Editorial: Hitler is frantic
Hitler’s latest anniversary whine is that of a man who is cornered and knows it. His customary predictions of victory are faint, almost drowned out by his frank admissions of Germany’s desperate position.
It is not surprising that he admits so much. The Russian advance across eastern Germany and Gen. Eisenhower’s drive from the west cannot be covered up. There are too many millions of Germans within sound of the guns, and too many other millions of refugees. Not a single large city of the Reich, or major transportation center or industrial area, escapes bombing.
The most significant part of this strange outburst by Hitler – or whoever wrote it – is the hint that German morale is breaking. Fear is a contagious thing, and nobody knows this better than the Nazi masters of propaganda. When the leader is afraid, how can the people – even the goose steppers – stave off panic? What must be the effect on the faithful of this left-handed confession that so-called cowardice and sabotage are so widespread that German morale is now an “if” question:
If the front and the homeland are jointly determined to destroy those who renounce the law of self-preservation, those who act like cowards or those who sabotage the fight, then they will save the nation… The only thing that I should not be able to bear would be the weakness of my nation.
On the basis of these unwilling revelations, and the known chaotic conditions in the Reich, it is reasonable to hope the enemy is cracking up, but reasonable conclusions are not always accurate regarding Germany, as the Allies have discovered so often. The only safe assumption is that the German people will hang on until their armies are completely defeated in the field.