PAGE FOURTEEN
HERALD AND NEWS, "'. KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON
June B, 1942
Lochner Reveals German
Army Conditions; Chief s
Talk to Hitler Unarmed
(Editor'i Note: Free and In
America after five months' in
ternment in Germany, Louis P
Lochner, famous United States
newsman, now is writing for
Wide World and The Herald and
News, stories on Germany's
leaders and conditions within
the country. Here he gives you
the facts about Hitler a relation
ship with his generals. Tomor
row he will deal with Hitler's
political methods.)
Br LOUIS P. LOCHNER
NEW YORK, June 4 (Wide
World) It a revolvers down and
belts off for any general or field
marshal who wants to see Adolf
Hitler at his GHQ in East Prus
sia, in the Berlin chancellory, or
anywhere else.
No matter how well an army,
navy, or airforce leader may
know der feuhrer, no matter
how completely in his confi
dence .he may believe himself to
be, the German dictator takes
no chances.
Hence, before anybody can
come into his presence, he must
park his pistol, his military belt,
or his saber in the anteroom.
Tfa erstwhile corporal of the
firrt World War loves the game
of war more than he loves any
thing else. He wants to out-Na
poleon Napoleon.
. When in his relchstag speech
of April 26 he praised the Ger
man troops for having accom
plished during the past winter
what the forces of the great
Corsican could not achieve, he
in fact impliedly told the world
that he had already outstripped
Napoleon.
NO OTHER GOD
Filled as he is with military
ambition, he , can tolerate no
other god beside himself. The
late Colonel-General von Frit
ach, the father of the present
German army, had to resign be
.eause he dared criticize Hit
ler's acquiescence in Field Mar
shal Werner von Blomberg's
mes-alliance in 1938...
General Beck, chief of the I
German general staff, became
UMPER CROP OF
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no difference, you can weor a coconut itrawl in a wide
"glamour" brim or a cute tittle poke bonnet to go-wmV:;
everything from crisp cotton waihobles to your; '
prertleit Summer sheers. But get yours of Wards ond " '
be sure of value whatever price you payl ' '
"ill" Just before the outbreak
of the present war. He opposed
Hitler's policy of rightfulness.
General Haider, the present
chief of general staff, has been
promoted only to colonel-general,
while a dozen of his col
leagues were made field mar
shals, simply because so the
rumor goes he is forever warn
ing the dictator that this or that
contemplated move involves
more risks than the undertaking
is worth.
Field Marshal von Brauch
ilsch, who always gave the im
pression of being in the pink of
condition, "resigned" shortly
before Christmas because of
heart trouble, now is reported
imprisoned. His resignation co
incided with the discovery that
the army was nowise prepared
for the severe winter in Russia.
There can be little doubt that
he warned Hitler in time.
General Blaskowitz, widely
publicized as the hero of War
saw, has gone into the discard.
He objected to the brutal meth
ods of the SS in occupied Po
land. Field Marshal von Rundstedt
appears to have been in the dog
house for some months following
the autumn offensive in Russia.
He seems to have quarreled with
Hitler over the decree to which
the German army should retreat
before going into winter quart
ers.
Von Runstedt proved indis
pensable, however, and suddenly
appeared in the news again this
spring.
To estimate the relation be
tween Hitler and generals cor
rectly, one must remember the
tradition in which the men in
the fifties and sixties who now
hold the responsible army posi
tions grew up.
They are left-overs from the
imperial regime. The German
emperor and his family were
soldiers from early childhood
on. During the present war,
grandsons of the late Kaiser
Wilhelm H were killed in action.
They rose successively to high
. MONTGOMERY WARD
. -. r
military ranks. They were ac
cepted not only as equals but,
by 'virtue of the strong mon
archical tradition ingrained in
every German officer, as super
iors. THEV WINCE
Adolf Hitler to them will ever
remain as the World war cor
poral. True to their oath as
soldiers they obey der fuehrer
as the commander-in-chtef of all
the nations military forces. But
they often wince at his decisions
and, when strictly among them
selves, criticize both his stra
tegic plans and their moral im
plications. Take the keynote speech
which Adolf Hitler .delivered to
the assembled military top lead
ers In his Berchtcsgaden moun
tain retreat a few days before
the invasion of Poland began.
It caused no end of shaking of
heads and whispers of dismay.
One officer sitting in the rear
of the large room where the
officers' corps was assembled
scribbled the text of this brief
but blood-curdling address in
shorthand on the cuff of his
shirt. - Some day that text may
be published.
In it. Hitler puts himself on
record favoring the total war
front in which women and chil
dren can be as little .exempted
as can civilian populations gen
erally if caught between sec
tions of the retreating army. He
stated bluntly that he didn't
mind being called Ghengis
Khan or Attila the Hun; history
recorded these names as those of
great doers. He urged the gen
erals to be tough.
The Polish campaign proceed
ed with a fierceness and brutal
ity unequalled hitherto, but Hit
ler was not satisfied. He wanted
the soldiers and their officers
not only to fight battles but also
to make short shrift of the Polish
population.
The army balked at this. So
Hitler sent his uncompromising
SS men to Poland to "clean up."
They did- and countless are the
stories told me by German of-1
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fleers themselves of acts of in
humanity committed by the
black guards. . '
General von Blaskowlti, on
behalf of the army, protested
against thesa methods. He has
been in disgrace ever since. ,
The brutality of the SS in
Poland is not the only objection
which the regular army has
against this special formation of
Hitler bodyguards. The regular
forces resent the preferred pub
licity given the exploits of the SS
in the. daily communiques; and
they resent the break given the
SS always to be in the final
skirmish of a recislve strategic
movement.
I need not quote a general on
thateven -thV buck' private
feels that way about it. .Here's
how a German boy who was
drafted at the very beginning
of the Hitler compulsory service
program stated it to me when
on furlough after the Polish
campaign (the poor fellow fell
In France the following spring.):
"We'd fight and fight with
hell popping 'round about us,
until We thought we were ready
to take a certain town or other
locality. Suddenly there was a
halt. At first we couldn't under
stand the reason everything
seemed to be going favorably.
well, we learned soon enough
by experience: The SS troops
were due to arrive to take part
in the final skirmish and to
share in the glory. It certainly
made us sore."
Neither this young lad . nor
anybody else denies that the SS
troops fight doggedly, and that
casualties among them are great.
But the regulars object to the
constant horning in by the SS
men on jobs that bring glory or
publicity. -
There is nothing that the gen
erals can do about it; Hitler's
fondness for his SS troops is
well known. . .
Another point of friction be
tween Hitler and the old-line
generals has been the nazl fight
on the church. The old Prus
sian officer -was used to going
; MONTGOMERY WARD 1 rJ J Til 1 ""kT
to church on Sundays and seeing
army chaplains about him on
the battlefield.
On December 23. 1940. I at
tended a Christmas celebration
in the Berlin garrison. The col
onel in charge had the soldiers
sing all the traditional Chris
tian Christmas songs like "Stlllo
Nacht" and "Adcsle Fldeles.
To my somowhat surprised
comment that this was rathor
unusual, he said:
"I'm not going to let anybody
Interfere with our celebrating
Christmas in the good old Chris
tlan way. Others may decide to
revive old pagan German cu
toms for Yuletlde; so long as I
head this garrison it's a Chris
tian Christmas for us and
think the soldiers prefer it."
I for one certainly saw and
heard them singing with deep
emotion ana reverence
- In Hitler's entourage there Is
one officer who wields a tre
mendous Influence. He Is Gon
eral Jodel, the fuehrer's per
sonal iino ana liaison officer to
the high command. He is one
of the youngest scnerals and
has had a phenomenal career so
far as advancing by quick stops
irom rantc to rank is concerned
"Hitler listens to whoever Jo-
dels Is a wisecrack one often
hears ("j" Is pronounced like
T in German).
Just wherein Jodel's manic
lies, Is hard to say. Presumably
iiko foreign Minuter Joachim
von Ribbcntrop he Is an Ideal
yes man who feels intuitively
wnai nis master wants to hear
and then presents these Ideas in
such a way that the fuehrer sees
his own views reflected but
thinks his understudy Is so clever
to have arrived at the same
conclusions as he himself.
One hears again and again
v. f. w. auxiliary H 'i I ,V - - - fl- AND WARDS HAVI SO MANY
Public Card Party t U'UlU i ,
B-D. IWiVAv ' PRETTY ONES FOR ONLY f
that the generals' corps It fed
up and ready to throw th en
tire nazl outfit out.
Such rumors, I believe, are
too much the result of wishful
thinking. For, however much
a general may'dlsugrea with dor
tuohrer he remembers his oath
of allegiance. And he also re
members thot In Imperial Ger-
, MONTOOMIRY WARD
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lived republic, too, It was part
of the creed of an offlocr that
he must never bocomo mixed
up In politics. To removo the
nnzls would be a polltlcul act
of the first muguttiiilo,
Therefore, a generals' revoltl
tlon, for the present at least,
represents a myth and should be
discounted as such,
WIFE OFFSRB RECRUIT
COLUM111A, 8.. C, (!').
"I'leusu take my husband Into
the service. 11a wants to fight
nil the time and I am not ahl
to." Rlchluiid county solactlv J
Her v Ico buurd No. Oil, roclplont ol
the plaa, Immediately began a
review of the husband's esse.
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