GERMANS BY RACE
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
Snt,—You say, on May 12th, that the democracies clung to the be:ief that Herr Hitler's aim was "simply to extend the frontiers of the Reich till all contiguous German-speaking peoples were brought within them," and you appear to consider that to be a reasonable and proper aim. In the House of Commons, on April 3rd, the Prime Minister said, "At that time (September, 1938) it was possible to quote to those who held that view (that Herr Hitler aimed at domination) the assurances that had been given to me, and not to me only, but to the world, that the foreign policy of the German Government was limited, that they had no wish to dominate other races, and that all they wanted was to assimilate Germans living in territory adjacent to their country. We were told that when that was done that was to be the end, and there were to be no more territorial ambitions to be satisfied." And in the same debate Sir John Simon said, "It is this departure from the racial principle by which the German policy was said to be confined which has so stirred the world."
Who are the Germans living in territory adjacent to Germany proper in the eyes of yourself and the' Prime Minister to be "assimilated," and what does "the racial principle" which Sir John Simon appears to accept as so reasonable really mean?
More than half the Swiss people speak German, and are by race unquestionably German. So are the Alsatians and the Luxembourgers. A strong case could be made out for considering about half the Belgians and all the Dutch as coming under the same category. The argument would not need to be pushed very much further to include the Danes.
ALFRED BEESLY. Letcombe Bowers, Wantage.
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