MARGINAL COMMENT
NICOLSON By HAROLD The second event which illustrates the deterioration of the German character since 1933 is the hysterical glee with which the German people as a whole have welcomed Goebbels' fantistic stories regard- ing the effect upon southern England of the pilotless plane. It can well be understood that at a moment when boa the Luftwaffe and the U-boats have been finally discredited, at a moment when Germany faces disaster upon three separate fronts, some diversionary stimulus
Two events have occurred recently which illustrate the effect upon the German character of five years of war and eleven years of Nazi conditioning. The first is the execution by the Gestapo of fifty of the Allied Air Officers who escaped from Stalag Luft III. Mr. Eden was not exaggerating list Friday when he in- formed the House of Commons that this action constituted " an odious crime against the laws and conventions of war." One of the most outrageous elements in this sinister transaction was that these prisoners of war were removed from the custody of the German military authorities, and handed over to the Nazi. Secret Police. It is possible, as Mr. Eden promised, that we shall be able to collect sufficient evidence to be able to bring to ultimate justice those of the Gestapo officials at Gorlitz who were responsible for this assassination. But even if we were able to exact retribution from those who actually perpetrated the outrages, the responsibility of the German High Command and of the Luftwaffe remains a major responsibility. When the collapse comes these military autho- rities will seek by every means to assert their innocence. They will contend that the orders for this execution were given, not by them, but by the Nazi triumvirate of Himmler, Martin Bormann and Dr. Lammers ; and that the murders were carried out by the Gorlitz Gestapo. They will assert that the shooting of prisoners of war is contrary to the code of the German fighting services ; that they protested against it at the time ; and that they cannot be held responsible for actions taken against their wishes, and against their known principles of honourable military conduct. And the plea which did so much to stultify the Leipzig trials of war criminals after the last war will be raised again, namely, that those who com- mitted crimes were acting under orders, and that those who gave the orders did not commit the crimes.
* * * * Let us admit at once that the shooting or ill-treatment of prisoners of war is not in accordance with the traditional concepts of the German military code. There will certainly be many senior officers of the old German army, navy, and air force who will regard the Gorlitz assassinations with disgust and shame. There will also be many elderly German civilians who will in their hearts feel that these terrible incidents have brought disgrace upon the repute of Germany's armed forces. When victory comes, and the Nazi system crashes into the dust and rubble, we shall be assured that these actions on the part of the Gestapo filled all decent minded Germans with horrified indignation. And an attempt will be made to convince us that all the acts of brutality or untruthfulness which have sullied the German name during the last eleven years must be ascribed solely to the Nazi party and their agents ; whereas all creditable actions are to be taken as evidence that the " good Germany," or the "real Germany," was never entirely submerged, and has now been able, through trial and suffering, to rid itself of the band of criminals who for so long have given an entirely false picture of Germany to the civilised world. This differentiation between the Nazi party and the German people is something which the United Nations ought not to admit. The whole German people must be regarded as accessories to the crimes committed in their 'name since 1933; had these crimes been successful they would with- out a qualm of conscience.have enjoyed the profits ; now that they have proved unsuccessful, and thht retribution is at hand, they must be made to realise their own complicity ; they must expiate their " Mitschuld."
* * * * • should have been found necessary. It can be understood even that a people who have' for so long suffered intensive air bombardment without a chance of hitting back should derive satisfaction from the knowledge that they now possess Retaliation Weapon No. 1. It can be understood even that in their mood of increasing desperation the German people should credit 4o per cent. of Goebbels' fairy stories, and force themselves to believe that by this mechanical device they may yet create acute war-weariness in this country, and foster a state of feeling which would render not impossible the German dream of a compromise peace. But the reception given to Goebbels' reckless stimulants has gone further than any normal reaction. To anyone who reads the summaries of the German and neutral Press, or who listens at all regularly to the German home transmissions, it is evident that the wave of almost orgiac delight which has swept over Gerinany is not normal, but pathological. The glee with which they swallow these propaganda stories of our suffer- ings contrasts sharply with the attitude of our own people to the bombing of German towns. The accounts of these raids over Berlin, Hamburg and the rest, which are given in our own news- bulletins, do not in any sense arouse emotions of pleasure ; the files of the B.B.C. are stuffed with letters from British .citizens complaining that the B.B.C. announcers " gloat " over these dire necessities ; whereas all that the poor men try to do is to read the Air Ministry's restrained communiqués in as audible a voice as they can command. The contrast between the German and the British reaction to such events reminds one once . again that the word " Schadenfreude" does not exist in the English language ; even as the word " fair " does not exist in the German language.
* * * *
These two events have induced many people to consider once again their attitude towards what is popularity, and to a large extent mis- takenly, referred to as " Vansittartism." I am not among those who believe that all Germans are by nature cruel, dishonest and evil. On the contrary, I believe that the majority of Germans are decent, orderly and humane. But having lived some six years in Germany, at different times and in diverse conditions, and having devoted some time to the study of German political theory, I am convinced that the German people as a whole possess certain defects and lack certain qualities, the presence or absence of which disturbs their nervous equilibrium. It is I know, hazardous to generalise about a mixed population of over 8o millions, but it is safe to say that the defects of jealousy, suspicion and rancour are more widespread in Germany than in any other country, whereas the virtues of moral and civic courage (as distinct from their physical courage, which is superb) are not the virtues which the Germans as a whole possess. Thus although as much as 8o per cent. of the Germans may be by nature virtuous, yet in each of these Germans there exists a little pocket—a vermicular appendix—of bile and rancour which at any moment may become inflamed. It thus arises that the small minority of Germans who really do believe in violence and cruelty are able at stated intervals to infect the mass of their compatriots with the poisons of jealousy and rage ; and that the great German masses, possessing little moral. or civic- courage, are apt during these periods of infection to behave with a corporate immorality which bears no relation to their individual morality in their private lives. It is from this that arises the paradox, which even Goethe noticed, that the Germans, while often admirable as individuals, are apt to behave outrageously as a herd. And it is this contrast between their corporate and their individual behaviour which in the past has so often misled British observers and induced them to come to conclusions which are in effect incorrect. Thus it is a mistake either to identify the Nazi criminals with the whole German people, or to differentiate the Nazis from the mass of the German population ; the Nazis do, in fact, represent, and have exploited, the defects of the German character ; in allowing themselves to be thus exploited the Germans are guilty of complicity ; but the Nazis do not represent the German virtues ; and these virtues exist.
Previous page
