Is an Army Revolt Against Hitler Possible?
Paetel, Karl 0.
Is an Army Revolt Against Hitler Possible? By Karl 0. Paetel HOW long can the German* hold out ? Where and how will the break come! How will the Nazi leaders act? People in this country are...
...Thanks to its pride and spirit such a body will never fraternize with the Proletariat and the underworld...
...Thin ia the prime weakness in the German setup...
...It was found thSrt furloughs of sutdiers from frontline divisions were having a bad effect on morale, "oldiers ssw how terrible things were at home...
...The whole country la bold too tightly in the grip of this interlinking police army...
...The great bulk are stationed in a wide belt behind the front...
...He led the fight against the Swiss Nazis who formed an unholy alliance with ether Swiss reactionaries to attack the working class and democracy...
...We have then a strange picture before aa in Germany...
...Nobs was for yejars the editor of the Social Democratic paper Volktreeht in Zurich...
...Major General von Kirchheim, who is credited with planning " the first Libyan campaign, was dismissed in this wsy...
...All this is clearly proved by an SS order which the British seized in Libya on March 26, 1948...
...The order definitely sets forth that this force, the SS, is to become the master of all Europe...
...This SS is the final line of defense...
...As th* last battle of Germany approaches, ha expects breaks along these two lines...
...But he csnnot maintain the confidence of the people...
...Officers disappear and 8S men quietly take their pi-cat...
...On this contingent Hitler places his trust for survival According to official Berlin announcements the SS has about twenty complete diviaions—about 500,000 or (00,040 men—plus special brigades such as sappers, signal corps and technical troops...
...The newspapers take no note of this process...
...The feud between this force and the army is the crack in the German defense system...
...The force was to be built up to one-tenth the strength of the army...
...In t9.'18 they los' that single seat, then the Nazi Front party was dissolved by the authorities, and their papers, financed by Germany, were suppressed...
...Ia IIS too high for s man, his wife and two children...
...AH of this was to secure control of the civil population...
...In addition to a double crew of officers it is spied on by its ovn police, the Sicherheitsdienst At first this army was not sent to the front...
...The results were depressing on both sides...
...He has held Important posts in the Zurich city and provincial Governments...
...This police army is called the WaffenSS, or the SS in Arms...
...Despite the severe shortages in Switzerlsnd, this tiny land of only 4,009,000 population has admitted over 70,000 refugees from France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, and elswhcre, including many Jews...
...Himmler, its head, controls the reserve army and that branch of the service controls the officer training system, the intelligence /'activities and all supply lines to the front...
...The Government and the people realized early that the Swiss Nazis sought to abuse the democratic privileges accorded all groups, in order to undermine and destroy them...
...the Social Demtcratic Party now has a total of 5(1 representatives in Parliament, making it the strongest single party in the Nationalrat...
...The SS in Arms hat won only a Pyrrhic victory...
...He la urged to atay, but he knowa that cutbacks will mske him unemployed...
...Switzerland—Democratic Oasis By Dr...
...He is widely respected even outside party circles, and was president of the Swiss Press Association...
...It starts with these words: "The German Reieh, in its last stage, whl emerge as a realm including many racial group« not well disposed toward "*> It is therefore necessary to form a State Police Troop equipped to enforce the authority of the Reichtoder all circumstances...
...It now rules the army and the country...
...There's s pork barrel for the corporatlona, and not even a handout for the worker...
...It was due to such measures, taken in time, that Switzerland now controls the sources of the Rhine and important mountain passes...
...Many of them arrived utterly destitute snd helpless and without passports...
...Both were designed for the rough-and-tumble righting which was necessary during Hitler's rise to power within Germany...
...But Germany's excessive demand for goods has been resisted, and the amount ot trade done can have no effect whatever on the length of the war...
...But the SS, a smaller force, was in charge of "safety measures for the speakers...
...His presence in the Swiss Cabinet is sn additional guarantee that the oldest democracy in the world will survive the stress and strain of this global war...
...For the first time a Social Democrat, Ernst Nobs, sits in the Cabinet of seven members...
...Hitler has both the army and the civilian population held tight under a special army sworn to be loyal to him...
...Switzerland's srmed forces were also increased, and she has been ready to put up strong resistance to any invasion...
...The Schutxstaffel waa built up as the shock troops af the Nasi Party...
...Thus they serve as an inside army of spies...
...But, having proved their prowess, they were once more withdrawn to comparative - .afety...
...Since then this little country has gone through many periods of danger, but its democracy is so deeply looted that it has survived every crisis...
...If Americans could ret a picture of hew this inner police army works, they could think better about the whole situation...
...Congress voted down the Kllgore-Morrsy hill which would have given war workera up to IIS a week unemployment rompensstion to tide them over the transition unemployment...
...The last struggle in Germany will be a figh* to the death—Germany vertu* Himmler, the People and the Army vertnt the SS...
...The parents, wives snd other relatives learned something of the desperate situation at the front...
...But now, to keep its strength up, it is pressing into service 17-year eld boys of the Hitler Youth and Volk$d*mtmek» from foreign countries...
...For" the present it Is true, there is no chance of a popular anti-Hitler uprising...
...Even so, the people are undergoing real hardships, freezing in their homes, for the cost supply Is insufficient for the factories...
...Not all of these are completely reliable...
...all foods and textiles are strictly rationed...
...In every way it was favored...
...Its pay *as much higher than that of regular troops, its uniforms of higher grade, its rations better...
...So the purpose and make Up of thia force ia worth looking into...
...The man who now has a wsr job Is trapped...
...H. C. Laemle S VVITZEIU.ANI) estsblished the first "modern" democracy in 1291...
...So the SS was built up as a preventive...
...War Workers' Dilemma The armed services, particularly General Brehon Somervell, has been attacking war workera who leave production jobs for civilian employment— who are now called "soldiers on the production front...
...The brown shuts were to furnish "auditorium protection...
...They wear the same uniform aa the doughboys...
...Every diviaion is honeycombed with SS spies...
...But in November, 1941, when the Russians stopped the German advance, these pet and pampered divisions had to be thrown in...
...For the present the mechanism of dictatorship Is completely triumphant snd efficient...
...They performed notab'y, regaining Charkov after the Wehrmacht had faijed...
...Soldiers on leave were put in "rest camps" behind barbed wire, in charge of SS men This setup looks unbeatable, unbreakable...
...Any opposition movement could be nipped even before It-gets started...
...Completely surrounded by fascist forces, Switzerland has succeeded in remaining free, independent, and a haven for refugees...
...But kt this set of interlocking gears as tight and tough as it looks t Caa this gigantic SS fane hi rsmaaaii exclusively af loyal and dependable men...
...There is, first of all, the great German army w'« Its tradition, its staff, its pride...
...It is a special safety contingent built up to serve the Nasi Party leadership and form a link between the government and the armed forces, but it is really » regular modem army...
...For the most part the men replaced are of lower grade...
...Only such s body can withstand destruction in critical times...
...A special recruiting drive was inaugurated...
...He knows that no provisions have been made to kelp him adequately when he becomes unemployed...
...It is responsible only to the Fuehrer...
...People in this country are baffled by these questions because the state of affairs over Zpra is semsthiag entirely outside American exTake that bask baaiaae* af the Nasi government versus the army...
...But the very nature of the organization gives a hint as to what may be expected in the future...
...He knowa that the lawa passed by Congress give corporations credit on back taxes if their profits slip below a atated .figure...
...But that was only the start...
...Along this crack the tinal break which leads to downfall may come...
...The economic life of this tiny country depend* upon trad.- with surrounding countries...
...It obtains control, especially, of all means of communication...
...These Swiss fascists posed as conservatives...
...But in Hitler's Germany it could not be tolerated...
...What Hitler expects is trouble on the home front and within the army...
...With police terror, ith all aorta of control and preventive measures a dictator can temporarily auppress revolts...
...The net result of the plot of the German generals against Hitler ia dear—the SS came out on top...
...So General Albrecht Ricter, an SS brigade officer, announced to the women of Germany that all furloughs would be canceled for the time being...
...The SS men under special oath to their "blood flag" join regular army unite...
...But this ia true only of the near future...
...T*HE flight of Hitler has been all arranged...
...That is a natural result of war...
...Now only small contingents are kept in battle xones...
...Hitler's Flight to Japan Planned...
...Even the officers canhat distinguish them...
...In WM Heinrich Himmler started preparing the SS for larger duties...
...They report over the heads of their officers and the army High Command directly to the 88 General Staff...
...Willi the successful invasion of Poland the army began to gain stronger influence in internal affairs...
...At the airfield of Lechfeld, close to Augsburg, a four-engined Missiischinidt is ready at any hour of the day or night "to take the Fuehrer,to Japan in order that he may there continue the struggle for the liberation of Germany to the time of victory.'* Thia plane has already made a non-stop flight from Berlin to Tokyo in order that there may be no miscalculation...
...The SS became an anti-civil war, anti-army-revolt and all-European police force...
...The original body was a small, loyal, fanatic group...
...Recent elections have shown that the people realize this...
...So the fuehrer has recruited aa army within the army...
...The greatest test of the strength of Swiss democratic traditions came during this war, when it was necessary to right a tough battle to resist the poisonous influence of the gigantic Nazi propaganda machine...
...Red Cross and other humanitarian services have also been rendered by this European cultural oasis...
...But what interests us most in the crucial days cf the war is the building up of the SS as against the Wehrmacht...
...Take one incident to show how complete °s the control off this inside srmy...
...The credit for keeping their country strong, progressive, anil democratic belongs primarily to the Social Democrats and other liberal, anti-fascist circles...
...Hitler does not trust the army and the army does not trust him...
...To keep it loyal it was made the most highly officered army in the world...
...On the basis of reports so delivered a weeding-out process goes on...
...The writer, as a journalist, knew Nobs and worked with him for several years...
...But^sometimes * really important military leader is quietly essed out...
...they succeeded, in 1934, in gaining only one representative in the Swiss Parliamnet (Nationalist) which has 194 members...
...The Himmler organization receives direct information as to morale, military conditions and anything having to do with the thought or, conditions of the men and the officers By controlling information, auppliea, relief and replacement, the Himmler organisation can get rid of elements dangerous to it or to the Hitler regime or can take whatever measures it dee as wise to modify the situation...
...hence it has1 been impossible to cut iff all business relations with Germany, and with the countries occupied by the Nazis...
...It has fully equipped psnxer outfits, artillery, etc...
Vol. 27 • September 1944 • No. 38
