• ALLIES INSIDE GERMANY
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sta,—I had sincerely hoped that my letter, which you very kindly pub- lished three weeks ago, would produce a constrt.ctive discussion. Unfor- tunately, however, " the other side " makes this impossible by a sudden and surprising denial of all charges. • The editor of Die Zeitung writes that he " has nothing whatsoever to do with any Free German movement." In point of fact, Die Zeitung published in their first issue of March izth, 1941, a statement of their policy in which they described it as their " first and most important task to collect the forces of the Free Germans." Moreover, for whom are the to million pages of paper spent yearly if not for those Free Ger- mans who believe in the historical nonsense, as stated in the same leading article, that " Germany was the first country conquered by Hitler," that the name of Germany before Hitler meant " wisdom, dignity, tolerance," that " there are many inside Germany who will be pleased if the news of this free German paper comes to them " ? It is certainly not published for people like my numerous ex-German friends and myself who know that Germany was never conquered by Hitler, but that Hitler is the very embodiment of the ideals of the German people; who realise, alas, that wisdom, tolerance and dignity have so far never been the qualities of the German peoples as a whole; who know that the overwhelming majority of the German people get nothing but a good laugh out of pub- lications such as Die Zeitung ; who moreover have sufficient choice amongst English publications to get all the news and different views desired.
The Vice-Chairman of the "Free German League of Culture," Herr Johann Fladung„ goes even further. He makes the fantastic statement that " nowhere at this exhibition the attempt has been made to pretend that there is already a very powerful opposition against the Nazis inside Germany." He seems to have forgotten conveniently (to give merely one example which I could easily multiply) the 16 page pamphlet (printed in English!) which I obtained at his exhibition and in which he and his friends proclaim " all the vehemence of our love for the German people," and in which he makes the desperate "Request to the British people: Suspend your judgement on the German people! " Herr Johann Fladung says that the Allies support his activities. I have my personal doubts whether President Benesh or any other allied statesman share " the vehemence of love for the German people " and fully agree with the appeal to " suspend judgment on the German people." (By the way, the very day you published Herr Fladung's letter, that admirable fort- nightly Free Europe called the exhibition " disappointing," while another allied statesman referred to it quite plainly as " a fraud.") May I finally reply to Mr. Edwyn Bevan who somewhat sarcastically remarks that I " assume an attitude of moral superiority "? This seems to me a particularly cheap way of arguing. I have merely given facts, and so far neither Mr. Bevan nor anybody else has been able to refute the ugly facts about the German people. I am not a politician, but merely a teacher of German. I consider it as my duty, however, to teach more than rules about syntax and grammar. The utter ignorance about German mentality, tradition and aspirations, encouraged by the wishful thinkers, has made the present state of the world possible. If I now protest, as a schoolmaster, that these same wishful thinkers continue to propagate their utopian ideas and make any realistic approach to the problem impossible, then this has nothing to do with " moral superiority," but is merely dictated by the vehemence of my love for the youth of all truly
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