4 FEBRUARY 1938, Page 6

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

THE abortive threat to Streicher's paper Der Stiirmer may be significant of a good deal. Copies of that vile organ are rarely seen in this country. Its single motif is anti- semitism, and on that theme it sinks to depths of foulness which to people familiar only with the British Press would be frankly incredible. Its main topic is ritual murder, which enables it to adorn its pages with drawings of indescribable coarse- ness, usually depicting the murder of Christian children for Jews to drink their blood. The editor, Julius Streicher, is the man with whom Herr Hitler consorts intimately at the Nuremberg party rally. Last week Streicher seemed to have over-reached himself by associating Mein Kampf too closely with his own anti-semite excesses. But the edition of the Stiirmer which was stopped by the police was soon released, and the paper is apparently to go on as usual. There has clearly been a struggle between the moderates and the extremists in Herr Hitler's entourage, and its issue is not encouraging for friends of moderation.