Old Boys Reunion
There was something haunting about the snatch of film, shown in a television news programme the other evening, of the funeral of former SS Colonel-General Sepp Dietrich. How many people, link in 1945, imagined they would ever see so much pomp and dignity for such a man? A fellow-general delivered an oration over the coffin; thousands of old SS men turned up to honour this friend of Hitler and war criminal, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1946. I trust one may express distaste for such an assembly without seeming vindictive or eager to perpetuate old enmities. A show of tactful restraint would not have been out of place at such a time.
The old boys of the SS could certainly study tact and restraint in the work of the obituary- writers of the British press. These qualities were displayed to an extraordinary extent on this occa- sion. In the bland matter-of-factness of the piece in The Times, the loathsome career of 'Herr Sepp Dietrich' came to seem rather like the meritorious rise of a trusty proconsul. ('He was an early member of the Nazi party and quickly won recognition for his prowess in street fighting. . . .') Next day, one almost looked for the cus- tomary sequel, contributed by 'A Friend,' be- ginning: 'When Sepp Dietrich and I took part in that exciting show, the shooting of Roehm and the other SA leaders back in 1934. . .
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