An unwelcome feature of the'German Press to which I have
so far seen no reference is the tendency—obviously in response to a mot d'ordre from the urbane Dr. Goebbels- to play up articles in Italian papers proclaiming the palpable decadence of Great Britain. The conviction that Britain is going down the hill fast has been thoroughly drummed into the head of every Italian, but German papers have not hitherto gone out of their way to strike that note. Now, however, not content with reproducing articles from the Italian Press affirming, for example, that British unemt ;oyed prefer the dole to the army and would in case of war refuse to fight, they are setting themselves to embellish the libel on their own account. I have in front of me a recent issue of Das Schwarze Koips—that journal is the organ of Herr Hitler's Black Guards, and the S.S.—which contains what I believe is called a strip cartoon, depicting with pathetically heavy humour the alleged efforts made to fill the gaps in the British Army, culminating in the assurance that if war comes of course the recruit will be allowed to pack his bag and go home. The only thing that makes this stuff worth notice is that it would not be where it is if certain high authorities— certainly Dr. Goebbels, possibly Herr Hitler—did not desire to see it there.
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