he could serve no other interest than that of the Soviet state and people but that in the international arena the Soviet Union was prepared to pay its share in the preservation of peace. He said that it was ridiculous to believe that Albania would have an equal voice with the three Great Powers who had won the war and were present at this dinner. He said some of the liberated countries seemed to believe that the Great Powers had been forced to shed their blood in order to liberate them and that they were now scolding these Great Powers for failure to take into consideration the rights of these small powers.
Marshal Stalin said that he was prepared in concert with the United States and Great Britain to protect the rights of the small powers but that he would never agree to having any action of any of the Great Powers submitted to the judgment of the small powers.
The President said he agreed that the Great Powers bore the greater responsibility and that the peace should be written by the Three Powers represented at this table.
The Prime Minister said that there was no question of the small powers dictating to the big powers but that the great nations of the world should discharge their moral responsibility and leadership and should exercise their power with moderation and great respect for the rights of the smaller nations. (Mr. Vyshinski said to Mr. Bohlen that they would never agree to the right of the small powers to judge the acts of the Great Powers, and in reply to an observation by Air. Bohlen concerning the opinion of American people he replied that the American people should learn to obey their leaders. Mr. Bohlen said that if Mr. Vyshinski would visit the United States he would like to see him undertake to tell that to the American people. Mr. Vyshinski replied that he would be glad to do so.)
Following a toast by the Prime Minister to the proletariat masses of the world, there was considerable discussion about the rights of people to govern themselves in relation to their leaders.
The Prime Minister said that although he was constantly being “beaten up” as a reactionary, he was the only representative present who could be thrown out at any time by the universal suffrage of his own people and that personally he gloried in that danger.
Marshal Stalin ironically remarked that the Prime Minister seemed to fear these elections, to which the Prime Minister replied that he not only did not fear them but that he was proud of the right of the British people to change their government at any time they saw fit. He added that he felt that the three nations represented here were moving toward the same goal by different methods.
The Prime Minister, referring to the rights of the small nations, gave a quotation which said: “The eagle should permit the small birds to sing and care not wherefor they sang.”
After Marshal Stalin and the President had departed the Prime Minister discussed with Mr. Eden and Mr. Stettinius further the voting question in the Security Council. The Prime Minister said that he was inclined to the Russian view on voting procedure because he felt that everything depended on the unity of the three Great Powers and that without that the world would be subjected to inestimable catastrophe; anything that deserved [preserved?] that unity would have his vote. Mr. Eden took vigorous exception to the Prime Minister and pointed out that there would be no attraction or reason for the small nations to join an organization based on that principle and that he personally believed it would find no support among the English public. The Prime Minister said that he did not agree in the slightest with Mr. Eden because he was thinking of the realities of the international situation.
In reply to an inquiry of the Prime Minister in regard to the American proposal to the solution of the voting question, Mr. Bohlen remarked that the American proposal reminded him of the story of the Southern planter who had given a bottle of whiskey to a Negro as a present. The next day he asked the Negro how he had liked the whiskey, to which the Negro replied that it was perfect. The planter asked what he meant, and the Negro said if it had been any better it would not have been given to him, and if it had been any worse, he could not have drunk it.
Soon thereafter the Prime Minister and Mr. Eden took their departure, obviously in disagreement on the voting procedure on the Security Council of the Dumbarton Oaks organization.
Log of the Trip
Sunday, February 4, 1945
Marshal Stalin and his party arrived early this morning. They came down from Moscow by rail to a point in the Crimea and from there motored to Koreiz Villa, about 6 miles south of Livadia, where they made their headquarters during the Crimea Conference.
1100: The President conferred with Mr. Stettinius, Mr. Harriman, Admiral Leahy, General Marshall, Admiral King, General Kuter, General McFarland, Mr. Matthews (H. Freeman Matthews, Director of Office of European Affairs, State Department), Mr. Hiss (Alger Hiss, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State) and Mr. Bohlen (Charles E. Bohlen, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State). The conference was held in the grand ballroom of Livadia.
1615: Marshal Stalin and Mr. Molotov called at Livadia and conferred with the President in his study. Mr. Bohlen and Mr. Pavlov were also present.
1630: The President conferred with Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Matthews and Mr. Bohlen in his study.
1710: The First Formal Meeting of the Crimea Conference was convened in the grand ballroom of Livadia. Present:
| For the U.S. | For Great Britain | For the USSR |
|---|---|---|
| The President. | The Prime Minister. | Marshal Stalin. |
| Mr. Stettinius. | Mr. Eden. | Commissar Molotov. |
| Admiral Leahy. | Field Marshal Brooke. | Admiral Kuznetsov. |
| General Marshall. | Air Marshal Portal. | Col. General Antonov. |
| Admiral King. | Field Marshal Alexander. | Air Marshal Khudyakov. |
| Mr. Harriman. | Mr. Vyshinski. | |
| General Deane. | Admiral Cunningham. | Mr. Maisky. |
| General Kuter. | General Ismay. | Mr. Gousev. |
| General McFarland. | Major Birse. | Mr. Gromyko. |
| Mr. Pavlov. |
This meeting adjourned at 1950.
2030: The President was host at dinner at Livadia to the Prime Minister, Marshal Stalin, Mr. Stettinius, Mr. Eden, Mr. Molotov, Mr. Harriman, Mr. Clark Kerr, Mr. Gromyko, Mr. Vyshinski, Justice Byrnes, Major Birse, Mr. Bohlen and Mr. Pavlov. The menu included: Vodka, five different kinds of wine, fresh caviar, bread, butter, consommé, sturgeon with tomatoes, beef and macaroni, sweet cake, tea, coffee and fruit.
Message from President Roosevelt to Philippine President Osmena
February 4, 1945
The American people rejoice with me in the liberation of your capital.
After long years of planning, our hearts have quickened at the magnificent strides toward freedom that have been made in the last months – at Leyte, Mindoro, Lingayen Gulf, and now Manila.
We are proud of the mighty blows struck by Gen. MacArthur, our sailors, soldiers, and airmen; and in their comradeship-in-arms with your loyal and valiant people who in the darkest days have not ceased to fight for their independence. You may be sure that this pride will strengthen our determination to drive the Jap invader from your islands.
We will join you in that effort – with our armed forces, as rapidly and fully as our efforts against our enemies and our responsibilities to other liberated peoples permit. With God’s help we will complete the fulfillment of the pledge we renewed when our men returned to Leyte.
Let the Japanese and other enemies of peaceful nations take warning from these great events in your country; their world of treachery, aggression, and enslavement cannot survive in the struggle against our world of freedom and peace.