Being one of the privileged recipients of Dr. Goebbels' reply
to Commander King-Hall (who had not, by the way, written to the Minister of Enlightenment, but to a number of other German citizens individually) I ought to do my share in making its contents more widely known. The reply first appeared in the VOlkischer Beobachter, and the English translation has been sent by post to a number of persons in this country—apparently those whose names and addresses are recorded in Who's Who. Since it runs to the equivalent of about five pages of The Spectator it is unlikely to be reproduced in full anywhere. That is a pity, for it would give English readers a chance to judge of Dr. Goebbels' intellectual calibre for themselves. All I can do is to give one or two examples of style and content. Of style:
"You say that you want to give us 'absolutely independent information.' But the question is: independent of what? In all probability, however, independent of truth—which in recent times
has been such a marked feature of English news. Your ncm service is 'a privately directed public service.' Ha, ha, ha! Th‘it really was well said. Your chief, Lord Halifax, can certainly he well satisfied with your schoolboy efforts " ; or the concluding shot of all : "Tomfoolery such as that contained in your letter can no longer bamboozle us. You can tell those tales to the Marines, you honest old British Jack-tar."
As for content, the British " atrocity " record is raked over once more, from the Liverpool slave trade in 1771 to the Daily Express's criticism of British colonial administration in 1939. Mr. Gladstone on the opium wars, Mr. Lansbury on India and Miss Sitwell on "interference with dark- skinned races" are all pressed into the service. All of which, no doubt, impresses readers of the Volkischer Beobachter. But how typically German to send it here.
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