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1938 V I E N N A ,M a r c h 1 1- 1 2

9 7

p r o c l a m a t i o n c a l l i n g u p t h e c l a s s o f 1 9 1 5 t o a c t i v e s e r v -

i c e . T h a t ' s m e r e l y t o p o l i c e t h e e l e c t i o n , w e a g r e e d . O n e

o f t h e A u s t r i a n s w a s c a l l e d t o t h e p h o n e . W h e n h e c a m e

b a c k h e s a i d s o m e t h i n g a b o u t t h e N a z i s h a v i n g j u s t

s m a s h e d t h e w i n d o w s o f t h e M o n a r c h i s t o f f i c e s n e a r t h e

S t e f a n s p l a t z. F o r s o m e r e a s o n , I r e m e m b e r n o w , e v e r y -

o n e l a u g h e d. I h a d i n m i n d t o p h o n e C o l o n e l W o l f ,

t h e L e g i t i m i s t l e a d e r , w i t h w h o m I ' v e b e e n n e g o t i a t i n g

f o r a b r o a d c a s t b y O t t o v o n H a b s b u r g. B u t I d i d n ' t .

S h o r t l y b e f o r e f o u r p . m. I s e t o u t f o r t h e h o s p i t a l t o

s e e i f T e s s w a s a n y b e t t e r. C r o s s i n g t h e K a r l s p l a t z t o

c a t c h a s u b w a y t r a i n I w a s s t o p p e d b y a c r o w d o f a b o u t

a t h o u s a n d p e o p l e . T h e y w e r e N a z i s a n d i t w a s a b i t

c o m i c a l. O n e l o n e p o l i c e m a n w a s y e l l i n g a n d g e s t i c u -

l a t i n g a t t h e m . A n d t h e y w e r e g i v i n g g r o u n d ! "I f

t h a t ' s a l l t h e g u t s t h e N a z i s h a v e , S c h u s c h n i g gw i l l w i n ,

h a n d s d o w n , " I m u s e d . "A n d h e ' s a r m i n g t h e w o r k e r s .

T h a t ' l l t a k e c a r e o f t h e N a z i t o u g h s. " I h u r r i e d a l o n g

t o m y t r a i n .

A b o u t s i x o ' c l o c k , r e t u r n i n g f r o m t h e h o s p i t a l , I

e m e r g e d f r o m t h e s u b w a y t o t h e K a r l s p l a t z . W h a t h a d

h a p p e n e d ? S o m e t h i n g ! B e f o r e I k n e w i t I w a s b e i n g

s w e p t a l o n g i n a s h o u t i n g , h y s t e r i c a l N a z i m o b , p a s t

t h e R i n g , p a s t t h e O p e r a , u p t h e K a r n t n e r s t r a s s e t o

t h e o f f i c e s o f t h e G e r m a n " T o u r i s t " B u r e a u , w h i c h ,

w i t h i t s i m m e n s e f l o w e r - d r a p e d p o r t r a i t o f H i t l e r , h a s

b e e n a N a z i s h r i n e f o r m o n t h s . T h e f a c e s !I h a d s e e n

t h e s e b e f o r e a t N u r e m b e r g - h e f a n a t i c a l e y e s , t h e

g a p i n g m o u t h s , t h e h y s t e r i a. A n d n o w t h e y w e r e s h o u t -

i n g l i k e H o l y R o l l e r s : "S i e g H e i l ! S i e g H e i l ! S i e g

H e i l l H e i l H i t l e r ! H e i l H i t l e r ! H e i l H i t l e r ! H a n g

S c h u s c h n i g g ! H a n g S c h u s c h n i g g ! H a n g S c h u s c h -

n i g g ! E i n V o l k , e i n R e i c h , e i n F u h r e r ! " A n d t h e

p o l i c e ! T h e y w e r e l o o ki n g o n , g r i n n i n g . W h a t h a d

h a p p e n e d ? I w a s s t i l l i n t h e d a r k. I s h o u t e d m y q u e s -



981 9 3 8 V I E N N A , M a r c h 1 1 - 1 2

t i o n i n t o t h e e a r s o f t h r e e o r f o u r j a m m e d a g a i n s t m e.

N o r e s p o n s e . C o u l d n ' t h e a r . F i n a l l y a m i d d l e - a g e d

w o m a n s e e m e d t o g e t m e . " T h e p l e b i s c i t e ! " s h e y e l l e d.

" C a l l e d o f f ! "

T h e r e w a s n o n e e d t o l e a r n m o r e. T h a t w a s t h e e n d

o f A u s t r i a . I e x t r i c a t e d m y s e l f fr o m t h e s w i r l i n g d e r -

v i s h e s a n d m a d e m y w a y d o w n t h e R i n g t o t h e H o t e l

B r i s t o l . T a y l o r w a s t h e r e . H e i n t r o d u c e d m e t o h i s

w i f e , V r e n i , p r e t t y , b r u n e t t e , i n t e l l i g e n t - l o o k i n g , w h o

h a d j u s t a r r i v e d. H e c o n f i r m e d t h e n e w s . I t h a d b e e n

a n n o u n c e d a n h o u r b e f o r e o n t h e r a d i o , h e s a i d. W e

t o o k a t a x i t o t h e A m e r i c a n L e g a t i o n. J o h n W i l e y w a s

s t a n d i n g b e f o r e h i s d e s k, c l u t c h i n g h i s i n v a r i a b l e l o n g

c i g a r e t t e -h o l d e r , a q u e e r s m i l e o n h i s f a c e - t h e s m i l e

o f s o m e o n e w h o h a s j u s t b e e n d e f e a t e d a n d kn o w s i t

.

" I t ' s a l l o v e r , " ' h e s a i d q u i e t l y

. T h e r e h a d b e e n a n

u l t i m a t u m f r o m B e r l i n. N o p l e b i s c i t e , o r t h e G e r m a n

a r m y m a r c h e s . S c h u s c h n i g g h a d c a p i t u l a t e d.

" Yo u ' l l h e a r m o r e o n t h e r a d i o s h V t l y , " J o h n s a i d

.

" S t i c k a r o u n d

. "

I l e f t t o p u t i n a c a l l f o r M u r r o w , w h o ' s i n W a r s a w.

G o i n g o u t o f t h e L e g a t i o n I s t u m b l e d i n t o G e d y e , v e r y

e x c i t e d . H o m e , I pu t i n a c a l l f o r E d , m y r a d i o p l a y i n g

s o f t l y a V i e n n e s e w a l t z . H a t e f u l , i t s o u n d e d. I t s t o p p e d

a b r u p t l y . " A t t e n t i o n ! A t t e n t i o n ! " a v o i c e s a i d. " I n

a f e w m i n u t e s y o u w i l l h e a r a n i m p o r t a n t a n n o u n c e -

m e n t. " T h e n t h e t i c k i n g o f a m e t r o n o m e , t h e R a v a g ' s

i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s i g n a l. M a d d e n i n g , i t s o u n d e d

. T i c k

. . . t i c k. . . t i c k . . . t i c k . I t u r n e d i t d o w n . T h e n

a v o i c e - S c h u s c h n i g g ' s , I r e c o g n i z e d - w i t h o u t i n t r o -

d u c t i o n .

" T h i s d a y h a s p l a c e d u s i n a t r a g i c a n d d e c i s i v e s i t u -

a t i o n . I h a v e t o g i v e m y A u s t r i a n f e l l o w c o u n t r y m e n

t h e d e t a i l s o f t h e e v e n t s o f t o d a y.

" T h e G e r m a n G o v e r n m e n t t o d a y h a n d e d t o P r e s i -



1 O R 1 9 3 8 VIENNA, March 11- 12

w h o s e e m s t o b e t h e b o s s , f o r t h e m o m e n t a n y w a y. I e x -

p l a i n m y w a n t s . N o i m p r e s s i o n. I d o i t a g a i n . H e

d o e s n ' t g e t m e .

" L e t m e t a l k t o y o u r c h i e f s i n B e r l i n , " I s a y . " I

k n o w t h e m. T h e y ' l l w a n t m e t o b r o a d c a s t . "

"C a n ' t g e t t h r o u g h t o B e r l i n , " h e s a y s .

" B u t y o u w i l l , s o m e t i m e t o n i g h t , " I s a y .

" W e l l , m a y b e l a t e r. Y o u c a n c o m e b a c k . "

"N o t a c h a n c e , " K u n s t i w h i s p e r s

. A c o u p l e o f

g u a r d s , f i n g e r i n g t h e i r r e v o l v e r s , e d g e m e o u t. I w a i t

o u t s i d e i n t h e h a l l , b a r g i n g i n e v e r y s o o f t e n t o s e e i f

S c a r f a c e h a s B e r l i n o n t h e p h o n e . A r o u n d m i d n i g h t a

b r o a d c a s t c o m e s t h r o u g h f r o m t h e B a l l h a u s p l a t z. A

n e w g o v e r n m e n t i s t o b e a n n o u n c e d s o o n . I d a s h o v e r

t h e r e. S p o t l i g h t s ( f r o m w h e r e ? ) p l a y o n t h e b a l c o n y .

A d o z e n m e n a r e s t a n d i n g t h e r e . I m a k e o u t S e y s s -

I n q u a r t , G l a i s e - H o r s t e n a u . . . . J u d a s i s r e a d i n g h i s

n e w C a b i n e t l i s t . H e h i m s e l f i s C h a n c e l l o r .

B a c k t o R a v a g . W a i t . A r g u m e n t . W a i t. A r g u -

m e n t . T h e y c a n n o t g e t B e r l i n. T h e r e i s n o w i r e . N o

b r o a d c a s t p o s s i b l e . S o r r y . M o r e a r g u m e n t s. T h r e a t s .

I n t h e e n d I ' m e s c o r t e d o u t. N o a r g u m e n t w i t h b a y o -

n e t s . O u t i n t h e J o h a n n e s g a s s e I l o o k a t m y w a t c h

.

T h r e e a . m. I g o u p t o t h e K a r n t n e r s t r a s s e o n c e m o r e .

D e s e r t e d n o w. H o m e t h e n .

T h e p h o n e r i n g s . I t i s E d i n W a r s a w. I t e l l h i m t h e

n e w s . A n d o u r b a d n e w s. E v e n i f I r e m a i n h e r e t o -

m o r r o w a n d d o g e t f a c i l i t i e s , w e ' l l b e u n d e r s t r i c t N a z i

c e n s o r s h i p , I s a y .

" F l y t o L o n d o n , w h y d o n ' t y o u ? "E d s u g g e s t s .

" Y o u c a n g e t t h e r e b y t o m o r r o w e v e n i n g a n d g i v e t h e

f i r s t u n c e n s o r e d e y e w i t n e s s a c c o u n t . A n d I ' l l c o m e d o w n

t o V i e n n a . "

A p h o n e c a l l t o t h e A s p e r n a i r p o r t. A l l p l a n e s

b o o k e d t o m o r r o w . W h a t t i m e d o t h e L o n d o n a n d B e r -



1 9 3 8 AMSTERDAM-LONDON, M a r c h 1 2 1 0 3

l i n p l a n e s l e a v e ? S e v e n a . m . ; e i g h t a . m . T h a n k y o u .

I f o r g e t I h a v e n o t s p o k e n t o F o d o r o n t h i s n i g h t . T h e

N a z i s d o n ' t l i k e h i m . M a y b e . . . . I p h o n e . " I ' m a l l

r i g h t , B i l l , " h e s a y s . H e ' s s o b b i n g . A l i n e t o T e s s e x -

p l a i n i n g w h y s h e w i l l n o t s e e m e f o r a f e w d a y s . N o w

t o b e d . A n h o u r o f s l e e p .

IN A DUTCH PLANE BETWEEN AMSTERDAM AND

LONDON,M a r c h 1 2

H a v e j u s t f i n i s h e d s c r a w l i n g o u t a s c r i p t .

C a n g o o n t h e a i r a s s o o n a s w e g e t i n t o L o n d o n . W e n t

t o w o r k o n i t j u s t a f t e r w e t o o k o f f f r o m T e m p e l h o f i n

B e r l i n , A m s t e r d a m b e i n g t h e n e x t s t o p a n d s o n o d a n -

g e r o f a N a z i c e n s o r. I ' v e h a d l u c k t o d a y

. I w a s a t t h e

A s p e r n a i r p o r t a t s e v e n a . m. T h e G e s t a p o h a d t a k e n

o v e r . A t f i r s t t h e y s a i d n o p l a n e s w o u l d b e a l l o w e d t o

t a k e o f f . T h e n t h e y c l e a r e d t h e L o n d o n p l a n e . B u t I

c o u l d n o t g e t o n . I o f f e r e d f a n t a s t i c s u m s t o s e v e r a l

p a s s e n g e r s f o r t h e i r p l a c e s . M o s t o f t h e m w e r e J e w s

a n d I c o u l d n o t b l a m e t h e m f o r t u r n i n g m e d o w n . N e x t

w a s t h e p l a n e t o B e r l i n . I g o t o n t h a t .

V i e n n a w a s s c a r c e l y r e c o g n i z a b l e t h i s m o r n i n g .

S w a s t i k a f l a g s f l y i n g f r o m n e a r l y e v e r y h o u s e . W h e r e

d i d t h e y g e t t h e m s o f a s t ? A n o t h e r p i e c e o f n e w s a t

A s p e r n f r o m a p o l i c e o f f i c i a l I h a d k n o w n s l i g h t l y .

S c h u s c h n i g g h a s n o t f l e d , h e i n s i s t e d . R e f u s e d , t h o u g h

t h e y k e p t a n a i r p l a n e w a i t i n g u n t i l m i d n i g h t f o r h i m .

G u t s. T h e a i r f i e l d a t A s p e r n a l r e a d y c r o w d e d w i t h

G e r m a n w a r p l a n e s w h e n w e t o o k o f f . W e c a m e d o w n a t

P r a g u e a n d D r e s d e n a n d i t w a s n o o n b e f o r e w e a r r i v e d

i n B e r l i n . M o r e l u c k . A s e a t o n a D u t c h p l a n e s t r a i g h t

t h r o u g h t o L o n d o n . I h a d a n h o u r f o r l u n c h . I b o u g h t

t h e m o r n i n g B e r l i n n e w s p a pe r s . A m a z i n g ! G o e b b e l s

a t h i s b e s t , o r w o r s t ! H i t l e r ' s o w n n e w s p a p e r , t h e



1938 LONDON, M a r c h 1 410 6

h a v e t h e f a i n t e s t i d e a h o w t o d o i t - n e i g h t h o u r s , a n y -

w a y. W e h a d d o n e o n e o r t w o o f t h e s e , b u t t h e r e h a d

b e e nm o n t h s

o f f u s s i n g o v e r t e c h n i c a l a r r a n g e m e n t s b e -

f o r e e a c h o n e . I p u t i n a l o n g - d i s t a n c e c a l l t o M u r r o w

i n V i e n n a . A n d a s v a l u a b l e m i n u t e s t i c k e d a w a y I c o n -

s i d e r e d w h a t t o d o . T h e m o r e I t h o u g h t a b o u t i t , t h e

s i m p l e r i t b e c a m e . M u r r o w a n d I h a v e n e w s p a p e r

f r i e n d s , A m e r i c a n c o r r e s p o n d e n t s , i n e v e r y c a p i t a l i n

E u r o p e . W e a l s o k n o w p e r s o n a l l y t h e d i r e c t o r s a n d

c h i e f e n g i n e e r s o f t h e v a r i o u s E u r o p e a n b r o a d c a s t i n g

s y s t e m s w h o s e t e c h n i c a l f a c i l i t i e s w e m u s t u s e . I c a l l e d

E d g a r M o w r e r i n P a r i s , F r a n k G e r v a s i i n R o m e , P i e r r e

H u s s i n B e r l i n , a n d t h e d i r e c t o r s a n d c h i e f e n g i n e e r s

o f P T T i n P a r i s , E I A R i n T u r i n , a n d t h e R R G i n

B e r l i n .

M u r r o w c a m e t h r o u g h f r o m V i e n n a; h e u n d e r t o o k t o

a r r a n g e t h e B e r l i n a s w e l l a s t h e V i e n n a e n d a n d g a v e

m e a b a d l y n e e d e d t e c h n i c a l l e s s o n a s t o h o w t h e e n t i r e

j o b c o u l d b e d o n e. F o r e a c h c a p i t a l w e n e e d e d a p o w e r -

f u l s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r t h a t w o u l d c a r r y a v o i c e

c l e a r l y t o N e w Y o r k . R o m e h a d o n e , b u t i t s a v a i l a b i l i t y

w a s d o u b t f u l . P a r i s h a d n o n e . I n t h a t c a s e w e m u s t

o r d e r t e l e p h o n e l i n e s t o t h e n e a r e s t s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s -

m i t t i n g s t a t i o n . B e f o r e l o n g m y t h r e e t e l e p h o n e s w e r e

b u z z i n g , a n d i n f o u r l a n g u a g e s: E n g l i s h , G e r m a n ,

F r e n c h , a n d I t a l i a n . T h e f i r s t t h r e e I k n o w f a i r l y w e l l ,

b u t m y I t a l i a n s c a r c e l y e x i s t s . S t i l l , I u n d e r s t o o d

e n o u g h f r o m T u r i n t o g e t t h e i d e a t h a t n o e x e c u t i v e s

o f t h e I t a l i a n B r o a d c a s t i n g C o m p a n y c o u l d b e r e a c h e d

a t t h e m o m e n t . A l a s , i t w a s S u n d a y . I s t i l l h a d R o m e

c o m i n g i n . P e r h a p s I c o u l d a r r a n g e m a t t e r s w i t h t h e

b r a n c h o f f i c e t h e r e . B e r l i n c a m e t h r o u g h . T h e R e i c h s -

R u n d f u n k - G e s e l l s c h a f t w o u l d d o i t s b e s t . O n l y , t h e y

e x p l a i n e d , t h e o n e l i n e t o V i e n n a w a s i n t h e h a n d s o f

t h e a r m y a n d t h e r e f o r e d o u b t f u l .



1938 LONDON, M a r c h 1 4 101 11 -

I l o o k e d a t m y w a t c h . W e h a d a l i t t l e m o r e t h a n t w o

h o u r s t o g o . S h e a g r e e d t o t a l k .

G e r v a s i ' s v o i c e f r o m R o m e w a s o n t h e l i n e . "T h e

I t a l i a n s c a n ' t a r r a n g e i t o n s u c h s h o r t n o t i c e , " h e s a i d .

" W h a t s h a l l I d o ? "

I w o n d e r e d m y s e l f . " W e ' l l t a k e y o u o v e r G e n e v a , "

I f i n a l l y s a i d . " A n d i f t h a t ' s i m p o s s i b l e , p h o n e m e b a c k

i n a n h o u r w i t h y o u r s t o r y a n d I ' l l r e a d i t f r o m h e r e . "

S i t t i n g a l o n e i n a s m a l l s t u d i o i n B r o a d c a s t i n g

H o u s e , I h a d a f i n a l c h e c k - u p w i t h N e w Y o r k t h r e e

m i n u t e s b e f o r e o n e a . m . W e w e n t o v e r t h e e x a c t t i m i n g s

o f e a c h t a l k a n d c h e c k e d t h e c u e s w h i c h w o u l d b e t h e

s i g n a l s f o r t h e s p e a k e r s i n V i e n n a , B e r l i n , P a r i s , a n d

L o n d o n t o b e g i n a n d e n d t h e i r t a l k s . R o m e w a s o u t ,

I t o l d o u r c o n t r o l r o o m i n N e w Y o r k , b u t G e r v a s i w a s o n

t h e t e l e p h o n e t h i s m i n u t e , d i c t a t i n g h i s s t o r y t o a

s t e n o g r a p h e r . W e a g r e e d u p o n a s e c o n d s w i t c h b a c k t o

L o n d o n f r o m _ N e w Y o r k s o t h a t I c o u l d r e a d i t . O n e

a . m . c a m e , a n d t h r o u g h m y e a r p h o n e s I c o u l d h e a r o n

o u r t r a n s a t l a n t i c " f e e d b a c k " t h e s m o o t h v o i c e o f B o b

T r o u t a n n o u n c i n g t h e b r o a d c a s t f r o m o u r N e w Yo r k

s t u d i o . O u r p a r t w e n t o f f a l l r i g h t , I t h i n k . E d g a r a n d

Ed . w e r e e s p e c i a l l y g o o d . E l l e n W i l k i n s o n , f l a u n t i n g

h e r r e d h a i r , a r r i v e d i n g o o d t i m e . N e w Y o r k s a i d o n

t h e " f e e d b a c k " a f t e r w a r d s t h a t i t w a s a s u c c e s s . T h e y

w a n t a n o t h e r o n e t o n i g h t .

H i t l e r , s a y t h e d i s p a t c h e s , e n t e r e d V i e n n a i n t r i u m p h

t h i s a f t e r n o o n . N o b o d y f i r e d . C h a m b e r l a i n h a s j u s t

s p o k e n i n t h e H o u s e . H e i s n o t g o i n g t o d o a n y t h i n g .

" T h e h a r d f a c t i s , " h e s a y s , " t h a t n o t h i n g c o u l d h a v e

a r r e s t e d w h a t h a s a c t u a l l y h a p p e n e d - u n l e s s t h i s

c o u n t r y a n d o t h e r c o u n t r i e s h a d b e e n p r e p a r e d t o u s e

f o r c e . " T h e r e w i l l b e n o w a r . B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e h a v e

r e t r e a t e d o n e s t e p m o r e b e f o r e t h e r i s i n g N a z i p o w e r .



10 81938 LONDON, M a r c h 1 5

LATER . - A l b i o nR o s s o f t h e New Y o r k

T i m e s s t a f f i n B e r l i n h a d a n i n t e r e s t i n g l i n e i n h i s t a l k

o n o u r r o u n d - u p t o n i g h t. H e s a i d t h e B e r l i n e r s h a d

t a k e n t h eA n s c h l u s s w i t h

" p h l e g m a t i c c a l m . "

LONDON, M a r c h 1 5

H i t l e r , s p e a k i n g i n V i e n n a f r o m t h e b a l c o n y

o f t h e H o f b u r g , p a l a c e o f t h e o n c e m i g h t y H a b s b u r g s ,

t o d a y p r o c l a i m e d t h e i n c o r p o r a t i o n o f A u s t r i a i n t h e

G e r m a n R e i c h . S t i l l a n o t h e r p r o m i s e b r o k e n . H e c o u l d

n o t e v e n w a i t f o r t h e p l e b i s c i t e , s c h e d u l e d f o r A p r i l 1 0 .

T a l k e d w i t h W i n s t o n C h u r c h i l l o n t h e p h o n e t h i s m o r n -

i n g. H e w i l l d o a f i f t e e n - m i n u t e b r o a d c a s t , b u t w a n t s

f i v e h u n d r e d d o l l a r s .

LONDON, M a r c h 1 6

E d t e l e p h o n e d f r o m V i e n n a . H e s a i d M a j o r

E m i l F e y h a s c o m m i t t e d s u i c i d e a f t e r p u t t i n g b u l l e t s

t h r o u g h h i s w i f e a n d n i n e t e e n - y e a r - o l d s o n. H e w a s a

s i n i s t e r m a n. U n d o u b t e d l y h e f e a r e d t h e N a z i s w o u l d

m u r d e r h i m f o r h a v i n g d o u b l e - c r o s s e d t h e m i n 1 9 3 4

w h e n D o l l f u s s w a s s h o t. I r e t u r n t o V i e n n a d a y a f t e r

t o m o r r o w . T h e c r i s i s i s o v e r . I t h i n k w e ' v e f o u n d s o m e -

t h i n g , t h o u g h , f o r r a d i o w i t h t h e s e r o u n d - u p s.

VIENNA, M a r c h 1 9

E d m e t m e a t A s p e r n a i r p o r t l a s t e v e n i n g .

W h e n w e a r r i v e d a t d u s k b e f o r e m y h o u s e i n t h e P l o e s s l -

g a s s e , S . S. g u a r d s i n s t e e l h e l m e t s a n d w i t h f i x e d b a y o -

n e t s w e r e s t a n d i n g b e f o r e m y d o o r. A g l a n c e u p t h e

s t r e e t s h o w e d t h e y w e r e g u a r d i n g a l l d o o r s , e s p e c i a l l y

t h a t o f t h e R o t h s c h i l d p a l a c e n e x t t o u s. E d a n d I



1 1 0 1938 VIENNA, M a r c h 2 0

T e s s n o n e t o o w e l l . T h e p h l e b i t i s s t i l l c r i t i c a l . Andh e r n e r v e s n o t e x a c t l y s o o t h e d b y t h e s h o c k o f w h a t h a s

b e e n h a p p e n i n g a n d t h e n o i s e o f G o r i n g ' s b o m b e r s o v e r

t h e h o s p i t a l a l l d a y l o n g. E d f l i e s b a c k t o L o n d o n i n

t h e m o r n i n g .

V I E N N A , M a r c h 2 0

B r o a d c a s t t h i s m o r n i n g . D e s c r i b e d h o w V i -

enna has been completely Nazified in a week - at e r r i f y i n g t h i n g . O n e o f t h e A m e r i c a n r a d i o n e t w o r k s

h a d e m p h a s i z e d a l l w e e k t h a ti t s

c o r r e s p o n d e n t w a s n o t

c e n s o r e d i n w h a t h e s a i d f r o m h e r e. B u t w h e n h e a r -

r i v e d a t t h e s t u d i o t o g o o n t h e a i r j u s t a f t e r m e , t h e

N a z i s d e m a n d e d h i s s c r i p t a s w e l l a s m i n e a n d g a v e i t a

g o i n g - o v e r .

V I E N N A , M a r c h 2 2

T e s s ' s c o n d i t i o n s t i l l c r i t i c a l . A n d t h e a t m o s -

p h e r e i n t h e h o s p i t a l h a s n o t h e l p e d . F i r s t , T e s s s a y s ,

t h e r e w a s a J e w i s h l a d y w h o s e b r o t h e r - i n - l a w c o m m i t t e d

s u i c i d e t h e d a y H i t l e r e n t e r e d t o w n . S h e s c r e a m e d a l l

t h e f i r s t n i g h t . T o d a y s h e l e f t i n b l a c k m o u r n i n g c l o t h e s

a n d v e i l , c l u t c h i n g h e r b a b y . T h e r e w a s a s e c o n d J e w i s h

l a d y . N o o n e i n h e r f a m i l y w a s m u r d e r e d , b u t t h e S .A ,

a f t e r t a k i n g o v e r h e r h u s b a n d ' s b u s i n e s s , p r o c e e d e d t o

t h e i r h o m e a n d l o o t e d i t . S h e f e a r s h e r h u s b a n d w i l l b e

ki l l e d o r a r r e s t e d , a n d w e e p s a l l n i g h t l o n g .

O n t h e s t r e e t s t o d a y g a n g s o f J e w s , w i t h j e e r i n g

s t o r m t r o o p e r s s t a n d i n g o v e r t h e m a n d t a u n t i n g c r o w d s

a r o u n d t h e m , o n t h e i r h a n d s a n d k n e e s s c r u b b i n g t h e

S c h u s c h n i g g s i g n s o f f t h e s i d e w a l k s . M a n y J e w s k i l l -

i n g t h e m s e l v e s . A l l s o r t s o f r e p o r t s o f N a z i s a d i s m ,

a n d f r o m t h e A u s t r i a n s i t s u r p r i s e s m e . Jewish men



1938 VIENNA, M a r c h 2 5 1 1 1

a n d w o m e n m a d e t o c l e a n l a t r i n e s. H u n d r e d s o f t h e m

j u s t p i c ke d a t r a n d o m o f f t h e s t r e e t s t o c l e a n t h e t o i l e t s

o f t h e N a z i b o y s. T h e l u c ky o n e s g e t o f f w i t h m e r e l y

c l e a n i n g c a r s - t h e t h o u s a n d s o f a u t o m o b i l e s w h i c h

h a v e b e e n s t o l e n f r o m t h e J e w s a n d"

e n e m i e s " o f t h e

r e g i m e . T h e w i f e o f a d i p l o m a t , a J e w e s s , t o l d m e t o -

d a y s h e d a r e d n o t l e a v e h e r h o m e f o r f e a r o f b e i n g

p i c ke d u p a n d p u t t o " s c r u b b i n g t h i n g s . "

V I E N N A , March 25

W e n t w i t h G i l l i e t o s e e t h e s y n a g o g u e i n t h e

S e i t e n s t a t t e n g a s s e , w h i c h w a s a l s o t h e h e a d q u a r t e r s o f

t h e J e w i s h K u l t u s g e m e i n d e . W e h a d b e e n t o l d t h a t t h e

J e w s h a d b e e n m a d e t o s c r u b o u t t o i l e t s w i t h t h e s a c r e d

p r a y i n g - b a n d s , t h e T e f i l l i n .

But the S. S . g u a r d s

w o u l d n ' t l e t u s i n . I n s i d e w e c o u l d s e e t h e g u a r d s l o l l i n g

a b o u t s m o k i n g p i p e s . O n o u r w a y t o l u n c h i n a l i t t l e

I t a l i a n r e s t a u r a n t b a c k o f t h e C a t h e d r a l , G i l l i e h a d a

r u n - i n w i t h s o m e s t o r m t r o o p e r s w h o t o o k h i m f o r

a J e w t h o u g h h e i s t h e p u r e s t o f S c o t s. V e r y a n n o y i n g

a n d w e d r o w n e d o u r f e e l i n g s i n C h i a n t i . K n i c k h e r e , a n d

A g n e s , t h o u g h K n i c k w i l l d e p a r t s h o r t l y a s h e i s b a r r e d

f r o m G e r m a n y a n d i s n o t s u p p o s e d t o b e h e r e . H u s s

h e r e t r y i n g t o g e t t h e l o c a l I N S c o r r e s p o n d e n t , A l f r e d

T y r n a u e r , o u t o f j a i l . H i s w i f e m o s t f r a n t i c w h e n I

t a l k e d w i t h h e r o n t h e p h o n e . T h e F o d o r s h a v e g o n e t o

B r a t i s l a v a , t a ke n t h e r e o n t h e i n i t i a t i v e o f J o h n W i l e y ,

w h o s e n t t h e m o u t i n a L e g a t i o n c a r . S c h u s c h n i g g

u n d e r a r r e s t , a n d t h e s t o r y i s t h a t t h e N a z i s t o r t u r e h i m

b y k e e p i n g t h e r a d i o i n h i s r o o m o n n i g h t a n d d a y .



1938 PRAGUE, A p r i l 16 1 13

VIENNA, A p r i l 14

C z e c h o s l o v a k i a w i l l c e r t a i n l y b e n e x t o n H i t -

l e r ' s l i s t. M i l i t a r i l y i t i s d o o m e d n o w t h a t G e r m a n y h a s

i t f l a n k e d o n t h e s o u t h a s w e l l a s t h e n o r t h . A l l o u r

b r o a d c a s t s f r o m P r a g u e n o w m u s t g o b y t e l e p h o n e l i n e

t h r o u g h G e r m a n y , e v e n i f w e t a k e t h e m v i a G e n e v a .

T h a t w i l l b e b a d i n c a s e o f t r o u b l e. M u s t a s k t h e C z e c h s

a b o u t t h e i r n e w s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r w h e n I g o t o

P r a g u e t o m o r r o w .

PRAGUE, A p r i l 16

P u t o n P r e s i d e n t B e n e s a n d M i s s A l i c e

M a s a r y k i n a b r o a d c a s t t o A m e r i c a t o n i g h t. Y e s t e r d a y

I e x p r e s s e d t h e h o p e t h a t D r. B e n e s w o u l d s a y s o m e -

t h i n g a b o u t t h e G e r m a n q u e s t i o n , t h o u g h t h e i r t h e m e

t o n i g h t w a s o s t e n s i b l y t h e R e d C r o s s . D r . B e n e s o b l i g e d

m e b e a u t i f u l l y , t h o u g h h i s l a n g u a g e w a s m o d e r a t e a n d

r e a s o n a b l e . S t r a n g e , t h e n , t h a t w h e n h e g o t t o t h e G e r -

m a n q u e s t i o n h e w a s b a d l y f a d e d o u t. U n f o r t u n a t e l y

N e w Y o r k b o o k e d t h e s h o w v i a t h e G e r m a n s h o r t - w a v e

s t a t i o n a t Z e e s e n i n s t e a d o f t h r o u g h G e n e v a a s I h a d

a s k e d. I s u s p e c t t h e G e r m a n s f a d e d o u t B e n e s o n p u r -

p o s e , t h o u g h B e r l i n d e n i e d i t w h e n I s p o k e w i t h t h e

p e o p l e t h e r e o n t h e p h o n e a f t e r t h e b r o a d c a s t. T h e y

s a i d t h e f a u l t w a s h e r e i n P r a g u e . T h e C z e c h s d e n y i t .

I h a d a l o n g t a l k t o n i g h t w i t h S v o b o d a , c h i e f e n g i n e e r

o f t h e C z e c h B r o a d c a s t i n g S y s t e m , u r g i n g h i m t o r u s h

w o r k o n h i s n e w s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r , e x p l a i n i n g

t h a t i f t h e G e r m a n s g o t t o u g h , t h a t w o u l d b e P r a g u e ' s

o n l y o u t l e t . P r o m i s e d o u r c o - o p e r a t i o n i n m a k i n g

t r a n s a t l a n t i c t e s t s . A g o o d - n a t u r e d f e l l o w , h e d o e s n o t

t h i n k t h e G e r m a n s w i l l d o a n y t h i n g u n t i l t h e y ' v e d i -

g e s t e d A u s t r i a , w h i c h h e t h i n k s w i l l t a k e y e a r s. B u t h e

p r o m i s e d t o g e t a l o n g w i t h t h e n e w S e n d e r .



114 1 9 3 8 VIENNA, A p r i l 1 7

VIENNA, A p r i l 1 7 ( E a s t e r )

G o t h o m e t h i s m o r n i n g. T e s s b e t t e r a n d w e

p r e s e n t e d t h e b a b y w i t h a g i a n t E a s t e r e g g I h a d

b o u g h t i n P r a g u e y e s t e r d a y . M u c h f u n .

ROME, M a y 2

Some time during the night S . S . B l a c k

G u a r d s a t t h e A u s t r o -I t a l i a n b o r d e r g o t m e o u t o f b e d

i n m yw a g o n s - l i t s c o m p a r t m e n t a n d s e i z e d a l l m y m o n e y .

T h e y a r g u e d a l o n g t i m e a m o n g t h e m s e l v e s a b o u t a r -

r e s t i n g m e , b u t f i n a l l y d e s i s t e d. H i t l e r a r r i v i n g t h i s

e v e n i n g a t s u n d o w n. I ' m b r o a d c a s t i n g f r o m t h e r o o f o f

t h e r o y a l s t a b l e s o v e r l o o k i n g t h e e n t r a n c e t o t h e Q u i -

r i n a l e P a l a c e a n d h a v e i t t i m e d f o r t h e m o m e n t t h e K i n g

a n d t h e F i i h r e r a r e d u e t o a r r i v e .

LATER . - n f o r t u n a t e l y f o r m e , t h e h o r s e s

p u l l i n g H i t l e r ' s c a r r i a g e g a l l o p e d fa s t e r t h a n w e a l l

a n t i c i p a t e d. W h e n I w e n t o n t h e a i r t h i s e v e n i n g , h e

h a d a r r i v e d , e n t e r e d t h e p a l a c e , c o m e o u t a n d b o w e d t o

t h e p o p u l a c e , d i s a p p e a r e d , a n d a s m y m i c r o p h o n e

o p e n e d t h e r e w a s n o t h i n g l e f t t o d e s c r i b e . I h a d m a d e

n o t e s , h o w e v e r , a b o u t t h e b a c kg r o u n d o f t h e v i s i t a n d

h a d r e c e i v e d d e s c r i p t i v e r e p o r t s i n G e r m a n b y r a d i o o f

h i s d r a m a t i c r i d e u p t h e T r i u m p h a l W a y , p a s t t h e

s p l e n d i d r u i n s o f a n c i e n t R o m e , p a s t t h e C o l o s s e u m ,

f r o m w h o s e a r c h w a y s c o l u m n s o f r e d f i r e f l a m e d , t o t h e

p a l a c e. B u t i t w a s p i t c h -d a r k w h e n I w e n t o n t h e a i r ,

a n d t h e e l e c t r i c l i g h t a t t a c h e d t o t h e m i k e s u d d e n l y

f a i l e d. I c o u l d n o t m a ke o u t a w o r d o f m y n o t e s . T h e

o n l y t h i n g w a s t o s p e a k a d l i b. f r o m m e m o r y , b u t a f t e r

s t a n d i n g o n t h e w i n d -s w e p t r o o f f o r f i v e h o u r s I d i s -

c o v e r e d t h a t t h e l i g h t i n m y m e m o r y h a d g o n e o u t t o o .



1 1 8 1938 L A U S ANNE, J u n e ( u n d a t e d )

w i n d o w I c o u l d h e a r a n d s e e t h e S w i s s r a c i n g t h e t w o

m o t o r s o f t h e i r D o u g l a s p l a n e , i m p a t i e n t t o g e t a w a y.

A f t e r a h a l f - h o u r I w a s l e d o u t t o a c o r r i d o r c o n n e c t i n g

t h e w a i t i n g - r o o m w i t h t h e a i r f i e l d . I t r i e d t o g e t i n t o

t h e w a i t i n g - r o o m , b u t t h e d o o r w a s l o c k e d . F i n a l l y

T e s s c a m e , t h e n u r s e s u p p o r t i n g h e r w i t h o n e a r m a n d

h o l d i n g t h e b a b y i n t h e o t h e r .

" H u r r y , t h e r e , " s n a p p e d a n o f f i c i a l . " Y o u ' v e k e p t

t h e p l a n e w a i t i n g a h a l f - h o u r. " I h e l d m y t o n g u e a n d

g r a b b e d T e s s .

S h e w a s g r i t t i n g h e r t e e t h , a s a n g r y a s I ' v e e v e r s e e n

h e r . " T h e y s t r i p p e d m e , t h e. . . " s h e k e p t s a y i n g . I

t h o u g h t s h e w a s g o i n g t o t u r n a n d s c r a t c h a t t h e o f f i c i a l

f o l l o w i n g u s . W e h u r r i e d a c r o s s t h e r u n w a y t o t h e

p l a n e. I w o n d e r e d w h a t c o u l d h a p p e n i n t h e n e x t s e c -

o n d s b e f o r e w e w e r e i n t h e p l a n e a n d s a f e. M a y b e X

w o u l d c o m e r u n n i n g o u t a n d d e m a n d m y a r r e s t. T h e n

w e w e r e i n t h e p l a n e a n d i t w a s r a c i n g a c r o s s t h e f i e l d.

F l e w b l i n d i n s t o r m c l o u d s a l o n g t h e A l p s a l l t h e w a y

f r o m V i e n n a t o Z u r i c h , t h e p l a n e p i t c h i n g a n d t o s s i n g

a n d m o s t o f t h e p a s s e n g e r s s i c k a n d s c a r e d . T h e n t h e r e

w a s Z u r i c h d o w n t h e r e , S w i t z e r l a n d , s a n i t y , c i v i l i z a t i o n

a g a i n .

LAUSANNE, J u n e ( u n d a t e d )

W e c a m e u p t h e l a k e o n a p a d d l e - s t e a m e r ,

T e s s a n d E d M u r r o w a n d I , o n t h i s g l o r i o u s J u n e a f t e r -

n o o n , t h e w a t e r b l u e l i k e t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n , t h e s h o r e s

s p l a s h i n g g r e e n , t h e J u r a m o u n t a i n s t o t h e l e f t , a d e e p ,

s m o k y b l u e , t h e A l p s t o t h e r i g h t , p i n k a n d w h i t e u n d e r

t h e s n o w a n d s u n . I t w a s a l m o s t o v e r w h e l m i n g. E d a n d

I h e r e f o r t h e s e m i - a n n u a l c o n f e r e n c e o f t h e I n t e r n a -

t i o n a l B r o a d c a s t i n g U n i o n. A s a s s o c i a t e i n s t e a d o f

r e g u l a r m e m b e r s w e r e f r a i n f r o m t h e s c r a p s o f t h e E u r o -



1 ! 8 0 1938 PRAGUE, A u g u s t 4

h e a d i n g t h e A m e r i c a n d e l e g a t i o n , e l e c t e d p e r m a n e n t

p r e s i d e n t o f t h e c o m m i t t e e t o d a y. I d o u b t i f m u c h w i l l

b e d o n e. T h e B r i t i s h , F r e n c h , a n d A m e r i c a n s s e e m t o o

a n x i o u s n o t t o d o a n y t h i n g t o o f f e n d H i t l e r. I t ' s a n

a b s u r d s i t u a t i o n. T h e y w a n t t o a p p e a s e t h e m a n w h o i s

r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e i r p r o b l e m. T h e N a z i s o f c o u r s e w i l l

w e l c o m e t h e d e m o c r a c i e s ' t a k i n g t h e J e w s o f f t h e i r h a n d s

a t t h e d e m o c r a c i e s ' e x p e n s e. I g u e s s I w a s a l i t t l e h a s t y

t h i n k i n g t h e "r a d i o f o r e i g n c o r r e s p o n d e n t " h a d b e e n

b o r n a t t h e t i m e o f t h eA n s c h l u s s . I ' v e p u t o n T a y l o r

f o r a b r o a d c a s t , b u t h a v e n o i n v i t a t i o n f r o m N e w Y o r k

t o t a l k m y s e l f o n t h e p r o g r a m o f t h i s c o n f e r e n c e. W e

a r e n o t r e a l l y c o v e r i n g i t a t a l l. S t u m b l e d i n t o J i m m y

S h e e a n , w h o m I h a v e n o t s e e n s i n c e o u r P a r i s d a y s t e n

y e a r s a g o. W e h a d a b i g r e u n i o n a t t h e C a s i n o l a s t

n i g h t , R o b e r t D e l l o f t h e M a n c h e s t e r G u a r d i a n ,a g r a n d

o l d m a n , j o i n i n g u s. J i m m y b r o ke t h e b a n k a t t h e

b a c c a r a t t a b l e w h i l e I w a s w i n n i n g a c o u p l e o f t h o u s a n d

f r a n c s m o r e l a b o r i o u s l y a t r o u l e t t e , D e l l , w h o i s i n h i s

s i x t i e s , r e m a i n i n g i n t h e h a l l t o d a n c e. D i n a h S h e e a n

j o i n e d u s d u r i n g t h e e v e n i n g , s h e b e a u t i f u l w i t h l a r g e

i n t e l l i g e n t e y e s. R e n e w i n g a c q u a i n t a n c e w i t h o t h e r o l d

f r i e n d s , B o b P e l l o f t h e A m e r i c a n d e l e g a t i o n , J o h n

E l l i o t t , a n d o t h e r s. S h o u l d m e n t i o n J o h n W i n a n t ,

w h o m I m e t a m o n t h a g o i n G e n e v a a n d w h o h a s b e e n

h e r e , a v e r y l i k a b l e p e r s o n , l i b e r a l , a w k w a r d i n m a n n e r ,

a b i t L i n c o l n e s q u e .

PRAGUE, August 4

L o r d R u n c i m a n a r r i v e d t o d a y t o g u m u p t h e

w o r k s a n d s e l l t h e C z e c h s s h o r t i f h e c a n. H e a n d h i s

L a d y a n d s t a f f , w i t h p i l e s o f b a g g a g e , p r o c e e d e d t o t h e

t o w n ' s s w a n k i e s t h o t e l , t h e A l c r o n , w h e r e t h e y h a v e a l -



1 9 3 8 G E N E V A , S e p t e m b e r9

GENEVA, S e p t e m b e r 9

O n e l a s t f l e e t i n g v i s i t w i t h t h e f a m i l y b e f o r e

t h e w a r c l o u d s b r e a k . I n B e r l i n t h e b e s t o p i n i o n i s

t h a t H i t l e r h a s m a d e u p h i s m i n d f o r w a r i f i t i s n e c e s -

s a r y t o g e t b a c k h i s S u d e t e n s. I d o u b t i t f o r t w o r e a -

s o n s : f i r s t , t h e G e r m a n a r m y i s n o t r e a d y ; s e c o n d l y ,

t h e p e o p l e a r e d e a d a g a i n s t w a r . T h e r a d i o h a s b e e n

s a y i n g a l l d a y t h a t G r e a t B r i t a i n h a s t o l d G e r m a n y s h e

w i l l f i g h t i f C z e c h o i s i n v a d e d . P e r h a p s s o , b u t y o u c a n -

n o t f o r g e t t h e T i m e s l e a d e r o f t h r e e d a y s a g o i n v i t i n g

t h e C z e c h s t o b e c o m e a m o r e" h o m o g e n e o u s s t a t e " b y

h a n d i n g t h e S u d e t e n s o v e r t o H i t l e r .

T h e a t m o s p h e r e h e r e i n G e n e v a i s d e l i g h t f u l l y u n -

r e a l . O n M o n d a y t h e 1 0 2 n d m e e t i n g o f t h e L e a g u e

C o u n c i l a n d t h e 1 9t h m e e t i n g o f t h e A s s e m b l y o p e n a n d

a l l t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s t s a r e c o n v e n i n g h e r e t o d o n o t h -

i n g . T h e C z e c h s i t u a t i o n i s n o t e v e n o n t h e a g e n d a , a n d

w o n ' t b e . W h o w a s i t p u t i t s o w e l l t h e o t h e r d a y a s w e

w e r e w a l k i n g a l o n g L a k e G e n e v a a n d t h e g r e a t L e a g u e

S e c r e t a r i a t b u i l d i n g c a m e i n t o v i e w ? S o m e o n e . " A

b e a u t i f u l g r a n i t e s e p u l c h r e ! L e t u s a d m i r e i t s b e a u t y

a g a i n s t t h e g r e e n h i l l s a n d t h e m o u n t a i n s . T h e r e , m y

f r i e n d , a r e b u r i e d t h e d e a d h o p e s o f p e a c e f o r o u r g e n -

e r a t i o n . "

T e s s , w i t h b a b y , o f f t o A m e r i c a t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f

t h e m o n t h t o e s t a b l i s h r e s i d e n c e f o r h e r c i t i z e n s h i p . I

o f f t o P r a g u e t o m o r r o w b y p l a n e t o c o v e r t h e p e a c e o r

t h e w a r . H a v e a l m o s t c o n v i n c e d C B S t h e y s h o u l d l e t

m e t a l k f i v e m i n u t e s d a i l y

-e v o l u t i o n a r y i n t h e b r o a d -

c a s t i n g b u s i n e s s !



1 2 8 1 9 3 8 P R A G U E , S e p t e m b e r 1 3 -14

PRAGUE, S e p t e m b e r 1 3 - 1 4 ( 3 a . m . )

W a r v e r y n e a r , a n d s i n c e m i d n i g h t w e ' v e b e e n

w a i t i n g f o r t h e G e r m a n b o m b e r s , b u t s o f a r n o s i g n .

M u c h s h o o t i n g u p i n t h e S u d e t e n l a n d , a t E g e r , E l b o -

g e n , F a l k e n a u , H a b e r s b i r k. A f e w S u d e t e n e r s a n d

C z e c h s k i l l e d a n d t h e G e r m a n s h a v e b e e n p l u n d e r i n g

C z e c h a n d J e w i s h s h o p s. S o t h e C z e c h s v e r y r i g h t l y

p r o c l a i m e d m a r t i a l l a w t h i s m o r n i n g i n f i v e S u d e t e n

d i s t r i c t s. A b o u t s e v e n t h i s e v e n i n g w e l e a r n e d t h a t H e n -

l e i n h a d s e n t a s i x - h o u r u l t i m a t u m t o t h e g o v e r n m e n t .

I t w a s d e l i v e r e d a t s i x p . m . , e x p i r e d a t m i d n i g h t . I t d e -

manded : r e p e a l o f m a r t i a l l a w , w i t h d r a w a l o f C z e c h

p o l i c e f r o m t h e S u d e t e n l a n d , " s e p a r a t i o n" o f m i l i t a r y

b a r r a c k s f r o m t h e c i v i l i a n p o p u l a t i o n. W h e t h e r i t i s

b a c k e d b y H i t l e r w e d o n o t k n o w , t h o u g h a f t e r h i s

N u r e m b e r g s p e e c h t h e r e s e e m s l i t t l e d o u b t t h a t i t i s .

A n y w a y , t h e C z e c h g o v e r n m e n t h a s t u r n e d i t d o w n. I t

c o u l d n o t h a v e d o n e o t h e r w i s e. I t h a s m a d e i t s c h o i c e .

I t w i l l f i g h t . W e w a i t n o w f o r H i t l e r ' s m o v e .

T h e t e n s i o n a n d c o n f u s i o n t h i s n i g h t i n t h e l o b b y o f

t h e A m b a s s a d o r H o t e l , w h e r e t h e d i p l o m a t s a n d c o r r e -

s p o n d e n t s g a t h e r , h a s b e e n i n d e s c r i b a b l e. F a s c i n a t i n g

t o w a t c h t h e r e a c t i o n s o f p e o p l e s u d d e n l y s e i z e d b y

f e a r . S o m e c a n ' t t a k e i t. T h e y l e t t h e m s e l v e s g o t o a

p o i n t o f h y s t e r i a , t h e n i n p a n i c f l e e t o - God knowsw h e r e

. M o s t t a ke i t , w i t h v a r i o u s d e g r e e s o f c o u r a g e

a n d c o o l n e s s . I n t h e l o b b y t o n i g h t :t h e n e w s p a p e r m e n

m i l l i n g a r o u n d t r y i n g t o g e t t e l e p h o n e c a l l s t h r o u g h t h e

o n e l o n e o p e r a t o r. J e w s e x c i t e d l y t r y i n g t o b o o k o n t h e

l a s t p l a n e o r t r a i n. T h e w i l d e s t r u m o u r s c o m i n g i n w i t h

e v e r y n e w p e r s o n t h a t s t e p s t h r o u g h t h e r e v o l v i n g d o o r

f r o m o u t s i d e , a l l o f u s g a t h e r i n g a r o u n d t o l i s t e n , b e -

l i e v i n g o r d i s b e l i e v i n g a c c o r d i n g t o o u r f e e l i n g s. G o -

r i n g ' s b o m b e r s w i l l c o m e a t m i d n i g h t- u n l e s s t h e



1 9 3 8 P R AGUE, S e p t e m b e r 1 5 1 31

S u d e t e n e r s I t a l k e d t o t o d a y v e r y p u z z l e d . T h e y e x -

p e c t e d t h e G e r m a n a r m y t o m a r c h i n M o n d a y n i g h t

a f t e r H i t l e r ' s s p e e c h , a n d w h e n i t d i d n ' t a r r i v e , b u t

t h e C z e c h a r m y d i d , t h e i r s p i r i t s d r o p p e d . O n l y a t

S c h w a d e r b a c h a r e t h e H e n l e i n i s t s h o l d i n g o u t , a n d

t h a t ' s b e c a u s e t h e C z e c h s c a n ' t f i r e i n t o t h e t o w n w i t h -

o u t t h e i r b u l l e t s h i t t i n g R e i c h t e r r i t o r y. H e n l e i n a n -

n o u n c e s t h i s a f t e r n o o n f r o m A s c h t h e d i s s o l u t i o n o f

t h e c o m m i t t e e w h i c h h a d b e e n n e g o t i a t i n g h e r e w i t h

t h e g o v e r n m e n t . E r n s t K u n d t , h i s c h i e f d e l e g a t e , a

s w a r t h y , p a s s i o n a t e m a n a n d t h e m o s t d e c e n t o f t h e l o t ,

t e l l s m e h e ' s r e m a i n i n g i n P r a g u e " i f t h e y d o n ' t k i l l

m e . "

S o m e t i m e a f t e r d i n n e r a n e w s b o y r u s h e d i n t o t h e

l o b b y o f t h e A m b a s s a d o r w i t h e x t r a e d i t i o n s o f a G e r -

m a n - l a n g u a g e p a p e r , t h e o n l y o n e I c a n r e a d s i n c e I

d o n o t kn o w C z e c h . T h e h e a d l i n e s s a i d : C h a m b e r l a i n

t o f l y t o B e r c h t e s g a d e n t o m o r r o w t o s e e H i t l e r ! T h e

C z e c h s a r e d u m b f o u n d e d. T h e y s u s p e c t a s e l l - o u t a n d

I ' m a f r a i d t h e y ' r e r i g h t. O n t h e w a y t o b r o a d c a s t t o -

n i g h t , H i n d u s , w h o w a s w i t h m e a n d u n d e r s t a n d s C z e c h ,

s t o p p e d t o l i s t e n t o w h a t t h e n e w s b o y s w e r e s h o u t i n g .

T h e y w e r e y e l l i n g , h e s a i d : " E x t r a! E x t r a ! R e a d a l l

a b o u t h o w t h e m i g h t y h e a d o f t h e B r i t i s h E m p i r e

g o e s b e g g i n g t o H i t l e r ! " I h a v e n o t h e a r d a b e t t e r

c o m m e n t t h i s e v e n i n g. B r o a d c a s t a g a i n , b u t f e a r w e

d i d n o t g e t t h r o u g h. M i g h t y p o w e r f u l s u n s p o t s a t

w o r k a g a i n s t u s .

PRAGUE, S e p t e m b e r 1 5

F e e l a l i t t l e f r u s t r a t e d. N e w Y o r k c a b l e s

a g a i n t h a t I f a i l e d t o g e t t h r o u g h. T o n i g h t I s h a l l

c a b l e m y p i e c e t o b e r e a d. H e n l e i n t o d a y i s s u e d a

p r o c l a m a t i o n d e m a n d i n g o u t r i g h t A n s c h l u s s , a f t e r



1938 G o D E S B E R G ,S e p t e m b e r 2 2 1 3 7

m e e t i n g i n a W a g n e r i a n t o w n , f o r i t i s h e r e , t h e y s a y ,

t h a t W o t a n , T h o r , a n d t h e o t h e r g o d s o f t h e e a r l y

T e u t o n s u s e d t o f r o l i c .

T h i s m o r n i n g I n o t i c e d s o m e t h i n g v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g . I

w a s h a v i n g b r e a k f a s t i n t h e g a r d e n o f t h e D r e e s e n

H o t e l , w h e r e H i t l e r i s s t o p p i n g , w h e n t h e g r e a t m a n

s u d d e n l y a p p e a r e d , s t r o d e p a s t m e , a n d w e n t d o w n t o

t h e e d g e o f t h e R h i n e t o i n s p e c t h i s r i v e r y a c h t . X , o n e

o f G e r m a n y ' s l e a d i n g e d i t o r s , w h o s e c r e t l y d e s p i s e s t h e

r e g i m e , n u d g e d m e : " L o o k a t h i s w a l k ! " O n i n s p e c t i o n

i t w a s a v e r y c u r i o u s w a l k i n d e e d . I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e ,

i t w a s v e r y l a d y l i ke. D a i n t y l i t t l e s t e p s . I n t h e s e c o n d

p l a c e , e v e r y f e w s t e p s h e c o c k e d h i s r i g h t s h o u l d e r n e r v -

o u s l y , h i s l e f t l e g s n a p p i n g u p a s h e d i d s o . I w a t c h e d

h i m c l o s e l y a s h e c a m e b a c k p a s t u s . T h e s a m e n e r v o u s

t i c . H e h a d u g l y b l a c k p a t c h e s u n d e r h i s e y e s . I t h i n k

t h e m a n i s o n t h e e d g e o f a n e r v o u s b r e a k d o w n . Andn o w I u n d e r s t a n d t h e m e a n i n g o f a n e x p r e s s i o n t h e

p a r t y h a c ks w e r e u s i n g w h e n w e s a t a r o u n d d r i n k i n g i n

t h e D r e e s e n l a s t n i g h t . T h e y k e p t t a l k i n g a b o u t t h e

" T e p p i c h f r e s s e r , " t h e " c a r p e t - e a t e r . " A t f i r s t I

d i dn ' t g e t i t , a n d t h e n s o m e o n e e x p l a i n e d i t i n a w h i s p e r .

T h e y s a i d H i t l e r h a s b e e n h a v i n g s o m e o f h i s n e r v o u s

c r i s e s l a t e l y a n d t h a t i n r e c e n t d a y s t h e y ' v e t a ke n a

s t r a n g e f o r m . W h e n e v e r h e g o e s o n a r a m p a g e a b o u t

B e n e s o r t h e C z e c h s h e f l i n g s h i m s e l f t o t h e f l o o r a n d

c h e w s t h e e d g e s o f t h e c a r p e t , h e n c e t h e T e p p i c h f r e s s e r .

A f t e r s e e i n g h i m t h i s m o r n i n g , I c a n b e l i e v e i t .

C h a m b e r l a i n a n d H i t l e r h a d a t h r e e - h o u r t a l k t h i s

a f t e r n o o n a n d w i l l h a v e a n o t h e r t o m o r r o w. J u s t a s I

w a s b r o a d c a s t i n g f r o m a l i t t l e s t u d i o w e ' v e f i x e d u p i n

t h e p o r t e r ' s l o d g e o f t h e h o t e l , t h e t w o m e n a f t e r t h e i r

c o n f e r e n c e s t e p p e d o u t r i g h t b e f o r e m y w i n d o w. H i t l e r

w a s a l l g r a c i o u s n e s s i n d e e d a n d C h a m b e r l a i n , l o o k i n g

t h e i m a g e o f a n o w l , w a s s m i l i n g a n d a p p a r e n t l y h i g h l y



1 8 8 1 93 8 G o D E S B E R G ,S e p t e m b e r 2 3-4

p l e a s e d i n h i s v a i n w a y w i t h s o m e m a n u f a c t u r e d a p -

p l a u s e b y a c o m p a n y o f S . S . g u a r d s b e f o r e t h e d o o r .

C h a m b e r l a i n , I h e a r , p r o p o s e d a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m -

m i s s i o n t o s u p e r i n t e n d t h e w i t h d r a w a l o f t h e C z e c h s

f r o m S u d e t e n l a n d a n d a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l g u a r a n t e e f o r

w h a t i s l e f t o f C z e c h o s l o v a k i a. N e w Y o r k c a b l e s o u r

F r i e d r i c h s t r a s s e b a h n h o f s h o w l a s t n i g h t w a s a kn o c k -

o u t . S t r a n g e. N e w C a b i n e t i n P r a g u e . N e w P r e m i e r

o n e -e y e d , h a r d -b o i l e d G e n e r a l J a n S y r o v y , I n s p e c t o r -

G e n e r a l o f t h e a r m y . T h e C z e c h s m a y f i g h t y e t .

GODESBERG, September 2 3 - 4 , 4 a .m .

W a r s e e m s v e r y n e a r a f t e r t h i s s t r a n g e d a y .

A l l t h e B r i t i s h a n d F r e n c h c o r r e s p o n d e n t s a n d B i r c h a l l

of the New York T i m e s , w h o i s a n E n g l i s h s u b j e c t ,

s c u r r y i n g o f f a t d a w n

-n a b o u t a n h o u r , n o w

-o r

t h e F r e n c h , B e l g i a n , o r D u t c h f r o n t i e r . I t s e e m s t h a t

H i t l e r h a s g i v e n C h a m b e r l a i n t h e d o u b l e - c r o s s . A n d

t h e o l d o w l i s h u r t . A l l d a y l o n g h e s u l k e d i n h i s r o o m s

a t t h e P e t e r s h o f u p o n t h e P e t e r s b e r g o n t h e o t h e r s i d e

o f t h e R h i n e , r e f u s i n g t o c o m e o v e r a n d t a l k w i t h t h e

d i c t a t o r . A t f i v e p . m . h e s e n t S i r H o r a c e W i l s o n , h i s

" c o n f i d e n t i a l " a d v i s e r , a n d S i r N e v i l e He n d e r s o n , t h e

B r i t i s h A m b a s s a d o r i n B e r l i n ( b o t h o f w h o m , w e f e e l ,

w o u l d s e l l o u t C z e c h o f o r f i v e c e n t s ) , o v e r t h e r i v e r t o

s e e R i b b e n t r o p . R e s u l t : C h a m b e r l a i n a n d H i t l e r m e t

a t t e n t h i r t y p . m . T h i s m e e t i n g , w h i c h i s t h e l a s t , b r o k e

u p a t o n e t h i r t y a . m . w i t h o u t a g r e e m e n t a n d n o w i t

l o o k s l i k e w a r , t h o u g h f r o m m y " s t u d i o " i n t h e p o r t e r ' s

l o d g e t w e n t y - f i v e f e e t a w a y I c o u l d n o t d i s c e r n a n y

s t r a i n o r p a r t i c u l a r d i s p l e a s u r e i n C h a m b e r l a i n ' s b i r d y

f a c e a s h e s a i d h i s f a r e w e l l t o H i t l e r , w h o a l s o w a s s m i l -

i n g a n d g r a c i o u s . S t i l l t h e G e r m a n s a r e p l u n g e d i n d e e p

g l o o m t o n i g h t , a s i f t h e y r e a l l y a r e a f r a i d o f w a r n o w



1 9 3 8 G O D E S BE E G, S e p t e m b e r 23-4 1 3 9

t h a t i t ' s f a c i n g t h e m . T h e y a r e g l o o m y a n d y e t f e v e r -

i s h l y e x c i t e d . J u s t a s I w a s a b o u t t o g o o n t h e a i r a t

t w o a . m . w i t h t h e d a y ' s s t o r y a n d t h e o f f i c i a l c o m -

m u n i q u e , G o e b b e l s a n d H a d a m o v s k y , t h e l a t t e r N a z i

b o s s o f G e r m a n r a d i o , c a m e r u s h i n g i n a n d fo r b a d e J o r -

d a n a n d m e t o s a y a n y t h i n g o v e r t h e a i r e x c e p t t o r e a d

t h e o f f i c i a l c o m m u n i q u e . L a t e r I g r a b b e d a b i t o f s u p p e r

i n t h e D r e e s e n l o b b y . G o e b b e l s , R i b b e n t r o p , G o r i n g ,

K e i t e l , a n d o t h e r s w a l k e d i n a n d o u t , a l l o f t h e m l o o k i n g

a s i f t h e y h a d b e e n h i t o v e r t h e h e a d w i t h a s l e d g e -

hammer . T h i s r a t h e r s u r p r i s e d m e , s i n c e i t ' s a w a r o f

t h e i r making . T h e c o m m u n i q u e m e r e l y s a y s t h a t C h a m -

b e r l a i n h a s u n d e r t a ke n t o d e l i v e r t o P r a g u e a G e r m a n

m e m o r a n d u m c o n t a i n i n g G e r m a n y ' s " f i n a l a t t i t u d e"

c o n c e r n i n g t h e S u d e t e n q u e s t i o n . T h e p o i n t i s t h a t

C h a m b e r l a i n c a m e h e r e a l l p r e p a r e d t o t u r n o v e r S u d e -

t e n l a n d t o H i t l e r , b u t i n a " B r i t i s h

" way -i t h a n

i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m i s s i o n t o s u p e r v i s e t h e b u s i n e s s . He

f o u n d H i t l e r ' s a p p e t i t e h a d i n c r e a s e d . H i t l e r w a n t s t o

t a ke o v e r h i s way - h a t i s , r i g h t a w a y , w i t h n o n o n -

s e n s e o f a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m i s s i o n. A c t u a l l y , i t ' s n o t

a n i m p o r t a n t p o i n t f o r e i t h e r , b u t t h e y s e e m t o h a v e

s t u c k t o t h e i r p o s i t i o n s. '

I n m e a n t i m e , w o r d t h a t t h e C z e c h s h a v e a t t l a s t

o r d e r e d m o b i l i z a t i o n .

F i v e a. m . n o w . S h a l l l i e d o w n o n a t a b l e h e r e i n t h e

l o b b y , a s I m u s t b e o f f a t s i x f o r C o l o g n e t o c a t c h t h e

B e r l i n p l a n e .

1 S i r N e v i l e H e n d e r s o n i nF a i l u r e o f a M i s s i o n h a s t o l d u s s i n c e

t h a t d u r i n g t h e f i r s t t a l k a f t e r C h a m b e r l a i n h a d o u t l i n e d h i s p l a n o f

c o m p l e t e s u r r e n d e r t o H i t l e r , t h e F i 1 h r e r l o o k e d a t h i m a n d s a i d: " E s

t u t m i r f u r c h t b a r l e i d , a b e r d a s g e h t n i c h t m e h r( I ' m a w f u l l y s o r r y ,

b u t t h a t w o n ' t d o a n y m o r e ) . " C h a m b e r l a i n , s a y s H e n d e r s o n , e x -

p r e s s e d h i s " s u r p r i s e a n d i n d i g n a t i o n . "



140 1938 B E R L I N ,S e p t e m b e r 2 4

B E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 2 4

T o d a y ' s s t o r y i s i n m y b r o a d c a s t m a d e a t

m i d n i g h t t o n i g h t . I s a i d : " T h e r e w a s s o m e c o n f u s i o n

a m o n g u s a l l a t G o d e s b e r g t h i s m o r n i n g . . . b u t t o -

n i g h t , a s s e e n f r o m B e r l i n , t h e p o s i t i o n i s t h i s: H i t l e r

h a s d e m a n d e d t h a t C z e c h o s l o v a k i a n o t l a t e r t h a n S a t u r -

d a y , O c t o b e r 1 , a g r e e t o t h e h a n d i n g o v e r o f S u d e t e n -

l a n d t o G e r m a n y . M r . C h a m b e r l a i n h a s a g r e e d t o c o n -

v e y t h i s d e m a n d t o t h e C z e c h o s l o v a k G o v e r n m e n t . T h e

v e r y f a c t t h a t h e , w i t h a l l t h e a u t h o r i t y o f a m a n w h o i s

p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r o f t h e B r i t i s h E m p i r e , h a s t a k e n u p o n

h i m s e l f t h i s t a s k i s a c c e p t e d h e r e , a n d I b e l i e v e e l s e -

w h e r e , a s m e a n i n g t h a t M r . C h a m b e r l a i n b a c k s H i t l e r

u p .

" T h a t ' s w h y t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e I t a l k e d w i t h i n t h e

s t r e e t s o f C o l o g n e t h i s m o r n i n g , a n d i n B e r l i n t h i s e v e -

n i n g , b e l i e v e t h e r e ' l l b e p e a c e . A s a m a t t e r o f f a c t , w h a t

d o y o u t h i n k t h e n e w s l o g a n i n B e r l i n i s t o n i g h t ? I t ' s

i n t h e e v e n i n g p a p e r s . I t ' s t h i s : ` W i t h H i t l e r a n d

C h a m b e r l a i n f o r p e a c e ! ' A n d t h e A n g r i f f a d d s : `H i t -

l e r a n d C h a m b e r l a i n a r e w o r k i n g n i g h t a n d d a y f o r

p e a c e . " '

S o B e r l i n i s o p t i m i s t i c t o n i g h t f o r p e a c e . U n a b l e t o

t e l e p h o n e o r w i r e H i n d u s i n P r a g u e t o n i g h t t o g i v e h i m

h i s t i m e s c h e d u l e . A l l c o m m u n i c a t i o n w i t h P r a g u e c u t

o f f . T h a n k G o d f o r t h a t C z e c h t r a n s m i t t e r . '


H i t l e r t o m a k e a s p e e c h t o m o r r o w e v e n i n g a t

t h e S p o r t p a l a s t . S e e m s h e i s f u r i o u s a t t h e r e p o r t s

1 I n t h e n e x t d a y s i t f u r n i s h e d t h e o n l y m e a n s o f c o m m u n i c a -

t i o n b e t w e e n P r a g u e a n d t h e o u t s i d e w o r l d .



1 9 3 8 B EH . L I N ,S e p t e m b e r 2 6

141

f r o m P r a g u e , P a r i s , a n d L o n d o n t h a t h i s G o d e s b e r g

M e m o r a n d u m g o e s b e y o n d h i s o r i g i n a l a g r e e m e n t w i t h

C h a m b e r l a i n a t B e r c h t e s g a d e n . H e c l a i m s n o t . N o w a r

f e v e r , n o t e v e n a n y a n t i - C z e c h f e e l i n g , d i s c e r n i b l e h e r e

o n t h i s q u i e t S a b b a t h d a y . I n t h e o l d d a y s o n t h e e v e

o f w a r s , I b e l i e v e , c r o w d s u s e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e a n g r i l y

b e f o r e t h e e m b a s s i e s o f t h e e n e m y c o u n t r i e s . T o d a y I

w a l k e d p a s t t h e C z e c h L e g a t i o n. N o t a s o u l o u t s i d e , n o t

e v e n a p o l i c e m a n . W a r m a n d s u n n y , t h e l a s t s u m m e r

S u n d a y o f t h e y e a r p r o b a b l y , a n d h a l f t h e p o p u l a t i o n

o f B e r l i n s e e m s t o h a v e s p e n t i t a t t h e n e a r - b y l a k e s o r i n

t h e w o o d s o f t h e G r u n e w a l d . H a r d t o b e l i e v e t h e r e w i l l

b e w a r .


H i t l e r h a s f i n a l l y b u r n e d h i s l a s t b r i d g e s ,

S h o u t i n g a n d s h r i e k i n g i n t h e w o r s t s t a t e o f e x c i t e -

m e n t I ' v e e v e r s e e n h i m i n , h e s t a t e d i n t h e S p o r t p a l a s t

t o n i g h t t h a t h e w o u l d h a v e h i s S u d e t e n l a n d b y O c t o b e r

1 - n e x t S a t u r d a y , t o d a y b e i n g M o n d a y . I f B e n e s

d o e s n ' t h a n d i t o v e r t o h i m h e w i l l g ot o w a r , t h i s S a t -

u r d a y. C u r i o u s a u d i e n c e , t h e f i f t e e n t h o u s a n d p a r t y

B o n z e n p a c k e d i n t o t h e h a l l . T h e y a p p l a u d e d h i s w o r d s

w i t h t h e u s u a l e n t h u s i a s m . Y e t t h e r e w a s n o w a r f e v e r .

T h e c r o w d w a s g o o d - n a t u r e d , a s i f i t d i d n ' t r e a l i z e w h a t

h i s w o r d s m e a n t . T h e o l d m a n f u l l o f m o r e v e n o m t h a n

e v e n h e h a s e v e r s h o w n , h u r l i n g p e r s o n a l i n s u l t s a t

B e n e s. T w i c e H i t l e r s c r e a m e d t h a t t h i s i s a b s o l u t e l y

h i s l a s t t e r r i t o r i a l d e m a n d i n E u r o p e. S p e a k i n g o f h i s

a s s u r a n c e s t o C h a m b e r l a i n , h e s a i d : " I f u r t h e r a s s u r e d

h i m t h a t w h e n t h e C z e c h s h a v e r e c o n c i l e d t h e m s e l v e s

w i t h t h e i r o t h e r m i n o r i t i e s , t h e C z e c h s t a t e n o l o n g e r i n -

t e r e s t s m e a n d t h a t , i f y o u p l e a s e . I w o u l d g i v e h i m a n -



142 1 9 3 8 B E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 2 7

o t h e r g u a r a n t e e : W e d o n o t w a n t a n y C z e c h s . " A t t h e

e n d H i t l e r h a d t h e i m p u d e n c e -t o p l a c e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r

p e a c e o r w a r e x c l u s i v e l y o n B e n e s!

I b r o a d c a s t t h e s c e n e f r o m a s e a t i n t h e b a l c o n y j u s t

a b o v e H i t l e r . H e ' s s t i l l g o t t h a t n e r v o u s t i c . A l l d u r -

i n g h i s s p e e c h h e k e p t c o c k i n g h i s s h o u l d e r , a n d t h e

opposite leg from the knee down would bounce up .

A u d i e n c e c o u l d n ' t s e e i t , b u t I c o u l d . A s a m a t t e r o f

f a c t , f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i n a l l t h e y e a r s I ' v e o b s e r v e d h i m

h e s e e m e d t o n i g h t t o h a v e c o m p l e t e l y l o s t c o n t r o l o f

h i m s e l f . W h e n h e s a t d o w n a f t e r h i s t a l k , G o e b b e l s

s p r a n g u p a n d s h o u t e d : " O n e t h i n g i s s u r e : 1 91 8 w i l l

n e v e r b e r e p e a t e d ! " H i t l e r l o o k e d u p t o h i m , a w i l d ,

e a g e r e x p r e s s i o n i n h i s e y e s , a s i f t h o s e w e r e t h e w o r d s

w h i c h h e h a d b e e n s e a r c h i n g f o r a l l e v e n i n g a n d h a d n ' t

q u i t e f o u n d . H e l e a p e d t o h i s f e e t a n d w i t h a f a n a t i c a l

f i r e i n h i s e y e s t h a t I s h a l l n e v e r f o r g e t b r o u g h t h i s r i g h t

h a n d , a f t e r a g r a n d s w e e p , p o u n d i n g d o w n o n t h e t a b l e

a n d y e l l e d w i t h a l l t h e p o w e r i n h i s m i g h t y l u n g s

" J a ! " T h e n h e s l u m p e d i n t o h i s c h a i r e x h a u s t e d .


A m o t o r i z e d d i v i s i o n r o l l e d t h r o u g h t h e c i t y ' s

s t r e e t s j u s t a t d u s k t h i s e v e n i n g i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e

C z e c h f r o n t i e r . I w e n t o u t t o t h e c o r n e r o f t h e L i n d e n

w h e r e t h e c o l u m n w a s t u r n i n g d o w n t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e ,

e x p e c t i n g t o s e e a t r e m e n d o u s d e m o n s t r a t i o n . I p i c -

t u r e d t h e s c e n e s I h a d r e a d o f i n 19 1 4 w h e n t h e c h e e r -

i n g t h r o n g s o n t h i s s a m e s t r e e t t o s s e d f l o w e r s a t t h e

m a r c h i n g s o l d i e r s , a n d t h e g i r l s r a n u p a n d ki s s e d t h e m .

T h e h o u r w a s u n d o u b t e d l y c h o s e n t o d a y t o c a t c h t h e

h u n d r e d s o f t h o u s a n d s o f B e r l i n e r s p o u r i n g o u t o f t h e i r

o f f i c e s a t t h e e n d o f t h e d a y ' s w o r k . B u t t h e y d u c ke d

i n t o t h e s u b w a y s , r e f u s e d t o l o o k o n , a n d t h e h a n d f u l



1 9 3 8 BERLIN, S e p t e m b e r 2 8143

t h a t d i d s t o o d a t t h e c u r b i n u t t e r s i l e n c e u n a b l e t o f i n d

a w o r d o f c h e e r f o r t h e f l o w e r o f t h e i r y o u t h g o i n g a w a y

t o t h e g l o r i o u s w a r . I t h a s b e e n t h e m o s t s t r i k i n g

d e m o n s t r a t i o n a g a i n s t w a r I ' v e e v e r s e e n . H i t l e r h i m -

s e l f r e p o r t e d f u r i o u s. I h a d n o t b e e n s t a n d i n g l o n g a t

t h e c o r n e r w h e n ' a p o l i c e m a n c a m e u p t h e W i l h e l m -

s t r a s s e f r o m t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e C h a n c e l l e r y a n d

s h o u t e d t o t h e f e w o f u s s t a n d i n g a t t h e c u r b t h a t t h e

F i i h r e r w a s o n h i s b a l c o n y r e v i e w i n g t h e t r o o p s . F e w

moved . I w e n t d o w n t o h a v e a l o o k. H i t l e r s t o o d t h e r e ,

a n d t h e r e w e r e n ' t t w o h u n d r e d p e o p l e i n t h e s t r e e t o r

t h e g r e a t s q u a r e o f t h e W i l h e l m s p l a t z. H i t l e r l o o k e d

g r i m , t h e n a n g r y , a n d s o o n w e n t i n s i d e , l e a v i n g h i s

t r o o p s t o p a r a d e b y u n r e v i e w e d. W h a t I ' v e s e e n t o n i g h t

a l m o s t r e k i n d l e s a l i t t l e f a i t h i n t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e .

T h e y a r e d e a d s e t a g a i n s t w a r .

T e s s , w i t h b a b y , o f f t o d a y f r o m C h e r b o u r g f o r

A m e r i c a o n a v o y a g e s h e h a d b o o k e d m o n t h s a g o. O n

t h e p h o n e l a s t n i g h t f r o m P a r i s s h e s a i d t h a t F r a n c e

w a s m o b i l i z i n g a n d i t w a s n o t s u r e t h e b o a t t r a i n w o u l d

go . N o w o r d to d a y , s o s u p p o s e i t d i d .

B E R L I N , September 28T h e r e i s t o b e n o w a r !

H i t l e r h a s i n v i t e d

M u s s o l i n i , C h a m b e r l a i n , a n d D a l a d i e r t o m e e t h i m i n

Munich tomorrow. T h e l a t t e r t h r e e w i l l r e s c u e H i t l e r

f r o m h i s l i m b a n d h e w i l l g e t h i s S u d e t e n l a n d w i t h o u t

w a r , i f a c o u p l e o f d a y s l a t e r t h a n h e b o a s t e d. T h e p e o -

p l e i n t h e s t r e e t s g r e a t l y r e l i e v e d , a n d i f I j u d g e c o r -

r e c t l y , t h e p e o p l e i n t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e a n d t h e B e n d -

l e r s t r a s s e ( W a r D e p a r t m e n t ) a l s o. L e a v i n g r i g h t a f t e r

m y b r o a d c a s t t o n i g h t f o r M u n i c h .



14 4 1 9 3 8 M N i C H , S e p t e m b e r 3 0

MUNICH, S e p t e m b e r 3 0

I t ' s a l l o v e r . A t t w e l v e t h i r t y t h i s m o r n i n g

- h i r t y m i n u t e s a f t e r m i d n i g h t - i t l e r , M u s s o l i n i ,

C h a m b e r l a i n , a n d D a l a d i e r s i g n e d a p a c t t u r n i n g o v e r

S u d e t e n l a n d t o G e r m a n y . T h e G e r m a n o c c u p a t i o n b e -

g i n s t o m o r r o w , S a t u r d a y , O c t o b e r 1 , a n d w i l l b e c o m -

p l e t e d b y O c t o b e r 1 0 . T h u s t h e t w o " d e m o c r a c i e s "e v e n a s s e n t t o l e t t i n g H i t l e r g e t b y w i t h h i s S p o r t pa l a s t

b o a s t t h a t h e w o u l d g e t h i s S u d e t e n l a n d b y O c t o b e r 1 .

H e g e t s e v e r y t h i n g h e w a n t e d , e x c e p t t h a t h e h a s t o

w a i t a f e w d a y s l o n g e r f o r a l l o f i t. H i s w a i t i n g t e n

s h o r t d a y s h a s s a v e d t h e p e a c e o f E u r o p e -a c u r i o u s

c o m m e n t a r y o n t h i s s i c k , d e c a d e n t c o n t i n e n t .

S o f a r a s I ' v e b e e n a b l e t o o b s e r v e d u r i n g t h e s e l a s t ,

s t r a n g e l y u n r e a l t w e n t y - f o u r h o u r s , D a l a d i e r andC h a m b e r l a i n n e v e r p r e s s e d f o r a s i n g l e c o n c e s s i o n f r o m

H i t l e r . T h e y n e v e r g o t t o g e t h e r a l o n e o n c e a n d m a d e

n o e f f o r t t o p r e s e n t s o m e k i n d o f c o m m o n " d e m o c r a t i c "

f r o n t t o t h e t w o C o e s a r s . H i t l e r m e t M u s s o l i n i e a r l y

y e s t e r d a y m o r n i n g a t K u f s t e i n a n d t h e y m a d e t h e i r

p l a n s. D a l a d i e r a n d C h a m b e r l a i n a r r i v e d b y s e p a r a t e

p l a n e s a n d d i d n ' t e v e n d e e m i t u s e f u l t o l u n c h t o g e t h e r

y e s t e r d a y t o m a p o u t t h e i r s t r a t e g y , t h o u g h t h e t w o

d i c t a t o r s d i d .

C z e c h o s l o v a k i a , w h i c h i s a s k e d t o m a k e a l l t h e s a c r i -

f i c e s s o t h a t E u r o p e m a y h a v e p e a c e , w a s n o t c o n s u l t e d

h e r e a t a n y s t a g e o f t h e t a l ks . T h e i r t w o r e p r e s e n t a -

t i v e s , D r . M a s t n y , t h e i n t e l l i g e n t a n d h o n e s t C z e c h

M i n i s t e r i n B e r l i n , a n d a D r . M a s a r y k o f t h e P r a g u e

F o r e i g n O f f i c e , w e r e t o l d a t o n e t h i r t y a . m . t h a t C z e c h o -

s l o v a ki a w o u l d h a v e t o a c c e p t , t o l d n o t b y H i t l e r , b u t b y

C h a m b e r l a i n a n d D a l a d i e r ! T h e i r p r o t e s t s , w e h e a r ,

w e r e p r a c t i c a l l y l a u g h e d o f f b y t h e e l d e r s t a t e s m a n .

C h a m b e r l a i n , l o o k i n g m o r e l i ke s o m e b i r d - l i k e t h e



1 46 1938 M U N I C H , S e p t e m b e r 3 0

h i m , r u s h e d t o t h e F i i h r e r ' s s t u d i o , a n d i n a f e w m o m e n t s

w a s o n t h e a i r . U n a b l e t o u s e t h i s s t u d i o o n t h e s p o t ,

I s t a y e d c l o s e t o t h e o n l y o t h e r o u t l e t , t h e s t u d i o o f t h e

M u n i c h s t a t i o n , a n d a r r a n g e d w i t h s e v e r a l E n g l i s h a n d

A m e r i c a n f r i e n d s t o g e t m e t h e d o c u m e n t , i f p o s s i b l e

i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e m e e t i n g i t s e l f , i f n o t f r o m o n e

o f t h e de l e g a t i o n s . D e m a r e e B e s s w a s f i r s t t o a r r i v e w i t h

a c o p y , b u t , a l a s , w e w e r e l a t e . N e w Y o r k k i n d l y p h o n e d

a b o u t t w o t h i r t y t h i s m o r n i n g t o t e l l m e n o t t o m i n d -d a m n e d d e c e n t o f t h e m . A c t u a l l y a t e l e v e n t h i r t y p . m .

I h a d g o n e o n t h e a i r a n n o u n c i n g t h a t a n a g r e e m e n t

h a d b e e n r e a c h e d . I g a v e t h e m a l l t h e e s s e n t i a l d e t a i l s

o f t h e a c c o r d , s t a t i n g t h a t t h e o c c u p a t i o n w o u l d b e g i n

S a t u r d a y , t h a t i t w o u l d b e c o m p l e t e d i n t e n d a y s , e t

c e t e r a . B u t I s h o u l d h a v e g r e a t l y l i k e d t o h a v e h a d t h e

o f f i c i a l t e x t f i r s t . F o r t u n a t e l y f o r C B S , E d M u r r o w i n

L o n d o n w a s t h e f i r s t t o f l a s h t h e o f fi c i a l n e w s t o A m e r i c a

t h a t t h e a g r e e m e n t h a d b e e n s i g n e d t h i r t y m i n u t e s a f t e r

m i d n i g h t . H e p i c ke d i t u p f r o m t h e M u n i c h r a d i o s t a -

t i o n i n t h e m i d s t o f a t a l k .

LATER . - h a m b e r l a i n , a p p a r e n t l y r e a l i z -

i n g h i s d i pl o m a t i c a n n i h i l a t i o n , h a s p u l l e d a v e r y c l e v e r

f a c e -s a v i n g s t u n t . H e s a w H i t l e r a g a i n t h i s m o r n i n g

b e f o r e l e a v i n g a n d a f t e r w a r d s a j o i n t c o m m u n i q u e w a s

i s s u e d . E s s e n t i a l p a r t : "We regard the agreements i g n e d l a s t n i g h t a n d t h e A n g l o - G e r m a n n a v a l a c c o r d

a s s y m b o l i c o f t h e d e s i r e o f o u r t w o p e o p l e s n e v e r t o g o

t o w a r w i t h o n e a n o t h e r a g a i n . " A n d a f i n a l p a r a g r a p h

s a y i n g t h e y w i l l c o n s u l t a b o u t f u r t h e r q u e s t i o n s w h i c h

m a y c o n c e r n t h e t w o c o u n t r i e s a n d a r e" d e t e r m i n e d t o

c o n t i n u e o u r e f f o r t s t o r e m o v e p o s s i b l e s o u r c e s o f d i f -

f e r e n c e a n d t h u s t o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e a s s u r a n c e o f p e a c e

i n E u r o p e . "



1 4 8 1938 REGENSBuRG-BERLIN, O c t o b e r 2

s a y , a d d r e s s i n g t h e C o m m o n s : " W e h a v e s u s t a i n e d a

t o t a l , u n m i t i g a t e d d e f e a t . . . . D o n o t l e t u s b l i n d o u r -

s e l v e s . W e m u s t e x p e c t t h a t a l l t h e c o u n t r i e s o f c e n t r a l

a n d e a s t e r n E u r o p e w i l l m a ke t h e b e s t t e r m s t h e y c a n

w i t h t h e t r i u m p h a n t N a z i p o w e r . . . . T h e r o a d d o w n

t h e D a n u b e. . .

t h e r o a d t o t h e B l a c k S e a a n d T u r -

ke y , h a s b e e n b r o k e n . I t s e e m s t o m e t h a t a l l t h e c o u n -

t r i e s o f M i t t e l E u r o p a a n d t h e D a n u b e V a l l e y , o n e a f t e r

t h e o t h e r , w i l l b e d r a w n i n t o t h e v a s t s y s t e m o f N a z i

p o l i t i c s , n o t o n l y p o w e r m i l i t a r y p o l i t i c s , b u t p o w e r

e c o n o m i c p o l i t i c s , r a d i a t i n g f r o m B e r l i n . " C h u r c h i l l

-t h e l o n e , u n h e e d e d p r o p h e t i n t h e B r i t i s h l a n d . ]

ON TRAIN, REGENSBURG-BERLIN, O c t o b e r 2

A t R e g e n s b u r g b e f o r e d a w n y e s t e r d a y , t h e n

b y b u s t o P a s s a u o n t h e D a n u b e , a n d f r o m t h e r e b y c a r

w i t h a G e r m a n G e n e r a l S t a f f m a j o r f o l l o w i n g t h e t r o o p s

p i c n i c -m a r c h i n g i n t o Z o n e I o f t h e S u d e t e n l a n d . B a c k

a f t e r d a r k l a s t n i g h t i n a p o u r i n g r a i n t o P a s s a u , w h e r e

t h e m i l i t a r y c e n s o r s r e f u s e d t o l e t m e b r o a d c a s t ; a t r a i n

t o R e g e n s b u r g a r r i v i n g t h e r e a t m i d n i g h t a n d f i l i n g m y

s t o r y b y t e l e p h o n et o

P r e s s W i r e l e s s i n P a r i s t o b e r e a d

i n N e w Y o r k , s i n c e t h e R R G i n B e r l i n s a y s t h e m i l i t a r y

h a v e p u t aV e r b o t

o n a l l b r o a d c a s t s , i n c l u d i n g t h e i r

o w n , o f t h e o c c u p a t i o n . N o p l a n e t o B e r l i n , s o t h i s t r a i n

a n d w i l l b r o a d c a s t f r o m t h e r e t o n i g h t .

BERLIN . LATER . -Military had not yetl i f t e d t h e i r V e r b o t , s o h a d t o r e a d a n o t h e r p i e c e I h a d

w r i t t e n o n t r a i n o n t h e p o l i t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e o f Hi t l e r ' s

g r e a t v i c t o r y a t M u n i c h , q u o t i n g a n e d i t o r i a l b y R u d o l f

K i r c h e r , t h e o n l y i n t e l l i g e n t a n d c o u r a g e o u s e d i t o r l e f t

i n N a z i G e r m a n y , i n t h i s m o r n i n g ' s F r a n kf u r t e r Z e i -

t u n g w h e r e i n h e f r a n kl y s t a t e s t h e a d v a n t a g e s o f t h r e a t -



1938 B E R L I N , O c t o b e r 3 1 4 9

e n i n g f o r c e a n d w a r a n d h o w H i t l e r k n e w a l l t h e t i m e

t h a t t h e d e m o c r a c i e s w e r ea f r a i d o f w a r . W h e n I r e -

t u r n e d t o t h e h o t e l , s o m e g e n e r a l i n c h a r g e o f t h e m i l i -

t a r y c e n s o r s h i p a t t h e G e r m a n r a d i o w a s o n t h e p h o n e

s a y i n g h e h a d j u s t r e a d m y p i e c e o n t h e o c c u p a t i o n ,

t h a t h e l i k e d i t , t h a t h e h a d h a d t o s u p p r e s s a l l t h e a c -

c o u n t s o f t h e G e r m a n r a d i o r e p o r t e r s s o f a r , b u t t h a t I

c o u l d n o w b r o a d c a s t m i n e. C a l l e d P a u l W h i t e i n N e w

Y o r k , b u t h e s a i d t h e c r i s i s w a s o v e r a n d t h a t p e o p l e a t

h o m e w a n t e d t o f o r g e t i t a n d t o t a k e a r e s t . W h i c h i s

a l l r i g h t w i t h m e. C a n s t a n d s o m e s l e e p a n d a c h a n g e

f r o m t h e s e G e r m a n s , s o t r u c u l e n t a n d i m p o s s i b l e n o w .

B E R L I N , O c t o b e r 3

P h o n e d E d M u r r o w i n L o n d o n. H e a s d e -

p r e s s e d a s a m I. W e s h a l l d r o w n o u r s o r r o w s i n P a r i s

d a y a f t e r t o m o r r o w. F r o m m y w i n d o w i n t h e A d l o n I

s e e t h e m d i s m a n t l i n g t h e a n t i - a i r c r a f t g u n o n t h e r o o f

o f t h e I . G. F a r b e n c o m p a n y a c r o s s t h e L i n d e n . T h u s

e n d s t h e c r i s i s. L i t t l e t h i n g s t o r e m e m b e r : t h e c h a r a c -

t e r s i n t h e d r a m a: t h e d i g n i t y o f B e n e s t h r o u g h o u t ;

H i t l e r t h e f i v e t i m e s I s a w h i m; t h e b i r d , C h a m b e r l a i n ;

t h e b r o k e n l i t t l e m a n , D a l a d i e r , w h o s e e m s d e s t i n e d t o

f a l l d o w n ( a s o n F e b r u a r y 6 , 1 9 3 4 ) e a c h t i m e h e i s i n a

h o l e . T o r e m e m b e r t o o :t h e m i n e a t a b r i d g e o v e r a

l i t t l e c r e e k n e a r K r u m a u w h i c h m i g h t h a v e b l o w n u s t o

b i t s h a d o u r G e r m a n a r m y c a r g o n e t w o f e e t f a r t h e r ;

t h e b r a v e r y o f t h e C z e c h s i n P r a g u e t h e n i g h t w a r a n d

b o m b s a t d a w n s e e m e d c e r t a i n ; t h e l o o k o f f e a r i n t h e

f a c e s o f t h e G e r m a n b u r g h e r s i n t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e t h e

n i g h t t h e m o t o r i z e d d i v i s i o n s w e p t b y a n d w a r s e e m e d

c e r t a i n t o t h e m , a n d t h e n t h e d e l i r i o u s j o y o f t h e c i t i -

z e n s i n M u n i c h - n d B e r l i n -h e n t h e y l e a r n e d o n

F r i d a y t h a t i t w a s n o t o n l y p e a c e b u t v i c t o r y ; t h e



1 5 0 1938 P A R I S , O c t o b e r 8

b e a t e n l o o k o f t h e S u d e t e n G e r m a n s a f t e r t h e C z e c h s

p u t d o w n t h e i r u p r i s i n g , a n d t h e c h a n g e i n t h e i r f a c e s

a f o r t n i g h t l a t e r w h e n t h e R e i c h s w e h r m a r c h e d i n ; a n d

t h e b u r g o m a s t e r o f t h e S u d e t e n t o w n o f U n t e r w a l d a u ,

Herr Schwarzbauer (Mr . B l a c k P e a s a n t ) , t a k i n g m e

a s i d e f r o m t h e G e r m a n o f f i c e r s a n d m y s a y i n g : " Whati s t h e w o r s t t h i n g t h e C z e c h s d i d t o y o u , H e r r B u r g o -

m a s t e r ?" a n d h i s s a y i n g i t w a s f r i g h t f u l , u n b e l i e v a b l e ,

t h a t t h e C z e c h s h a d t a ke n a w a y h i s r a d i o s o h e c o u l d n ' t

h e a r t h e F i i h r e r ' s w o r d s a n d c o u l d a n y c r i m e b e m o r e

t e r r i b l e !

P A R I S , O c t o b e r 8

P a r i s a f r i g h t f u l p l a c e , c o m p l e t e l y s u r r e n -

d e r e d t o d e f e a t i s m w i t h n o i n k l i n g o f w h a t h a s h a p -

p e n e d t o F r a n c e . A t F o u q u e t ' s , a t M a x i m ' s , f a t b a n k -

e r s a n d b u s i n e s s m e n , t o a s t i n g P e a c e w i t h r i v e r s o f

champagne . B u t e v e n t h e w a i t e r s , t a x i - d r i v e r s , w h o

u s e d t o b e s o u n d , g u s h i n g a b o u t h o w w o n d e r f u l i t i s t h a t

w a r h a s b e e n a v o i d e d , t h a t i t w o u l d h a v e b e e n a c r i m e ,

t h a t t h e y f o u g h t i n o n e w a r a n d t h a t w a s e n o u g h . T h a t

w o u l d b e o k a y i f t h e G e r m a n s , w h o a l s o f o u g h t i n o n e

w a r , f e l t t h e s a m e w a y , b u t t h e y d o n ' t . T h e g u t s o f

France-France of the Marne and Verdun -wherea r e t h e y ? O u t s i d e o f P i e r r e C o m e r , n o o n e a t t h e Q u a i

d ' O r s a y w i t h a n y i d e a a t a l l o f t h e r e a l G e r m a n y . T h e

F r e n c h S o c i a l i s t s , s h o t t h r o u g h w i t h p a c i f i s m ; t h e

F r e n c h R i g h t , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f a f e w l i k e H e n r i d e

K e r i l l i s , e i t h e r f a s c i s t s o r d e f e a t i s t s . F r a n c e m a k e s n o

s e n s e t o m e a n y m o r e .

E d M u r r o w a s g l o o m y a s I a m . W e t r y t o g e t i t o u t

o f o u r s y s t e m s b y t a l k i n g a l l n i g h t a n d p o p p i n g c h a m -

p a g n e b o t t l e s a n d t r a m p i n g t h e s t r e e t s , b u t i t w i l l t a k e

m o r e t i m e , I g u e s s . ' W e a g r e e o n t h e s e t h i n g s : t h a t w a r



1 9 3 8 G E N E V A , N o v e m b e r 6 1 5 1

i s n o w m o r e p r o b a b l e t h a n e v e r , t h a t i t i s l i k e l y t o c o m e

a f t e r t h e n e x t h a r v e s t , t h a t P o l a n d i s o b v i o u s l y n e x t o n

H i t l e r ' s l i s t ( t h e b l i n d s t u p i d i t y o f t h e P o l e s i n t h i s

c r i s i s , h e l p i n g t o c a r v e u p C z e c h o s l o v a k i a ! ) , t h a t w e

m u s t g e t W a r s a w t o r i g u p a m o r e p o w e r f u l s h o r t -w a v e

t r a n s m i t t e r i f t h e y w a n t t h e w o r l d t o h e a r t h e i r s i d e ,

a n d t h a t w e o u g h t t o b u i l d u p a s t a f f o f A m e r i c a n r a d i o

r e p o r t e r s . B u t h o n e s t l y w e h a v e l i t t l e h e a d f o r b u s i n e s s .

E d s a y s A m e r i c a n r a d i o h a s d o n e a s u p e r b j o b i n r e -

p o r t i n g t h i s c r i s i s , b u t w e d o n ' t m u c h c a r e - a b o u t

a n y t h i n g - nd soon even the champagne becomes

s i c k e n i n g . W e d e p a r t .

R u n i n t o G a l l i c o . H e i s o f f o n a t o u r o f t h e c a p i t a l s

f o r m a t e r i a l f o r h i s s t o r i e s . I g i v e h i m l e t t e r s t o t h e

c o r r e s p o n d e n t s i n e a c h p l a c e , w e d i n e a t M a x i m ' s , b u t I

c a n n o t s t a n d i t a n y l o n g e r . O f f i n t h e m o r n i n g f o r

G e n e v a . A l m o s t t h e f i r s t c h a n c e i n a y e a r t o g e t r e a c -

q u a i n t e d w i t h T e s s a n d E i l e e n . B u t t h e y a r e o f f i n

America .

GENEVA, N o v e m b e r 6

L o v e l y I n d i a n s u m m e r h e r e f o r a m o n t h , b u t

n o w t h e s n o w i s c r e e p i n g d o w n o n t h e A l p s a n d t h i s

m o r n i n g t h e J u r a s a c r o s s t h e l a k e w e r e a l s o c o a t e d

w h i t e . S o o n w e c a n s ki . A m o n t h o f t h e w o r s t m e n t a l

a n d s p i r i t u a l d e p r e s s i o n o f m y l i f e . I ' m s t i l l i n s u c h a

s t a t e t h a t I ' v e d o n e t w o c r a z y t h i n g s : s t a r t e d a p l a y ;

a n d t a k e n u p - a t m y a g e , t h i r t y - f o u r ! - g o l f . P e r -

h a p s t h e y ' l l r e s t o r e s a n i t y . T h e r e i s a b e a u t i f u l c o u r s e

a t D i v o n n e i n t h e f o o t - h i l l s o f t h e J u r a s f r o m w h i c h

y o u c a n l o o k o v e r t h e l a k e a n d s e e M o n t B l a n c i n a l l i t s

s n o w y p i n k s p l e n d o u r a b o u t t h e t i m e t h e s u n i s s e t t i n g .

A r t h u r B u r r o w s , E n g l i s h , f i f t y - t w o , s e c r e t a r y o f t h e

I n t e r n a t i o n a l B r o a d c a s t i n g U n i o n , a n d I f o o l a r o u n d



1 5 2 1938 WARSAW, November 1 1

o v e r t h e l i n ks , t e a r i n g u p t h e t u r f , s o o n l o s i n g c o u n t

o f t h e s c o r e s , i f a n y , kn o c ki n g o f f a f t e r t h e f i r s t n i n e

h o l e s t o g o d o w n t o D i v o n n e v i l l a g e , w h i c h i s o n t h e

F r e n c h s i d e o f t h e f r o n t i e r , f o r a m a g n i f i c e n t n i n e -

c o u r s e l u n c h w a s h e d d o w n b y t w o b o t t l e s o f B u r g u n d y ,

a n d r e t u r n , f e e l i n g m e l l o w a n d g o o d , f o r t h e l a s t n i n e

h o l e s . T h e p l a y i s c a l l e d : " F o r e i g n C o r r e s p o n d e n t . "

I t i s a f f o r d i n g m e m u c h r e l i e f .

WARSAW, N o v e m b e r 1 1

B r o a d c a s t a h a l f -h o u r p r o g r a m f o r t h e t w e n -

t i e t h a n n i v e r s a r y o f t h e P o l i s h R e p u b l i c . T h e s h o w g o t

h o p e l e s s l y t a n g l e d u p f o r s o m e r e a s o n . S i t t i n g i n t h e

P a l a c e I b e g a n b y s a y i n g : " L a d i e s a n d g e n t l e m e n , t h e

P o l i s h a n t h e m . . . " w h i c h w a s t o b e p l a y e d b y a b a n d

i n a s t u d i o i n t h e o t h e r p a r t o f t o w n . I n s t e a d o f t h e

b a n d , P r e s i d e n t M o s i e s k i s t a r t e d t o s p e a k . He had

p r o m i s e d t o s p e a k i n E n g l i s h , b u t t h r o u g h t h e e a r -

p h o n e s I c o u l d m a ke o u t o n l y P o l i s h . I d a s h e d d o w n

t h e P a l a c e c o r r i do r s t o h i s r o o m t o i n q u i r e . A t a l l a d j u -

t a n t s t o p p e d m e a t t h e d o o r . " T h e P r e s i d e n t p r o m i s e d

t o s p e a k E n g l i s h , " I s a i d . H e l o o ke d a t m e c u r i o u s l y ,

o p e n i n g t h e d o o r s l i g h t l y . " H e i s s p e a k i n g E n g l i s h ,

s i r , " h e p r o t e s t e d . D a s h e d b a c k t o m y r o o m t o i n t r o -

d u c e A m b a s s a d o r T o n y B i d d l e , w h o w a s t o s a y a f e w

w e l l -c h o s e n w o r d s . H e s t a r t e d b l a b b i n g a n d , t h i n k i n g

h e h a d s u d d e n l y b e c o m e a v i c t i m o f " m i k e f r i g h t , " I

m o v e d t o c u t h i m o f f . T h e n h e m o t i o n e d t o h i s s c r i p t .

I t w a s a m a s s o f h i e r o g l y p h i c s . " P o l i s h ! " h e w h i s -

p e r e d . " P h o n e t i c . . . . " H e w a s g i v i n g a l i t t l e m e s -

s a g e i n P o l i s h . W h e n h e h a d f i n i s h e d w e l a u g h e d s o

h a r d t h e P o l e s i n t h e P a l a c e b e c a m e a l i t t l e u n e a s y .

A f t e r w a r d s m e t D u r a n t y , a n d i t w a s o n e o f h i s " R u s -

s i a n n i g h t s , " h e i n s i s t i n g o n t a l ki n g R u s s i a n t o t h e



1 9 3 8 B R U S S E Ls , N o v e m b e r 2 0

1 5 3

d r o s h ky -d r i v e r a n d i n s i s t i n g w e b e t a ke n t o a R u s s i a n

c a f e. T h e w i n d f r o m D u r a n t y ' s R u s s i a n s t e p p e s w a s

w h i p pi n g t h e s n o w i n o u r f a c e s , a n d a ft e r w h a t s e e m e d

a n a g e t h e d r i v e r f i n a l l y p u l l e d h i s d y i n g n a g u p b e f o r e

a d e c r e p i t o l d b u i l d i n g .

L zC a f e R u s k y ?

"W a l t e r s h o u t e d . W e c o u l d n o t s e e

t h e d r i v e r t h r o u g h t h e c u r t a i n o f s n o w . N o , i t w a s n o t

a R u s s i a n c a f e. I t w a s a P o l i s h i n s t i t u t i o n , a d i s o r de r l y

h o u s e. T h e n i n t h e b l i z z a r d a l o n g a r g u m e n t i n R u s -

s i a n b e t w e e n t h e M o s c o w c o r r e s p o n d e n t o f t h e N e w

York T i m e s a n d t h e P o l i s h d r i v e r o f a d i l a p i d a t e d h o r s e

a n d b u g g y . T h e s n o w p i l e d u p o n u s. L o n g a f t e r m i d -

n i g h t w e f o u n d a R u s s i a n c a f e. I t w a s f u l l o f r a t h e r

p l u m p g i r l s w h o s p o k e R u s s i a n a n d w h o W a l t e r s a i d

w e r e e c h t R u s s i s c hand there was much vodka and

b a l a l a i ka -p l a y i n g a n d s i n g i n g a n d t h e g i r l s w o u l d w a r m

t h e i r b a c k s a g a i n s t a g r e a t p o r c e l a i n s t o v e , g e t t i n g a

l i t t l e m o r e t i r e d a n d s l e e py e a c h t i m e , a l i t t l e s a d de r , I

t h o u g h t .

T h e P o l e s a d e l i g h t f u l , u t t e r l y r o m a n t i c p e o p l e , a n d

I h a v e h a d m u c h g o o d f o o d a n d d r i n k a n d m u s i c w i t h

them. B u t t h e y a r e h o r r i b l y u n r e a l i s t i c

. I n t h e i r t r u s t

o f H i t l e r , f o r i n s t a n c e. P o l s ki e R a d i o p r o m i s e s t o g e t

a l o n g w i t h t h e i r n e w s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r. I e x -

p l a i n e d t o t h e m o u r e x p e r i e n c e w i t ht h e C z e c h s .

B R u s ss , N o v e m b e r 2 0

H e r e a s o b s e r v e r f o r a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l r a d i o

c o n f e r e n c e t o d r a w u p n e w w a v e - l e n g t h s . A s t h e r e i s

n o t h i n g f o r m e t o d o , h a v e s h u t m y s e l f i n m y r o o m f o r

a w e e k a n d f i n i s h e d t h e p l a y .



15 . E 1 9 3 8 BELGRADE, November 26

BELGRADE, N o v e m b e r 2 6

H e r e f o r a n o t h e r " a n n i v e r s a r y " b r o a d c a s t

l i k e t h e o n e a t W a r s a w .

LATER . O n t r a i n t o R o m e . - i s s C a m p b e l l

f r o m o u r L o n d o n o f f i c e p h o n e d a t s i x p . m. t o t e l l m e t h e

Pope was dying. I c a u g h t y o u n g S u l z b e r g e r o f t h e

New York Times a t a c o c k t a i l p a r t y , i n d u c e d h i m t o d o

m y b r o a d c a s t S u n d a y , e x p l a i n e d h o w , a n d c a u g h t t h i s

t r a i n a t n i n e p . m . f o r R o m e .

ROME, N o v e m b e r 2 9

T h e P o p e h a s o n c e a g a i n f o u g h t o f f d e a t h

a f t e r a s e v e r e h e a r t a t t a c k o n T u e s d a y . A r r a n g e d w i t h

F a t h e r D e l a n e y , a b r i l l i a n t a n d e x t r e m e l y p l e a s a n t

y o u n g J e s u i t f r o m N e w Y o r k a t t a c h e d t o V a t i c a n

R a d i o , t o h e l p u s i n t h e e l a b o r a t e c o v e r a g e I ' v e a r r a n g e d

f o r t h e P o p e ' s d e a t h . C o n f e r e n c e s y e s t e r d a y a n d t o d a y

w i t h t h e V a t i c a n a u t h o r i t i e s o n t h e m a t t e r , w h i c h o f

c o u r s e i s e x t r e m e l y d e l i c a t e s i n c e h e i s s t i l l a l i v e . B u t w e

a l l a g r e e d w e m u s t m a k e o u r p r e p a r a t i o n s . T h e I t a l i a n s

a r e p u t t i n g i n e x t r a l i n e s f o r u s f r o m S t . P e t e r ' s t o

t h e i r s t u d i o s . M u c h g o o d t a l k a n d s p a g h e t t i a n d C h i -

anti and to Paris by plane tomorrow though anI t a l i a n f r i e n d o f m i n e w h o i s a l s o a c l o s e f r i e n d o f

C i a n o ' s t i p p e d m e o f f I o u g h t t o s t a y f o r t o m o r r o w ' s

m e e t i n g o f t h e F a s c i s t C h a m b e r. B u t a n u r g e n t m a t t e r

o f o u r s w i t h t h e F r e n c h g o v e r n m e n t n e e d s s t r a i g h t e n -

i n g o u t .

P A I U S , D e c e m b e r 1

M y f r i e n d w a s t r y i n g t o d o m ea f a v o u r . T h e

F a s c i s t s i n t h e C h a m b e r y e s t e r d a y s t a g e d a b i g d e m o n -



1938 P A a x s, December 6 155

s t r a t i o na g a i n s t F r a n c e y e l l i n g : " T u n i s ! S a v o y !

N i c e ! J i b o u t i ! " B u t t h e Q u a i d ' O r s a y h e r e c l a i m s

D a l a d i e r w i l l s a y n o . M u n i c h w a s e n o u g h f o r t h e m o -

m e n t . A G e r m a n r e f u g e e a n d h i s w i f e , h e a f o r m e r

t r a d e s - u n i o n o f f i c i a l , s h e a n o v e l i s t o f s o r t s , c a m e t o m y

h o t e l a n h o u r a f t e r I a r r i v e d l a s t e v e n i n g ( m y I t a l i a n

p l a n e h a d a n a r r o w e s c a p e w h e n a s t r u t b r o k e b e t w e e n

R o m e a n d G e n o a , a n d I w a s s t i l l a l i t t l e n e r v o u s ) a n d

t o l d m e t h e y w e r e g o i n g t o j u m p o f f a b r i d g e o v e r t h e

S e i n e a n d e n d t h e i r l i v e s . I t o o k t h e m a r o u n d t h e c o r n e r

f o r a g o o d m e a l a t L e P e t i t R i c h e a n d t h e y c a l m e d

d o w n . I h o p e I ' v e p e r s u a d e d t h e m n o t t o j u m p i n t o t h e

S e i n e . T h e y h a d r e c e i v e d a n o r d e r o f e x p u l s i o n f r o m

F r a n c e e f f e c t i v e n e x t w e e k , t h o u g h h e h a s b e e n d o i n g

s o m e w o r k f o r t h e F r e n c h g o v e r n m e n t . S h a l l t r y t o

i n t e r v e n e a t t h e Q u a i d ' O r s a y f o r t h e m .

P A R I S , D e c e m b e r 6

B o n n e t , o n e o f t h e c h i e f a r c h i t e c t s o f M u n i c h

a n d a s i n i s t e r f i g u r e i n F r e n c h p o l i t i c s , t o d a y s i g n e d a

" g o o d n e i g h b o u r " d e c l a r a t i o n w i t h R i b b e n t r o p , a n -

o t h e r s i n i s t e r o n e , a t t h e Q u a i d ' O r s a y . P a r i s , I f i n d ,

h a s s o m e w h a t r e c o v e r e d f r o m i t s d e f e a t i s t p a n i c o f t h e

M u n i c h d a y s . W h e n R i b b e n t r o p d r o v e t h r o u g h t h e

s t r e e t s f r o m t h e G a r e d ' O r s a y , t h e y w e r e c o m p l e t e l y

d e s e r t e d . S e v e r a l C a b i n e t m e m b e r s a n d m a n y l e a d i n g

f i g u r e s h e r e h a v e r e f u s e d t o a t t e n d t h e s o c i a l f u n c t i o n s

b e i n g a c c o r d e d h i m . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d R i b b e n t r o p ' s

F r e n c h a d m i r e r s r u n h i g h u p i n p o l i t i c a l , b u s i n e s s , a n d

s o c i a l c i r c l e s . T o d a y ' s a g r e e m e n t s t a t e s t h a t t h e t w o

c o u n t r i e s s o l e m n l y d e c l a r e t h a t n o t e r r i t o r i a l o r b o r d e r

q u e s t i o n n o w e x i s t s a n d t h a t t h e y w i l l c o n s u l t i n c a s e

o f f u t u r e d i s a g r e e m e n t . W h a t a f a r c e !



155 1 9 3 8 P A R zs , December 15

P A R I S ,D e c e m b e r 1 5

T e s s a n d b a b y b a c k t o d a y o n t h e Q u e e n

Ma r y . O f f t o G e n e v a f o r t h e C h r i s t m a s h o l i d a y s .

G S T A A D , SWITZERLAND, D e c e m b e r 2 6

O n e o f t h e m o s t b e a u t i f u l m o u n t a i n s p o t s I ' v e

e v e r s e e n a n d t h e s n o w s o g r a n d I ' v e t a k e n u p s k i i n g

a g a i n f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e s i n c e m y a c c i d e n t s i x y e a r s a g o.

T h e w e a l t h y E n g l i s h a n d F r e n c h h e r e i n f o r c e a n d

i n a n e l y o b l i v i o u s o f E u r o p e ' s s t a t e. L a s t n i g h t a t t h e

b i g C h r i s t m a s b a l l I f o u n d t h e m e r r y - m a k e r s s o n a u s e -

a t i n g t h a t w e l e f t e a r l y. T h i s h a s b e e n a y e a r - t h e

b a b y , t h e A n s c h l u s s ,t h e C z e c h c r i s i s , a n d M u n i c h . A s

u s u a l T e s s a n d I w o n d e r w h e r e w e ' l l b e a y e a r f r o m

n o w , a n d w h a t t h e y e a r w i l l b r i n g .

ROME, J a n u a r y 1 1 , 1 9 3 9

C h a m b e r l a i n a n d H a l i f a x a r r i v e d t o d a y t o

a p p e a s e t h e D u c e . A t t h e s t a t i o n C h a m b e r l a i n , l o o k i n g

m o r e b i r d l i k e a n d v a i n t h a n w h e n I l a s t s a w h i m a t

M u n i c h , w a l k e d , u m b r e l l a i n h a n d , u p a n d d o w n t h e

p l a t f o r m n o d d i n g t o a m o t l e y c r o w d o f B r i t i s h l o c a l

r e s i d e n t s w h o m M u s s o l i n i h a d s l y l y i n v i t e d t o g r e e t h i m.

M u s s o l i n i a n d C i a n o , i n b l a c k F a s c i s t u n i f o r m s , s a u n -

t e r e d a l o n g b e h i n d t h e t w o r i d i c u l o u s - l o o k i n g E n g l i s h -

m e n , M u s s o d i s p l a y i n g a f i n e s m i r k o n h i s f a c e t h e w h o l e

t i m e. W h e n h e p a s s e d m e h e w a s j o k i n g u n d e r h i s

b r e a t h w i t h h i s s o n - i n - l a w , p a s s i n g w i s e - c r a c k s. H e

l o o k s m u c h o l d e r , m u c h m o r e v u l g a r t h a n h e u s e d t o ,

h i s f a c e h a v i n g g r o w n f a t. M y l o c a l s p i e s t e l l m e h e i s

m u c h t a k e n w i t h a b l o n d e y o u n g l a d y o f n i n e t e e n w h o m

h e ' s i n s t a l l e d i n a v i l l a a c r o s s f r o m h i s r e s i d e n c e a n d t h a t



1939R o mE , F e b r u a r y 12 1 5 7

t h e o l d v i g o u r a n d c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n b u s i n e s s i s b e g i n -

n i n g t o w e a k e n . C h a m b e r l a i n , w e ' r e t o l d , m u c h a f f e c t e d

b y t h e w a r m t h o f t h e g r e e t i n g h e g o t a t t h e s t a t i o n s

a l o n g t h e w a y t o R o m e . C a n i t b e h e d o e s n ' t k n o w h o w

t h e y ' r e a r r a n g e d ?

GENEVA, J a n u a r y 1 9

T h e L e a g u e i n i t s l a s t d e a t h - t h r o e s h a s b e e n a

s o r r y s i g h t t h e l a s t f o u r d a y s . B o n n e t a n d H a l i f a x

h e r e t o s e e t h a t t h e r e i s n o n o n s e n s e t o d e l a y F r a n c o ' s

v i c t o r y . D e l V a y o y e s t e r d a y m a d e a d i g n i f i e d s p e e c h

b e f o r e t h e C o u n c i l . H a l i f a x , t o s h o w h i s c o l o u r s , g o t u p

i n t h e m i d d l e o f i t a n d o s t e n t a t i o u s l y s t r o d e o u t . H a d a

l o n g t a l k w i t h D e l V a y o t o n i g h t . H e w a s d e p r e s s e d , d i s -

c o u r a g e d , a n d t h o u g h h e d i d n o t s a y s o , I g a t h e r e d i t

i s a l l u p w i t h t h e R e p u b l i c . F r a n c o , w i t h h i s G e r m a n s

a n d I t a l i a n s , i s a t t h e g a t e s o f B a r c e l o n a . L u n c h w i t h

E d g a r [ M o w r e r ] , K n i c k , H a r r y M a s d y c k , a n d M m e .

T a b o u i s . M u c h t a l k , b u t o u r s i d e h a s l o s t .

RoME, F e b r u a r y 1 2

F r i d a y m o r n i n g a b o u t s i x f i f t e e n C o r t e s i

p h o n e d m e a t G e n e v a f r o m R o m e t o s a y t h e P o p e h a d

d i e d . T h e r e w a s a t r a i n f o r M i l a n a t s e v e n t w o a . m . I

a r o u s e d T e s s a n d s h e h e l p e d m e c a t c h i t . T o d a y , S u n -

d a y , b r o a d c a s t f r o m t h e p i a z z a i n f r o n t o f S t . P e t e r ' s ,

s t o p p i n g p e o p l e w h o w e r e f i l i n g o u t o f t h e c h u r c h a f t e r

v i e w i n g P i u s X I ' s r e m a i n s a s t h e y l a y i n s t a t e , a n d i n -

t e r v i e w i n g t h e m . A s I a m n o t a C a t h o l i c a n d t h e r e i s

m u c h a b o u t t h e c h u r c h a n d t h e V a t i c a n t h a t I d o n o t

k n o w - h o u g h I ' v e b e e n s t u d y i n g c o u n t l e s s b o o k s f o r

a y e a r - a m g e t t i n g c h u r c h m e n t o d o m o s t o f t h e

b r o a d c a s t s .



1 5 81 9 3 9 R o m n , F e b r u a r y ( u n d a t e d )

ROME, F e b r u a r y ( u n d a t e d )

P i u s X I w a s b u r i e d t o d a y , t h e s e r v i c e b e a u t i -

f u l , b u t S t . P e t e r ' s v e r y c o l d , a n d t h e r e w a s a l o n g

h i t c h , d u e , i t s e e m s , t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e m e c h a n i c s w h o

w e r e t o s e a l t h e c a s k e t b e f o r e i t w a s l o w e r e d t o t h e v a u l t

b e l o w r a n o u t o f s o l d e r. A n S 0 S c a l l w a s s e n t o u t f o r

s o m e , b u t a s m o s t o f t h e w o r k s h o p s i n R o m e h a d c l o s e d

f o r t h e d a y , i t w a s s o m e t i m e b e f o r e a s u f f i c i e n t q u a n t i t y

c o u l d b e f o u n d. F a t h e r D e l a n e y , b r o a d c a s t i n g t h e s e r v -

i c e f o r u s f r o m a t o p o n e o f t h e p i l l a r s , d i d a m a g n i f i -

c e n t j o b , f i l l i n g i n b e a u t i f u l l y t h e h o u r o r s o t h a t

e l a p s e d w h i l e t h e y w e r e h u n t i n g t h e s o l d e r .

ROME, M a r c h 3

E u g e n i o C a r d i n a l P a c e l l i i s t h e n e w P o p e ,

e l e c t e d y e s t e r d a y , a n d a v e r y p o p u l a r c h o i c e a l l a r o u n d

e x c e p t p e r h a p s i n G e r m a n y. W e h a d g r e a t l u c k w i t h

b r o a d c a s t i n g t h e n e w s a f e w m o m e n t s a f t e r t h e e l e c t i o n ,

t h o u g h e a r l i e r i n t h e d a y i t l o o k e d d i s a s t r o u s f o r u s .

S u f f e r i n g f r o m t h e f l u w h e n I l e f t L a u s a n n e t h e d a y b e -

f o r e , I h a d s u c h a v i o l e n t a t t a c k o f i t b y t h e t i m e I

r e a c h e d M i l a n t h a t I h a d t o g o t o a h o t e l t h e r e a n d t a k e

t o b e d . I m a n a g e d t o g e t t o t h e t r a i n s o m e h o w , b u t w a s

c o m p l e t e l y o u t w h e n I a r r i v e d i n R o m e y e s t e r d a y m o r n -

i n g. T o m G r a n d i n , o u r P a r i s c o r r e s p o n d e n t , i n t e l l i -

g e n t , b u t g r e e n a t r a d i o , h a v i n g j u s t b e e n h i r e d , a r r i v e d

f r o m P a r i s a b o u t n o o n , b u t h e t e l l s m e I w a s c o m p l e t e l y

o u t o f m y h e a d a n d t h a t i n m y d e l i r i u m m y i n s t r u c t i o n s

o n w h a t t o d o m a d e n o s e n s e. H e d i d g a t h e r t h a t I h a d

a r r a n g e d a b r o a d c a s t f r o m t h e b a l u s t r a d e a r o u n d S t .

P e t e r ' s d u r i n g t h e a f t e r n o o n . H e g o t t h e r e , f o u n d

F a t h e r D e l a n e y , w h o w a s t a l k i n g f o r u s , a n d j u s t a s



1 9 3 9 G E N V v A, M a r c h14 1 5 9

t h e y w e r e s i g n i n g o f f , t h e y g o t a m e s s a g e t h r o u g h t h e i r

e a r p h o n e s f r o m i n s i d e t h e V a t i c a n t o s t a n d b y , p a s s e d

i t o n t o N e w Yo r k , w h o u n d e r s t o o d . I n a m o m e n t t h e y

w e r e a n n o u n c i n g t h e n a m e o f t h e n e w p o n t i f f .

ROME, M a r c h 9

A s t o r m b r e w i n g i n w h a t i s l e f t o f p o o r

C z e c h o s l o v a k i a . D r . H a c h a , t h e w e a k l i t t l e P r e s i d e n t

-u c c e s s o r t o t h e g r e a t M a s a r y k a n d t h e a b l e B e n e s

-h a s p r o c l a i m e d m a r t i a l l a w i n S l o v a k i a a n d d i s m i s s e d

F a t h e r T i s o a n d t h e S l o v a k C a b i n e t . B u t T i s o , I k n o w ,

i s B e r l i n ' s m a n. S t r a n g e - m a y b e n o t ? - h a t G e r -

m a n y a n d I t a l y h a v e n e v e r g i v e n r u m p C z e c h o t h e

g u a r a n t e e t h e y p r o m i s e d a t M u n i c h. T h e I t a l i a n F o r -

e i g n O f f i c e p e o p l e a d m i t L o n d o n a n d P a r i s h a v e b e e n

p r e s s i n g H i t l e r f o r t h e g u a r a n t e e , b u t t h e y s a y H i t l e r

c o n s i d e r s P r a g u e s t i l l t o o " J e w i s h a n d B o l s h e v i k a n d

d e m o c r a t i c . " I d o n ' t r e c a l l a n y r e s e r v a t i o n s a b o u t t h a t

a t M u n i c h .

S t i l l i n b e d w i t h f l u a n d m u s t w a i t h e r e f o r t h e P o p e ' s

c o r o n a t i o n S u n d a y .

GENEVA, M a r c h 1 4

T h e r a d i o r e p o r t s S l o v a k i a h a s d e c l a r e d i t s

" i n d e p e n d e n c e . " T h e r e g o e s t h e r e m a i n s o f C z e c h o s l o -

v a k i a. S h o u l d g o t o P r a g u e , b u t I h a v e n ' t t h e h e a r t .

A m I g r o w i n g t o o s o f t -h e a r t e d , t o o s e n t i m e n t a l t o b e a

g o o d r e p o r t e r ? I d o n ' t m i n d s o m u c h t h e k i l l i n g s , b l o o d -

s h e d - ' v e s e e n a n d g o t o v e r q u i t e a l i t t l e o f t h a t i n t h e

l a s t f o u r t e e n y e a r s - u t P r a g u e n o w - c a n ' t f a c e i t .

T h e r a d i o s a y s [ C z e c h P r e s i d e n t ] H a c h a a n d [ F o r e i g n

M i n i s t e r ] C h v a l k o v s ky a r r i v e d i n B e r l i n t o n i g h t . T o

s a v e t h e p i e c e s ?



1 6 0 1939 P A R is , M a r c h 1 5

P A R I S , M a r c h 1 5

T h e G e r m a n a r m y h a s o c c u p i e d B o h e m i a a n d

M o r a v i a o n t h i s b l i z z a r d y d a y o f s p r i n g , a n d H i t l e r i n

a c h e a p t h e a t r i c a l g e s t u r e f r o m t h e H r a d s h i n c a s t l e

a b o v e t h e M o l d a u i n P r a g u e h a s p r o c l a i m e d t h e i r a n -

n e x a t i o n t o t h e T h i r d R e i c h. I t i s a l m o s t b a n a l t o r e -

c o r d h i s b r e a k i n g a n o t h e r s o l e m n t r e a t y . B u t s i n c e I

w a s p e r s o n a l l y p r e s e n t a t M u n i c h , I c a n n o t h e l p r e c a l l -

i n g h o w C h a m b e r l a i n s a i d i t n o t o n l y h a d s a v e d t h e p e a c e

b u t h a d r e a l l y s a v e d C z e c h o s l o v a k i a .

C o m p l e t e a p a t h y i n P a r i s t o n i g h t a b o u t H i t l e r ' s

l a t e s t c o u p . F r a n c e w i l l n o t m o v e a f i n g e r . I n d e e d ,

B o n n e t t o l d t h e C h a m b e r ' s F o r e i g n A f f a i r s C o m m i t t e e

t o d a y t h a t t h e M u n i c h g u a r a n t e e h a d " n o t y e t b e c o m e

e f f e c t i v e " a n d t h e r e f o r e F r a n c e h a d n o o b l i g a t i o n t o d o

a n y t h i n g . E d M u r r o w t e l e p h o n e s t h a t t h e r e a c t i o n i n

L o n d o n i s t h e s a m e - t h a t C h a m b e r l a i n i n C o m m o n s

t h i s a f t e r n o o n e v e n w e n t s o f a r a s t o s a y t h a t h e r e f u s e d

t o a s s o c i a t e h i m s e l f w i t h a n y c h a r g e s o f a b r e a c h o f f a i t h

b y H i t l e r . G o o d G o d !

S h o u l d h a v e g o n e t o P r a g u e o r B e r l i n t o d a y , I s u p -

p o s e , b u t t a l k e d i t o v e r w i t h M u r r o w f r o m G e n e v a e a r l y

t h i s m o r n i n g a n d w e d e c i d e d t h e N a z i c e n s o r s h i p i n b o t h

p l a c e s w o u l d b e c o m p l e t e a n d t h a t , w i t h w h a t i n s i d e s t u f f

I c o u l d p i c k u p h e r e a n d k n o w i n g t h e b a c k g r o u n d , I

c o u l d t e l l a b e t t e r s t o r y f r o m P a r i s . I w a s r e l i e v e d . MyP a r i s p l a n e , a f t e r g e t t i n g i c e d u p a n d l o s t i n a s n o w -

s t o r m n e a r t h e B e l l e g a r d e P a s s s h o r t l y a f t e r w e l e f t

G e n e v a , t u r n e d r o u n d a n d f i n a l l y g o t u s b a c k t o t h e a i r -

p o r t. I t o o k t h e n o o n t r a i n . B o n n e t h a s l a i d d o w n a

r a d i o c e n s o r s h i p a n d I f o u g h t w i t h h i s h i r e l i n g s u n t i l

l o n g a f t e r m i d n i g h t t o n i g h t o v e r m y s c r i p t .



1 9 3 9 P A R I S , M a r c h 2 21 6 1

P A R I S , March 22

S o m e o n e - * I t h i n k i t w a s P e r t i n a x , w h o i s

j u s t b a c k f r o m L o n d o n - t o l d m e y e s t e r d a y a w e i r d

t a l e o f h o w C h a m b e r l a i n s u d d e n l y r e v e r s e d h i s w h o l e

p o s i t i o n l a s t F r i d a y i n h i s B i r m i n g h a m s p e e c h . T w o

d a y s b e f o r e , h e h a d t o l d C o m m o n s t h a t h e w o u l d n o t

c h a r g e H i t l e r w i t h b a d f a i t h. I n B i r m i n g h a m h e s e -

v e r e l y d e n o u n c e d H i t l e r f o r " t r e a t y - b r e a k i n g. " P e r -

t i n a x s a y s t h a t S i r H o r a c e W i l s o n , t h e d a r k l i t t l e m a n

b e h i n d t h e s c e n e s a t G o d e s b e r g a n d M u n i c h h a d a c t u -

a l l y d r a f t e d t h e B i r m i n g h a m s p e e c h f o r t h e P r i m e M i n -

i s t e r a l o n g t h e a p p e a s e m e n t l i n e s o f h i s r e m a r k s i n t h e

H o u s e , b u t t h a t h a l f t h e C a b i n e t a n d m o s t o f t h e l e a d i n g

L o n d o n n e w s p a p e r e d i t o r s w e r e s o u p i n a r m s w h e n t h e y

h e a r d o f i t t h a t C h a m b e r l a i n s u d d e n l y f e l t f o r c e d t o r e -

v e r s e h i s w h o l e p o l i c y a n d a c t u a l l y w r o t e m o s t o f h i s n e w

s p e e c h o n t h e t r a i n e n r o u t e t o B i r m i n g h a m .

H o w s h o d d y P a r i s h a s b e c o m e i n t h e l a s t t e n y e a r s !

S o m e F r e n c h m e n p o i n t t o t h e n e o n s i g n s , t h e g a u d y

m o v i e p a l a c e s , t h e a u t o m o b i l e s a l e s w i n d o w s , t h e c h e a p

b a r s w h i c h n o w d o m i n a t e t h e o n c e b e a u t i f u l C h a m p s -

E l y s e e s , a n d s a y : "T h a t i s w h a t A m e r i c a h a s d o n e t o

u s. " P e r h a p s s o , b u t I t h i n k i t i s w h a t F r a n c e h a s d o n e

t o h e r s e l f. F r a n c e h a s l o s t s o m e t h i n g s h e h a d w h e n I a r -

r i v e d h e r e f o u r t e e n y e a r s a g o : h e r t a s t e , p a r t o f h e r s o u l ,

t h e s e n s e o f h e r h i s t o r i c a l m i s s i o n. C o r r u p t i o n e v e r y -

w h e r e , c l a s s s e l f i s h n e s s partout a n d p o l i t i c a l c o n f u s i o n

c o m p l e t e. M y d e c e n t f r i e n d s h a v e a b o u t g i v e n u p .

T h e y s a y : "J e m ' e n

f o u s( T o h e l l w i t h i t ) . " T h i s l e a d s

t o t h e s o r t o f d e f e a t i s t , a n a r c h i s t i cj e m ' e n f ousism w h i c h

a w r i t e r l i k eC e l i n e i s s p r e a d i n g .



1 6 21 9 3 9 G E N E V A ,

M a r c h 2 9

GENEVA, M a r c h 2 9

M a d r i d s u r r e n d e r e d y e s t e r d a y , t h e r e s t o f r e -

p u b l i c a n S p a i n t o d a y. T h e r e a r e n o w o r d s t o e x p r e s s

w h a t I f e e l t o n i g h t. F r a n c o ' s b u t c h e r y w i l l b e t e r r i b l e .

BERLIN, A p r i l 1

J u s t a s H i t l e r b e g a n h i s b r o a d c a s t a t W i l -

h e l m s h a v e n t h i s a f t e r n o o n , a n o r d e r c a m e t h r o u g h t o t h e

R R G c o n t r o l r o o m w h e r e I w a s s t a n d i n g b y , t o s t o p t h e

b r o a d c a s t f r o m g e t t i n g a b r o a d. F o r a m o m e n t t h e r e w a s

g r e a t c o n f u s i o n i n t h e c o n t r o l r o o m . I p r o t e s t e d v e -

h e m e n t l y t o t h e G e r m a n s a b o u t c u t t i n g u s o f f , o n c e

H i t l e r h a d s t a r t e d t o s p e a k. B u t o r d e r s f r o m W i l h e l m s -

h a v e n w e r e e x p l i c i t. T h e y c a m e f r o m H i t l e r . h i m s e l f ,

j u s t b e f o r e h e s t a r t e d s p e a k i n g. T h e s p e e c h w a s a l s o

n o t b e i n g b r o a d c a s t d i r e c t l y i n G e r m a n y , b u t o n l y f r o m

r e c o r d i n g s l a t e r. T h i s a n d o u r b e i n g c u t o f f m e a n t H i t -

l e r w a n t e d t o r e f l e c t o n w h a t h e s a i d i n t h e h e a t o f t h e

m o m e n t b e f o r e g i v i n g h i s w o r d s w i d e r c i r c u l a t i o n . Y o u

c a n a l w a y s e d i t r e c o r d i n g s . I s u g g e s t e d t o D r. R a t k e ,

h e a d o f t h e s h o r t - w a v e d e p a r t m e n t , h e s h o u l d a n n o u n c e

t o o u r n e t w o r k i n A m e r i c a t h a t t h e s p e e c h o f H i t l e r h a d

b e e n s h u t o f f o w i n g t o a m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d t h a t t h e

F i i h r e r w a s a c t u a l l y t a l k i n g a t t h i s m o m e n t . A v e r y e x -

c i t a b l e m a n , h e r e f u s e d. I n s t e a d h e o r d e r e d s o m e s i l l y

m u s i c r e c o r d s p l a y e d. J u s t w h a t I e x p e c t e d h a p p e n e d .

W i t h i n f i f t e e n m i n u t e s , P a u l W h i t e w a s u r g e n t l y o n t h e

l i n e f r o m N e w Y o r k. W h y w a s H i t l e r c u t o f f ? R e p o r t s

i n N e w Y o r k h e h a s b e e n a s s a s s i n a t e d . H e h a s n ' t b e e n

k i l l e d ? H o w d o y o u k n o w ? B e c a u s e I c a n h e a r h i m t h i s

m o m e n t o n t h e t e l e p h o n e c i r c u i t t o W i l h e l m s h a v e n. T h e

G e r m a n s a r e r e c o r d i n g t h e s p e e c h.

I c o u l d n o t g o o n t h e a i r a f t e r w a r d s u n t i l t h e G e r m a n s



1 9 3 9 WARSAW, A p r i l6 16 3

h a d r e c e i v e d t h e a p pr o v e d v e r s i o n o f H i t l e r ' s s p e e c h ,

w h i c h , a s a m a t t e r o f f a c t , d i f f e r e d n o t a t a l l f r o m t h e

o r i g i n a l. H i t l e r v e r y b e l l i c o s e t o d a y , o b v i o u s l y i n a r a g e

a g a i n s t C h a m b e r l a i n , w h o i n t h e Ho u s e y e s t e r d a y e n u n -

c i a t e d a t l a s t a c o m p l e t e c h a n g e i n B r i t i s h f o r e i g n p o l i c y

a n d a n n o u n c e d t h a t B r i t a i n w o u l d g o t o t h e a i d o f P o -

l a n d i f P o l i s h i n d e p e n d e n c e w e r e t h r e a t e n e d. O f f t o

W a r s a w t o m o r r o w t o s e e w h e n t h e G e r m a n a t t a c k i s e x -

p e c t e d .

WARSAW, A p r i l 2

A t t e n d e d a p i t i f u l a i r - s h o w t h i s S u n d a y a f t e r -

n o o n , m y P o l i s h f r i e n d s a p o l o g i z i n g f o r t h e c u m b e r s o m e

s l o w b o m b e r s a n d t h e d o u b l e - d e c ke r f i g h t e r s - l l o b s o -

l e t e. T h e y s h o w e d a h a l f -d o z e n m o d e r n f i g h t e r s t h a t

l o o k e d f a s t e n o u g h , b u t t h a t w a s a l l. H o w c a n P o l a n d

f i g h t G e r m a n y w i t h s u c h a n a i r f o r c e ?

WARSAW, A p r i l 6

B e c k [t h e P o l i s h F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r ] , w h o c o m -

m i t t e d t h i s c o u n t r y t o a p r o - N a z i , a n t i -F r e n c h p o l i c y

f o r s o m a n y y e a r s , h a s b e e n i n L o n d o n a n d t o n i g h t w e

h a v e a n A n g l o - P o l i s h c o m m u n i q u e a n n o u n c i n g t h a t t h e

t w o c o u n t r i e s w i l l s i g n a p e r m a n e n t a g r e e m e n t p r o v i d -

i n g f o r m u t u a l a s s i s t a n c e i n c a s e o f a n a t t a c k o n e i t h e r

o f t h e m b y a t h i r d p o w e r . I t h i n k t h i s w i l l h a l t H i t l e r

f o r t h e t i m e b e i n g , s i n c e f o r c e i s s o m e t h i n g h e u n d e r -

s t a n d s a n d r e s p e c t s a n d t h e r e i s n o d o u b t i n m y m i n d

a f t e r a w e e k h e r e t h a t t h e P o l e s w i l l f i g h t a n d t h a t i f

B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e f i g h t t o o , h e i s i n a h o l e. I f e e l u n -

e a s y a b o u t t h r e e t h i n g s o n l y : P o l a n d 's t e r r i b l e s t r a t e g i c

p o s i t i o n s i n c e G e r m a n y ( w i t h P o l a n d ' s h e l p a n d e n c o u r -

a g e m e n t ! ) m o v e d h e r a r m y i n t o t h e P r o t e c t o r a t e a n d

S l o v a k i a , t h u s f l a n ki n g t h i s c o u n t r y o n t h e s o u t h ( i t i s



1 6 4 1 9 3 9 WARSAW, A p r i l 6

a l r e a d y f l a n k e d o n t h e n o r t h b y E a s t P r u s s i a ) ; t h e W e s t

W a l l , w h i c h , w h e n c o m p l e t e d n e x t w i n t e r , w i l l d i s c o u r -

a g e F r a n c e a n d B r i t a i n f r o m a t t a c k i n g G e r m a n y i n t h e

w e s t a n d t h e r e b y a i d i n g P o l a n d ; a n d , f i n a l l y , R u s s i a . I

h a v e d i n e d a n d d r u n k w i t h a d o z e n P o l e s t h i s w e e k -f r o m t h e F o r e i g n O f f i c e , t h e a r m y , a n d t h e o l d P i l s u d s ki

l e g i o n n a i r e s w h o r u n P o l s k i e R a d i o - n d t h e y w i l l n o t

b r i n g t h e m s e l v e s t o r e a l i z e t h a t t h e y c a n n o t a f f o r d t h e

l u x u r y o f b e i n g e n e m i e s o f b o t h R u s s i a a n d G e r m a n y

a n d t h a t t h e y m u s t c h o o s e a n d t h a t i f t h e y b r i n g i n

R u s s i a a l o n g w i t h F r a n c e a n d B r i t a i n t h e y a r e s a v e d .

T h e y r e a c h f o r a n o t h e r p i e c e o f t h i s w o n d e r f u l s m o k e d

V i s t u l a s a l m o n t h e y h a v e h e r e a n d w a s h i t d o w n w i t h o n e

o f t h e f i f t y - s e v e n v a r i e t i e s o f v o d k a a n d p o i n t o u t t h e

d a n g e r s o f R u s s i a n h e l p . T o b e s u r e , t h e r e i s d a n g e r.

T h e r e i s t h e d a n g e r t h a t t h e R e d a r m y , o n c e o n P o l i s h

s o i l , w i l l n o t l e a v e , t h a t i t w i l l B o l s h e v i z e t h e c o u n t r y

w i t h i t s p r o p a g a n d a ( t h i s c o u n t r y h a s b e e n s o m i s r u l e d

b y t h e c o l o n e l s t h a t n o d o u b t i t d o e s o f fe r f e r t i l e g r o u n d

f o r t h e B o l s h e v i k s ) , a n d s o o n . T r u e . T h e n m a k e y o u r

p e a c e w i t h t h e N a z i s . G i v e t h e m D a n z i g a n d t h e C o r r i -

d o r . N e v e r ! t h e y s a y .

S t i l l , o n t h i s s p r i n g d a y a f t e r t h e B r i t i s h g u a r a n t e e

w e a l l f e e l b e t t e r . F o d o r , w h o l e a v e s b y b o a t t o n i g h t f o r

E a s t e r h o l i d a y s i n E n g l a n d ( h e ' s b a r r e d f r o m c r o s s i n g

G e r m a n y ) , o p t i m i s t i c . T h e E m b a s s y p e o p l e , B i d d l e

a n d t h e m i l i t a r y , h a p p y . O n l y S e c o n d S e c r e t a r y L a n -

d r e t h H a r r i s o n i s s c e p t i c a l . H e ke e p s p o i n t i n g o u t t h e

w e a kn e s s e s o f t h e P o l e s t o t h e p o i n t o f e x a s p e r a t i o n . He

i s a m a n o f p r e j u d i c e s , t h o u g h i n t e l l i g e n t.

R u m o u r s t o d a y o f G e r m a n t r o o p m o v e m e n t s , b u t t h e

P o l e s d i s c o u n t t h e m . P o l s ki e R a d i o s t i l l s t a l l i n g o n t h e i r

n e w s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r . B a d . O f f t o P a r i s t o m o r -

r o w m o r n i n g f o r a n E a s t e r b r o a d c a s t , t h e n t o G e n e v a

f o r E a s t e r M o n d a y .



1 939 BERLIN, A p r i l 2 8 16 5

B E R L I N , A p r i l 7 ,

W h e n t h e O r i e n t E x p r e s s p u l l e d i n t o t h e

S c h l e s i s c h e r B a h n h o f h e r e t h i s e v e n i n g , t h e f i r s t t h i n g I

s a w w a s H u s s ' s f a c e o n t h e p l a t f o r m a n d I k n e w t h e r e

w a s b a d n e w s . H e s a i d L o n d o n h a d p h o n e d t o g e t m e o f f

t h e t r a i n a s t h e B r i t i s h h a d r e p o r t s o f G e r m a n t r o o p

m o v e m e n t s o n t h e P o l i s h f r o n t i e r . I h a d w a t c h e d f o r

t h e s e a s w e c a m e a c r o s s t h e b o r d e r , b u t s a w n o t h i n g .

L o n d o n w a s n e r v o u s a b o u t A l b a n i a , h e s a i d . " W h a t ' s

h a p p e n e d t h e r e ? " I a s k e d . T h e I t a l i a n s w e n t i n t h e r e

t h i s m o r n i n g , h e s a i d . T o d a y . G o o d F r i d a y . H a v e s a t -

i s f i e d m y s e l f t h e G e r m a n s a r e n o t c o n t e m p l a t i n g a n y -

t h i n g a g a i n s t P o l a n d t h i s E a s t e r , s o w i l l t a k e t h e p l a n e

t o P a r i s t o m o r r o w m o r n i n g .

LONDON, A p r i l 2 3

B r o a d c a s t w i t h L o r d S t r a b o l g i , m y m a i n

p o i n t b e i n g t h a t t h e w h o l e l i f e o f G e r m a n y w a s n o w

g e a r e d t o w a r , b u t t h a t t h e r e w e r e s i g n s o f e c o n o m i c

c r a c k i n g . I r o n w a s s o s h o r t t h e y w e r e t e a r i n g d o w n t h e

i r o n f e n c e s o f t h e R e i c h . A n d t h e n e r v e s o f t h e G e r m a n

p e o p l e w e r e b e c o m i n g f r a y e d a n d t h e y w e r e a g a i n s t

g o i n g t o w a r . S t r a b o l g i s o c h e e r e d b y m y n e w s h e a s k e d

m e t o c o m e d o w n a n d a d d r e s s a c o m m i t t e e m e e t i n g a t t h e

H o u s e o f L o r d s , b u t I d e c l i n e d . F l y i n g b a c k t o B e r l i n

f o r t h e R e i c h s t a g , A p r i l 2 8 .

B E R L I N , A p r i l 2 8

H i t l e r i n t h e R e i c h s t a g t o d a y d e n o u n c e d a

c o u p l e m o r e t r e a t i e s ( I c o u l d h a r d l y r e p r e s s a c h u c k l e

a t t h i s p a r t o f h i s s p e e c h ) a n d a n s w e r e d R o o s e v e l t ' s p l e a

t h a t h e g i v e a s s u r a n c e t h a t h e w i l l n o t a t t a c k t h e r e s t o f



166 1939 B E R . L I N , April 28

t h e i n d e p e n d e n t n a t i o n s o f E u r o p e . H i s a n s w e r t o t h e

P r e s i d e n t r a t h e r s h r e w d , I t h i n k, i n t h a t i t w a s d e s i g n e d

t o p l a y o n t h e s y m p a t h i e s o f t h e a p p e a s e r s a n d a n t i -

N e w - D e a l e r s a t h o m e a n d t h e f o r m e r i n B r i t a i n a n d

F r a n c e . H e c l a i m e d h e h a d a s k e d t h e n a t i o n s w h i c h

R o o s e v e l t t h o u g h t t h r e a t e n e d w h e t h e r t h e y s o c o n s i d -

e r e d t h e m s e l v e s a n d " i n a l l c a s e s t h e r e p l y w a s n e g a -

t i v e . " S t a t e s l i k e S y r i a , h e s a i d , h e c o u l d n o t a s k b e -

c a u s e " t h e y a r e a t p r e s e n t n o t i n p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e i r

f r e e d o m , b u t a r e o c c u p i e d a n d c o n s e q u e n t l y d e p r i v e d o f

t h e i r r i g h t s b y t h e m i l i t a r y a g e n t s o f d e m o c r a t i c c o u n -

t r i e s ." And " t h e f a c t h a s o b v i o u s l y e s c a p e d M r . R o o s e -

v e l t ' s n o t i c e t h a t P a l e s t i n e i s a t p r e s e n t o c c u p i e d n o t b y

G e r m a n t r o o p s b u t b y t h e E n g l i s h . " A n d s o o n i n t h i s

s a r c a s t i c m a n n e r , f r o m w h i c h , w i t h a m a s t e r l y t o u c h -H i t l e r w a s a s u p e r b a c t o r t o d a y - h e d r e w e v e r y

l a s t d r o p o f i r o n y . A m e r i c a c h a m p i o n s t h e c o n f e r e n c e

m e t h o d o f s e t t l i n g d i s p u t e s ? h e a s k e d . B u t w a s i t n o t

t h e f i r s t n a t i o n t o s h r i n k f r o m p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e

L e a g u e ? " I t w a s n o t u n t i l m a n y y e a r s l a t e r t h a t I r e -

s o l v e d t o f o l l o w t h e e x a m p l e o f A m e r i c a a n d l i k e w i s e

l e a v e t h e l a r g e s t c o n f e r e n c e i n t h e w o r l d . "

I n t h e e n d , h o w e v e r , H i t l e r a g r e e d t o g i v e e a c h o f t h e

s t a t e s l i s t e d b y t h e P r e s i d e n t " a n a s s u r a n c e o f t h e ki n d

d e s i r e d b y M r. R o o s e v e l t

. " B u t o f c o u r s e t h i s w a s j u s t

a l i t t l e N a z i h o ku m . T h e s a u s a g e - n e c k e d d e p u t i e s b e -

l o w u s r o c k e d w i t h r a u c o u s l a u g h t e r t h r o u g h o u t t h e

s e s s i o n , w h i c h w a s j u s t w h a t Hi t l e r d e s i r e d . I t w a s a s u -

p e r b e x a m p l e o f h i s t e c h n i q u e o f l a u g h i n g o f f e m b a r -

r a s s i n g q u e s t i o n s , f o r R o o s e v e l t ' s p r o p o s a l w a s a r e a s o n -

a b l e o n e a f t e r a l l .

T h e b r e a k i n g o f t w o m o r e t r e a t i e s w a s l o u d l y a p -

plauded by the rubber-stamp " p a r l i a m e n t a r i a n s . "

H i t l e r d e n o u n c e s t h e n a v a l a c c o r d w i t h B r i t a i n o n t h e

g r o u n d s t h a t L o n d o n ' s " e n c i r c l e m e n t p o l i c y " h a s p u t



1 9 3 9 WASHINGTON, J u l y 3 1 67

i t o u t o f f o r c e - f l i m s y e x c u s e ; o f c o u r s e n o e x c u s e a t

a l l . T h e s e c o n d t r e a t y d e n o u n c e d , t h e 1 9 3 4 p a c t w i t h

P o l a n d , i s m o r e s e r i o u s , t h e e x c u s e , i n c i d e n t a l l y , b e i n g

t h e s a m e. H i t l e r i n h i s s p e e c h r e v e a l s t h e c o n t e n t o f h i s

" o f f e r " t o P o l a n d : D a n z i g t o b e r e t u r n e d t o G e r m a n y ,

a n d t h e R e i c h g i v e n a n e x t r a - t e r r i t o r i a l r o a d t h r o u g h

t h e c o r r i d o r t o E a s t P r u s s i a. T o s c a r e t h e P o l e s h e s a y s

t h e o f f e r w a s m a d e " o n l y o n c e. " T h a t i s , h i s t e r m s a r e

h i g h e r t o d a y. S t i l l m u c h d o u b t h e r e a m o n g t h e i n -

f o r m e d w h e t h e r H i t l e r h a s m a d e u p h i s m i n d t o b e g i n

a w o r l d w a r f o r t h e s a k e o f D a n z i g. M y g u e s s i s h e h o p e s

t o g e t i t b y t h e M u n i c h m e t h o d .

LONDON, J u n e ( u n d a t e d )

L e a v i n g t o m o r r o w o n t h e m a i d e n v o y a g e o f

t h e n e wM a u r e t a n i a f o r h o m e . T e s s c a b l e s s h e h a s j u s t

b e e n g r a n t e d h e r c i t i z e n s h i p b y a V i r g i n i a c o u r t .

ABOARD M a u r e t a n i a ( u n d a t e d )

A d u l l v o y a g e . S i r P e r c y B a t e , c h a i r m a n o f

C u n a r d , a s s u r e s m e t h e r e w i l l b e n o w a r.

WASHINGTON, J u l y 3

H o p e I c a n s t a y a l i t t l e w h i l e i n m y n a t i v e

l a n d. I t t a k e s s o m e g e t t i n g u s e d t o a g a i n a f t e r b e i n g

a l m o s t c o n t i n u o u s l y a w a y s i n c e t h e a g e o f t w e n t y - o n e.

L i t t l e a w a r e n e s s h e r e o r i n N e w Y o r k o f t h e E u r o p e a n

c r i s i s , a n d T e s s s a y s I ' m m a k i n g m y s e l f m o s t u n p o p u l a r

b y t a k i n g s u c h a p e s s i m i s t i c v i e w. T h e t r o u b l e i s e v e r y -

o n e h e r e k n o w s a l l t h e a n s w e r s . T h e y k n o w t h e r e w i l l

b e n o w a r. I w i s h I k n e w i t . B u t I t h i n k t h e r e w i l l b e w a r

u n l e s s G e r m a n y b a c k s d o w n , a n d I ' m n o t c e r t a i n a t a l l



16 8 1939 NEw YORK, J u l y 4

s h e w i l l , t h o u g h o f c o u r s e i t ' s a p o s s i b i l i t y . C o n g r e s s

h e r e i n a h o p e l e s s m u d d l e . D o m i n a t e d b y t h e H a m

F i s h e s , B o r a h s , H i r a m J o h n s o n s , w h o s t a n d f o r n o f o r -

e i g n p o l i c y a t a l l , i t i n s i s t s o n m a i n t a i n i n g - t h e e m b a r g o

o n a r m s a s i f i t w e r e i m m a t e r i a l t o t h i s R e p u b l i c w h o

w i n s a w a r b e t w e e n t h e w e s t e r n d e m o c r a c i e s a n d t h e

A x i s . R o o s e v e l t ' s h a n d s a b s o l u t e l y t i e d b y C o n g r e s s -

a s i t u a t i o n l i k e t h a t w h i c h c o n f r o n t e d L i n c o l n a t t h e b e -

g i n n i n g o f h i s f i r s t t e r m , e x c e p t t h a t h e d i d s o m e t h i n g

a b o u t i t , a n d R o o s e v e l t , t h e y s a y h e r e , i s d i s c o u r a g e d

a n d w o n ' t. H e s e e s t h e E u r o p e a n s i t u a t i o n c o r r e c t l y ,

b u t b e c a u s e h e d o e s , b e c a u s e h e s e e s t h e d a n g e r , t h e

B o r a h s a n d F i s h e s c a l l h i m a w a r - m o n g e r .

O h w e l l , i t ' s p l e a s a n t t o b e h e r e w i t h t h e f a m i l y a n d

l o a f a n d r e l a x f o r a f e w f l e e t i n g d a y s .

NEw YORK, J u l y 4

A p l e a s a n t a f t e r n o o n a t t h e F a i r w i t h t h e B i l l

L e w i s e s . W e m u s t s t a r t b a c k t o E u r o p e t o m o r r o w .

A l a r m i n g n e w s f r o m D a n z i g , a n d t h e o f f i c e w o r r i e d I

w o n ' t g e t b a c k i n t i m e. H a n s K a l t e n b o r n s o s u r e t h e r e

w i l l b e n o w a r , h e i s s e n d i n g h i s s o n o f f o n h i s h o n e y -

m o o n t o t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n , h e t e l l s m e t o n i g h t .

ABOARD Q u e e n M a r y , J u l y 9

M u c h g o o d c o m p a n y a b o a r d . P a u l R o b e s o n ,

w h o m I h a v e n o t s e e n s i n c e h e s t o r m e d L o n d o n i n S h o w

B o a t t e n y e a r s o r s o a g o . I n t h e e v e n i n g w e s i t a n d

a r g u e , R o b e s o n , C o n s t a n t i n e O u m a n s k y , S o v i e t A m b a s -

s a d o r i n W a s h i n g t o n , T e s s , a n d I . O u m a n s k y t e l l s m e

h e h a s b e e n d o w n t o t h i r d c l a s s t o l e c t u r e t o s o m e A m e r i -

c a n s t u d e n t s o n" S o v i e t D e m o c r a c y . " B u t h e t a k e s m y



1939 LONDON, JuZy 1 4 1 6 9

k i d d i n g g o o d - n a t u r e d l y . S o v i e t d e m o c r a c y !I d o n o t

e n v y h i m h i s j o b . H i s p r e d e c e s s o r i n W a s h i n g t o n i s n o w

i n t h e d o g -h o u s e . I h a v e kn o w n m a n y S o v i e t d i p l o m a t s ,

b u t t h e y h a v e a l l b e e n l i q u i d a t e d s o o n e r o r l a t e r . O u -

m a n s k y t h i n k s t h e S o v i e t s w i l l l i n e u p w i t h B r i t a i n a n d

F r a n c e i n a d e m o c r a t i c f r o n t a g a i n s t f a s c i s t a g g r e s s i o n

i fP a r i s a n d L o n d o n s h o w t h e y m e a n b u s i n e s s a n d a r e

n o t m e r e l y t r y i n g t o m a n c e u v r e R u s s i a i n t o a w a r a l o n e

( o r a l o n e w i t h P o l a n d ) a g a i n s t G e r m a n y . S o f a r , h e

s a y s , t h e B r i t i s h a n d F r e n c h h a v e d o n e n o t h i n g b u t s t a l l

i n t h e i r n e g o t i a t i o n s w i t h t h e K r e m l i n .

M u c h w i l d p i n g - p o n g w i t h T e s s o n t h i s v o y a g e .

L o N n o N , J u l y 1 4

P a u l W h i t e f r o m N e w Y o r k a n d o u r " E u r o -

p e a n s t a f f , " c o n s i s t i n g o f M u r r o w , T o m G r a n d i n f r o m

P a r i s , a n d m y s e l f h e r e c o n f e r r i n g o n w a r c o v e r a g e . Wew o r k e d o u t t e c h n i c a l m a t t e r s s u c h a s t r a n s m i s s i o n l i n e s

a n d s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r s a n d a r r a n g e d t o b u i l d u p a

s t a f f o f A m e r i c a n s ( t h e N e w Y o r k Times, f o r e x a m p l e ,

h a s s e v e r a l E n g l i s h m e n o n i t s f o r e i g n s t a f f ) a s r e g u l a r

s t a f f c o r r e s p o n d e n t s , f i g u r i n g t h a t t h e A m e r i c a n p r e s s

a s s o c i a t i o n s a n d n e w s p a p e r s w i l l n o t a l l o w t h e i r m e n t o

b r o a d c a s t , o n c e t h e w a r s t a r t s. W e h e a r o u r r i v a l n e t -

w o r k p l a n s t o e n g a g e a n u m b e r o f b i g - n a m e f o r e i g n e r s

s u c h a s C h u r c h i l l h e r e , F l a n d i n i n F r a n c e , G a y d a i n

I t a l y , e t c e t e r a , b u t w e t h i n k o u r p l a n i s b e t t e r . A m e r i -

c a n l i s t e n e r s w i l l w a n t n e w s , n o t f o r e i g n p r o p a g a n d a , i f

w a r c o m e s . W e d i s t r e s s e d a t t h e f a i l u r e o f t h e P o l e s t o

r u s h t h e i r n e w s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r t o c o m p l e t i o n , a s

t h i s m a y l e a v e u s i n a h o l e . A w i l d g a m e o f g o l f w i t h

E d a n d i t w a s g o o d -a f t e r l i s t e n i n g t o m y L a b o u r

f r i e n d s i n P a r l i a m e n t c u r s e c o n s c r i p t i o n a n d t h e C o n -



1 7 0 1939 P A x i s ( u n d a t e d )

s e r v a t i v e s e x p r e s s h o p e s f o r f u r t h e r a p p e a s e m e n t -t o

h e a r m y c a d d y s a y i n a t h i c k c o c k n e y : " S e e m s a s ' o w

w e ' l l h a v e t o g i v e t h a t b l o k e H i t l e r a d a m n e d g o o d

b e a t i n ' o n e o ' t h e s e d a y s . . . . "

PARIS (undated)

J o h n E l l i o t t , f o r m e r l y B e r l i n , n o w P a r i s c o r -

r e s p o n d e n t o f t h e H e r a l d T r i b u n e , t e l l s m e t h a t i n a l l

t h e y e a r s h e h a s b e e n w r i t i n g t h e d a y -t o - d a y h i s t o r y o f

E u r o p e f o r h i s p a p e r h e h a s r e c e i v e d b u t a d o z e n o r s o

l e t t e r s f r o m r e a d e r s w h o w e r e i n t e r e s t e d e n o u g h i n w h a t

h e h a d w r i t t e n t o w r i t e h i m. B u t a f t e r t w o o r t h r e e

b r o a d c a s t s f r o m P a r i s d u r i n g t h e M a r c h 1 5 P r a g u e o c -

c u p a t i o n h e r e c e i v e d s c o r e s o f l e t t e r s , p r a i s i n g , p r o t e s t -

i n g , i n q u i r i n g .

GENEVA, July 28

F o d o r a n d G u n t h e r d r o p p e d i n t o n i g h t a n d

w e a r g u e d a n d t a l ke d m o s t o f t h e n i g h t t h r o u g h . J o h n

f a i r l y o p t i m i s t i c a b o u t p e a c e. F o d o r , a t r a i n e d e n g i -

n e e r h i m s e l f , h a d a l o t o f m a t e r i a l a b o u t G e r m a n y ' s l a c k

o f i r o n . Y o u c a n ' t s t o r e m u c h i r o n o r e , F o d o r s a y s .

J o h n ' s l a t e s t , I n s i d e A s i a , g o i n g b l a z e s . W e a r g u e d a

l i t t l e a b o u t I n d i a , o n w h i c h s u b j e c t , I f e a r , I ' m a c r a n k .

J o h n n o t s o i m p r e s s e d b y G a n d h i a s I w a s .

GENEVA, August 3

M u c h g o l f , i n c l u d i n g a c o m i c a l g a m e w i t h

J o e P h i l l i p s , a n d t r a m p s i n t h e n e a r - b y m o u n t a i n s , a n d

s w i m s i n t h e l a k e w i t h m y f a m i l y , w i t h w h o m I ' m b e g i n -

n i n g t o g e t a c q u a i n t e d a g a i n . F r o m a p e r s o n a l v i e w -

p o i n t i t w i l l b e n i c e i f t h e r e ' s n o w a r . B u t m u s t g e t o f f t o

D a n z i g n e x t w e e k t o s e e.



1 9 3 9B E R L I N , A u g u s t 9 17 1

B E I I I N , August 9

T h e p e o p l e i n t h e t r a i n c o m i n g u p f r o m B a s e l

l a s t n i g h t l o o k e d c l e a n a n d d e c e n t , t h e k i n d t h a t m a d e

u s l i k e t h e G e r m a n s , a s p e o p l e , b e f o r e t h e N a z i s . F o r

b r e a k f a s t i n t h e A d l o n t h i s m o r n i n g I a s k e d f o r a g l a s s

o f o r a n g e j u i c e , i f t h e y h a d a n y .

" C e r t a i n l y w e h a v e o r a n g e s , " t h e w a i t e r s a i d , h a u g h -

t i l y . B u t w h e n h e b r o u g h t t h e b r e a k f a s t t h e r e w a s n o

o r a n g e j u i c e . " N o t a o n e i n t h e h o t e l , " h e a d m i t t e d

s h e e p i s h l y .

A d i s c u s s i o n t h i s d a y w i t h C a p t a i n D . A W o r l d W a r

o f f i c e r o f p r o v e d p a t r i o t i s m , h e w a s a g a i n s t w a r d u r i n g

t h e M u n i c h c r i s i s , b u t c h a n g e d , I n o t i c e d , a f t e r A p r i l

p 2 8 ; w h e n H i t l e r d e n o u n c e d t h e P o l i s h a n d B r i t i s h

t r e a t i e s. H e b e c a m e v i o l e n t t o d a y a t t h e v e r y m e n t i o n

o f t h e P o l e s a n d B r i t i s h. H e t h u n d e r e d : " W h y d o t h e

E n g l i s h b u t t i n o n D a n z i g a n d t h r e a t e n w a r o v e r t h e

r e t u r n o f a G e r m a n c i t y ? W h y d o t h e P o l e s [ s i c ] p r o -

v o k e u s ? H a v e n ' t w e t h e r i g h t t o a G e r m a n c i t y l i k e

D a n z i g ? "

" H a v e y o u a r i g h t t o a C z e c h c i t y l i k e P r a g u e ? " I

a s k e d . S i l e n c e . N o a n s w e r. T h a t v a c a n t s t a r e y o u g e t

o n G e r m a n s .

" W h y d i d n ' t t h e P o l e s a c c e p t t h e g e n e r o u s o f f e r o f

t h e F i i h r e r ? " h e b e g a n a g a i n.

" B e c a u s e t h e y f e a r e d a n o t h e r S u d e t e n l a n d , C a p -

t a i n . "

" Y o u m e a n t h e y d o n ' t t r u s t t h e F i i h r e r ? "

" N o t m u c h s i n c e M a r c h 1 5 , " I s a i d , l o o k i n g c a r e -

f u l l y a r o u n d b e f o r e I s p o k e s u c h b l a s p h e m y t o s e e I w a s

n o t b e i n g o v e r h e a r d . A g a i n t h e v a c a n t G e r m a n s t a r e .

L u n c h w i t h M a j o r E l i o t a n d h i s w i f e . H e h a s j u s t

c o m e f r o m L o n d o n a n d P a r i s a n d t h i n k s h i g h l y o f t h e

F r e n c h a r m y a n d t h e B r i t i s h a i r - f o r c e , w h i c h w a s g o o d



1 7 2 1 9 3 9 BERLIN, A u g u s t 1 0

n e w s t o m e . M e t J o e B a r n e s ( H e r a l d T r i b u n e ) a t t h e

T a v e r n e a t m i d n i g h t . H e j u s t b a c k f r o m D a n z i g a n d

P o l a n d . H i s t h e o r y i s t h a t i f H i t l e r w a i t s n i n e m o n t h s

h e ' l l h a v e D a n z i g a n d p e r h a p s m o r e w i t h o u t m u c h

t r o u b l e a n d c e r t a i n l y w i t h o u t w a r . H e t h i n ks P o l i s h r e -

s i s t a n c e t o H i t l e r ' s d e m a n d s w o u l d c o l l a p s e , t h a t P o l a n d

s i m p l y c o u l d n ' t a f f o r d t o s t a y m o b i l i z e d a n y l o n g e r

t h a n t h a t . I a r g u e d t h a t B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e c o u l d a f -

f o r d t o f o o t t h e b i l l f o r t h e P o l e s . J o e d i d n ' t t h i n k t h e y

w o u l d . I w o n ' t s a y h e ' s d e a d w r o n g , b u t t h i n k h e u n d e r -

e s t i m a t e s t h e c h a n g e i n F r a n c e a n d B r i t a i n . J o e ' s d e -

s c r i p t i o n o f t h e b a c k w a r d n e s s o f t h e P o l e s v e r y i m p r e s -

s i v e . H e a n d M a u r i c e H i n d u s v i s i t e d t h e v i l l a g e s . O n l y

t w o m i l l i o n p e o p l e i n P o l a n d r e a d a n y k i n d o f n e w s -

p a pe r , h e r e p o r t s , a n d m a n y v i l l a g e s a r e w i t h o u t a s i n g l e

r a d i o .

B E R L I N , August 10

H o w c o m p l e t e l y i s o l a t e d a w o r l d t h e G e r m a n

p e o p l e l i v e i n. A g l a n c e a t t h e n e w s p a p e r s y e s t e r d a y

a n d t o d a y r e m i n d s y o u o f i t . W h e r e a s a l l t h e r e s t o f t h e

w o r l d c o n s i d e r s t h a t t h e p e a c e i s a b o u t t o b e b r o k e n b y

G e r m a n y , t h a t i t i s G e r m a n y t h a t i s t h r e a t e n i n g t o a t -

t a c k P o l a n d o v e r D a n z i g , h e r e i n G e r m a n y , i n t h e w o r l d

t h e l o c a l n e w s p a p e r s c r e a t e , t h e v e r y r e v e r s e i s b e i n g

m a i n t a i n e d . ( N o t t h a t i t s u r p r i s e s m e , b u t w h e n y o u

a r e a w a y f o r a w h i l e , y o u f o r g e t . ) W h a t t h e N a z i

p a pe r s a r e p r o c l a i m i n g i s t h i s :t h a t i t i s P o l a n d w h i c h i s

d i s t u r b i n g t h e p e a c e o f E u r o p e ; P o l a n d w h i c h i s t h r e a t -

e n i n g G e r m a n y w i t h a r m e d i n v a s i o n , a n d s o f o r t h . T h i s

i s t h e G e r m a n y o f l a s t S e p t e m b e r w h e n t h e s t e a m w a s

t u r n e d o n C z e c h o s l o v a k i a .

"POLAND? LOOK OUT!" w a r n s t h e B . Z . h e a d l i n e ,

a d d i n g : "ANSWER TO POLAND, THE RUNNER -



1939 BERLIN, A u g u s t 10 1 7 3

AMOK (AMOKLAUFER) AGAINST PEACE ANDRIGHT IN EUROPE!"

Or t h e h e a d l i n e i nD e r F i i h r e r , d a i l y p a p e r o f

K a r l s r u h e , w h i c h I b o u g h t o n t h e t r a i n : "WARSAWTHREATENS BOMBARDMENT OF DANZIG - UN-BELIEVABLE AGITATION OF THE POLISH ARCH-MADNESS (POLNISCHEN GROSSENWAHNS)!"

F o r p e r v e r s e p e r v e r s i o n o f t h e t r u t h , t h i s i s g o o d .

Y o u a s k : B u t t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e c a n ' t p o s s i b l y b e l i e v e

t h e s e l i e s ? T h e n y o u t a l k t o t h e m . S o m a n y d o .

B u t s o f a r t h e pr e s s l i m i t s i t s e l f t o D a n z i g . W i l l t h e

G e r m a n s k e e p t h e i r r e a l d e s i g n s u n d e r c o v e r u n t i l l a t e r ?

A n y f o o l k n o w s t h e y d o n ' t g i v e a d a m n a b o u t D a n z i g .

I t ' s j u s t a p r e t e x t . T h e N a z i po s i t i o n , f r e e l y a d m i t t e d

i n p a r t y c i r c l e s , i s t h a t G e r m a n y c a n n o t a f f o r d t o h a v e

a s t r o n g m i l i t a r y p o w e r o n h e r e a s t e r n f r o n t i e r , t h a t

t h e r e f o r e P o l a n d a s i t i s t o d a y m u s t b e l i q u i d a t e d , n o t

o n l y D a n z i g , w h i c h i s P o l a n d 's l i f e -l i n e , t a ke n , b u t a l s o

t h e C o r r i d o r , P o s e n , a n d U p p e r S i l e s i a . A n d P o l a n d

l e f t a r u m p s t a t e , a v a s s a l o f G e r m a n y . T h e n w h e n

H u n g a r y a n d R u m a n i a a n d Y u g o s l a v i a h a v e b e e n s i m i -

l a r l y r e d u c e d ( H u n g a r y p r a c t i c a l l y i s a l r e a d y ) , G e r -

m a n y w i l l b e e c o n o m i c a l l y a n d a g r i c u l t u r a l l y i n d e p e n d -

e n t , a n d t h e g r e a t f e a r o f A n g l o - F r e n c h b l o c k a d e , w h i c h

w o n t h e l a s t w a r a n d a t t h e m o m e n t p r o b a b l y c o u l d w i n

t h e n e x t , w i l l b e d o n e a w a y w i t h . G e r m a n y c a n t h e n

t u r n o n t h e W e s t a n d p r o b a b l y b e a t h e r .

S t r u c k b y t h e u g l i n e s s o f t h e G e r m a n w o m e n o n t h e

s t r e e t s a n d i n r e s t a u r a n t s a n d c a f e s. A s a r a c e t h e y a r e

c e r t a i n l y t h e l e a s t a t t r a c t i v e i n E u r o p e . T h e y h a v e n o

a n k l e s. T h e y w a l k b a d l y . T h e y d r e s s w o r s e t h a n E n g -

l i s h w o m e n u s e d t o . O f f t o D a n z i g t o n i g h t .



17 41 9 3 9 D A N Z I G ,

A u g u s t 11

DANZIG, August 11

F o r a p l a c e w h e r e t h e w a r i s s u p p o s e d t o b e

a b o u t t o b r e a k o u t , D a n z i g d o e s n o t q u i t e l i v e u p t o i t s

p a r t . L i k e t h e p e o p l e i n B e r l i n , t h e l o c a l i n h a b i t a n t s

d o n ' t t h i n k i t w i l l c o m e t o war . T h e y h a v e a b l i n d f a i t h

i n H i t l e r t h a t h e w i l l e f f e c t t h e i r r e t u r n t o t h e R e i c h

w i t h o u t w a r . T h e F r e e C i t y i s b e i n g r a p i d l y m i l i t a -

r i z e d , Ge r m a n m i l i t a r y c a r s a n d t r u c k s - w i t h D a n z i g

l i c e n c e p l a t e s ! - d a s h t h r o u g h t h e s t r e e t s. M y h o t e l ,

t h e D a n z i g e r h o f , f u l l o f G e r m a n a r m y o f f i c e r s . T h e

r o a d s l e a d i n g i n f r o m P o l a n d a r e b l o c k e d w i t h t a n k -

t r a p s a n d l o g - b a r r i e r s . T h e y r e m i n d m e o f S u d e t e n -

l a n d j u s t a y e a r a g o . T h e t w o s t r a t e g i c h i l l s o f B i -

s c h o f s b e r g a n d H a g e l b e r g h a v e b e e n f o r t i f i e d . A n d a

l o t o f a r m s a r e b e i n g r u n u n d e r c o v e r o f n i g h t a c r o s s

t h e N o g a t R i v e r f r o m E a s t P r u s s i a. T h e y a r e m o s t l y

m a c h i n e - g u n s , a n t i - t a n k a n d a i r -g u n s a n d l i g h t a r t i l -

l e r y . A p p a r e n t l y t h e y h a v e n o t b e e n a b l e t o b r i n g i n

a n y h e a v y a r t i l l e r y. M o s t o f t h e a r m s a r e o f C z e c h

m a n u f a c t u r e.

T h e t o w n c o m p l e t e l y N a z i f i e d . S u p r e m e b o s s i s A l -

b e r t F o r s t e r , t h e N a z i G a u l e i t e r , w h o i s n o t e v e n a

D a n z i g e r , b u t a B a v a r i a n . H e r r G r e i s e r , t h e P r e s i d e n t

o f t h e S e n a t e , i s a m o r e m o d e r a t e m a n , b u t t a k e s h i s

o r d e r s f r o m F o r s t e r . A m o n g t h e p o p u l a t i o n , m u c h l e s s

t e n s i o n t h a n I ' d e x p e c t e d. T h e p e o p l e w a n t t o b e j o i n e d

t o G e r m a n y. B u t n o t a t t h e c o s t o f w a r o r t h e l o s s o f

t h e i r p o s i t i o n a s a n o u t l e t f o r P o l i s h t r a d e. W i t h o u t

t h e l a t t e r , r e d u c e d t h o u g h i t i s s i n c e t h e b u i l d i n g o f t h e

p u r e l y P o l i s h p o r t o f G d y n i a , t w e l v e m i l e s w e s t o f h e r e ,

t h e y s t a r v e , u n l e s s G e r m a n y c o n q u e r s P o l a n d . L i k e a l l

G e r m a n s t h e y w a n t i t b o t h w a y s .

D a n z i g i s a p l e a s i n g t o w n t o l o o k a t . I l i k e t h e h e a v y

B a l t i c - G e r m a n t o w e r s , t h e G o t h i c H a n s e a t i c s t e e p ,



1 9 3 9 D A N Z I G , A u g u s t 1 21 7 5

g a b l e d h o u s e s w i t h t h e h e a v i l y o r n a m e n t e d fa c a d e s

. R e -

m i n d s m e o f t h e o t h e r H a n s e a t i c t o w n s - B r e m e n ,

L i i b e c k , B r u g e s. W a l k e d a r o u n d t h e p o r t . V e r y d e a d -

l o o ki n g. F e w s h i p s . M o r e d r u n ke n n e s s h e r e i n D a n z i g

t h a n I ' v e s e e n o u t s i d e o f A m e r i c a. T h e S c h n a p p s -

t h e y c a l l i t " D a n z i g g o l d w a t e r " b e c a u s e o f t h e l i t t l e

g o l d e n p a r t i c l e s f l o a t i n g i n i t - i s r i g h t g o o d a n d

s t r o n g .

L u n c h w i t h o u r c o n s u l , M r . Ku y ke n d a h l , w h o i s h e l p -

f u l a n d a w a r e o f h i s ke y p o s i t i o n . J o h n G u n t h e r t u r n s

u p f r o m n o w h e r e f o r l u n c h. A f t e r w a r d s J o h n a n d I

t a x i o v e r t o Z o p p o t , t h e B a l t i c ' s l e a d i n g s u m m e r r e s o r t ,

w h i l i n g a w a y t h e a f t e r n o o n a n d e v e n i n g o n t h e p i e r , t h e

b e a c h , i n t h e g a m i n g r o o m s o f t h e C a s i n o ( w h e r e w e

b o t h l o s e a t r o u l e t t e ) , t a l k i n g a b l u e s t r e a k , s e t t l i n g t h e

w o r l d ' s p r o b l e m s . T o w a r d s m i d n i g h t h e d a s h e s o f f f o r

G d y n i a t o c a t c h t h e n i g h t e x p r e s s f o r W a r s a w.

DANZIG, August 12

I h a v e m o r e a n d m o r e t h e f e e l i n g t h a t D a n z i g

i s n o t t h e i s s u e a n d I ' m w a s t i n g m y t i m e h e r e. T h e

i s s u e i s t h e i n d e p e n d e n c e o f P o l a n d o r G e r m a n d o m i n a -

t i o n o f i t. I m u s t p u s h o n t o W a r s a w

. H a v e b e e n o n

t h e p h o n e t o B e r l i n s e v e r a l t i m e s t o d a y. T h e B e r l i n

r a d i o p e o p l e a r e s t a l l i n g o n f a c i l i t i e s f o r m y b r o a d c a s t

f r o m h e r e t o m o r r o w. W i l l p h o n e P o l s k i e R a d i o i n W a r -

s a w t o s e e i f t h e y h a v e a m i c r o p h o n e a t G d y n i a. I c o u l d

d o m y t a l k f r o m t h e r e. I d o n ' t l i k e t h e i d e a o f t h e G e r -

m a n s k e e p i n g m e f r o m t a l k i n g a l t o g e t h e r s i n c e I ' v e

c o m e a l l t h i s w a y a n d h a v e s o m e t h i n g t o s a y. T h e l o c a l

N a z i s v e r y c o o l t o m e.



1 7 6 1939 GDYNIA-WARSAW, A u g u s t 1 3

IN A WAGONLIT, GDYNIA-WARSAW, A u g u s t 13,

m i d n i g h t

I d i d m y b r o a d c a s t t o N e w Y o r k f r o m G d y n i a

i n s t e a d o f D a n z i g . T h e G e r m a n s i n B e r l i n w o u l d n ' t

s a y y e s o r n o . T h e P o l e s i n W a r s a w p i t c h e d i n g a l -

l a n t l y . P l e a s e d a t d e f e a t i n g N a z i e f fo r t s t o s i l e n c e m e .

I h a d p l a n n e d t o d r i v e t h e t w e l v e m i l e s f r o m D a n z i g

t o G d y n i a , b u t m y G e r m a n c h a u f f e u r g o t c o l d f e e t , s a i d

w e ' d b e s h o t a t b y t h e P o l e s i n a D a n z i g c a r . I d a s h e d

d o w n t o t h e s t a t i o n a n d c a u g h t a t r a i n. A d e v i l o f a

t i m e f i n d i n g t h e r a d i o s t u d i o i n G dy n i a . N o o n e k n e w

w h e r e i t w a s . I t w a s n o t i n t h e ph o n e b o o k . T h e t e l e -

p h o n e c e n t r a l d i d n ' t kn o w . The army -the navy -t h e p o l i c e - o n e k n e w . F i n a l l y , a f t e r I ' d g i v e n u p

h o p e o f b r o a d c a s t i n g a t a l l , w e d i s c o v e r e d i t i n t h e P o s t

O f f i c e b u i l d i n g . T h e r a d i o t e l e p h o n e c i r c u i t w i t h L o n -

d o n , f r o m w h e r e t h e t a l k w a s s h o r t -w a v e d t o N e w Yo r k,

w a s c o m p l e t e d o n l y a t t h e l a s t m i n u t e . B u t r e c e p t i o n ,

L o n d o n s a i d , w a s g o o d . C h a t t e d w i t h t w o P o l i s h r a d i o

e n g i n e e r s w h o h a d d r i v e n o v e r f r o m T h u r n t o d o t h e

b r o a d c a s t . T h e y w e r e c a l m , c o n f i d e n t. T h e y s a i d

"We're ready. W e w i l l f i g h t

. W e w e r e b o r n u n d e r

G e r m a n r u l e i n t h i s n e i g h b o u r h o o d a n d w e ' d r a t h e r b e

d e a d t h a n g o t h r o u g h i t a g a i n . "

A f t e r d i n n e r , w a i t i n g f o r t h e W a r s a w E x p r e s s , I h a d

t i m e t o l o o k a t t h i s p o r t t o w n . T h e P o l e s , w i t h F r e n c h

b a c k i n g , h a v e d o n e a m a g n i f i c e n t j o b . F i f t e e n y e a r s

a g o , G d y n i a w a s a s l e e p y f i s h i n g v i l l a g e o f 40 0 s o u l s .

T o d a y i t ' s t h e l a r g e s t p o r t i n t h e B a l t i c , w i t h a p o p u -

l a t i o n o f o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 . L a c k i n g n a t u r a l f a c i l i t i e s , t h e

P o l e s h a v e s i m p l y p u s h e d pi e r s o u t i n t o t h e s e a . T h e

c i t y i t s e l f l o o k s l i k e a m u s h r o o m g r o w t h , m u c h l i k e s o m e

o f o u r W e s t e r n t o w n s t h i r t y -f i v e y e a r s a g o . I t i s o n e

o f t h e p r o m i s e s o f P o l a n d .



17 8

t o o c o n f i d e n t . Y o u a s k t h e m , a s I ' v e a s k e d a s c o r e o f

o f f i c i a l s i n t h e F o r e i g n O f f i c e a n d t h e a r m y t h i s p a s t

w e e k , a b o u t R u s s i a a n d t h e y s h r u g t h e i r s h o u l d e r s .

R u s s i a d o e s n o t c o u n t f o r t h e m . B u t i t o u g h t t o. I

t h i n k t h e P o l e s w i l l f i g h t . I k n o w I s a i d t h a t , w r o n g l y ,

a b o u t t h e C z e c h s a y e a r a g o . B u t I s a y i t a g a i n a b o u t

t h e P o l e s . O u r E m b a s s y i s d i v i d e d . M o s t t h i n k P o l a n d

w i l l g i v e a g o o d a c c o u n t o f i t s e l f . O u r m i l i t a r y a t t a c h e

t h i n k s t h e P o l e s c a n h o l d o u t a l o n e a g a i n s t G e r m a n y f o r

s i x m o n t h s . H a r r i s o n , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h i n k s t h e

c o u n t r y w i l l c r a c k u p . M a j o r E l i o t h e r e . T h i n k s t h e

P o l i s h a r m y i s p r e t t y g o o d , b u t n o t s u f f i c i e n t l y a r m e d

n o r f u l l y a w a r e o f i t s a w f u l s t r a t e g i c p o s i t i o n. T o r e -

c o r d : a r i o t o u s d i n n e r J o h n [ G u n t h e r ] g a v e - muchv o d k a , s m o k e d s a l m o n , a n d t a l k

; l u n c h t o d a y w i t h

y o u n g R i c h a r d M o w r e r , t h e v e r y i m a g e o f h i s f a t h e r ,

P a u l S c o t t M o w r e r , a n d w i t h h i s b r i d e , w h o i s m o s t a t -

t r a c t i v e . A n d l a s t n i g h t b e f o r e m y b r o a d c a s t a t r a m p

t h r o u g h W a r s a w w i t h M a u r i c e H i n d u s . P o l s k i e R a d i o

n e w s h o r t - w a v e t r a n s m i t t e r n o t y e t r e a d y , w h i c h w o r r i e s

me .

1939 BERLIN, A u g u s t 2 3

B E R L I N ,

August 23H a n s Ka l t e n b o r n , o u r s t a r f o r e i g n - n e w s c o m -

m e n t a t o r , w a s t u r n e d b a c k b y t h e s e c r e t p o l i c e w h e n

h e a r r i v e d a t T e m p e l h o f f r o m L o n d o n t h i s a f t e r n o o n .

W e h a v e b e e n n i c e l y d o u b l e - c r o s s e d b y t h e N a z i s . O n

o r d e r s f r o m N e w Yo r k , I h a d i n q u i r e d i n o f f i c i a l c i r c l e s

a b o u t h i s c o m i n g a n d h a d b e e n t o l d t h a t t h e r e w a s n o

o b j e c t i o n t o h i s v i s i t i n g h e r e t h o u g h h e c o u l d n o t b r o a d -

c a s t f r o m G e r m a n y n o r s e e a n y o f f i c i a l s . I b e c a m e s u s -

p i c i o u s w h e n t h e p a s s p o r t o f fi c i a l s c o n t i n u e d t o h o l d h i m

a f t e r a l l t h e o t h e r p a s s e n g e r s h a d b e e n c l e a r e d . H i s

w i f e , s e v e r a l G e r m a n r e l a t i v e s o f h e r s , a n d I w a i t e d p a -



1939 B E I i i L I N ,A u g u s t 2 3

1 7 9

t i e n t l y b e y o n d t h e b r a s s r a i l i n g w h i c h s e p a r a t e d u s f r o m

h i m. I t w a s s u l t r y a n d h o t , a n d a s i t b e c a m e e v i d e n t

w h a t w a s u p , w e a l l p e r s p i r e d p r o f u s e l y . T h e G e r m a n

r e l a t i v e s , w h o w e r e e x p o s i n g t h e m s e l v e s t o p o s s i b l e a r -

r e s t b y m e r e l y b e i n g t h e r e , r e m a i n e d b r a v e l y a t t h e r a i l .

I f i n a l l y c o m p l a i n e d t o a G e s t a p o m a n a b o u t k e e p i n g u s

s t a n d i n g s o l o n g , a n d a f t e r m u c h h e a t e d a r g u m e n t h e

a l l o w e d H a n s t o a c c o m p a n y u s a l l t o t h e t e r r a c e o f t h e

a i r p o r t c a f e ,w h e r e w e o r d e r e d b e e r . H a n s h a d a r r i v e d

a t t h r e e f o r t y - f i v e p . m . A t q u a r t e r t o s i x a G e s t a p o

o f fi c e r c a m e u p a n d a n n o u n c e d t h a t H a n s w o u l d b e

t a k i n g t h e s i x o ' c l o c k p l a n e b a c k t o L o n d o n .

" W h y , h e ' s j u s t c o m e f r o m t h e r e , " I s p o k e u p .

" A n d h e ' s r e t u r n i n g t h e r e n o w , " t h e o f f i c e r s a i d .

" M a y I a s k w h y ? "H a n s s a i d , b o i l i n g i n s i d e b u t

c o o l o u t s i d e , t h o u g h b e a d s o f s w e a t b u b b l e d o u t o n h i s

f o r e h e a d .

T h e o f f i c e r h a d a r e a d y a n s w e r . L o o k i n g i n h i s n o t e -

b o o k , h e s a i d w i t h t r e m e n d o u s s e r i o u s n e s s : "H e r r K a l -

t e n b o r n , o n s u c h a n d s u c h a d a t e i n O k l a h o m a C i t y y o u

m a d e a s p e e c h i n s u l t i n g t h e F i i h r e r . "

" L e t m e s e e t h e t e x t o f t h a t , p l e a s e , " H a n s s p o k e u p .

B u t y o u d o n o t a r g u e w i t h t h e G e s t a p o . T h e r e w a s n o

a n s w e r. H a n s r u s h e d o u t t o g e t i n t h e p l a n e , b u t t h e r e

w a s n o r o o m a f t e r a l l , a n d h e c a m e b a c k a n d j o i n e d o u r

t a b l e. I a s k e d t h e G e s t a p o i f h e c o u l d n ' t t a k e t h e n i g h t

t r a i n t o P o l a n d . B y n o w I w a s a f r a i d h e m i g h t h a v e

t o s p e n d t h e n i g h t i n j a i l. I s a i d I w o u l d g e t t h e A m e r -

i c a n E m b a s s y t o g u a r a n t e e t h a t h e w o u l d n ' t j u m p o f f

t h e t r a i n i n G e r m a n y . F i n a l l y , r e l u c t a n t l y , t h e y c o n -

s e n t e d . I c a l l e d C o n s u l G e i s t . H e w o u l d p l a y t h e g a m e .

W e a d j o u r n e d a g a i n t o o u r b e e r s. T h e n t h e G e s t a p o

m a n c a m e r u n n i n g u p o u t o f b r e a t h. T h e r e w a s d o c h

a p l a c e o n t h e p l a n e f o r t h e c u l p r i t . T h e y h a d t h r o w n

s o m e o n e o f f . A n d H a n s w a s h u s t l e d o u t . A s h e g o t



1 9 3 9 BERLIN, A u g u s t 2 418 1

b o a s t i n g , s p u t t e r i n g t h a t B r i t a i n w o n ' t d a r e t o f i g h t

n o w , d e n y i n g e v e r y t h i n g t h e y h a v e b e e n t o l d t o s a y

t h e s e l a s t s i x y e a r s b y t h e i r N a z i l o r d s . W e t h r o w i t

i n t o t h e i r f a c e s , J o e a n d I. T h e a r g u m e n t g e t s n a s t y .

J o e i s n e r v o u s , d e p r e s s e d. S o a m I . P r e t t y s o o n w e g e t

n a u s e a t e d. S o m e t h i n g w i l l h a p p e n i f w e d o n ' t g e t o u t .

. . . M r s. K a l t e n b o r n c o m e s i n . I h a d m a d e a d a t e w i t h

h e r h e r e f o r t h r e e a. m . I a p o l o g i z e . I h a v e t o g o

. J o e

h a s t o g o. S o r r y . W e w a n d e r t h r o u g h t h e T i e r g a r t e n

u n t i l w e c o o l o f f a n d t h e n i g h t s t a r t s t o f a d e .

B E R L I N , A u g u s t 2 4, s e v e n p . m .

I t l o o k s l i k e w a r t o n i g h t. A c r o s s t h e s t r e e t

f r o m m y r o o m t h e y ' r e i n s t a l l i n g a n a n t i - a i r c r a f t g u n

o n t h e r o o f o f I. G . F a r b e n . I s u p p o s e i t ' s t h e s a m e o n e

I s a w t h e r e l a s t S e p t e m b e r. G e r m a n b o m b e r s h a v e b e e n

f l y i n g o v e r t h e c i t y a l l d a y. I t m a y w e l l b e t h a t H i t l e r

w i l l g o i n t o P o l a n d t o n i g h t . M a n y t h i n k s o . B u t I

t h i n k t h a t d e p e n d s u p o n B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e. I f t h e y

e m p h a s i z e t h e y w i l l h o n o u r t h e i r w o r d w i t h P o l a n d ,

H i t l e r m a y w a i t. A n d g e t w h a t h e w a n t s w i t h o u t w a r .

W e n t o v e r t o I N S t o g e t t h e t e x t o f C h a m b e r l a i n ' s

s t a t e m e n t t o t h e h o u s e. I t s o u n d s f i r m

. E d t e l e p h o n e d

f r o m L o n d o n a n h o u r a g o a n d s a i d h e w a s i n C o m m o n s

a n d i t w a s f i r m. H i t l e r c e r t a i n l y s e e m s t o b e s t a n d i n g

f i r m . Y e s t e r d a y t h e B r i t i s h A m b a s s a d o r , H e n d e r s o n ,

f l e w d o w n t o B e r c h t e s g a d e n t o s e e h i m. H e t o l d h i m t h e

B r i t i s h w o u l d h o n o u r t h e i r p l e d g e t o h e l p P o l a n d i f

G e r m a n y a t t a c k e d , r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e R u s s o -G e r m a n

t r e a t y. H i t l e r r e p l i e d n o B r i t i s h g u a r a n t e e c o u l d m a k e

G e r m a n y " f o r s a k e h e r L e b e n s r e c h t . "

W i t h R u s s i a i n h i s b a g , H i t l e r i s n o t c o m p r o m i s i n g ,

a p p a r e n t l y. R u s s i a i n h i s b a g ! W h a t a

t u r n e v e n t s

h a v e t a k e n i n t h e l a s t f o r t y - e i g h t h o u r s. B o l s h e v i k R u s -



18 21 9 3 9 B E R L I N , A u g u s t 2 4

s i a a n d N a z i G e r m a n y , t h e a r c h - e n e m i e s o f t h i s e a r t h ,

s u d d e n l y t u r n i n g t h e o t h e r c h e e k a n d b e c o m i n g f r i e n d s

a n d c o n c l u d i n g w h a t , t o o n e ' s c o n s t e r n a t i o n , l o o k s l i k e

a n a l l i a n c e .

I t a l l b r o k e M o n d a y n i g h t ( A u g u s t 2 1 ) a t e l e v e n p. m .

T h e G e r m a n r a d i o s u d d e n l y s t o p p e d i n t h e m i d d l e o f a

m u s i c a l p r o g r a m a n d a v o i c e a n n o u n c e d t h a t G e r m a n y

a n d R u s s i a h a d d e c i d e d t o c o n c l u d e a n o n - a g g r e s s i o n

p a c t. I m i s s e d i t . I w a s a t t h e H e r a l d T r i b u n e o f f i c e

c h e w i n g t h e r a g w i t h J o e [ B a r n e s ] u n t i l f i v e m i n u t e s

t o e l e v e n. N o i n k l i n g o f i t t h e n , e x c e p t - r e m e m b e r e d

l a t e r - v a g u e h i n t f r o m t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e t h a t t h e r e

m i g h t b e a s t o r y l a t e r t h a t e v e n i n g. F a t t y , a G e r m a n

n e w s p a p e r m a n , I t h i n k , m e n t i o n e d i t. A c t u a l l y I g o t

t h e n e w s f r o m L o n d o n w h e n E d M u r r o w c a l l e d a t m i d -

n i g h t. T h e R R G w o u l d n o t l e t m e b r o a d c a s t t h a t n i g h t .

A p p a r e n t l y t h e y w e r e w a i t i n g f o r" e d i t o r i a l " o r d e r s .

T h e d a y b e f o r e , o n S u n d a y , t h e r e h a d b e e n a h i n t o f

s o m e t h i n g w i t h t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t o f a n e w t r a d e a g r e e -

m e n t b e t w e e n R u s s i a a n d G e r m a n y. T h e f r i e n d l y w o r d s

a b o u t t h i s i n t h e l o c a l p r e s s , w h i c h u n t i l t h e n h a d b e e n

v i o l e n t i n i t s d e n u n c i a t i o n o f R u s s i a a n d B o l s h e v i s m ,

s h o u l d h a v e w a r n e d m e , b u t d i d n ' t. T h e a n n o u n c e m e n t

w a s a s m u c h o f a b o m b - s h e l l f o r m o s t o f t h e b i g N a z i s

a s f o r t h e r e s t o f t h e w o r l d. N o t m o r e t h a n a d o z e n

p e r s o n s w e r e i n o n H i t l e r ' s s e c r e t .

T h e G e r m a n p r e s s t h e n e x t d a y ( T u e s d a y , A u -

g u s t 2 2 ) w a s w o n d e r f u l t o b e h o l d . D r . G o e b b e l s ' sA n -

g r i f f , t h e m o s t f e r o c i o u s R e d - b a i t e r o f t h e m a l l , w r o t e :

" T h e w o r l d s t a n d s b e f o r e a t o w e r i n g f a c t : t w o p e o p l e s

h a v e p l a c e d t h e m s e l v e s o n t h e b a s i s o f a c o m m o n f o r e i g n

p o l i c y w h i c h d u r i n g a l o n g a n d t r a d i t i o n a l f r i e n d s h i p

p r o d u c e d a f o u n d a t i o n f o r a c o m m o n u n d e r s t a n d i n g " !

( E x c l a m a t i o n p o i n t m i n e , n o t A n g r i f f ' s . ) A n d D r .

K a r l S i l e x , o n c e a n h o n e s t f o r e i g n c o r r e s p o n d e n t a n d



18 . E 1 9 3 9 BERLIN, A u g u s t 2 5

B E R L I N , August 2 5

S o m e o n e i n N e w Y o r k i n s i s t i n g w e g o a h e a d

w i t h a p r o g r a m p l a n n e d s e v e r a l w e e k s a g o t o b e c a l l e d

"Europe Dances "-pick-ups f r o m n i g h t - c l u b s i n

L o n d o n , P a r i s , B e r l i n. I ' m a r r a n g i n g o n e f r o m S t .

P a u l i ' s , a s o - c a l l e d " H a m b u r g e r L o k a l , " b u t w i r e d

M u r r o w t o d a y s u g g e s t i n g w e c a l l i t o f f. W a r ' s t o o i m -

m i n e n t f o r t h a t s o r t o f t h i n g. M u c h u n e a s i n e s s t o n i g h t

b e c a u s e a l l a f t e r n o o n a n d e v e n i n g t e l e p h o n e s a n d t e l e -

g r a p h c o m m u n i c a t i o n s w i t h t h e o u t s i d e w o r l d w e r e c u t .

W h e n I a r r i v e d a t t h e Rund f u n k t o d o m y b r o a d c a s t

t o n i g h t a t o n e a . m . ,I h a d l i t t l e h o p e o f g e t t i n g t h r o u g h ,

b u t t h e o f f i c i a l s s a i d n o t h i n g a n d I w e n t a h e a d . A p -

p a r e n t l y i t w a s t h e f i r s t w o r d A m e r i c a h a d h a d f r o m

B e r l i n a l l d a y , a n d j u d g i n g f r o m w h a t w e h e a r d o n

t h e f e e d b a c k , t h e r e w a s s o m e r e l i e f i n N e w Y o r k w h e n

I r e p o r t e d a l l c a l m h e r e a n d n o w a r y e t. R a d i o h a s a

r o l e t o p l a y , I t h i n k . H e n d e r s o n s a w H i t l e r t w i c e t o d a y ,

a n d e a r l y t h i s m o r n i n g i s f l y i n g t o L o n d o n. A s l o n g

a s t h e y f i n d s o m e t h i n g t o n e g o t i a t e a b o u t , t h e r e w i l l b e

n o w a r .

B E R L I N , August 2 6

W i t h H e n d e r s o n o f f t o L o n d o n t h i s m o r n i n g

a n d n o t e x p e c t e d b a c k b e f o r e t o m o r r o w ( S u n d a y )

n i g h t . I t h i n k w e ' r e i n f o r a b r e a t h i n g - s p e l l o v e r t h e

w e e k - e n d . T h e r e i s c e r t a i n l y n o s i g n t h a t H i t l e r i s w e a k -

e n i n g . B u t t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e s t i l l h o p e s t h a t C h a m -

b e r l a i n w i l l w e a k e n. O u r E m b a s s y t o d a y i s s u e d a f o r m a l

c i r c u l a r t o a l l A m e r i c a n s h e r e a s k i n g t h o s e w h o s e p r e s -

e n c e w a s n o t a b s o l u t e l y n e c e s s a r y t o l e a v e . M o s t o f t h e

c o r r e s p o n d e n t s a n d b u s i n e s s m e n h a v e a l r e a d y s e n t o u t

t h e i r w i v e s a n d c h i l dr e n. T h e b i g N a z i r a l l y a t T a n -



18 6 1939 B E R L I N , A u g u s t 27

t e n s i o n. H e a d l i n e i n V d l k i s c h e B e o b a c h t e r , H i t l e r ' s

o w n n e w s p a p e r:

"WHOLE OF POLAND I N WARF E V E R ! I , S o o , o o o MEN M O B I L I Z E D ! UNINTER-RUPTED TROOP TRANSPORT TOWARD THEF R O N T I E R ! CHAOS I N UPPER S I L E S I A ! "

N o m e n t i o n o f a n y G e r m a n m o b i l i z a t i o n , o f c o u r s e ,

t h o u g h t h e G e r m a n s h a v e b e e n m o b i l i z e d f o r a f o r t -

n i g h t .

BERLIN, August 27 (Sunday)

H o t a n d s u l t r y t o d a y , w h i c h m a ke s f o r a n i n -

c r e a s e i n t e n s i o n . H e n d e r s o n f a i l e d t o r e t u r n t o d a y a s

e x p e c t e d , c a u s i n g t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e t o a c c u s e t h e

B r i t i s h o f s t a l l i n g . ( I n a n o t h e r f o r t n i g h t t h e r a i n s

s t a r t i n P o l a n d , m a ki n g t h e r o a d s i m p a s s a b l e . ) SomeN a z i s , h o w e v e r , t h i n k H e n d e r s o n ' s d e l a y i n L o n d o n

m e a n s t h e B r i t i s h a r e g i v i n g i n . T o m o r r o w ' s V o l k i s c h e

B e o b a c h t e r w i l l a s k t h e p e o p l e t o b e p a t i e n t : " TheF u h r e r i s s t i l l d e m a n d i n g p a t i e n c e f r o m y o u b e c a u s e

h e w a n t s t o e x h a u s t e v e n t h e l a s t p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r a

p e a c e fu l s o l u t i o n o f t h e c r i s i s. T h a t m e a n s a b l o o d l e s s

f u l f i l m e n t o f t h e i r r e d u c i b l e G e r m a n d e m a n d s . " T h i s

i s a n i c e b u i l d -u p t o c o n v i n c e t h e p e o p l e t h a t i f w a r

d o e s c o m e , t h e F u h r e r d i d e v e r y t h i n g p o s s i b l e t o a v o i d

i t . T h e V. B . e n d s b y s a y i n g t h a t G e r m a n y , h o w e v e r ,

w i l l n o t r e n o u n c e h e r d e m a n d s . " T h e i n d i v i d u a l , a s

w e l l a s t h e n a t i o n , c a n r e n o u n c e o n l y t h o s e t h i n g s w h i c h

a r e n o t v i t a l ." There you have German characters t r i p p e d t o t h e b o n e . A G e r m a n c a n n o t r e n o u n c e v i t a l

t h i n g s , b u t h e e x p e c t s t h e o t h e r f e l l o w t o. H i t l e r t h i s

a f t e r n o o n a d d r e s s e d t h e m e m b e r s o f t h e R e i c h s t a g i n

t h e C h a n c e l l e r y , t h o u g h i t w a s n o t a r e g u l a r s e s s i o n . N o

r e p o r t o f h i s s p e e c h a v a i l a b l e . A DNB communiquem e r e l y s a y s t h e F u h r e r " o u t l i n e d t h e g r a v i t y o f t h e



1939 BERLIN, A u g u s t 2 7 1 8 7

s i t u a t i o n . " T h i si s t h e f i r s t t i m e t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e

h a v e b e e n t o l d b y H i t l e r t h a t t h e " s i t u a t i o n i s g r a v e . "

F o o d r a t i o n s w e r e f i x e d t o d a y a n d I h e a r d m a n y G e r -

m a n s g r u m b l i n g a t t h e i r s i z e . S o m e : m e a t , 7 0 0 g r a m s

p e r w e e k ;s u g a r , 2 8 0 g r a m s ; m a r m a l a d e , 1 1 0 g r a m s ;

c o f f e e o r s u b s t i t u t e , o n e e i g h t h o f a p o u n d p e r w e e k. A s

t o s o a p , 12 5 g r a m s a r e a l l o t t e d t o e a c h p e r s o n f o r t h e

n e x t f o u r w e e ks . N e w s o f r a t i o n i n g h a s c o m e a s a h e a v y

b l o w t o t h e p e o p l e .

R e p r e s e n t a t i v e H a m F i s h , w h o s e e m s t o h a v e b e e n

t a k e n ' i n c o m p l e t e l y b y R i b b e n t r o p , w h o g a v e h i m a n

a i r p l a n e t o r u s h h i m t o t h e i n t e r -p a r l i a m e n t a r y m e e t -

i n g i n S c a n d i n a v i a t h e o t h e r d a y t o t e l l t h e a s s e m b l e d

d e m o c r a t s h o w s e r i o u s w a s t h e s i t u a t i o n , a r r i v e d t o d a y

a n d s t r u c k u s a s v e r y a n x i o u s t o c o n t i n u e o n h i s w a y .

J o e [ B a r n e s ] a n d I o b s e r v e d h i m t a l ki n g v e r y s e r i o u s l y

a t l u n c h i n t h e A d l o n c o u r t y a r d w i t h D r. Z a l l a t t , a

m i n o r a n d u n i m p o r t a n t o f f i c i a l o f t h e F o r e i g n O f f i c e

w h o i s s u p p o s e d t o b e i n c h a r g e o f A m e r i c a n p r e s s m a t -

t e r s t h e r e , b u t w h o m n o A m e r i c a n c o r r e s p o n d e n t b o t h -

e r s w i t h b e c a u s e , h e kn o w s n o t h i n g. L a t e r , a f t e r k e e p i n g

t h e p r e s s c o r p s w a i t i n g a n h o u r , F i s h e m e r g e d f r o m

l u n c h a n d i n a g r a v e t o n e s a i d: " E x c u s e m e , g e n t l e m e n ,

f o r b e i n g l a t e , b u t I h a v e j u s t b e e n h a v i n g a t a l k w i t h

a n i m p o r t a n t o f f i c i a l o f t h e G e r m a n g o v e r n m e n t. " T h e

b o y s s u p p r e s s e d t h e i r l a u g h t e r o n l y w i t h d i f f i c u l t y .

F i s h l e f t t h i s a f t e r n o o n o n t h e f i r s t t r a i n. G e o f f r e y

P a r s o n s , c h i e f e d i t o r i a l w r i t e r o f t h eH e r a l d T r i b u n e ,

c a l m , i n t e l l i g e n t , t o l e r a n t , p r o fo u n d , l e f t l a s t n i g h t f o r

P a r i s. H e h a d s e e n C h u r c h i l l l a s t w e e k a n d b e l i e v e s i t

w i l l b e w a r .

D e s p i t e e v e r y t h i n g t h e o d d s i n t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e

t o d a y a r e s t i l l f o r p e a c e .



1 9 3 9 B E R L I N , A u g u s t 2 9 1 8 9

b y t h e i r l o o k s . A n o l d G e r m a n r e a d i n g t h e l e t t e r s s a i d

t o m e : " J a , t h e y f o r g e t w h a t w a r i s l i k e. B u t I d o n ' t .

I r e m e m b e r . "

T r o o p s , e a s t - b o u n d , p o u r i n g t h r o u g h t h e s t r e e t s t o -

d a y . N o c r a c k u n i t s t h e s e . T h e y w e r e b e i n g t r a n s -

p o r t e d i n m o v i n g - v a n s , g r o c e r y t r u c k s , e t c e t e r a . G e r -

m a n y h a s a s s u r e d B e l g i u m , H o l l a n d , L u x e m b u r g , a n d

S w i t z e r l a n d t h a t i t w i l l r e s p e c t t h e i r n e u t r a l i t y i n c a s e

o f w a r .

LATER . - e n d e r s o n a r r i v e d b a c k b y p l a n e

a t e i g h t t h i r t y p . m . , w e n t t o t h e C h a n c e l l e r y a t t e n

t h i r t y p . m . , a n d s t a y e d u n t i l e l e v e n f o r t y . N o r e l i a b l e

n e w s a b o u t t h i s c r u c i a l m e e t i n g , t h o u g h t h e o f f i c i a l l i n e

a t t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e a t m i d n i g h t w a s b y n o m e a n s

p e s s i m i s t i c.

BERLIN, August 2 9

T h e a v e r a g e G e r m a n t o d a y l o o ks d e j e c t e d .

H e c a n ' t g e t o v e r t h e b l o w o f t h e r a t i o n c a r d s , w h i c h t o

h i m s p e l l s w a r . L a s t n i g h t w h e n H e n d e r s o n f l e w b a c k

w i t h L o n d o n ' s a n s w e r t o H i t l e r ' s d e m a n d s - o n a n i g h t

w h e n e v e r y o n e k n e w t h e i s s u e o f w a r o r p e a c e m i g h t b e

d e c i d e d -w a s a m a z e d t o s e e t h a t l e s s t h a n 5 0 0 p e o -

p l e o u t o f a p o p u l a t i o n o f 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 t u r n e d o u t i n

f r o n t o f t h e C h a n c e l l e r y . T h e s e f e w s t o o d t h e r e g r i m .

a n d s i l e n t . A l m o s t a d e f e a t i s m d i s c e r n i b l e i n t h e p e o p l e .

O n e m a n r e m a r k e d t o m e l a s t n i g h t : " T h e C o r r i d o r ? '

H e l l , w e h a v e n ' t h e a r d a b o u t t h a t f o r t w e n t y y e a r s . .

W h y b r i n g i t u p n o w ? "

LATER . T h r e e a . m . -A t s e v e n f i f t e e n t o -

n i g h t H i t l e r g a v e H e n d e r s o n h i s r e p l y t o t h e B r i t i s h



1939 BERLIN, A u g u s t31 1 9 1

m e a n - a n d , i n d e e d , i n f o r m e d c i r c l e s i n t h e W i l h e l m -

s t r a s s e l e a v e n o d o u b t a b o u t i t - h a t t h e G e r m a n s a n d

S o v i e t s a l s o h a v e b e e n d o i n g s o m e t a l k i n g t h e l a s t f e w

d a y s , a n d , a s o n e w r i t e r s a y s t o n i g h t , ` t a l ki n g a b o u t

P o l a n d . ' I n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n t h e G e r m a n p r e s s t o n i g h t

d o e s n o t o m i t t o m e n t i o n a d i s p a t c h f r o m M o s c o w t o t h e

e f f e c t t h a t n o t o n l y h a s R u s s i a n o t w i t h d r a w n h e r t h r e e

h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d m e n f r o m i t s w e s t e r n f r o n t i e r , a s r e -

p o r t e d , b u t o n t h e c o n t r a r y h a s s t r e n g t h e n e d h e r f o r c e s

t h e r e - h a t i s , o n t h e P o l i s h b o r d e r . I d o n ' t k n o w t h e

s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h a t . I o n l y k n o w t h a t i t ' s g i v e n s o m e

p r o m i n e n c e h e r e . "

LATER . -o l e s o r d e r e d g e n e r a l m o b i l i z a t i o n

a t t w o t h i r t y p. m

. t o d a y. I t i s n ' t t e r r i b l y i m p o r t a n t ,

b e c a u s e P o l a n d h a s a l r e a d y m o b i l i z e d a b o u t a s m a n y

m e n a s i t h a s g u n s a n d s h o e s f o r . B u t t h e s t o r y g i v e s

t h e G e r m a n p r e s s a n e x c u s e t o h a i l P o l a n d a s t h e a g -

g r e s s o r . ( G e r m a n y h a s m o b i l i z e d t o o , t h o u g h n o t f o r -

m a l l y . ) S i n c e H i t l e r n o w h a s p u b l i c l y d e m a n d e d t h e r e -

t u r n o f D a n z i g a n d t h e C o r r i d o r , t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e

o u g h t t o k n o w w h o t h e a g g r e s s o r i s l i a b l e t o b e . B u t

t h e y a r e s w a l l o w i n g D r . G o e b b e l s ' s p i l l s , I f e a r .

A t m i d n i g h t H i t l e r a n n o u n c e s f o r m a t i o n o f a W a r

C a b i n e t - o b e c a l l e d a M i n i s t e r i a l C o u n c i l f o r t h e

D e f e n c e o f t h e R e i c h . G o r i n g t o p r e s i d e ; o t h e r m e m -

b e r s a r e F r i c k , F u n k , L a m m e r s , a n d G e n e r a l K e i t e l .

T h e s a n d s a r e r u n n i n g f a s t t o n i g h t .

BERLIN, A u g u s t 3 1 ( m o r n i n g )

E v e r y b o d y a g a i n s t t h e w a r . P e o p l e t a l k i n g

o p e n l y. H o w c a n a c o u n t r y g o i n t o a m a j o r w a r w i t h

a p o p u l a t i o n s o d e a d a g a i n s t i t ? P e o p l e a l s o k i c k i n g

a b o u t b e i n g k e p t i n t h e d a r k . A G e r m a n = s a i d t o m e

l a s t n i g h t : " W e k n o w n o t h i n g . W h y d o n ' t t h e y t e l l u s



1 9 1 0 1939 BERLIN, A u g u s t 3 1

w h a t ' s u p ?" O p t i m i s m i n o f f i c i a l c i r c l e s m e l t i n g a w a y

t h i s m o r n i n g , I t h o u g h t . H u s s t h i n ks H i t l e r m a y h a v e

o n e g r e a t c a r d l e f t , a n a g r e e m e n t w i t h S t a l i n t o a t t a c k

t h e P o l e s i n t h e b a c k. I h i g h l y d o u b t i t , b u t a f t e r t h e

R u s s o - G e r m a n p a c t a n y t h i n g i s p o s s i b l e. S o m e t h i n k

t h e B i g B o y i s t r y i n g t o g e t o f f t h e l i m b n o w - b u t

how?

LATER . - r o a d c a s t a t s e v e n f o r t y - f i v e p . m .

S a i d : " T h e s i t u a t i o n t o n i g h t i s v e r y c r i t i c a l . H i t l e r

h a s n o t y e t a n s w e r e d t h e B r i t i s h n o t e o f l a s t n i g h t. . . .

A n a n s w e r m a y n o t b e n e c e s s a r y . . . . The new De-f e n c e C o u n c i l s a t a l l d a y . T h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e h a s b e e n

s e e t h i n g w i t h a c t i v i t y . . . . T h e r e h a s b e e n n o c o n t a c t

b e t w e e n t h e G e r m a n a n d B r i t i s h g o v e r n m e n t s . I n s t e a d

• . .b e t w e e n R u s s i a a n d G e r m a n y . B e r l i n e x p e c t s t h e

S o v i e t s t o r a t i f y t h e R u s s o - G e r m a n p a c t t h i s e v e n i n g .

• . . T h e B r i t i s h A m b a s s a d o r d i d n o t v i s i t t h e W i l -

h e l m s t r a s s e . H e h a d a t a l k w i t h h i s F r e n c h c o l l e a g u e ,

M C o u l o n d r e. T h e n h e s a w t h e P o l i s h A m b a s s a d o r ,

M L i p s k i . B a g s a t t h e s e t h r e e e m b a s s i e s a r e a l l

p a c k e d . . . . "

LATER. T h r e e t h i r t y a . m .

A t y p i c a l H i t -

l e r s w i n d l e w a s s p r u n g t h i s e v e n i n g . A t n i n e p . m . t h e

G e r m a n r a d i o s t o p p e d i t s o r d i n a r y p r o g r a m a n d b r o a d -

c a s t t h e t e r m s o f G e r m a n " p r o p o s a l s "t o P o l a n d

. I

w a s t a k e n a b a c k b y t h e i r r e a s o n a b l e n e s s , a n d h a v i n g t o

t r a n s l a t e t h e m f o r o u r A m e r i c a n l i s t e n e r s i m m e d i a t e l y ,

a s w e w e r e o n t h e a i r , I m i s s e d t h e c a t c h. T h i s i s t h a t

H i t l e r ` d e m a n d e d t h a t a P o l i s h p l e n i p o t e n t i a r y b e s e n t

t o B e r l i n t o " d i s c u s s " t h e m b y l a s t n i g h t , t h o u g h t h e y

w e r e o n l y g i v e n t o H e n d e r s o n t h e n i g h t b e f o r e . ' A n

1 E v e n t h i s w a s n o t t r u e . H e n d e r s o n r e v e a l e d l a t e r t h a t R i b b e n -

t r o p - n a m o s t i n s o l e n t m o o d - e a d t h e s i x t e e n p o i n t s t o h i m s o

r a p i d l y t h a t h e c o u l d n o t g r a s p t h e m . W h e n h e a s k e d f o r a c o p y o f

t h e m , t h e G e r m a n F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r r e f u s e d !



1939 B E R L I N ,S e p t e m b e r 1 1 9 3

o f f i c i a l G e r m a n s t a t e m e n t ( v e r y n e a t ) c o m p l a i n s t h a t

t h e P o l e s w o u l d n o t e v e n c o m e t o B e r l i n t o d i s c u s s t h e m .

O b v i o u s l y , t h e y d i d n ' t h a v e t i m e . A n d w h y s h o u l d H i t -

l e r s e t a t i m e l i m i t t o a s o v e r e i g n p o w e r ? T h e " p r o -

p o s a l s "- o b v i o u s l y n e v e r m e a n t s e r i o u s l y - e a d l i k e

s w e e t r e a s o n , a l m o s t . T h e y c o n t a i n s i x t e e n p o i n t s , b u t

t h e e s s e n t i a l o n e s a r e f o u r : ( 1 ) R e t u r n o f D a n z i g t o

G e r m a n y . ( 2 ) A p l e b i s c i t e t o d e t e r m i n e w h o s h a l l h a v e

t h e C o r r i d o r. ( 3) A n e x c h a n g e o f m i n o r i t y p o p u l a -

t i o n s . ( 4 ) G d y n i a t o r e m a i n P o l i s h e v e n i f t h e C o r r i d o r

v o t e s t o r e t u r n t o G e r m a n y .

T o n i g h t t h e g r e a t a r m i e s , n a v i e s , a n d a i r f o r c e s a r e

a l l m o b i l i z e d . E a c h c o u n t r y i s s h u t o f f f r o m t h e o t h e r .

W e h a v e n o t b e e n a b l e t o d a y t o g e t t h r o u g h t o P a r i s

o r L o n d o n , o r o f c o u r s e t o W a r s a w , t h o u g h I d i d t a l k

t o T e s s i n G e n e v a . A t t h a t , n o p r e c i p i t a t e a c t i o n i s

e x p e c t e d t o n i g h t . B e r l i n i s q u i t e n o r m a l i n a p p e a r a n c e

t h i s e v e n i n g. T h e r e h a s b e e n n o e v a c u a t i o n o f t h e

w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n , n o t e v e n a n y s a n d b a g g i n g o f t h e

w i n d o w s . W e ' l l h a v e t o w a i t t h r o u g h s t i l l a n o t h e r n i g h t ,

i t a p p e a r s , b e f o r e w e k n o w . A n d s o t o b e d , a l m o s t a t

d a w n .

B E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 1

A t s i x a . m . S i g r i d S c h u l t z - l e s s h e r h e a r t

-phoned . S h e s a i d : " I t ' s h a p p e n e d . " I w a s v e r y

s l e e p y - y b o d y a n d m i n d n u m b e d , p a r a l y s e d . I

m u m b l e d : " T h a n k s , S i g r i d , " a n d t u m b l e d o u t o f b e d .

T h e w a r i s o n !



PARTI I

T h e W a r



WLSB E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 1 , l a t e r

I t ' s a " c o u n t e r -a t t a c k " ! A t d a w n t h i s m o r n -

i n g H i t l e r m o v e d a g a i n s t P o l a n d . I t ' s a f l a g r a n t , i n -

e x c u s a b l e , u n p r o v o ke d a c t o f a g g r e s s i o n . B u t H i t l e r

a n d t h e H i g h C o m m a n d c a l l i t a "c o u n t e r - a t t a c k ." A

g r e y m o r n i n g w i t h o v e r h a n g i n g c l o u d s . T h e p e o p l e i n

t h e s t r e e t w e r e a p a t h e t i c w h e n I d r o v e t o t h eR w n d f u n k

f o r m y f i r s t b r o a d c a s t a t e i g h t f i f t e e n a . m . A c r o s s f r o m

t h e A d l o n t h e m o r n i n g s h i f t o f w o r ke r s w a s b u s y o n t h e

n e w I . G . F a r b e n b u i l d i n g j u s t a s i f n o t h i n g h a d h a p -

p e n e d . N o n e o f t h e m e n b o u g h t t h e E x t r a s w h i c h t h e

n e w s b o y s w e r e s h o u t i n g . A l o n g t h e e a s t - w e s t a x i s " t h e

L u f t w a f fe w e r e m o u n t i n g f i v e b i g a n t i - a i r c r a f t g u n s t o

p r o t e c t H i t l e r w h e n h e a d d r e s s e s t h e R e i c h s t a g a t t e n

a . m . J o r d a n a n d I h a d t o r e m a i n a t t h e r a d i o t o h a n d l e

H i t l e r ' s s p e e c h f o r A m e r i c a . T h r o u g h o u t t h e s p e e c h , I

t h o u g h t a s I l i s t e n e d , r a n a c u r i o u s s t r a i n , a s t h o u g h

H i t l e r h i m s e l f w e r e d a z e d a t t h e f i x h e h a d g o t h i m s e l f

i n t o a n d f e l t a l i t t l e d e s p e r a t e a b o u t i t . S o m e h o w h e

d i d n o t c a r r y c o n v i c t i o n a n d t h e r e w a s m u c h l e s s c h e e r -

i n g i n t h e R e i c h s t a g t h a n o n p r e v i o u s , l e s s i m p o r t a n t o c -

c a s i o n s. J o r d a n m u s t h a v e r e a c t e d t h e s a m e w a y . A s w e

w a i t e d t o t r a n s l a t e t h e s p e e c h f o r A m e r i c a , h e w h i s -

p e r e d : "S o u n d s l i ke h i s s w a n s o n g . " I t r e a l l y d i d

. He

s o u n d e d d i s c o u r a g e d w h e n h e t o l d t h e R e i c h s t a g t h a t



19 8 1 9 3 9 B E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 1 , l a t e r

I t a l y w o u l d n o t b e c o m i n g i n t o t h e w a r b e c a u s e " w e

a r e u n w i l l i n g t o c a l l i n o u t s i d e h e l p f o r t h i s s t r u g g l e .

W e w i l l f u l f i l t h i s t a s k b y o u r s e l v e s . " A n d y e t P a r a -

g r a p h 3 o f t h e A x i s m i l i t a r y a l l i a n c e c a l l s f o r i m m e -

d i a t e , a u t o m a t i c I t a l i a n s u p p o r t w i t h "a l l i t s m i l i t a r y

r e s o u r c e s o n l a n d , a t s e a , a n d i n t h e a i r . " W h a t a b o u t

t h a t ? H e s o u n d e d d e s p e r a t e w h e n , r e f e r r i n g t o M o l o -

t o v ' s s p e e c h o f y e s t e r d a y a t t h e R u s s i a n r a t i f i c a t i o n o f

t h e N a z i - S o v i e t a c c o r d , h e s a i d : " I c a n o n l y u n d e r l i n e

e v e r y w o r d o f F o r e i g n C o m m i s s a r M o l o t o v ' s s p e e c h . "

T o m o r r o w B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e p r o b a b l y w i l l c o m e i n

a n d y o u h a v e y o u r s e c o n d W o r l d W a r . T h e B r i t i s h

a n d F r e n c h t o n i g h t s e n t a n u l t i m a t u m t o H i t l e r t o w i t h -

d r a w h i s t r o o p s f r o m P o l a n d o r t h e i r a m b a s s a d o r s w i l l

a s k f o r t h e i r p a s s p o r t s . P r e s u m a b l y t h e y w i l l g e t t h e i r

p a s s p o r t s .

LATER . T w o t h i r t y a . m .- A l m o s t t h r o u g h

o u r f i r s t b l a c k - o u t . T h e c i t y i s c o m p l e t e l y d a r k e n e d .

I t t a k e s a l i t t l e g e t t i n g u s e d t o . Y o u g r o p e a r o u n d t h e

p i t c h - b l a c k s t r e e t s a n d p r e t t y s o o n y o u r e y e s g e t u s e d

t o i t . Y o u c a n m a k e o u t t h e w h i t e w a s h e d c u r b s t o n e s .

W e h a d o u r f i r s t a i r - r a i d a l a r m a t s e v e n p . m . I w a s a t

t h e r a d i o j u s t b e g i n n i n g m y s c r i p t f o r a b r o a d c a s t a t

e i g h t f i f t e e n . T h e l i g h t s w e n t o u t , a n d a l l t h e G e r m a n

e m p l o y e e s g r a b b e d t h e i r g a s - m a s k s a n d , n o t a l i t t l e

f r i g h t e n e d , r u s h e d f o r t h e s h e l t e r . N o o n e o f f e r e d m e

a m a s k , b u t t h e w a r d e n s i n s i s t e d t h a t I g o t o t h e c e l l a r .

I n t h e d a r k n e s s a n d c o n f u s i o n I e s c a p e d o u t s i d e a n d

w e n t d o w n t o t h e s t u d i o s , w h e r e I f o u n d a s m a l l r o o m

i n w h i c h a c a n d l e w a s b u r n i n g o n a t a b l e . T h e r e I

s c r i b b l e d o u t m y n o t e s . N o p l a n e s c a m e o v e r . B u t w i t h

t h e E n g l i s h a n d F r e n c h i n , i t m a y b e d i f f e r e n t t o m o r -

r o w . I s h a l l t h e n b e i n t h e b y n o m e a n s p l e a s a n t p r e d i c a -

m e n t o f h o p i n g t h e y b o m b t h e h e l l o u t o f t h i s t o w n



°0 0 0 - 1939 B E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 3

n i n e o ' c l o c k t h i s m o r n i n g S i r N e v i l e H e n d e r s o n c a l l e d

o n t h e G e r m a n F o r e i g n M i n i s t e r a n d h a n d e d h i m a n o t e

g i v i n g G e r m a n y u n t i l e l e v e n o ' c l o c k t o a c c e p t t h e B r i t -

i s h d e m a n d t h a t G e r m a n y w i t h d r a w h e r t r o o p s f r o m

P o l a n d . H e r e t u r n e d t o t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e s h o r t l y

a f t e r e l e v e n a n d w a s h a n d e d t h e G e r m a n r e p l y i n t h e

f o r m o f a m e m o r a n d u m. T h e e x t r a s a r e o u t o n t h e

s t r e e t s n o w. T h e n e w s b o y s a r e g i v i n g t h e m a w a y . T h e

D . A . Z . h e r e. I t s h e a d l i n e s

B R I T I S H ULTIMATUM TURNED DOWNENGLAND DECLARES A STATE OF WAR

WITH GERMANYB R I T I S H NOTE DEMANDS WITHDRAWAL

OF OUR TROOPS I N THE EASTTHE FI HRER LEAVING TODAY FOR THE FRONT

A t y p i c a l h e a d l i n e o v e r t h e o f f i c i a l a c c o u n t

GERMAN MEMORANDUM PROVESENGLAND'S GUILT

I w a s s t a n d i n g i n t h e W i l h e l m p l a t z a b o u t n o o n w h e n

t h e l o u d - s p e a k e r s s u d d e n l y a n n o u n c e d t h a t E n g l a n d

h a d d e c l a r e d h e r s e l f a t w a r w i t h G e r m a n y. S o m e 2 5 0

p e o p l e w e r e s t a n d i n g t h e r e i n t h e s u n. T h e y l i s t e n e d

a t t e n t i v e l y t o t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t. W h e n i t w a s f i n i s h e d ,

t h e r e w a s n o t a m u r m u r. T h e y j u s t s t o o d t h e r e a s t h e y

w e r e b e f o r e . S t u n n e d. T h e p e o p l e c a n n o t r e a l i z e y e t

t h a t H i t l e r h a s l e d t h e m i n t o a w o r l d w a r. N o i s s u e h a s

b e e n c r e a t e d f o r t h e m y e t , t h o u g h a s t h i s d a y w e a r s o n ,

i t i s p l a i n t h a t" A l b i o n ' s p e r f i d y "

w i l l b e c o m e t h e i s s u e

a s i t d i d i n 1 9 1 4. I n Mein Kampf H i t l e r s a y s t h e g r e a t -

e s t m i s t a k e t h e K a i s e r m a d e w a s t o f i g h t E n g l a n d , a n d

G e r m a n y m u s t n e v e r r e p e a t t h a t m i s t a k e .

I t h a s b e e n a l o v e l y S e p t e m b e r d a y , t h e s u n s h i n i n g ,

t h e a i r b a l m y , t h e s o r t o f d a y t h e B e r l i n e r l o v e s t o s p e n d



1 9 3 9B E E L I N , September 3 1 0 0 1

i n t h e w o o d s o r o n t h e l a k e s n e a r b y. I w a l k e d i n t h e

s t r e e t s . O n t h e f a c e s o f t h e p e o p l e a s t o n i s h m e n t , d e -

p r e s s i o n . U n t i l t o d a y t h e y h a v e b e e n g o i n g a b o u t t h e i r

b u s i n e s s p r e t t y m u c h a s u s u a l . T h e r e w e r e f o o d c a r d s

a n d s o a p c a r d s a n d y o u c o u l d n ' t g e t a n y g a s o l i n e a n d

a t n i g h t i t w a s d i f f i c u l t s t u m b l i n g a r o u n d i n t h e b l a c k -

o u t . B u t t h e w a r i n t h e e a s t h a s s e e m e d a b i t f a r a w a y

t o t h e m- w o m o o n l i g h t n i g h t s a n d n o t a s i n g l e P o l i s h

p l a n e o v e r B e r l i n t o b r i n g d e s t r u c t i o n - n d t h e p a -

p e r s s a y i n g t h a t G e r m a n t r o o p s h a v e b e e n a d v a n c i n g

a l l a l o n g t h e l i n e , t h a t t h e P o l i s h a i r f o r c e h a s b e e n

d e s t r o y e d . L a s t n i g h t I h e a r d G e r m a n s t a l k i n g o f t h e

" P o l i s h t h i n g "l a s t i n g b u t a f e w w e e k s , o r m o n t h s a t

t h e m o s t. F e w b e l i e v e d t h a t B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e w o u l d

m o v e . R i b b e n t r o p w a s s u r e t h e y w o u l d n ' t a n d h a d t o l d

t h e F i i h r e r , w h o b e l i e v e d h i m . T h e B r i t i s h a n d F r e n c h

h a d b e e n a c c o m m o d a t i n g b e f o r e. A n o t h e r M u n i c h , w h y

n o t ? Y e s t e r d a y , w h e n i t s e e m e d t h a t L o n d o n a n d P a r i s

w e r e h e s i t a t i n g , e v e r y o n e , i n c l u d i n g t h o s e i n t h e W i l -

h e l m s t r a s s e , w a s o p t i m i s t i c . W h y n o t ?

I n 1 9 1 4 , I b e l i e v e , t h e e x c i t e m e n t i n B e r l i n o n t h e

f i r s t d a y o f t h e W o r l d W a r w a s t r e m e n d o u s . T o d a y ,

n o e x c i t e m e n t , n o h u r r a h s , n o c h e e r i n g , n o t h r o w i n g o f

f l o w e r s , n o w a r f e v e r , n o w a r h y s t e r i a . T h e r e i s n o t e v e n

a n y h a t e f o r t h e F r e n c h a n d B r i t i s h - e s p i t e H i t l e r ' s

v a r i o u s p r o c l a m a t i o n s t o t h e p e o p l e , t h e p a r t y , t h e E a s t

A r m y , t h e W e s t A r m y , a c c u s i n g t h e " E n g l i s h w a r -

m o n g e r s a n d c a p i t a l i s t i c J e w s " o f s t a r t i n g t h i s w a r.

W h e n I p a s s e d t h e F r e n c h a n d B r i t i s h e m b a s s i e s t h i s

a f t e r n o o n , t h e s i d e w a l k i n f r o n t o f e a c h o f t h e m w a s

d e s e r t e d . A l o n e S c h u p op a c e d u p a n d d o w n b e f o r e

e a c h .

A t l u n c h - t i m e w e g a t h e r e d i n t h e c o u r t y a r d o f t h e

A d l o n f o r d r i n k s w i t h a d o z e n m e m b e r s o f t h e B r i t i s h

E m b a s s y s t a f f . T h e y s e e m e d c o m p l e t e l y u n m o v e d b y



R0$ 1939 B E RL I N, S e p t e m b e r 4

e v e n t s . T h e y t a l k e d a b o u t dogs a n d s u c h s t u f f . S o m e

m y s t e r y a b o u t t h e F r e n c h n o t a c t i n g i n c o n c e r t w i t h

t h e B r i t i s h t o d a y , C o u l o n d r e ' s u l t i m a t u m n o t r u n n i n g

o u t u n t i l f i v e p . m . , s i x h o u r s a f t e r B r i t a i n w a s a t w a r .

B u t t h e F r e n c h t e l l u s t h i s w a s d u e t o f a u l t y c o m m u n i -

c a t i o n s w i t h P a r i s . '

T h e H i g h C o m m a n d l e t s i t b e k n o w n t h a t o n t h e

w e s t e r n f r o n t t h e G e r m a n s w o n ' t f i r e f i r s t a g a i n s t t h e

F r e n c h .

LATER . - r o a d c a s t a l l a f t e r n o o n a n d e v e -

n i n g . T h i r d n i g h t o f t h e b l a c k -o u t . N o b o m b s , t h o u g h

w e r a t h e r e x p e c t e d t h e B r i t i s h a n d F r e n c h . T h e n e w s -

p a p e r s c o n t i n u e t o p r a i s e t h e d e c r e e a g a i n s t l i s t e n i n g

i n t o f o r e i g n b r o a d c a s t s ! W h a t a r e t h e y a f r a i d o f ?

B E R L I N , September 4

A f t e r m i d n i g h t a n d n o a i r - r a i d , e v e n w i t h t h e

B r i t i s h a n d F r e n c h i n t h e w a r . C a n i t b e t h a t i n t h i s

n e w W o r l d W a r t h e y ' r e n o t g o i n g t o b o m b t h e b i g

c i t i e s , t h e c a p i t a l s , t h e c i v i l i a n s , t h e w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n

a t h o m e , a f t e r a l l ? T h e p e o p l e h e r e b r e a t h i n g e a s i e r

a l r e a d y . T h e y d i d n ' t s l e e p m u c h t h e f i r s t c o u p l e o f

n i g h t s .

O n t h e f e e d b a c k f r o m N e w Y o r k t o n i g h t I h e a r d t h e

s t o r y o f t h e s i n k i n g o f t h e A t h e n i a w i t h 1, 40 0 p a s -

s e n g e r s , i n c l u d i n g 2 4 0 A m e r i c a n s , a b o a r d . T h e E n g -

l i s h s a i d i t w a s a G e r m a n U - b o a t . The Germansp r o m p t l y d e n i e d i t , t h o u g h t h e G e r m a n p r e s s a n d r a d i o

h a v e b e e n f o r b i d d e n t o m e n t i o n t h e m a t t e r u n t i l t o -

morrow . I f e l t l o u s y t a l k i n g f r o m h e r e a t a l l t o n i g h t

a f t e r t h a t s t o r y a n d w e n t o u t o f m y w a y t o e x p l a i n m y

1 A c t u a l l y B o n n e t b o a s t e d a f t e r t h e F r a n c o - G e r m a n a r m i s t i c e

t h a t h e h a d r e f u s e d t h e p l e a o f H a l i f a x f o r a s i m u l t a n e o u s d e c l a r a -

t i o n o f w a r. H e p l a y e d f o r p e a c e a t a n y p r i c e u n t i l t h e v e r y e n d .



1 9 3 9 B E R L I N ,S e p t e m b e r 5

$ 0 3

p e r s o n a l p o s i t i o n a s a n A m e r i c a n b r o a d c a s t e r - h a t I

h a d b e e n a s s i g n e d t o g i v e t h e n e w s f r o m G e r m a n y , t h a t

o f f i c i a l s t a t e m e n t s s u c h a s t h e d e n i a l t h a t a G e r m a n

s u b m a r i n e h a d t o r p e d o e d t h e Athena w e r e p a r t o f t h a t

n e w s , a n d t h a t m y o r d e r s f r o m h o m e w e r e t o r e f r a i n

f r o m e x p r e s s i n g m y p e r s o n a l o p i n i o n s . T h e H i g h C o m -

m a n d h a s i n s t a l l e d m i l i t a r y c e n s o r s h i p o f e v e r y t h i n g 1

s a y , b u t f o r t u n a t e l y t h e c h i e f c e n s o r i s a n a v a l o f f i c e r ,

a n h o n o u r a b l e a n d d e c e n t m a n . I h a v e h a d s o m e w a r m

w o r d s w i t h h i m t h e l a s t c o u p l e o f d a y s , b u t w i t h i n t h e

l i m i t s o f h i s j o b h e h a s b e e n r e a s o n a b l e .

T h e w a r i s s t a r t i n g t o h u r t t h e a v e r a g e m a n . T o -

n i g h t a d e c r e e p r o v i d i n g f o r a s u r t a x o n t h e i n c o m e t a x

o f a s t r a i g h t f i f t y p e r c e n t a n d a b i g i n c r e a s e i n t h e

t a x o n b e e r a n d t o b a c c o . A l s o a d e c r e e f i x i n g p r i c e s a n d

w a g e s .

T h e s t a f f s o f t h e F r e n c h a n d B r i t i s h e m b a s s i e s g o t

a w a y t o d a y i n t w o b i g P u l l m a n t r a i n s . I w a s a l i t t l e

s t r u c k b y t h e w e i r d f a c t t h a t w h i l e t h e k i l l i n g g o e s o n ,

a l l t h e d i p l o m a t i c n i c e t i e s w e r e s t r i c t l y o b s e r v e d b y b o t h

s i d e s t o t h e v e r y l a s t .

T h e f a c e s o f t h e G e r m a n s w h e n w o r d c a m e i n l a t e

t o n i g h t t h a t t h e B r i t i s h h a d b o m b e d C u x h a v e n a n d

W i l h e l m s h a v e n f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e ! T h i s w a s b r i n g i n g

t h e w a r h o m e , a n d n o b o d y s e e m e d t o l i k e i t .


V e r y s t r a n g e a b o u t t h a t w e s t e r n f r o n t . T h e

W i l l i e l m s t r a s s e a s s u r e d u s t o d a y t h a t n o t a s i n g l e s h o t

h a s b e e n f i r e d t h e r e y e t . I n d e e d , o n e o f f i c i a l t o l d m e -

t h o u g h I d o u b t h i s w o r d - h a t t h e G e r m a n f o r c e s o n

t h e F r e n c h b o r d e r w e r e b r o a d c a s t i n g i n F r e n c h t o t h e

p o i l u s : " W e w o n ' t s h o o t i f y o u d o n ' t . " S a m e i n f o r m a n t

c l a i m e d t h e F r e n c h h a d h o i s t e d a s t r e a m e r f r o m a b a l -



1 0 0 4 1939 BERLIN, S e p t e m b e r 6

l o o ns a y i n g t h e same t h i n g . Today t h e RRG 1 g a v e

i t s f i r s t b r o a d c a s t f r o m t h e f r o n t , a n d i t s o u n d e d p l e n t y

r e a l i s t i c . I t w a s o f c o u r s e a r e c o r d i n g. T h e G e r m a n s

s a y t h e y w i l l l e t m e d o r a d i o r e c o r d i n g s a t t h e f r o n t ,

b u t A m e r i c a n n e t w o r k s w o n ' t p e r m i t t h e b r o a d c a s t i n g

o f r e c o r d i n g s - a p i t y , b e c a u s e i t i s t h e o n l y w a y r a d i o

c a n r e a l l y c o v e r t h e w a r f r o m t h e f r o n t . I t h i n k w e ' r e

t h r o w i n g a w a y a t r e m e n d o u s o p p o r t u n i t y , t h o u g h G o d

k n o w s I h a v e n o b u r n i n g d e s i r e t o d i e a h e r o ' s d e a t h a t

t h e f r o n t . T h e f o r t r e s s o f G r a u d e n z fe l l t o d a y a n d t h e

G e r m a n s h a v e s m a s h e d t h r o u g h t h e C o r r i d o r . A f t e r a

s l o w s t a r t t h e y s e e m t o b e g o i n g a w f u l l y f a s t. I n t h e

s o u t h C r a c o w i s s u r r o u n d e d .


C r a c o w , s e c o n d t o w n o f P o l a n d , w a s c a p t u r e d

t h i s a f t e r n o o n . T h e H i g h C o m m a n d a l s o s t a t e s t h a t

K i e l c e h a s f a l l e n . L o o k i n g f o r i t o n m y m a p , I w a s

a m a z e d t o f i n d t h a t i t l i e s w a y t o t h e e a s t o f b o t h L o d z

a n d C r a c o w , a l m o s t d u e s o u t h o f W a r s a w . N o b o d y h a d

a n y i d e a t h e G e r m a n a r m y h a d g o t t h a t f a r. I n o n e

w e e k t h e G e r m a n s h a v e p u s h e d f a r b e y o n d t h e i r 1 9 1 4

f r o n t i e r s . I t b e g i n s t o l o o k l i ke a r o u t f o r t h e P o l e s.

I l e a r n e d t o n i g h t t h a t t h e l i n e r B r e m e n h a s s u c c e e d e d

i n e v a d i n g t h e B r i t i s h b l o c k a d e a n d t o d a y p u t i n a t

M u r m a n s k o n t h e n o r t h e r n c o a s t o f R u s s i a a f t e r a d a s h

from New York . I ' m p r e t t y s u r e I ' m t h e o n l y o n e i n

t o w n w h o kn o w s i t a n d I l e d o f f m y b r o a d c a s t w i t h t h e

y a r n . A t t h e l a s t m i n u t e t h e m i l i t a r y c e n s o r r u s h e d i n

a n d c u t i t o u t; s a i d I c o u l d n ' t m e n t i o n i t .

LATER .-Joe [Barnes] and I met in myr o o m a t o n e a . m . t o t a l k t h i n g s o v e r

. W e h a v e a n i d e a

1 R e i c h , R u n d f u n k G e s e l l s c h a f t - t h e G e r m a n S t a t e B r o a d c a s t i n g

C o m p a n y .



1 9 3 9 BERLIN, S e p t e m b e r 8 2 0 5

t h a t B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e w i l l n o t s h e d m u c h b l o o d o n

t h e w e s t e r n f r o n t , b u t w i l l m a i n t a i n a n i r o n b l o c k a d e

a n d w a i t f o r G e r m a n y t o c o l l a p s e . I n t h e m e a n t i m e

P o l a n d w i l l o f c o u r s e b e o v e r r u n .


H a v e h e a r d m u c h t a l k t o d a y a b o u t p e a c e !

I d e a i s t h a t a f t e r G e r m a n y ' s v i c t o r y o v e r P o l a n d H i t l e r

w i l l o f f e r t h e W e s t p e a c e. I w r o t e t h i s r a t h e r c a r e f u l l y

f o r m y b r o a d c a s t t h i s e v e n i n g , b u t t h e c e n s o r w o u l d n ' t

a l l o w a w o r d o f i t .

I t ' s j u s t a w e e k s i n c e t h e " c o u n t e r - a t t a c k " b e g a n

a n d t o n i g h t I l e a r n f r o m a n a r m y f r i e n d t h a t t h e G e r -

m a n s a r e w i t h i n t w e n t y m i l e s o f W a r s a w . A n e w d e c r e e

t o d a y p r o v i d i n g t h e d e a t h p e n a l t y f o r a n y o n e" e n -

d a n g e r i n g t h e d e f e n s i v e p o w e r o f t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e "

- a t e r m w h i c h w i l l g i v e G e s t a p o c h i e f H i m m l e r p l e n t y

o f l e e w a y . A n o t h e r d e c r e e f o r c e s w o r ke r s t o a c c e p t n e w

j o b s e v e n i f t h e y p a y l o w e r w a g e s t h a n j o b s p r e v i o u s l y

h e l d .


The German High Command announces that

a t f i v e f i f t e e n p. m . t o d a y G e r m a n t r o o p s r e a c h e d W a r -

s a w. T h e r a d i o b r o a d c a s t t h e n e w s a t s e v e n f i f t e e n p . m .

I m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r w a r d s a b a n d p l a y e dD e u t s c h l a n t d

c a b e r A l l e s a n d t h e H o r s t W e s s e ls o n g . E v e n o u r m i l i -

t a r y a t t a c h e s w e r e s t u n n e d b y t h e n e w s. T h e r e w a s n o

w i l d r e j o i c i n gi n t h e s t r e e t s o f B e r l i n t o n i g h t . I n t h e

s u b w a y g o i n g o u t t o t h e r a d i o s t u d i o I n o t e d t h e s t r a n g e

i n d i f f e r e n c e o f t h e p e o p l e t o t h e b i g n e w s. A n d w h i l e

P o l a n d i s b e i n g o v e r r u n , n o t a s h o t y e t - s o t h e G e r -

m a n s s a y - n t h e w e s t e r n f r o n t ! T h e f i r s t p e r s o n t o

b e e x e c u t e d u n d e r y e s t e r d a y ' s d e c r e e - H i m m l e r h a s



2 0 6 1939 B E $ L I N , S e p t e m b e r 9

l o s t n o t i m e - i s o n e J o h a n n H e i n e n o f D e s s a u . H e

w a s s h o t , i t ' s a n n o u n c e d , " f o r r e f u s i n g t o t a k e p a r t i n

d e f e n s i v e w o r k . "

N B C a n d M u t u a l h a v e s t o p p e d t h e i r E u r o p e a n

b r o a d c a s t s . E d K l a u b e r c a b l e s w e s h a l l c o n t i n u e a l o n e .

S m a r t w e w e r e t o b u i l d u p a s t a f f o f A m e r i c a n r a d i o r e -

p o r t e r s . H o m e e a r l y t o n i g h t a t o n e a . m . f o r t h e f i r s t

t i m e s i n c e t h e w a r s t a r t e d a n d s h a l l g e t a n i g h t ' s s l e e p

f o r o n c e . H e a r d E d b r o a d c a s t i n g f r o m L o n d o n t o -

n i g h t . H e s o u n d e d d e a d t i r e d , a s a m I a f t e r b e i n g o n

t h e a i r n i g h t a n d d a y w i t h p r a c t i c a l l y n o s l e e p f o r a

m o n t h .


T h e s e c o n d a i r - r a i d a l a r m o f t h e w a r a t f o u r

a . m . t o d a y , b u t I d i d n o t h e a r i t , b e i n g e n g u l f e d i n m y

f i r s t g o o d n i g h t ' s s l e e p i n a g e s . N o m o r e n e w s o f t h e

G e r m a n a r m y ' s e n t r y i n t o W a r s a w a n d I b e g i n t o s u s -

p e c t y e s t e r d a y ' s a n n o u n c e m e n t w a s p r e m a t u r e . O . W . ,

b a c k f r o m t h e f r o n t , t o l d m e t h i s n o o n t h a t h e ' d s e e n

s o m e o f t h e h o r r i b l y m u t i l a t e d b o d i e s o f G e r m a n s k i l l e d

b y P o l e s. H e d e s c r i b e d a l s o h o w h e ' d s e e n t h e G e r m a n s

r o u n d i n g u p P o l i s h c i v i l i a n s - m e n , w o m e n , b o y s -a n d m a r c h i n g t h e m i n t o a b u i l d i n g f o r a s u m m a r y c o u r t -

m a r t i a l a n d t h e n o u t i n t o t h e b a c k y a r d a g a i n s t a w a l l ,

w h e r e t h e y w e r e d i s p o s e d o f b y G e r m a n f i r i n g s q u a d s .

O u r m i l i t a r y a t t a c h e s a y s y o u c a n d o t h a t , t h a t t h a t ' s

t h e w a y c r i c k e t i s p l a y e d w i t h f r a n c - t i r e u r s , b u t I d o n ' t

l i k e i t , e v e n i f t h e y a r e s n i p e r s , a n d I d o u b t f r o m w h a t

O. W . s a y s t h a t t h e c o u r t - m a r t i a l m a k e s a n y g r e a t e f -

f o r t t o d i s t i n g u i s h a c t u a l f r a n c - t i r e u r s f r o m t h o s e w h o s e

o n l y g u i l t i s b e i n g P o l e s .

G o r i n g b r o a d c a s t t o d a y - f r o m a l o c a l m u n i t i o n s

f a c t o r y . H e w a r n e d t h e p e o p l e i t m i g h t b e a l o n g w a r .



1939B E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 1 0 2 0 7

H e t h r e a t e n e d t e r r i b l e r e v e n g e i f t h e B r i t i s h a n d Fr e n c h

bombed Germany . H e s a i d s e v e n t y G e r m a n d i v i s i o n s

n o w i n P o l a n d w o u l d b e r e l e a s e d w i t h i n a w e e k f o r s e r v -

i c e " e l s e w h e r e . " A p p a r e n t l y t h e w a r i n P o l a n d i s a l l

b u t o v e r . M o s t o f t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n t s a b i t d e p r e s s e d .

B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e h a v e d o n e n o t h i n g o n t h e w e s t e r n

f r o n t t o r e l i e v e t h e t r e m e n d o u s p r e s s u r e o n P o l a n d. I t

b e g i n s t o l o o k a s t h o u g h i n H i t l e r w e h a v e a n e w N a -

p o l e o n w h o m a y s w e e p E u r o p e a n d c o n q u e r i t .


O n e w e e k a f t e r t h e A n g l o -F r e n c h d e c l a r a t i o n

o f a s t a t e o f w a r t h e a v e r a g e G e r m a n i s b e g i n n i n g t o

w o n d e r i f i t ' s a w o r l d w a r a f t e r a l l. H e s e e s i t t h i s w a y .

E n g l a n d a n d F r a n c e , i t i s t r u e , a r e f o r m a l l y f u l f i l l i n g

t h e i r o b l i g a t i o n s t o P o l a n d . F o r a w e e k t h e y h a v e b e e n

f o r m a l l y a t w a r w i t h G e r m a n y . B u t h a s i t b e e n w a r ?

t h e y a s k. T h e B r i t i s h , i t i s t r u e , s e n t o v e r t w e n t y - f i v e

p l a n e s t o b o m b W i l h e l m s h a v e n . B u t i f i t i s w a r , w h y

o n l y t w e n t y - f i v e ? A n d i f i t i s w a r , w h y o n l y a f e w l e a f -

l e t s o v e r t h e R h i n e l a n d ? T h e i n d u s t r i a l h e a r t o f G e r -

m a n y l i e s a l o n g t h e R h i n e c l o s e t o F r a n c e. F r o m t h e r e

c o m e m o s t o f t h e m u n i t i o n s t h a t a r e b l o w i n g u p P o l a n d

w i t h s u c h d e a d l y e f f e c t . Y e t n o t a b o m b h a s f a l l e n o n

a R h i n e l a n d f a c t o r y . I s t h a t w a r ? t h e y a s k . T h e l o n g

l a c e s I s a w a w e e k a g o t o d a y a r e n o t s o l o n g t h i s S u n -

d a y .

L i f e h e r e i s s t i l l q u i t e n o r m a l. T h e o p e r a s , t h e t h e a -

t r e s , t h e m o v i e s , a l l o p e n a n d j a m m e d.

T a n n h d u s e r a n d

M a d a m e B u t t e r f l y p l a y i n g a t t h e O p e r a . G o e t h e ' s

I p h i g e n i e a t t h e S t a t e T h e a t r e. T h e M e t r o p o l , H i t l e r ' s

f a v o u r i t e s h o w -h o u s e , a n n o u n c e s a n e w r e v u e W e d n e s -

d a y. T h e p a p e r s t o n i g h t s a y t w o h u n d r e d f o o t b a l l

m a t c h e s w e r e p l a y e d i n G e r m a n y t o d a y .



2 0 8 1 9 3 9 B E I L L I N , S e p t e m b e r 1 1


The High Commands a y s a g i g a n t i c b a t t l e

i n P o l a n d , w i t h t h e p r o s p e c t o f t h e a n n i h i l a t i o n o f t h e

P o l i s h a r m y , i s n e a r i n g i t s e n d. T h e y a r e f i g h t i n g n o w

a l o n g t h e S a n R i v e r , s o u t h - e a s t o f W a r s a w. F o r t h e

f i r s t t i m e t o d a y t h e w a r c o m m u n i q u e m e n t i o n s F r e n c h

a r t i l l e r y -f i r e o n t h e w e s t e r n f r o n t . T h e P r o t e c t o r a t e

government in Prague announced today that any

C z e c h s c a p t u r e d f i g h t i n g w i t h t h e e n e m y w o u l d b e s h o t

a s t r a i t o r s .

LATER ( m i d n i g h t ) .- I n t h e s u b w a y , g o i n g

o u t t o b r o a d c a s t t o n i g h t , I h e a r d c o n s i d e r a b l e g r u m -

b l i n g a b o u t t h e w a r. T h e w o m e n , e s p e c i a l l y , s e e m e d d e -

p r e s s e d. A n d y e t w h e n I c a m e b a c k a f t e r t h e b r o a d c a s t ,

a b i g c r o w d , m o s t l y w o m e n , g o t o n a t t h e s t a t i o n u n d e r

t h e D e u t s c h e s O p e r n h a u s . T h e y h a d b e e n t o t h e O p e r a

a n d s e e m e d o b l i v i o u s o f t h e f a c t t h a t a w a r w a s o n , t h a t

G e r m a n b o m b s a n d s h e l l s w e r e f a l l i n g o n t h e w o m e n a n d

c h i l d r e n i n W a r s a w . I d o u b t i f a n y t h i n g s h o r t o f a n

a w f u l b o m b i n g o r y e a r s o f s e m i - s t a r v a t i o n w i l l b r i n g

h o m e t h e w a r t o t h e p e o p l e h e r e.

C l a s s i c h e a d l i n e i n t h e D . A . Z . t o n i g h t: " POLES

BOMBARD WARSAW!" T h e p r e s s f u l l o f t h e m o s t

f a n t a s t i c l i e s. L a t e s t i s t h a t t w o B r i t i s h s e c r e t - s e r v i c e

a g e n t s o r g a n i z e d t h e s l a y i n g o f G e r m a n s a t B r o m b e r g .

W h e n I k i d d e d m y m i l i t a r y c e n s o r , a d e c e n t f e l l o w ,

a b o u t i t , h e b l u s h e d .

B u t o n e t h i n g - i s i t p o s s i b l e t h a t i f t h e B r i t i s h a n d

F r e n c h d e c i d e u p o n a l o n g w a r o f a t t r i t i o n , t h e m a s s o f

t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e w i l l f o r g e t t h e i r f e e l i n g s t o w a r d s t h e

r e g i m e a n d r e g a r d i t a s t h e i r d u t y t o d e f e n d t h e F a t h e r -

l a n d ? S o m e t h i n g s I ' v e h e a r d t o d a y f r o m G e r m a n s

m a k e m e t h i n k s o .



1939 B E R L I N ,S e p t e m b e r 1 4 2 0 9


Y e s t e r d a y f r o m F i i h r e r H e a d q u a r t e r s c a m e

a n o f f i c i a l a n n o u n c e m e n t s i g n e d b y t h e O b e r k o m m a n d o

( b u t o b v i o u s l y d i c t a t e d b y H i t l e r ) s a y i n g t h a t a s l o n g

a s P o l i s h c i v i l i a n s i n s i s t e d o n r e s i s t i n g t h e G e r m a n a r m y

i n t h e t o w n s , G e r m a n y w o u l d u s e e v e r y m e a n s a t i t s d i s -

p o s a l , e s p e c i a l l y a i r b o m b i n g a n d h e a v y a r t i l l e r y , t o

s h o w t h e c i v i l i a n s t h e "p o i n t l e s s n e s s o f t h e i r r e s i s t -

a n c e ." D . a n d H . and W . , w h o w e r e a t t h e f r o n t f o r

t h r e e d a y s t h i s w e e k, s a y t h a t a l m o s t e v e r y o t h e r t o w n

a n d v i l l a g e i n P o l a n d t h e y s a w w a s e i t h e r h a l f o r t o t a l l y

d e s t r o y e d b y b o m b s o r a r t i l l e r y .

A l l o f u s h e r e s t i l l b a f f l e d b y t h e i n a c t i o n o f B r i t a i n

a n d F r a n c e . I t i s o b v i o u s f r o m t h e b r o a d c a s t s o f E d

a n d T o m f r o m L o n d o n a n d P a r i s t h a t t h e A l l i e s a r e

e x a g g e r a t i n g t h e i r a c t i o n o n t h e w e s t e r n f r o n t . T h e

G e r m a n s m a i n t a i n t h a t t h e r e h a v e b e e n o n l y s k i r m i s h e s

t h e r e s o f a r a n d p o i n t o u t t h a t t h e F r e n c h a r e n o t e v e n

u s i n g a i r p l a n e s i n t h e i r " a t t a c k s ." Y . o f o u r E m b a s s y

t o o k i s s u e t o d a y w i t h A m b a s s a d o r B i d d l e ' s t e l e g r a m s

f r o m P o l a n d t e l l i n g o f t h e t e r r i b l e b o m b i n g s o f t h e

P o l i s h t o w n s . Y . h o l d s H i t l e r i s j u s t i f i e d i n b o m b i n g

a n d b o m b a r d i n g t o w n s w h e r e t h e c i v i l i a n p o p u l a t i o n

o f fe r s r e s i s t a n c e. G u e s s I ' m l o s i n g m y b a l a n c e , b u t I

d i s a g r e e .

T h e m a i d c a m e i n t o n i g h t t o s a y h o w t e r r i b l e w a r w a s .

" W h y d o t h e F r e n c h m a k e w a r o n u s ?" s h e a s ke d .

" W h y d o r y o u m a k e w a r o n t h e P o l e s ? "I s a i d .

"H u m , " s h e s a i d , a b l a n k o v e r h e r f a c e . " B u t t h e

F r e n c h , t h e y ' r e h u m a n b e i n g s , " s h e s a i d f i n a l l y .

" B u t t h e P o l e s , m a y b e t h e y ' r e h u m a n b e i n g s , " I s a i d .

" H u m , " s h e s a i d , b l a n k a g a i n .



g10 1939 B E R L I N , September 15

BERLIN, S e p t e m b e r 1 5

I h e a r d t o d a y o n v e r y g o o d a u t h o r i t y t h a t

R u s s i a m a y a t t a c k P o l a n d .

A f e w w o r d s o n a d r y s u b j e c t. H o w d o e s t h e A l l i e d

b l o c k a de a f f e c t G e r m a n y ? I t c u t s h e r o f f fr o m a b o u t 5 0

p e r c e n t o f h e r n o r m a l i m p o r t s . C h i e f p r o d u c t s o f w h i c h

G e r m a n y i s d e p r i v e d a r e : c o t t o n , t i n , n i c k e l , o i l , a n d

r u b b e r . R u s s i a m i g h t s u p p l y s o m e c o t t o n , b u t h e r t o t a l

e x p o r t s l a s t y e a r w e r e o n l y 2 . 5 p e r c e n t o f G e r m a n y ' s

a n n u a l n e e d s. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d R u s s i a c o u l d p r o b a b l y

s u p p l y G e r m a n y a l l t h e m a n g a n e s e a n d t i m b e r s h e

n e e d s , a n d - i t h R u m a n i a - n o u g h o i l f o r m i l i t a r y

p u r p o s e s a t l e a s t . I r o n ? L a s t y e a r G e r m a n y g o t a b o u t

45 p e r c e n t o f h e r i r o n o r e f r o m F r a n c e , M o r o c c o , o r

o t h e r p l a c e s f r o m w h i c h s h e i s n o w c u t o f f. B u t S w e d e n ,

N o r w a y , a n d L u x e m b u r g p r o v i d e d h e r w i t h e l e v e n m i l -

l i o n t o n s . T h e s e s u p p l i e s a r e s t i l l o p e n. A l l i n a l l , G e r -

m a n y i s c e r t a i n l y h a r d h i t b y l o s i n g t h e s o u r c e s o f 5 0

p e r c e n t o f h e r i m p o r t s . B u t w i t h t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o p e n

t o h e r i n S c a n d i n a v i a , t h e B a l k a n s , a n d R u s s i a s h e i s

n o t h i t n e a r l y s o b a d l y a s s h e w a s i n 1 91 4.

J u s t t w o w e e k s a g o t o d a y t h e g r e a t" c o u n t e r -a t t a c k "

a g a i n s t P o l a n d b e g a n . I n f o u r t e e n d a y s t h e m e c h a n i z e d

G e r m a n m i l i t a r y m a c h i n e h a s r o l l e d b a c k t h e P o l i s h

a r m y m o r e t h a n t w o h u n d r e d m i l e s , c a p t u r e d a h u n d r e d

t h o u s a n d p r i s o n e r s , a n d p r a c t i c a l l y l i q u i d a t e d P o l a n d .

T o d a y o n e G e r m a n a r m y s t a n d s b e f o r e t h e c i t a d e l i n

B r e s t -L i t o v s k , w h e r e G e r m a n y d i c t a t e d a h a r s h t r e a t y

t o B o l s h e v i k R u s s i a i n 1918 . A n o t h e r G e r m a n a r m y i s

n e a r i n g t h e R u m a n i a n b o r d e r , t h u s b r i n g i n g G e r m a n y

t o t h e f r o n t d o o r o f v a s t o i l s o u r c e s a n d s t o c k s o f w h e a t .

T o b e s u r e , a g a l l a n t P o l i s h a r m y , c o m p l e t e l y s u r -

r o u n d e d a t K u t n o , s e v e n t y - f i v e m i l e s w e s t o f W a r s a w ,

h o l d s o u t. B u t f o r h o w l o n g ? W a r s a w t o o h o l d s o u t .



1939 D A N Z I G , September 19-20 2 1 3

Dr . B o e h m e r , p r e s s c h i e f o f t h e P r o p a g a n d a M i n -

i s t r y i n c h a r g e o f t h i s t r i p , i n s i s t e d t h a t I s h a r e a d o u b l e

r o o m i n t h e h o t e l h e r e w i t h P h i l l i p J o h n s o n , a n A m e r -

i c a n f a s c i s t w h o s a y s h e r e p r e s e n t s F a t h e r C o u g h l i n ' s

S o c i a l J u s t i c e . N o n e o f u s c a n s t a n d t h e f e l l o w a n d

s u s p e c t h e i s s p y i n g o n u s f o r t h e N a z i s . F o r t h e l a s t

h o u r i n o u r r o o m h e r e h e h a s b e e n p o s i n g a s a n t i - N a z i

a n d t r y i n g t o p u m p m e f o r m y a t t i t u d e . I h a v e g i v e n

h i m n o m o r e t h a n a f e w b o r e d g r u n t s .

DANZIG, S e p t e m b e r 1 9 - 2 0 , t w o t h i r t y a . m .

S i t h e r e i n t h e l o c a l r a d i o s t a t i o n s h i v e r i n g

a n d w a i t i n g t o b r o a d c a s t a t f o u r a . m . I t a l k e d a t m i d -

n i g h t , b u t B e r l i n o n t h e p h o n e s a i d t h e y d i d n o t t h i n k

C B S p i c k e d m e u p . W e s h a l l t r y o n c e a g a i n a t f o u r .

T o d a y I h a v e h a d a g l i m p s e o f a n a c t u a l.

b a t t l e , o n e

o f t h e l a s t o f t h e P o l i s h w a r , w h i c h i s a s g o o d a s o v e r .

I t w a s g o i n g o n t w o m i l e s n o r t h o f G d y n i a o n a r i d g e

t h a t s t r e t c h e d f o r s e v e n m i l e s i n l a n d f r o m t h e s e a .

T h e r e w a s s o m e t h i n g a b o u t i t t h a t w a s v e r y t r a g i c a n d

a t t h e s a m e t i m e g r o t e s q u e .

W e s t o o d o n a h i l l c a l l e d t h e S t e r n b e r g i n t h e m i d s t

o f t h e c i t y o f G d y n i a u n d e r a h u g e - i r o n y ! -cross .

I t w a s a G e r m a n o b s e r v a t i o n p o s t . O f f i c e r s s t o o d a b o u t ,

p e e r i n g t h r o u g h f i e l d - g l a s s e s . A c r o s s t h e c i t y o v e r t h e

r o o f s o f t h e m o d e r n b u i l d i n g s o f t h i s m o d e l n e w t o w n

t h a t w a s t h e h o p e o f P o l a n d w e w a t c h e d t h e b a t t l e g o i n g

o n t w o m i l e s t o t h e n o r t h . W e h a d b e e n a w a k e n e d t h i s

m o r n i n g i n o u r b e d s i n a h o t e l a t Z o p p o t b y i t . A t

s i x a . m . t h e w i n d o w s i n m y r o o m s h o o k . The German

b a t t l e s h i p S c h l e s w i g -H o l s t e i n , a n c h o r e d i n D a n z i g , w a s

f i r i n g s h e l l s f r o m i t s e l e v e n - i n c h g u n s o v e r o u r h e a d s .

A n d n o w , w e c o u l d s e e , t h e G e r m a n s h a d t h e P o l e s s u r -

r o u n d e d o n t h r e e s i d e s , a n d t h e s e a , f r o m w h i c h G e r m a n



21 . E 1939 D A N Z Ie , S e p t e m b e r 1 9 -2 0

d e s t r o y e r s w e r e p e p p e r i n g t h e m , c u t t h e m o f f o n t h e

f o u r t h . T h e G e r m a n s w e r e u s i n g e v e r y t h i n g i n t h e w a y

o f w e a p o n s , b i g g u n s , s m a l l g u n s , t a n k s , a n d a i r p l a n e s .

T h e P o l e s h a d n o t h i n g b u t m a c h i n e - g u n s , r i f l e s , a n d

t w o a n t i - a i r c r a f t p i e c e s w h i c h t h e y w e r e t r y i n g d e s p e r -

a t e l y t o u s e a s a r t i l l e r y a g a i n s t G e r m a n m a c h i n e - g u n

p o s t s a n d G e r m a n t a n k s . Y o u c o u l d h e a r t h e d e e p r o a r

o f t h e G e r m a n a r t i l l e r y a n d t h e r a t - t a t - t a t o f t h e

m a c h i n e - g u n s o n b o t h s i d e s . T h e P o l e s - e g a t h e r e d

f r o m t h e s o u n d o f t h e i r f i r e , b e c a u s e y o u c o u l d s e e v e r y

l i t t l e , e v e n t h r o u g h g l a s s e s - o t o n l y w e r e d e f e n d i n g

t h e m s e l v e s f r o m t r e n c h e s a n d b e h i n d c l u m p s o f b u s h e s

b u t w e r e u s i n g e v e r y b u i l d i n g t h e y h e l d a s m a c h i n e -

g u n n e s t s . T h e y h a d t u r n e d t w o l a r g e b u i l d i n g s , o n e

a n o f f i c e r s ' s c h o o l , t h e o t h e r t h e G d y n i a r a d i o s t a t i o n ,

i n t o f o r t r e s s e s a n d w e r e f i r i n g m a c h i n e - g u n s f r o m s e v -

e r a l o f t h e w i n d o w s . A f t e r a h a l f -h o u r a G e r m a n s h e l l

s t r u c k t h e r o o f o f t h e s c h o o l a n d s e t i t o n f i r e . ThenG e r m a n i n f a n t r y , s u p p o r t e d - r t h r o u g h t h e g l a s s e s

i t l o o k e d a s t h o u g h t h e y w e r e l e d - y t a n k s , c h a r g e d

u p t h e h i l l a n d s u r r o u n d e d t h e b u i l d i n g . B u t t h e y d i d

n o t t a ke i t . T h e P o l e s k e p t m a c h i n e - g u n n i n g t h e m f r o m

t h e b a s e m e n t w i n d o w s o f t h e b u r n i n g b u i l d i n g . D e s -

p e r a t e a n d b r a v e t h e P o l e s w e r e . A German seaplane

h o v e r e d o v e r t h e r i d g e , s p o t t i n g f o r t h e a r t i l l e r y . L a t e r

a b o m b i n g p l a n e j o i n e d i t a n d t h e y d i v e d l o w , m a c h i n e -

g u n n i n g t h e P o l i s h l i n e s . F i n a l l y a s q u a d r o n o f N a z i

b o m b e r s a p p e a r e d .

I t w a s a h o p e l e s s p o s i t i o n f o r t h e P o l e s . A n d y e t t h e y

f o u g h t o n . T h e G e r m a n o f f i c e r s w i t h u s k e p t p r a i s i n g

t h e i r c o u r a g e . D i r e c t l y b e l o w u s i n G d y n i a ' s s t r e e t s ,

w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n s t o o d a b o u t , s u l l e n a n d s i l e n t ,

w a t c h i n g t h e u n e q u a l b a t t l e . B e f o r e s o m e o f t h e b u i l d -

i n g s l o n g l i n e s o f P o l e s s t o o d w a i t i n g f o r f o o d . B e f o r e



1 9 3 9 D A N Z I G , S e p t e m b e r 1 9- 2 0 21 5

m o u n t i n g t h e h i l l I h a d n o t e d t h e t e r r i b l e b i t t e r n e s s i n

t h e i r f a c e s , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h o s e o f t h e w o m e n .

W e w a t c h e d t h e b a t t l e u n t i l n o o n. I n t h a t t i m e t h e

G e r m a n s m u s t h a v e a d v a n c e d a b o u t a q u a r t e r o f a m i l e.

T h e i r i n f a n t r y , t h e i r t a n k s , t h e i r a r t i l l e r y , t h e i r s i g n a l

c o r p s , a l l s e e m e d t o w o r k a s a p r e c i s e m a c h i n e . T h e r e

w a s n o t t h e s l i g h t e s t s i g n o f s t r a i n o r e x c i t e m e n t i n t h e

G e r m a n o f f i c e r s a t o u r o b s e r v a t i o n p o s t . V e r y b u s i n e s s -

l i k e t h e y w e r e , r e m i n d i n g m e o f t h e c o a c h e s o f a c h a m -

p i o n s h i p f o o t b a l l t e a m w h o s i t o n t h e s i d e l i n e s a n d

c a l m l y a n d c o n f i d e n t l y w a t c h t h e m a c h i n e t h e y ' v e

c r e a t e d p e r f o r m a s t h e y k n e w a l lt h e t i m e i t w o u l d .

A s w e p r e p a r e d t o g o , J o e [ B a r n e s ] t u r n e d t o m e.

" T r a g i c a n d g r o t e s q u e , " h e s a i d. I t w a s , a l l r i g h t

.

T h e u n e q u a l b a t t l e , t h e d a z e d c i v i l i a n s i n t h e s t r e e t s

b e l o w

-r a g i c i n d e e d

. A n d g r o t e s q u e t h e s p e c t a c l e o f

u s , w i t h l i t t l e d a n g e r t o o u r s e l v e s , s t a n d i n g t h e r e w a t c h -

i n g t h e k i l l i n g a s t h o u g h i t w e r e a f o o t b a l l g a m e a n d

w e n i c e l y p l a c e d i n t h e g r a n d - s t a n d. G r o t e s q u e , t o o , t o

h a v e a g r a n d -s t a n d s e a t f r o m w h i c h t o w a t c h t h e w o m e n

i n t h e s t r e e t s b e l o w , f o r w h o m a l l t h e t h u n d e r o f t h e

g u n s t h a t w e w e r e h e a r i n g w a s a b i t t e r p e r s o n a l t r a g e d y.

A s w e l e f t I a s k e d a n o f f i c e r a b o u t t h e P o l i s h a r t i l l e r y .

" T h e y h a v e n ' t a n y , " h e s a i d . "I f t h e y h a d j u s t o n e

` 7 5 , ' t h e y c o u l d h a v e b l o w n u s a l l t o b i t s. I t ' s o n l y t w o

m i l e s o v e r t h e r e , a n d t h i s w o u l d h a v e b e e n a n a t u r a l

t a r g e t . "

W e d r o v e t o t h e W e s t e r p l a t t e , a s m a l l i s l a n d b e t w e e n

D a n z i g a n d t h e s e a w h i c h h a d b e e n u s e d b y t h e P o l e s

a s a s u p p l y d e p o t. F o r f i v e d a y s a s m a l l P o l i s h g a r r i s o n

h a d h e l d o u t o n t h e i s l a n d a g a i n s t t h e e l e v e n - i n c h g u n s

o f t h e S c h l e s w i g - H o l s t e i nf i r i n g a t p o i n t - b l a n k r a n g e

a n d S t u k a s d r o p p i n g f i v e - h u n d r e d -p o u n d b o m b s . E v e n

t h e G e r m a n s r e c o g n i z e d i t s b r a v e r y , a n d w h e n t h e P o l e s



2 1 61 9 3 9 D A N Z I G ,

S e p t e m b e r 1 9 - 2 0

f i n a l l y s u r r e n d e r e d , t h e i r c o m m a n d e r w a s a l l o w e d t o

k e e p h i s s w o r d. T o d a y t h e W e s t e r p l a t t e l o o k e d l i k e

t h e w a s t e l a n d a r o u n d V e r d u n. I n t e r e s t i n g :

the bombs

t o s s e d b y t h e S t u k a s w e r e m o r e d e a d l y a n d m o r e a c -

c u r a t e t h a n t h e s h e l l s f r o m t h e o l d b a t t l e s h i p. A r o u n d

P o l i s h b u n k e r n o t o v e r f o r t y f e e t i n d i a m e t e r h a d r e -

c e i v e d t w o d i r e c t h i t s f r o m f i v e - h u n d r e d - p o u n d b o m b s .

T h e t e n - f o o t t h i c k n e s s o f c o n c r e t e a n d s t e e l h a d b e e n

t o r n t o p i e c e s l i k e t i s s u e p a p e r. N e a r b y w e s a w t h e

g r a v e s o f w h a t w a s l e f t o f t h e P o l e s w h o h a d b e e n i n -

s i d e .

I n t h e a f t e r n o o n w e d r o v e t o t h e D a n z i g G u i l d H a l l ,

a G o t h i c b u i l d i n g o f g r e a t b e a u t y , t o h e a r H i t l e r m a k e

h i s f i r s t s p e e c h s i n c e h i s R e i c h s t a g a d d r e s s o f S e p t e m -

b e r 1 s t a r t e d o f f t h e w a r. I h a d a s e a t o n t h e a i s l e , a n d

a s h e s t r o d e p a s t m e t o t h e r o s t r u m I t h o u g h t h e l o o k e d

m o r e i m p e r i o u s t h a n I h a d e v e r s e e n h i m. A l s o h e w a s

a b o u t a s a n g r y d u r i n g h i s s p e e c h a s I ' v e e v e r s e e n h i m.

W h e n h e s p o ke o f B r i t a i n h i s f a c e f l a m e d u p i n h y s t e r -

i c a l r a g e. A f t e r w a r d s a N a z i a c q u a i n t a n c e c o n f i d e d t o

m e t h a t t h e " old man "w a s i n a t e r r i b l e r a g e b e c a u s e

h e h a d c o u n t e d o n m a k i n g t o d a y ' s s p e e c h i n W a r s a w ,

t h a t h e h a d w a i t e d t h r e e o r f o u r d a y s o u t s i d e t h e P o l i s h

c a p i t a l , b u r n i n g t o e n t e r i t l i k e a c o n q u e r i n g C a e s a r

a n d m a ke h i s s p e e c h o f v i c t o r y , a n d t h a t w h e n t h e P o l e s

i n s i d e r e f u s e d t o s u r r e n d e r a n d e a c h d a y c o n t i n u e d t h e i r

s t u b b o r n r e s i s t a n c e , h i s p a t i e n c e h a d c r a c k e d a n d h e

r u s h e d t o D a n z i g t o m a k e h i s s p e e c h. H e h a d t o t a l k !

W e h a d e x p e c t e d H i t l e r t o o f f e r p e a c e t o t h e W e s t a n d

a n n o u n c e w h a t t h e f u t u r e o f P o l a n d w o u l d b e. H e d i d

n e i t h e r , m e r e l y r e m a r k i n g t h a t P o l a n d w o u l d n e v e r b e

r e - c r e a t e d o n t h e V e r s a i l l e s m o d e l a n d t h a t h e h a d n o

w a r a i m s a g a i n s t B r i t a i n a n d F r a n c e , b u t w o u l d f i g h t

t h e m i f t h e y c o n t i n u e d t h e w a r. W h e n H i t l e r b r u s h e d

past me going down the aisle, he was followed by



1 9 3 9 B E F L I N, September 20 f17

H i m m l e r , B r u c k n e r , K e i t e l , a n d s e v e r a l o t h e r s , a l l i n

d u s t y f i e l d - g r e y . M o s t o f t h e m w e r e u n s h a v e n a n d I

m u s t s a y t h e y l o o k e d l i k e a p a c k o f C h i c a g o g a n g s t e r s .

H i m m l e r , w h o i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r H i t l e r ' s p r o t e c t i o n ,

k e p t s h o v i n g p e o p l e b a c k i n t h e a i s l e , m u t t e r i n g a t

t h e m . T h e a r m y , I h e a r , w o u l d l i k e t o g e t r i d o f h i m ,

b u t f e a r t o d o s o. T h e b l a c k - o u t w a s c a l l e d o f f h e r e

t o n i g h t . I t w a s g o o d t o s e e t h e l i g h t s a g a i n .


H i t l e r l e n t u s o n e o f h i s t h i r t y - t w o - p a s s e n g e r

p l a n e s t o b r i n g u s b a c k f r o m D a n z i g . T o n i g h t t h e

p r e s s t a l k s o p e n l y o f p e a c e . S a y s t h e F r a n kf u r t e r

Z e i t u n g : " W h y s h o u l d E n g l a n d a n d F r a n c e w a s t e

t h e i r b l o o d a g a i n s t o u r W e s t w a l l ? S i n c e t h e P o l i s h

s t a t e h a s c e a s e d t o e x i s t , t h e t r e a t i e s o f a l l i a n c e w i t h i t

h a v e n o m o r e s e n s e . " A l l t h e G e r m a n s I ' v e t a l k e d t o

t o d a y a r e d e a d s u r e w e s h a l l h a v e p e a c e w i t h i n a m o n t h .

T h e y a r e i n h i g h s p i r i t s . W h e n I s a i d t o s o m e o f t h e m

t o d a y t h a t t h e b e s t t i m e t o h a v e w a n t e d p e a c e w a s t h r e e

w e e k s a g o , b e f o r e H i t l e r a t t a c k e d P o l a n d , a n d t h a t

m a y b e t h e B r i t i s h a n d F r e n c h w o u l d n ' t m a k e p e a c e

n o w , t h e y l o o k e d a t m e a s i f I w e r e c r a z y . P e a c e n o w ,

I f e e l , w o u l d o n l y b e a n a r m i s t i c e d u r i n g w h i c h H i t l e r

w o u l d f u r t h e r u n d e r m i n e t h e s p i r i t o f r e s i s t a n c e i n t h e

d e m o c r a c i e s a n d s t r e n g t h e n h i s o w n a r m e d f o r c e s u n t i l

t h e d a y w h e n h e f e l t s u r e h e c o u l d o v e r r u n t h e w e s t o f

E u r o p e .

T h e b a t t l e w h i c h i s n e a r l y o v e r w e s t o f W a r s a w a n d

w h i c h w i l l p r o b a b l y g o d o w n i n h i s t o r y a s t h e B a t t l e

o f K u t n o i s a s e c o n d T a n n e n b e r g. I a s k e d a G e n e r a l

S t a f f o f f i c e r a b o u t t h a t t o d a y . H e g a v e m e s o m e f i g u r e s .

A t T a n n e n b e r g t h e R u s s i a n s l o s t 9 2 , 0 0 0 p r i s o n e r s a n d

2 8 , 0 0 0 d e a d. Y e s t e r d a y a t K u t n o a l o n e t h e G e r m a n s



1 9 3 9 B E R L I N , S e p t e m b e r 2 1° 2

19

o f a l l c l a s s e s , w o m e n a s w e l l a s m e n , h a v e g a t h e r e d i n

f r o n t o f t h e w i n d o w s i n B e r l i n f o r a f o r t n i g h t a n d a p -

p r o v i n g l y g a z e d a t t h e m a p s i n w h i c h l i t t l e r e d p i n s

s h o w e d t h e v i c t o r i o u s a d v a n c e o f t h e G e r m a n t r o o p s i n

P o l a n d . A s l o n g a s t h e G e r m a n s a r e s u c c e s s f u l a n d d o

n o t h a v e t o p u l l i n t h e i r b e l t s t o o m u c h , t h i s w i l l n o t

b e a n u n p o p u l a r w a r .

I n t h e S a a r v i l l a g e o f O t t w e i l e r y e s t e r d a y t h e G e r -

m a n s b u r i e d w i t h f u l l m i l i t a r y h o n o u r s L i e u t e n a n t L o u i s

P a u l D e c h a n e l o f t h e F r e n c h a r m y . H i s f a t h e r h a d

b e e n P r e s i d e n t o f F r a n c e . H e w a s k i l l e d l e a d i n g a d e -

t a c h m e n t a g a i n s t t h e W e s t w a l l. A t h i s b u r i a l a G e r -

m a n m i l i t a r y b a n d p l a y e d t h e M a r s e i l l a i s e . T h e G e r -

m a n s t o o k a n e w s - r e e l o f t h e c e r e m o n y a n d w i l l u s e i t

i n t h e i r p r o p a g a n d a t o s h o w t h e F r e n c h t h e y h a v e n ' t

a n y t h i n g a g a i n s t F r a n c e . T h e h e l l w i t h r a d i o . J u s t

l e a r n e d m y D a n z i g b r o a d c a s t d i d n o t g e t t h r o u g h .


I n a n o r d e r o f t h e d a y t o h i s t r o o p s l a s t n i g h t

G e n e r a l v o n B r a u c h i t s c h , t h e c o m m a n d e r - i n - c h i e f o f

t h e a r m y , a n n o u n c e d t h a t t h e o p e r a t i o n s a g a i n s t P o -

l a n d w e r e c o n c l u d e d . T h u s e n d s t h e " c o u n t e r - a t t a c k . "

I n e i g h t e e n d a y s t h i s a m a z i n g f i g h t i n g m a c h i n e w h i c h

i s t h e G e r m a n a r m y h a s o v e r r u n P o l a n d , a n n i h i l a t e d

i t s a r m i e s , c h a s e d i t s g o v e r n m e n t f r o m P o l i s h s o i l . B u t

W a r s a w s t i l l h o l d s o u t g a l l a n t l y .

H e a r d P r e s i d e n t R o o s e v e l t a s k t h e s p e c i a l s e s s i o n o f

C o n g r e s s t o r e p e a l t h e n e u t r a l i t y l a w a n d a l l o w c a s h -

a n d - c a r r y g o o d s t o b e s o l d t o t h o s e w h o c o u l d b u y -F r a n c e a n d B r i t a i n . H a r d l y h a d t h e P r e s i d e n t s t o p p e d

t a l k i n g b e f o r e t h e W i l h e l m s t r a s s e i s s u e d a s t a t e m e n t t o

t h e f o r e i g n p r e s s c h a r g i n g t h e P r e s i d e n t w i t h b e i n g

u n n e u t r a l. L a s t s u m m e r I t r i e d t o f i n d o u t w h e t h e r



1939 B E R L I N, September 24 221

Austria, w hic h he opposed, ha s been killed in a ction be-

fore Warsaw . A little st range . He had no command

but was with the regiment of which h e is honorary

colon el .

Starting day after tomorrow, n ew ration cards for

foo d . The German people wil l now get per week : one

pound of meat, five pounds of bread, three quarters of

a pound of fats, three quarters of a pound of sugar,

and a pound of ersatz coffee made o f roa sted barl ey

seeds . Heavy labourers are to get double rations, and

Dr . Goebbels - lever man ! - has decided to cla ssify

us foreign correspondents as heavy labourers .

BERL IN, Septem ber 24

The High Command, reviewing the Polish

campaign, s ays the fate of Pola nd was reall y decided in

eight da ys. By that time the German army had alread y

obtained its main strategical object, the trapping of

the main pa rt of the Polis h forces w ithi n the great el-

bow of the Vistula River . Some other things : 450,000

Polish troops captured, 1,200 guns taken, and 800 air ,

planes either destroyed or ca ptured ; and at the end of

eighteen days of fighting not a single Polis h divisio n,

not even a brigade, w as left intact .

Dr . Goebbels convoked a s pecia l press c onference this

morning . We piled over to the Propaganda Ministry

thinki ng maybe peace ha d c ome, o r something . The

l i t tl e Doktor stalked in , sn orting l ike a bull, and pro-

ceeded to devote his entire t ime to a n a ttack on Knick er-

bocker, whom he cal led " an international liar and

counterfeiter ." The Doc sai d that he himself, as a

journa li st, h ad never defamed an yone i n his li fe! Seems

Knick published a story saying the top Nazis h ad de-



222 1939 B E R L I N, September 26

posited gold abroad to guard against a rainy day in

case they los t the war . This made Dok tor G . furi o u s .

He revealed he had broadcast from the German short-

wave statio ns Thursday night (September 21) a call to

Knick offering him ten per cent of any sum he could

prove the Nazis had sal ted abroad . A curiou s o ffer . He

said he gave him until . Saturday night (last night) to

prove i t . Apparently Knick was at sea, bound for New

Yo rk . The story around here is tha t Knick radioed

back that a s with al l German ultimatums the time limit

had expired bef ore he received i t .

BER LIN , September 26

They buried General von Fritsch here this

morning . It rained, it was cold a nd dark - ne o f the

dreariest days I can remember in Berlin . Hitler did

not sh ow up, no r Ribbentrop, no r Himmler, though

they all returned to Berli n from the front this after-

noon . The offic ia l dea th notices i n the papers omitted

the usual " Died for Fiihrer " and said only : " Died

for the Fatherland ." Yesterday after Goebbels had

finis hed fuming, some of us correspondents gathered in

the st reet outsid e and conclu ded that F ritsch was either

shot by order of Himmler, his mortal enemy, or was so

disgusted with life and the state to which Hitler had

led Germany (disgusted perhaps too at the senseless

slaughter by German bombs and shells of the women

and children in Warsaw?) that he deliberately sought

t o b e k i l l e d ; that is, c ommitted suic ide . What, we asked,

was a general of his rank doing in the front line out-

side of Warsaw, where the snipers have been picking

off German troops at an alarming rate? Actually, I

hear, he was killed whil e advancing wi th a small det ach-

ment of sco uts u p a stre et in a suburb across the Vistula



224 1939 B E R L I N , September 2 7

staff had taken refuge i n the cel l ars of the Embassy.

N e w r e s tr i c t i o n s to d a y on c l o t h i n g . If I order a new

s ui t , m y t a i l o r m u st m a k e i t o u t of a p i e c e o f c l o t h

e x ac t l y 3 .1 metres by 144 cen t im etres. - A l s o t h e p a p e r s

i n f or m u s w e c a n n o l o n g e r g e t ou r sh o e s h a l f - s o l e d.

No more leather . We must wait f or a new s ubstitut e

material no t yet ou t .

A l s o , h o w t o s h a v e ? A d e c r e e s ay s y o u c a n h a v e o n l y

o n e p i e c e o f sh a v i n g s o a p o r o n e t u b e of s h a v i n g c r e a m

d u r i n g t h e n e x t f o ur m o n t h s . I sha l l s t art a beard.

BERLIN, September 27

W a r s aw c a p i t u l a t e d t o d a y af t e r a h e r o i c b u t

h o p e l e s s s t a nd. The High Command says the Polish

c o m m a n d e r o f fe r ed t o s u r r en d e r t h i s m o r n i n g a f t e r h e

had been " impressed by the G erman attac k. "

In t he f i r s t bat t l e be tween a naval f l ee t and a i rpl anes

(for years the ad mirals and air c ommanders have

fough t out on pap er the q uesti on whether a fleet i s vul-

n e ra b l e t o ai r a t ta c k ) t h e G e r m a n s t od a y c l a i m t o h a v e

destroy ed a Br itis h ai rcraft-ca rrier and d amaged a

b a tt l e sh i p w i t h ou t l o si n g a s i n g l e p l a ne.

I w e n t to t h e S t a t e Op e r a t o n i g h t b e f o re m y b r o a d -

c a s t , G e o r g e K i d d o f U .P . s ug g e s t i n g i t w o u l d b e g o o d

for our nerves . I t w a s t h e o p e n i n g n i g h t o f t h e s e a so n

a nd t h e p i e c e a n o l d f a v ou r i t e , W e b e r' s F re i s c h i i t z . I

was a l i ttle surpri sed at the state of my nerves. I coul d

n ot s i t t h r o ug h i t . I could not stand the sig ht of al l the

satisf ied burgh ers, men a nd women, many of them in

e v en i n g d r e ss , a n d e v en t h e m u s i c d i d n ' t s ou nd r i g h t.

A m u s i n g o nl y w a s a s p e c i a l s h e e t o f p a p e r i n t h e p r o -

gram ins tructing what to do in c ase of an a ir-raid

alarm. S i n c e t h e re i s n o c e l l a r i n t h e O p e r a, a m a p

i About 3.3 by 1 . 5 y a r d s .



1939 BER LIN , September 2 8 225

showed me how to get tomy cellar, which was Number

One K el l e r . The alarm, the instructions sa id, would be

announced from the stage . I w as then to kee p calm, call

for my hat and coat at the G a r d e r o b e , and proceed to

t h e c e l l a r. At the all -cl ear I was to re turn to the Ope ra,

check my hat and coat, and the opera would go on from

w h e r e i t l e f t o ff . There was no alarm .

Ribbentrop is in Moscow and we wonder what he's

up to .

BERLIN,September 28

At midnight tonight I did a microphone inter-

view with Germany's ace submarine skipper, Captain

Herbert Schultze. It turned out much better than I

expected . During the afternoon and evening I had had

many doubts and a big headache . With the help of

some naval officer friends, I cornered Schultze in the

Admiralty this afternoon. He was just back from his

f i r st " k i l l i n g ." He turned out to be a clean-cut fellow

of thirty , ha rd as n ai ls and ful l o f that bluf f self -c on-

fidence which you get, I su ppose, when you gamble dai ly

w i t h y o u r ow n l i f e an d t h e l i v e s of o th e r s .

He was a little of raid of his English, he said , and

after listenin g to a specimen, I was too . In fact, I

couldn't understand a word he said and we had to con-

verse in German. Someone suggested that his English

would improve during the afternoon, that he was merely

a l i t t l e r u st y. This offered hope, a nd I cabled New York

that the inte rview was on for tonight . I put my ques-

tions to him and the captain sat down to write out

answers in German . When he had fini shed a page, I

dictated an English transla tion to an Admiralty secre-

tary who for some reason wrote Englis h faultless ly but

had great difficulty in understandi ng i t when spoken .



2 2 6 1939 BERLIN, September 28

We sweated away al l afterno on - ourhours - an d

final ly achi eved a fifteen-minute script .

There were two points in the script, the very ones

which made it most interesting, which added to my own

perspiration. The captain told a story of how he had

torpedoed the British shipR o y a l S c e p t r e, but, at the

risk of his own skin, had arranged rescue of those

aboard by another British vess el, the Browning . N o w ,

a few da ys before, I remembered, L on don h ad reported

that the Royal Scept re had been torpedoed without

warning an d that the crew an d passengers, nu mbering

sixty, had presu mably perished . I wondered who was

right .

Captain Sch ultze, as w e worked ou t our in terview,

als o mentioned that he was the U-boat co mmand er who

had sent a saucy radio message to Mr . Wins ton Church-

ill a dvisi ng him of the location of a British sh ip which

he had just sunk so that the First Lord might save the

crew . But only a day or two before, Mr . Churchill had

told the Hous e of Commons that the German su bmarine

comm ande r who ha d se nt him t hat messa ge h ad been

ca pt ur ed an d was n ow a p ris on er of Hi s M aj es ty's

gov ernmen t

I reminded the captain of that, and asked him if he

could give me the text of his message. His logbook was

at Kiel, but we telephoned there and ha d the message

read back to us . That made me f eel a l ittl e better .

Shortly before the broadcast this evening so mething

else happened which made me feel better still. As we

were leavi ng the Admiral ty, an officer brough t us a

Reuter di spatch s aying that the Browning had just

landed at Bahia, Brazil, with the crew and passengers

of the R o y a l S c e p t re all safe.

One good break followed another. To my surprise,

as our broad cast got under way, the captain's English



1939 BE

B. I ,

i x , September 29 . 2 2 7

did indeed i mprove, just as predicted. His accent was

terrific , but in s ome way hi s wo rds pou red ou t very di s-

t i n c t l y . You could understand every syllable. Mos , c

men of his type, I've found, when put before a mic ro-

phone, read their lines me chanic all y. But to my delig ht

he proved to be a natural speaker , talk ing as though we

had never written a l ine . '

BERL IN, September 29

Germany's peac e offens ive i s n ow to be b ac ked

by Russia .

In Moscow last nig

signed a treaty and a declaration of purpose . The text

o f th e l a t te r te l l s t h e w h o l e s to r y

"After the German government and the government

of the U S .S .R . ,throug h a treaty si gned today, d ef-

ini tely solved question s resulting from the disi ntegra-

tion of the Poli sh state and thereby establis hed a secure

foundation for permanent peace in eastern Europe,

they jointly voice their opinion that it wou ld be in the

interest of al l na tions to bring to an end the stat e of

war presently existing between Germany and Britai n

and France . Both governments therefore will c oncen-

trate their ef forts, i f neces sa ry, i n co-operatio n with

other friendly powers, towa rds reachin g this goal .

"Should, however, the effort of both governments

remain unsuccessful, the fact would thereby be estab-

lis hed that Brit ain and Franc e are respons ible f or a c on-

tinua tion o f the war, in wh ich case the governments of

Germany and Russia will consult each other as to nec-

essa ry measures ."

i L a te r th e B r i t i s h A d m i r a l t y c o n fi r m e d h i s v e r s i o n o f b o th t h e

Royal Sceptreepisod e and the saucy messa ge to Mr

. C hurch il l , in -

cl udi ng the f act that Schultze had n ot been ca ptured.



228 1939 B E R L I N, September 3 0

T h i s i s l u d i c r ou s, b u t m a y m e a n th a t R u ss i a c o m e s

i n t o th e w a r o n th e s i d e o f G e r m a n y . The sa me Nazi

c i r c l e s w h i c h l a st A u g us t sa i d t h a t B r i t a i n a n d F ra nc e

w o u l d n ' t f i g h t a ft e r t h e f i r s t N a z i - S o v i e t ac c o r d , to -

n i g h t w e r e s u re t h a t t h e t w o d e m o c r a c i e s w o u l d a g r e e

to stop th e war now . They . m a y b e w r on g a g a i n , t h o ug h

I'm not quite sure .


T h e t a l k o f p e a c e d o m i n a te s al l e l s e h e re t o-

day. The G ermans are su re o f i t , and one o f the secre-

t a r i e s o f t h e S o v i e t Em b a s s y to l d m e t o d a y M o s c o w w a s

to o . He said London and Paris would jump at the

chance for peace now . The V o l k i s c h e B e o b ac h t e r o b -

s e r v e s t o d a y : "All Europe awa its the wo rd of peace

from London . Woe to th em who refus e it . T h e y w i l l

s o m e d a y b e s to n ed b y t h e i r o w n p e o p l e . "

Did a four-way broad cast with Lo ndon, Paris, and

New York toni ght, but see ing the show was runnin g

l a te , I s l a s h e d m y p a r t s o m uc h i t d i d n ' t m a k e m u c h

sense .

C i a n o t o s e e H i t l e r h e r e t o m o rr o w . T a l k o f t h e G e r -

m a n s u s i n g h i m t o p r e s su r e L on d o n an d P a ri s t o m a k e

p e a c e .

BERLIN, October 2

Just heard the BBC announce that Engli sh

p l a ne s h a d fl o w n o ve r B er l i n l a s t ni g h t . A su rp ri se to

u s h e r e . N o a i r - r a i d a l a rm . No so und of planes . But

they ' re al l l y i ng these days . The Ger mans sa y they've

s u n k t h e Ark Royal, for instance .

The fami ly of Elean or K . , a n at ur a l i z ed A m e ri c a n

gi rl of German parentag e who ha s been ver y hel pful



1 9 3 9BERLIN,

October 2 229

to me h ere for years, has been after me si nce yesterday

t o d o s om e t h i n g a b o ut l o c a ti n g h e r . S h e l e ft A m s t er -

d a m f o r B e r l i n a fe w d a y s a g o , b u t fa i l e d t o ar r i v e . I

w e n t o v e r t o t h e c o n s u l a t e t od a y a n d g o t G . t o p u t

t h r ou g h a b l i t z c a l l t o th e G e r m a n s ec r e t p o l i c e a t th e

Dutch border. A nswer : El eanor is under arrest there .

H o w s h a l l I e x p l a i n th a t to h e r f am i l y ?

T h e l o c a l e n t h u s i a s m f or p e a c e a l i t t l e d a m p e n ed t o-

d a y b y C h u r c h i l l ' s b ro ad c a st l a s t n i g h t . I h a v e b ee n

w o n d e r i n g a b o ut t h a t o ne t u b e of s h a v i n g c r e am m y

ra t i o n g i v e s m e fo r t h e n ex t fo u r m o n th s . My beard

w i l l b e p i n k .

A . b l e w i n S a tu r d ay ( S e p t e m b e r 3 0) a c c o m p a n i e d

b y a n A m e r i c a n g i r l h e h a d m e t i n W ar s aw . They had

b e e n w a n d er i n g i n t h e w i l d s o f e as t er n P ol a n d f or t h r e e

w e e k s - e t w e e n th e G e r m a n a nd R u s s i a n a r m i e s . He

s a i d t h e y h a d l i v e d f o r d a y s o n s t al e b r ea d , w a n d e r i n g

from vil l age to vil l age . Stale bread was all the peasants

w o u l d s e l l t h e m , t h o u g h t h e y h a d b u t te r an d e g g s a nd

meat . M os t v i l l a g e s h a d a l r e a d y s et up l o c a l s o v i e t s .

A ., wh o never loved the Poles and rather l i ked the Nazis,

says whol e vi l l ages in eastern Pol and far off the beaten

track, off the rail roads and mai n roads, vi l l ages wi th no

m i l i t ar y i m p o rt a nc e w h a t s oe v e r, h a v e b e en d e s tr oy e d

by th e German Luftwaffe for no reason he coul d thi nk

of. H e s a y s t h e G e r m a n p l a n es w o u l d o f te n d i v e o n

l o n e p e a s an t w o m e n i n l o n el y f i e l d s a nd t o ss a b o m b o n

t h e m o r m a c h i n e- g u n t h e m . ' H e s a w t h e b o d i e s . A . and

h i s l a d y f r i e n d f i n al l y m a d e t h e i r w a y t o t h e G er m a n

l i nes, rode fo r several d ays in open box-cars wi th Ger-

man refugees, and eventual l y g ot to Germany .

W h i t e y, b a c k f ro m P o l a n d , s a y s h e f l e w o v e r Wars aw

S a t ur d a y ( S e p t em b e r 3 0 ) a n d i t w a s i n f l a m e s . What

f e w b u i l d i n g s h e c o u l d s e e i n t h e h e ar t of t ow n t h a t

w e r e n' t b u r n i n g w e r e i n r u i n s . H e th i n k s t en s o f th o u -



$30

s an d s o f c i v i l i a ns i n t h e c i t y h a v e p e r i s h e d . H e s p e n t

t h re e d a y s w i t h t h e S o v i e t arm y, b u t w a s no t g rea t l y

i m p r es se d . H e w a s s tr uc k b y t h e n um b e r o f w o m e n i n

the Red a rmy . W h i t ey t o ok p a r t i n a p e c u l i a r m i s s i o n .

G o r i n g h a d a r ep o r t t h a t s e v e ra l G e r m a n ai r m e n c a p -

tured by th e Poles had been murdered i n a concentra-

tion c amp near the R uss ian border . Four German

pl anes , one wi th Whi tey and some German offic ers, the

other three l oaded w i th c offi ns, set off to fi nd the bodi es .

They d ug up graves all over eastern Pol and, but never

t h e ri g h t o ne s . Fi n al l y i n a f i e l d t h e y th o u g h t th e y

had at l ast d i scovered what they were after . T h e r e w a s

a b i g mound , fresh l y covered over . Th e y d u g fu ri o u sl y .

They found - i fty dead horses .

BERLIN, October 4

T w o c h o i c e p r e ss b i t s to d ay : The 1 2-Uhr

B l a tt h e a d l i n e i n re d i n k a l l o v e r p a g e 1 : "ENG-

LAN D' S RESPONSIBILITY - FOR THE OUT-

RAGEOUS PROVOKING OF WAR SA W TO

DEFEN D ITSELF . " The Nachtaus gabe's editorial , ar-

guing that Ameri ca i s not nearly so anx ious to jo i n the

war " a s ar e H e rr R o os ev e l t a n d h i s J e w i s h c a m a r i l l a . "

1939 BER LI N, O c t o b e r 4

BERLIN, October 5

Reich stag tomorrow . H i t l e r i s e x p e c t e d t o

offer peac e terms . N o o n e e x p e c t s t h e m t o b e v e r y g e n -

erous . He hi msel f flew to Warsaw today to hold a tri-

umph ant review of hi s troops . H e m a d e a sp e e c h t o h i s

soldi ers, the speech of a conqueri ng Caesar .

Th e p e o p l e h e re c e r t ai n l y w a n t p e ac e . T h e g o v e r n -

ment may want i t for the mo ment . W i l l B r i t ai n a nd

F r an c e m a k e i t n o w , a n d t h e n m a y b e n e x t y e a r h a v e

t o m o b i l i z e a g a i n ? H i t l e r h a s w o n th e w a r i n P o l a n d



1939 BER LI N, O c t o b e r 6 2 3 1

and l o s t the peace there - o Russia . The Soviets,

without a f igh t, get near ly half of Pola nd and a s trangle-

hold on the Baltic states and now block Germany from

its two main goals in the east, Ukrainian wheat and

Rumanian oil. Hitler is ha stily withdrawing all Ger-

mans from the Baltic states, w here most of them have

been s ettled for c enturies . Estonia has capitulated to

Moscow and agreed to the Soviets' building an air and

naval base on its soil . The foreign ministers of Latvia

and Lithuania are shuttling back and forth between

their capitals a nd Moscow trying to save the pieces .

And once the Soviets get a wedge in these Baltic s tates,

how soon will they go Bolshevik? Soon . Soon .

BERLIN, Oc tobe r 6

Hitler deli vered his much advertised "peace

proposals" in the Reichs tag at noon today . I went

over and watched the show, my nth . He delivered his

" peace proposals, " and they were almost identical with

those I 've heard h im offer from the s ame ros trum after

every conquest he has made since the march into the

Rhineland in 1936 . These must have been about the

f i f th . An d thou gh they were the fifth at leas t, and just

lik e the others, and just as s incerely spoken, most Ge r-

mans I've t alk ed to sin ce seem aghast if you s uggest that

perhaps the outsid e world wi ll put no more t rust in them

than they have learned by bitter experience to put in

the others .

Hitler of fered peace in the west if B ritain and Franc e

sta y out o f Germany's Lebensraum in eastern Europe .

The future of Poland he left in doubt, though he said

Poland would never again endanger (!) German in-

t e r e s t s . In other words, a slave Poland, similar to the

present slave Bohemia .



,0 32 1939 B E It L I N, O c t o b e r 6

I doubt very m uch i f England and France wi l l l i s ten

to these " p r op o sa l s " for fi v e mi n utes, th oug h som e of

my col l eagues th i nk so on the ground that, now th at

Russia h as come up agai nst Germany on a long front

and thi s pas t week has been busy establi shi ng hersel f

i n the Bal tic s tates, i t would be smart of London and

Pari s to concl ude peace and sit back until Germany and

R u ss i a c l a sh i n e as t ern Eu rop e . P e r ti n a x w ro t e a f e w

m o n t h s a g o t h a t th e G e rm a n p r o b l e m w o ul d n e v e r b e

settl ed unti l Germany h ad a barri er on the Eas t that

i t knew i t could not break . Then i t would stop being

expansiv e, stop di sturbi ng the rest of Europe, and turn

i ts undoubted talents and energy to more peaceful p ur-

s u i t s . Russ ia mi gh t provi de that barrier . At any ra te

Russ ia i s the wi nner in thi s war so far and Hi tler i s

enti rely dependent upon the good graces of Stali n, wh o

undoubtedl y h as no good graces for anyone but h i m-

self and Russi a .

Hi tler was cal mer today than usual . T h e r e w as m u ch

jovi al i ty but l i ttle enthusi asm among the rubber-stamp

Reic hstag deputies except w hen he boasted of German

strength . S u c h a b o a s t se t s a ny G e rm a n o n f i r e . T h e

m em b er s o f th e C ab i n e t - u p o n th e s tag e w h er e th e

opera si ngers used to p erform - tood about before

t h e s es si o n c h a tt i n g e a si l y , R i b b e nt ro p w i t h A d m i r al

R a e d e r , D r . Goebbel s wi th von Neurath, e tc . Most of

the dep uties I ta l ked to afterwards took for granted

that peac e was assured . It was a l ovel y fal l day, cold

a n d s un n y, w h i c h s e em e d t o c o n t ri b u t e to e v e ry b o d y ' s

good feeli ngs . As I wal ked over to the Reic hstag (held

a s us u al i n t h e K r ol l O p e r a) t h r o u g h t h e T i e r g a rt e n

I notic ed batteries of anti- ai rcraft everywh ere .

T h e e a rl y e d i t i o n o f to m o r ro w m o r n i n g ' s Vol k i s c h e

B e o b a c h t e r , Hi tl er's own sabre-rattler among the jour-

nal s, seems transformed i nto a dove of peace . I t s f l a m -



236

a

platform trying to get on the train, s tumbling over

baggage and into one another. I had a sleeping-car

reservation but could not find the car in the da rkness

and went back to my coach, sitting through the night

until Berlin . The corridor of the blacked-out train

packed with people who stood up all night in the dark-

ness .

At Anhalter station I bought the morning pa-

pers . Big news . "GERM AN SUB SI NKS BRITISH

BATTLESHIP R̀OYAL OAK '!" Britis h Admiralty ad-

m i t s i t . That's a blow . Wonder how i t was done . And

where?

19 39 B ERL IN, October 1 5

LA TER - ussell Hill, a very intelligent

youth of twenty-one who divi des h is time between broad-

casting for us a nd being a ssi stant co rrespondent of the

H e r a l d T r i b u n e,tells me that Wednesday (Oc tober 11)

a fal se rep ort of an armistic e cau sed s cenes o f great re -

joici ng al l over Berlin . Early in the morning, h e says,

a broadcast on the Berlin wave-length announced that

the British g overnment had fallen an d that there would

be an immediate armistice . The fat old women in the

vegetable markets, Russell reports, tossed their cab-

bages into the air, wrecked their own stands in sheer

joy, a nd made for the nearest pub to toas t the peace

with Schnaps .The awakening that afternoon when the

Berlin radi o denied the report was so methin g terrific ,

it s eems .

My room waiter tells me there was much loud anti-

ai rcraf t fire heard in Berlin l as t nigh t, the f irst si nce

the war began . Propaganda Ministry explains tonight

a German plane got lost over the city and was shot

do wn



1939 BER LI N, O c t o b e r 19 2 3 7

BERLIN, October 18

The place where the German U-boat sank the

Britis h battleshi p Royal Oakwas none other than the

middle of Scapa Flow, Britai n's greatest naval base !

It sounds incredible . A Wo rld Wa r su bmar in e c om -

mander told me tonight that the Germans tried twice

to get a U-boat into Scapa Flow during the last war,

but both a ttemps fai led a nd the submarin es were lost .

Captain Prien, commander of the submarine, came

tripping into our afternoon press conference at the

Propaganda Ministry this afternoon, followed by his

crew- boys of e'ghteen, n in eteen, twenty . Prien i s

thirt y, clean- cut, coc ky, a fanatical Nazi, an d obvious ly

capable . In trodu ced by Hitler's press c hief, Dr . D i e t ,

trich, who kept cursing the English and calling Church-

i l l a l i a r, P ri e n t ol d u s l i t tl e of h ow h e d i d i t . He said he

had no trouble getting past the boom protecting the

bay . I go t the impression, though he said nothing to

jus tify it, tha t he must hav e follo wed a Britis h craft,

perhaps a mine-sweeper, in to the base . British n egli-

gence must have been somethin g terrific .

BERLIN, October 19

Germans shut both NBC and u s o ff the ai r

this noon . I sa w Hill's script beforehand and approved

it . The Nazi censor maintained it would create a bad

impression abroad . In the afternoon I called on Dr .

Boehmer and told him we would stop broadcasting al-

together if today's action meant we could only talk

about matters which created a nice impressi on . He as-

sured me it was all a mistake . Tonight for my broad-

cast the censor let me say what I wanted . The High

Command tonight issu es a detail ed report of what has



R38 1939 B EEL I N, O c t o b e r 2 1

been happening on that mysterious western fron t .

Nothing much at all has happened, it says, and I'm

inclin ed to believe it, though Paris h as swamped Amer-

ic a for weeks w ith w il d tal es of a great F rench o ffensi ve

against the Westwall. H ig h C omm and say s G er man

lo ss es up to O ctober 1 7 in the west ha ve been 196 ki ll ed,

114 missing, 356 wounded . Which tends to prove how

local the action there has been . I'm almost convinced

that the German army tells th e truth in regard to its

actions . The navy exaggerates, the air force simply

l i e s .

BERL IN , October 21

The Wil helmstras se furio us at the Turks for

signing a mutual-assistance pact with the British day

before yesterda y . Papen jerked back here hurriedly

and was call ed before the master , my spies tell me, f or

a dressing-down . It's the f irst d iplo matic bl ow the Ger-

mans have taken in a l ong time. They don't like blows .

BER LIN , October 22

Eintopf

- ne-pot - ay - his Sunday .

Which means all you can get for lunch is a cheap stew .

But you pa y the pric e of a big meal for i t, the d ifferenc e

going to the Winter Relief, o r so they say . Actually it

goes in to the war chest . Suddenly and without warning

at eight fifteen tonight Goebbels went on the air and

blasted away at Churchill, a ccusing him of having sunk

theAthenia

. He called Churchill a liar a dozen times

and kept shouting : " Your impudent l ies, Herr Church-

i l l ! Your inf ernal l ies ! " From Goebbels !



1939 BER LIN , October 29239

BERLIN, October 24

The German people who have beenhoping

f o r p e a c e u n ti l t h e b i t t er end were f ina ll y told ton igh t

by Ribbentrop in a s peech atDanzig that the war wil l

n o w h a v e t o b e f ou g h t t o a f i n i s h . I su ppose ever y gov-

ernment that h as ever gon e to war has trie d to convin ce

i t s p e op l e of t h r ee th i n g s : ( 1 ) th a t r i g h t i s o n i t s si d e;

( 2 ) th a t i t i s f i g h t i n g p u r el y in defenc e of the nati on;

( 3 ) t h a t i t i s s u r e t o w i n. The Nazi s a re certai nl y try-

ing to pound these three points into the skins of the

people. Modern propaga nda techni que, espe cia lly th e

r ad i o , c e rt ai n l y h e l p s th e m .

Three youths in Hano ver who snatched a lady's

handbag in the black-out have been sentenced to d eath .

BERLIN, October 28

I hear in business circl es that sever e ra

tioning of clothin g willbegin next month . The truth

i s t h a t, h a v i n g n o c o tt onand almost no wool, the Ger-

man people must get along with what clothing they

have un til the end o f the war

BERLIN, October 29

I've been loo kin g i nto w hat Germans are read-

ing these dark days . A m o n g n o v e l s t h e t h r e e b e s t - s el l e r s

are : (1) Gone with the Wind, t r a n s l a t e d a s Vom Winde

Verweht - i terall y "From the Wind Blown About " ;

(2) Cronin's Citadel; (3) Beyond Sin g the Woods, by

Trygve Gulbranssen, a youngNorwegian author . Note

t h a t a l l t h r e e no v e l s a r eby foreign autho rs, o ne by an

Engli shman .

Most sought-after no n-fictio nbooks are : (1) The



240 1939 B E R L I N , October 29

Coloured Front, an anonymous study of the whi te-

versus- Negro problem ; (2) Look Up the Subject of

England, a propaganda book about England ; (3) Der

tot ale Kri eg, Ludendorff's famous book about the Total

War - ery timely no w ; (4) Fifty Years of Germany,

by Sven Hedin, the Swedish explorer and friend of

Hitler ; (5) So This is Poland, by von Oertzen, data

o n Po l a n d , f i r s t p u b l i s h e d in 1928 .

Three anti- Soviet books , I'm told, a re st i l l s e l l i n g

well d esp i te offic ial o r d e r s t o s o f t - p e d a l any an ti-Soviet

or anti-Bolshevik talk since the Augu st pact with

Mosc ow . Most popula r of these books is S oc i a l i s m

Betrayed, by a former German Communist named

Albrecht . Detective sto ri es sti l l h o ld th eir own in war-

time Germany, and hastily written volumes aboutsub-

marine and a erial warfare are also doi ng well . A Ger-

man told me today that the only American magazine

h e c o ul d f i n d a t h i s news-stand this afternoon was one

c a l l e d True Lo ve Stories, or somet hing like that, Octo-

b er i ssue .

Theatres here doing a l a n d - o f f i c e b u s i n e s s, playing

mostly the c l ass ics , Goethe, S c h i l l er, Shakespeare

Shaw is the most popular livin g playwright here now

Only successful German modern play on is Gerhart

Hauptmann's new one, The Daughter of the Cathedral

Poor old Hau ptmann, once an ardent Socialist and a

great playwright, has now become a Nazi and a very

senil e man .

In the movie world the big hi t at the m oment is Cla rk

Gable in Adventure in China, a s i t ' s c al l e d h e re . It's

packing them in for the fourth week at the Marmor-

haus . A German fil m isl u c k y i f i t h o l d s o ut a week .

The power of radio ! My remarks about the scarci ty

of shaving soap and the probabili ty of my having to



1939 BE R L I N, November 2 2 4 1

grow a beard h ave brought a great response from h ome .

I g a v e u p m y b e a r d a ft e r te n d a y s . I t w a s p i n k a nd

s t ra g g l y a n d e v e r y o n e l a u g h e d .

BERLIN, October 30

B a d n e w s fo r th e p e o p l e t od a y . N o w t h a t i t

has become co l d and rai ny, wi th snow due soon , the gov-

ernment has decreed that onl y fi ve per cent of the p opu-

l at ion i s ent i t l ed to buy new rubbers o r overshoes th i s

w i n te r . Avail able stocks wi l l be rationed fi rst to post-

m e n , n e w s b o y s , a n d s tr e e t - s w e e p e r s .

BERLIN, October 31

Consi der the word s o f Comrad e Mol oto v,

s p o k e n b ef o re th e S u p r e m e S o v i e t C o u n c i l i n M os c o w

today, as reported here : " We s t a n d for t h e s c ru p u l o u s

a n d p u n c t i l i o u s ob s e rv a n c e o f p a c t s . . . a n d w e d e -

c l a r e t h a t al l n o ns e ns e a b o ut S o v i e t i z i n g t h e B a l t i c

countri es is onl y to the i nterest of our comm on enemy

and of all anti -Sovi et provocateurs . "

Th e s e c re t p o l i c e a n n ou n c e d t h a t t w o m e n w e re s h o t

for " resi sting arrest " y es terd ay . One of them, i t i s

s t at e d , w a s t r y i n g t o i n d u c e s o m e G e r m a n w o r k e r s to

l a y d o w n t h e i r t oo l s i n a n i m p o r ta n t a r m a m e n t f a c t o ry .

H i m m l e r n o w h a s p o w e r to sh o o t a n y on e h e l i k e s w i t h -

out tri al .

BERLIN, November 2

G e n e ra l H u g h J o h n s o n , o n e o f th e f e w A m e r -

icans -Lindbergh is another - o f t e n q u ot e d i n t h e

N a z i p r e s s , m a k e s t h e f r o n t p a g e s h e r e to d a y . J o h n -



242 1939 B E R L I N , November 4

s on ' s v i e w s o n t h e A m e r i c a n sh i p C i t y of F l i n t, which

* a s c a p t u re d b y t h e N a z i s t h e o t h e r d a y a re h e a d l i n ed

i n th e 12-Uhr Bla tt : "UNC ALLE D-FOR I NDIGNA-

TION OV ER TH E `C ITY OF F LIN T' - GEN ERA L

JOH NSON AGAINST OB VIOUS AGITATI ON . "

The an ti-Comin tern is d ead . I learn the Nazi an t i -

C o m i n t er n m u s eu m , w h i c h u s ed t o s h o w u s t h e h o r r or s of

B o l s h e v i s m h e re , h as q u i e tl y c l o se d d ow n . T h i s w e e k th e

N a z i e d i t o r o f th e Contra-Komintern w r o t e h i s s ub -

scribers apolo gi zing f or the non-appearan ce of the

m a g a z i n e i n S e p t e m b e r a nd e x p l a i n i n g th a t i t w o u l d b e

coming out under a new name . H e i n ti m a t e d th a t t h e

e d i t o rs h a d a s c e r t ai n e d t h a t G e rm a n y ' s r e a l e n e m i e s

a ft e r a l l w e r e no t B o l s h e v i k s , b u t J e w s . " B eh i n d al l

the enemies of Germany's a scenda ncy," h e writes,

" s t an d t h o s e w h o d e m a n d o u r en c i r c l e m e n t - h e ol d -

e s t e n em i e s o f th e G e r m a n p e o p l e an d o f a l l h e a l t h y ,

r i s i n g n a ti o ns - h e J e w s . "

BERLIN,November 4

T h e r a d i o p e o p l e h e re i n g r e at s ec r e c y h a d

ki ndl y offered to take me up to a Bal ti c p ort and let me

b r o ad c a s t t h e a r ri v a l o f t h e Ci ty o f Fl i nt, which was

s c h e d u l e d f o r t om o r r o w . . B u t th e N o r w e g i a n s s e i z e d i t

day before yesterday and s aved me the as si gnment .

T h e W i l h e l m s t r a ss e fu r i o u s a nd t h r e a te n i n g t h e N o r -

w e g i a n s w i t h d i r e c o n se q u en c e s i f t h e y d o n ' t tu r n th e

Americ an ship over t o Germany .

BERLIN, November 5

CBS wants me to broadcast a picture of

Hitler at work du ring w ar-tim e . I ' v e b ee n i n q u i r i n g

around among my spies . T h e y s a y : He ri ses early , eats



1939 BE R L I N, November 5

2 4 3

hi s fi rst breakfast at seven a .m . Thi s consi sts usual l y

of ei ther a gl ass of mi l k or fruit-j ui ce and two or three

r ol l s , on w h i c h h e sp r e ad s m a rm a l a d e l i b e ra l l y . L i k e

most Germans, h e eats a second breakfast, thi s one at

n i n e a .m . It's li ke the first except that he al so eats a

l i t t l e f r u i t . H e b eg i n s h i s w o rk i n g d ay b y w a d i n g i n to

state papers (a job he detests, sinc e he hates detail

w o r k) an d d i s cu s si n g th e d ay ' s p r og r am w i th h i s ad -

jutants, chi efl y S .A . L ea d er W i l h e l m B r uc k n e r , an d

e sp e c i a l l y w i t h h i s d ep u t y, R ud o l f H e s s, w h o w a s o nc e

hi s pri vate secretary and i s one of the few m en he trusts

w i t h h i s i n ne rm o st t h o u g h t s . During the forenoon he

usual l y recei ves the chi efs of the three armed servi ces,

l i stens to their reports and di ctates deci sions . W i t h

Gori ng he ta l ks about not only a i r-force matters but

general economi c p roblem s, or rather results, sinc e he's

not i nterested i n detai l s or even theori es on thi s subject .

Hi tler eats a sim pl e lunch, usual l y a vegetable stew

or a vegetable omel et . He i s of course a vegetarian, tee-

total l er, and non-smoker . H e u su al l y i n v i t e s a s m al l

ci rcl e to l unch, th ree or four adjutants, Hess, Dr . D i e t -

tri ch , hi s press chi ef, and someti mes Gori ng . A one-per-

cent beer, brewed speci all y for hi m, i s served at thi s

meal , or someti mes a dr ink m ade out of kraut call ed

" Herve," fl avoured wi th a li ttl e Mosel wi ne .

After lunc h h e returns to hi s study and work . M o r e

state papers, m ore conferences, often wi th h i s Forei gn

M i n i s t e r, oc c a s i o n al l y w i t h a r et urn ed G e rm a n am b a s -

sador, i nvariabl y w i th some party ch i eftai n such as Dr .

Ley or Max A mann, h i s o ld top sergeant of the Worl d

W a r a nd n ow h e ad o f t h e l u c r at i v e N a z i p u b l i s h i n g

house Eher Verlag, w hi ch gets out the Volkische Beob-

achter and in whi ch H i tler i s a stockhol der . Late in the

afternoon Hi tl er takes a strol l i n the gardens back of the

C h a nc e l l e ry, c o n ti n ui n g h i s ta l k d u r i n g t h e w a l k w i t h



f4 41 9 3 9 B E R L I N,

November 7

w h o e v e r h a d a n ap p o i n t m e n t a t th e t i m e . H i t l e r i s a

f iend fo r fi l ms, and on even ings w hen no im portant con-

f e r en c e s a r e o n o r h e i s n o t o v e rr u n n i n g a c o u n t ry , h e

spends a coup l e o f hours seei ng the l atest mov ies i n h i s

p r i v a t e c i n e m a r o om a t t h e C h a n c e l l e r y . News-reel s are

a g reat favouri te wi th h i m, and i n the l ast weeks he has

s ee n al l t h o se t ak e n i n t h e P ol i s h w a r , i n c l u d i n g h u n-

d re d s of t h o u sa n d s of f ee t w h i c h w e re f i l m e d fo r th e

a rm y a r c h i v e s an d w i l l n ev e r b e s ee n b y t h e p u b l i c. He

l i k e s A m e r i c a n f i l m s an d m a n y ne v er p u b l i c l y e xh i b i t ed

i n G e rm a n y a re s h o w n h i m . A few years ago he i nsisted

o n h a v i n g It Happened One Night r u n s e v er a l t i m e s .

Though h e i s supp osed to have a pass ion for Wagnerian

opera, he alm ost never attends the Opera here i n Berl i n .

H e l i k e s th e M e tr op o l , w h i c h p u t s on t ol e ra b l e m u s i c a l

c o m e d i e s w i t h e m p h a si s o n p r e tt y d a nc i n g g i r l s . Re-

c e n tl y h e h a d o n e o f th e g i r l s w h o s t ru c k h i s , f an c y t o

tea . But only to tea . In the even ing , too , he l i kes to

h a v e i n D r . Tod t , an i mag i nat ive eng ineer wh o bu i l t the

g r e a t A u t o b a h n n e t w o r k o f t w o - l a n e m o t o r r o a d s a nd

l ater the fortifi cati ons of the Westwal l . H i t l e r , ru sh i n g

to compensate what he thi nks is an artisti c side that was

frus tra ted by non-recogniti on in hi s youthful days i n

Vienna, has a passi on for archi tects' m odels and wi l l

spend h ours fin gering them with D r . Todt . Lately ,

t h e y s a y , h e h a s e v en t a k en t o d e si g n i n g n e w u n i f o r m s .

H i t l e r s ta y s up l a te , an d sl e ep s b a d l y , w h i c h I f ea r i s

t h e w o r l d ' s m i s f or t un e .

BERLIN, No vem ber 7

T h e Q u e e n o f t h e N e t h e r l a n d s an d t h e K i n g

o f t h e B e l g i a n s h a v e o ff e re d to m e d i a t e p e ac e . S m a l l

hope . T h e o ff e r c o o l l y r e c e i v e d h e r e. The Dutch and

Bel gi ans sti l l decl i ne to have staff talks together . -But



1939 BE R L I N,

November 7 245

their hi storic neutral i ty, their refusal to all y themselves

wi th one s id e or the other, may l and them i n the soup

unless they junk i t. M u c h t a l k h e re a b o u t t h e G e rm a n s

p u sh i n g t h r ou g h H o l l a nd . T h i s w o u ld n o t on ly tu rn

th e Mag i n ot L i n e , b u t g i v e th e G er m an s a i r b ases a

hundred mi l es from the Engl i sh coas t.

LATER . -F o u r o r fi v e o f u s A m e r i c a n c o r -

respondents had a talk w i th Gori ng toni gh t at- f a l l

p l a c e s - the Soviet Embassy, to wh i ch w e had repai red

for the annual recepti on on the anniv ersary of the Bol -

shevik Revolution . Ami d the gl i tteri ng decorati ons and

furnish i ngs l eft over from Czarist Russi a, but wi th the

p o r t ra i t o f Len i n s m i l i n g d o w n u p o n us , G o r i n g s t o od

agains t the buffet table s i pp i ng a beer and smoki ng a

l ong s togey . H e w a s i n a n e x p a n si v e m o o d , a n d w h e n a

f ri gh tened adju tant remi nded h i m h e was speaki ng to

th e " A m e ri c a n p r es s, " h e s ai d h e d i d n ' t m i n d . We

thought - n ai v e l y, I s u p p o se - h a t h e m i g h t b e r e-

sentful of the repeal a few days ago of our neutral i ty

bi l l and of the boast at home that we would soon be sell -

i ng thousands of pl anes to the Al l i es to hel p beat Nazi

Germany . H e w asn' t . Instead, he kidd ed us about our

c a p a c i t y to b ui l d p l a ne s.

" I f w e c o u l d o n l y m a k e p l a ne s at y o ur r at e of p ro -

ducti on ," he said , "we should be very weak . I m e a n

that seri qusl y . Yo u r p l an es a r e g o o d , b u t y o u d o n ' t

make enough of them fast enough. "

" Well , wi l l G ermany del i ver a mass attack in the ai r

before these thousands of Am eric an pl anes are deli vered

to the All i es? " we asked .

H e l a ug h e d . " You buil d your pl anes, and our ene-

mi es thei rs, and we'll buil d ours, and one day you'l l see

wh o has been bui l di ng the best and the most pl anes. "

T h e t a l k c o n t i n u ed



1939 BERLIN, November 11 2 4 7

h e r e m a i n e d tw e l v e m i n u te s an d o ne se c o n d l o n g e r h e

s urel y w o u l d h a v e b ee n k i l l e d . T h e sp o t on w h i c h h e

stood was covered w i th si x feet of debris.

N o o n e y e t k no w s w h o d i d i t . The N azi p ress screams

t h a t i t w a s th e E n g l i s h , t h e B r i t i s h s e c r et se rv i c e ! I t

e v e n b l a m e s C h a m b e r l a i n f o r t h e d e e d . M os t o f u s t h i n k

i t smel l s of another Reic hstag fi re . I n o t h e r y e ar s H i t -

l er and al l the other big wi gs have remai ned after the

s p e e c h t o t al k o v e r o l d t i m e s w i t h t h e c o m r a d e s of t h e

Puts ch a n d g u z z l e b e e r . Las t nig ht they fai rly scam-

pered out of the bui l di ng l eavi ng the rank and fil e of the

c o m r a d e s t o g u z z l e am o n g t h e m s e l v e s . T h e a t t em p t e d

" assassinati on " u nd o ub t ed l y w i l l b u c k up p u bl i c o p i n -

i o n be h i n d H i t l e r an d st i r u p h a tr ed o f En g l a nd . C u r i -

ous that the offic i al N azi pap er, the V ol k i s c h e B e o b ac h -

t e r , w a s t h e o nl y m o r ni n g p a p e r t o d ay t o c a r r y t h e

story . A fri end call ed me wi th the news jus t as I had

fini shed broadcasting at mi dnig ht last nigh t, but al l the

German rad i o off ic i al s and the censors deni ed i t . They

sai d i t was a si l l y rumour .

BERLIN, November 11

Armistic e Day . An irony ! L i s t en e d t o t h e

b r o a d c a s t f ro m M u n i c h o f t h e s t a te f u n er a l f o r t h e

b e er - h o us e v i c t i m s . H i t l e r p r e s e nt , d i d n o t s p e a k .

H e s s s p o k e . H e s a i d : " T h i s attentat has taught us how

to hate . " I thi nk they knew before .

I n f or m e d t o d a y t h a t so m e o n e l a s t n i g h t t h r e w a b r i c k

i n t o t h e w i n d ow w h e r e th e c o u r t p h o t og r a p h e r , H e i n -

r ic h H offmann, exh i b i ts h is f l atter ing p ort rai ts o f Hi t -

l er. A p o l i c e m a n fi r ed , b u t t h e c u l p r i t g o t aw a y i n t h e

b l a c k - o ut . P ol i c e p r o t ec t i o n o f b i g s h o t s b e i n g i n -

c r e a s e d .



BERLIN, November 12

T h e G e r m a n s an n o un c e t h e y ' v e s h o t " by sen-

tence of court-m arti al " t h e P o l i s h m a y o r of B r o m b e rg .

T h e y s a y a n i n v e s t i g a t i o n sh o w e d h e w a s " i m p l i c a te d

i n t h e m u r d e r o f G e r m a n s a n d t h e t h e f t of c i t y f u n d s . "

T h a t , I s u p p o s e , i s a G e rm a n p e a c e . I c a n n o t re c a l l

that the Al l i es shot the m ayors of German towns after

t h e Rh i n e l a n d o c c u p a t i o n .

BERLIN, November 12

T h e r a t i o n c a r d s f o r c l o t h i n g o u t to d a y , a n d

many l ong German faces to be seen . T h e r e a r e s e p a r a te

c a r d s f or m e n , w o m e n , b o y s , g i r l s , a nd b a b i e s . E x c e p t

for the babi es , everyone gets a hundred poi nts on hi s

c a r d . S o c k s o r s to c k i n g s t ak e f i v e p o i n t s, b u t y o u c a n

b u y o nl y f i v e p a i r p e r y ea r . A p a i r o f p y j a m a s c o s ts

th i r ty po i n ts, al most a th i rd o f your card , but you can

save f iv e po i n ts i f you buy a n igh tgown i nstead . A new

o v e rc o a t or su i t ta k e s s i x t y p o i n t s . I f i g u r ed o ut to -

n i g h t th a t w i t h m y c a r d , w h i c h l i m i t s y o u r p u r c h a se s

by the seasons, I cou l d buy from December 1 to Apri l 1 :

t w o p a i r s of s oc k s , t w o h a n d k e r c h i e f s, o n e m u f fl e r , a nd

a p a i r o f g l o v e s . F ro m A p r i l 1 t o S e p t e m b e r 1 : one

shi rt, two col l ars, and a sui t of underwear . For the rest

of the year : two neckties and one undershi rt .

1939 B E R L I N, Nove mb er 12

S o m et h i n g ' s i n th e w i n d . L e ar ne d t od a y t h a t H i t -

l e r ' s h e a d q u a r t er s t ra i n h a s s t e am u p . P a rt y g o s s i p

a b o u t a m a s s ai r a t t ac k o n Eng l a n d . A d r i v e t h r o ug h

Holland and Belgium . O r o n e t h r o u g h S w i t z er l a n d .



1939 B E $ L r N, Nov em ber 182 4 9

BERLIN, November 18

Ye s t erd a y n i n e y o u n g C z e c h s t u d e nt s a t t h e

U n i v e r si t y o f P r ag u e w e r e l i n e d u p b e f or e a G e r m a n

f i r i n g s q u a d a nd e x e c u t e d . At the p ress conference thi s

noon we asked the authori t i es why and they rep l i ed that

t h e s t u d e n ts h a d s t a g e d a n t i - G e r m a n d e m o n s t ra t i o n s

in Prag ue o n O cto ber 23 an d No vember 15 . " There

c a n b e n o j o k i n g i n w a r - t i m e , " s ai d o u r s p o k e sm a n , a

l i ttl e bored by our question . L a t e r i n t h e d a y t h e G e r -

mans admi tted that three more Czech s , two of them po-

l i c e m e n, w e re s h o t fo r "a tt ac k i n g a G e r m an . " I w o ul d

bet my sh i r t that i n the twen ty years that th ree mi l l i on

S u d e te n G e rm a n s l i v e d u n d er C z e c h r u l e n o t a si n g l e

one of them w as ever exec uted for taki ng p art in any

ki nd of demons trati on .

Here i n Germany three youths were executed yes ter-

day for " treason . " A n d t w o y o u n g s t e rs a g e d n i n e te e n

were sentenced to death i n Augsburg today for havi ng

comm i t ted a theft in the home o f a sol d i er .

B e a c h C o n g e r o f t h e He ral d Tr ibun e, w h o a rr i v e d

h e r e o nl y a m o n th a g o , l e f t to d a y b y r e q u e s t . The

N a z i s d i d n ' t l i k e a s t or y h e h a d w r i t t e n . They de-

m a n d e d a r e t ra c t i o n . H e d ec l i n ed . At the l ast mi nu te,

B e ac h s a y s, a h i g h N a zi o ff i c i a l c a l l e d h i m i n an d " of-

fered " t o g e t h i m t h e j o b a s B e r l i n c o r r es p o n d en t of

a b i g A m e r i c a n ra d i o n e tw o rk , w h i c h r a t h e r s u rp r i s e d

h i m , as i t di d m e . M o s t of t h e A m e r i c a n c o r r es p o n d -

ents were at the station to see hi m off, and there were

fl owers fo r Mrs . C o ng e r .

T h o u g h t h e N a z i s d o n ' t l i k e m e , I su p p o s e I s h a l l

n e v e r g e t k i c k e d o u t o f h e r e . The troubl e is my radi o

scri p ts are censored i n advance, so that wh atever I say

over the ai r cannot be hel d agai nst me. T h e n e w s p a p e r

corresponden ts can tel eph one ou t what they p l ease, sub -



1939 BER LI N, November 21 ° 2 5 1

member of the Hohenzollern family, a s rumour had had

i t o f l a te . " Auwi," as he' s popularly cal led, is the only

Hohenzollern who was once an active Nazi . He was in

fact a s torm trooper in the S .A. and was introduced to

us to day by Dr. Boehmer as " Obergruppenf ii hrer

Prince Augus t Wilhelm ." Nervous and a bit ashamed

of his role, he t old us w hat he had been told to sa y, end-

ing his remarks with a resounding "H ei l H i t l e r ! "

A

curious end, I mused, for the Hohenzollerns, that re-

sourceful Prussian family which produced Frederick

the Great and Frederick's father and Wil helm II and

rais ed first Pruss ia a nd then Germany to a world power .

BERLIN, November 21

Gestapo chief Himmler claimed today that

he has found the man wh o planted the bomb that so

narrowly missed blowing Hitler to bits at Munich a

fortnight ago. His n ame is gi ven as Georg Elser,

thirty-si x, a nd behind him, says Himmler, was the Brit-

ish Intell igence Service and Otto Strasser, a former

Nazi l eader and now a bitte r enemy of Hitler, who li ves

in France . Himmler's acco unt of how Elser did it

sounds fish y indeed . As one German put it t o me today

after reading the account : " Now I'm sure Himmler

planted that bomb ."'

1 F o r m o n t h s w e w e r e t o a s k a t ne a r l y e v e r y N a z i p r e s s c o n fe r -

e n c e w h e n t h e tr i a l o f El s e r w o u l d t a k e p l a c e. A t f i r s t w e w e r e t o l d

he wo ul d be tried bef ore the Suprem e Court at Leipzig as were the

" p e r p e t r a t o r s " of the Reichs tag fire, wh ich seemed a ppropriate

enough, sinc e both events ca st suspici on o n the Nazis them selves .

A f t er a fe w w e e k s o u r d a i l y q u e s ti o n : " W h e n w i l l E l s e r be t ri e d ? "'

provoked sca rcely r estrain ed la ughter f rom the corresp ondents an d

inc reasin g embarrassment f or Dr. B o e h m e r , f o r ei g n p r e s s c h i e f of

the Propag anda Minis try, Dr . S c h m i d t , p r e ss c h i e f of t h e F o re i g n

Office, and the latte r's d eputy, Baron von Stumm . Final ly we were

given to un derstand tha t the question was n't funn y any more, an d

after some months, havi ng s queezed a ll w e coul d o ut of our joke,

we dropped it . So f a r a s i s k n o wn , El s e r wa s n e v e r t ri e d . Wheth er

h e w a s e x e c u t ed a l s o i s n o t k n o w n .



2 52 1939 B E P . L r N, Nov ember 23

Himmler also announced today, a s i f to confuse the

public, that the all eged l eader of the British I ntelli-

gence Servic e for Western Europe, a certai n Mr . Bes t ,

and his accomplice, a cert ain Captain Stevens, ha d been

nabbed by the Gestapo on November 9 at the German-

Dutc h frontier . This clears up the kidnapping case we

heard a bout from Amsterdam . The Dutch say it too k

place on Dutch soil .

A writer in the Volkis ch e Beobac hter will say tomor-

row that after seeing Elser " you almost forget you

are in the presence of a satan ic monster . His eyes are

i n t el l i g e n t an d t h e f ac e r a t h e r so f t."

What Himmler and his gang are up to, obviously,

is to co nvi nce the gul li ble German people t hat the Brit-

ish government tried to win the war by murdering Hit-

ler and his chief aides . The censor today cut out all

reference in my sc ript to the Reich sta g fire .

BER LIN , November 23

Thanksgiving today. At the ho me of Charge

d'Affaires Al exander Kirk a hun dred o r so hun gry

Americans charged into several turkeys assembled on

th e buf fet tabl e . At dinner I had another turkey at the

Oechsners', dragging Dorothy [Oechsner] over to the

studio at midnight with me for a li ttle interview on

the air as to ho w she did i t in war-time rationed Ger-

many . She explai ned nicely how she got the whipped

cream for the pumpkin pie by use of a new-f angled ma-

chine which extracts cream from butter .

After December 1, h orses, cows, and pigs not resid -

ing on regular farms are to get food cards to o.



1939 G E N E V A, December 1 25 3

BERLIN,November 26

Bill White, so n of Wil li am Allen, has been

here and thi s week helped me make a stu dy of night life

in war-time which CBS wants me to air tonight . We

found it booming . Off to Geneva tomorrow for a few

days .

GENEVA , December 1

The Soviet Union has invaded Finland ! Yes-

terday Red air-force bombers a ttacked Helsin ki, kil lin g

seventy-five civil ians, wounding several hundred . The

great champion of the working class, the mighty

preacher against " Fascist aggression," the righteous

stan der-up for the " scrupulous and punctilious observ-

a n c e o f t r e a t i e s " (to quote Molotov as of a month ago),

has fall en upon the most decent and workable litt le de-

mocracy in Europe in violation of half a dozen " sol-

emn" treaties . The whole moral foundation which the

Soviets ha ve bui lt up f or themselves i n in ternation al re-

lation s in the last t en years has col lapsed like a hou se

of cards, which the skeptics and anti-Communists al-

ways claimed it was . Stali n reveals h imself of the same

stamp as Hitler, Mussoli ni, and the Japs . So viet f or-

eign policy turns out to be as " imperialist " as that of

the czars . The Kremlin has betrayed the revolution .

I h ave raged for thi rty hours ; coul d not slee p last

night, though I got little chance to . Sin ce yesterday

noon I have been continually on the telephone to Hel-

sinki, Stockholm, Berlin, Bern, Amsterdam, and Lon-

don, organizing communications from Finland for our

broadcasts, determined to get them through not only

for our own sakes, but so the Finnish case may get a

hearing at home . It has bee n hard sledd ing , on e defeat



1939 G :E N E V A, December 1

after ano ther, but w e're getting our broadcas ts through .

To begin with, Maxie tied up the Geneva trans mitter,

our only neutral outlet, for NBC . He also got to the

Finns and Swedes first and somehow put over the idea

that t he talks of the Finnish Presid ent, K all io, and the

Foreign Minister, Erkko, were to be exclusive for NBC .

A telephone cal l to the authorities in Helsin ki c leared

that up so far as the Finns were concerned, but I had

great trouble convincing the Swedes i n Stockholm, on

whom I must depend for relayin g everythi ng from Fin-

la nd, tha t the t al ks were not exclu si ve for NBC but were

for us too . Searched al l yesterday af ternoo n for a trans-

mitter. The RRG in Berli n wo uld gi ve me neither a

transmitter nor transi t telephone lin es through Ger-

many . They have orders n ot to offend Russia . Cal led

Amsterdam and tried to get the Dutch to lend me a

transmi tter but they were too fr ightened for thei r neu -

trali ty, which of course neithe r Russi a nor Germany will

respect one d ay if it i s profitabl e no t to . Finally Ed

[Murrow] sol ved all our di fficu lties, though we wil l n ot

tell the G ermans nor the Swedes no r even the Fin ns . He

got the BBC to pick up the Swedish medium-wave trans-

mitter, which in turn was taking the Helsink i broadcast

by telephone line from Finland, and rebroadcasting it .

The BBC then piped their pick-up to Rugby, where it

was short-waved to our studios in New York . The ordi-

nary way to have done a broadcast from Helsinki would

have been to bring it by telephone line from Hels inki

through Sweden and Germany to Switzerland and then

short-wave it to New York through the Geneva trans-

mitter. But Germany's refusal to gi ve us transi t tele-

phone facilities an d Maxie's tying up the local trans-

mitter balked tha t . New York says our transmissio n

from Hels inki was i nfinitely better than the opposi -



1 9 3 9 B E R L I N , December 7255

tion's ;t h e i r s a p p a r e n t l y w a s d o n e b y h a v i n g G e n e v a

p i c k u p t h e S t oc k h o l m m e d i u m - w a v e r , b ut s i n c e L o nd o n

has better faci l i ti es for recei vi ng than has Geneva, our

h o o k - u p w a s b o u n d t o b e s u p e r i o r .

Th i s a ft e rn o on I a r ra n g e d w i t h t h e H e l s i n k i c o r r e-

s p o n d e n t o f t h eChristian Science Monitor t o d o t h e

f i r s t ey e w i t n es s a c c o u n t o f th e H e l s i n k i b o m b i n g - a

s c o o p . A n d H a r a l d D i e t tr i c h , h e a d of G e r m a n y ' s sh o r t -

w a v e o rg a ni z a ti o n an d a c o ol a n d fi n e te c h n i c i a n (h e

has alm ost an arti st' s appreci ati on of the tech n ic al job

Am eric an broadcasters are doi ng to get thei r European

p i c k - u p s , a n d th o u g h a f a na ti c a l N a z i w h o b e a rs w a t c h -

i ng, he i s the one man i n Germany I work smoothl y and

s uc c e ss f ul l y w i t h ) , t o l d m e o n t h e p h o n e h e w o u l d d o

hi s best to get Goebbel s to al l ow us transit telep hone fa-

ci l i t ies i f I guaran tee my speakers are al l Americ ans .

R u n ni n g a t e m p e ra tu re f rom t h e f l u , b u t s h a l l k e e p

g o i n g o n t h e s e F i n n i s h b r o a d c a s t s . Te ss p i t c h e d i n

wonderfull y, spendi ng several h ours shouting i nto the

p h o ne i n s ev e r al l a n g ua g e s, i n c l u d i n g t h e S c a n d i n a -

v i a n, w h i c h ( Da ni s h ) s h e sp e a k s p e r fe c t l y , d i s p a tc h -

i n g a nd r ec e i v i n g t el e g r am s , w h i c h m u s t b e d on e e x -

c l u si v e l y o v er th e p h o n e , an d g e ne ra l l y h e l p i n g . My

t e l e p h o ne b i l l y e st e rd a y a nd t od a y , i n c l u d i n g n u m e r -

o us u rg e nt c a l l s to H e l s i n k i , S t o c k h o l m , B e r l i n , A m -

s t e rd a m , L o n d o n, a n d N e w Y o r k , h a s r un o v e r a t h o u -

s an d d o l l a rs a nd m y c a b l e a n d t el e g ra p h b i l l m u s t c o m e

to al most hal f that . B u t P au l W h i t e an d K l a u b e r s a y :

" G e t t h e b r o a d c a s t s . "

BERLIN, December 7

C a u g h t B i l l W h i t e b y t el e p h o n e i n St oc k h o l m

and go t h i m o ff to Helsi nk i to cover the F inn ish war fox



256 1939 B E R L I N, Dec em ber 10

us . ' A m u si n g n o te : Some of our peopl e in New York

t h o u g h t o n e o f h i s b r o ad c a s t s f ro m h e r e th e o t h e r n i g h t

w a s v e r y u nn eu tr al a nd c a b l e d t h a t w h i l e t h e y p e r-

s on al l y a g re ed w i t h B i l l ' s p e rs on al a nt i - N a zi b i a s, h e

s h o u l d s t r i v e t o b e m o r e o b j e c t i v e . W h e n I g o t t o t h e

R u n d f u n k H o u s e o n m y r e t u rn d a y b e f o r e y e s t e r d a y ,

D i e tt ri c h a p p r oa c h ed m e w i t h B i l l ' s m a nu sc r i p t i n h i s

hand . I t h o u g h t h e w a s g o i n g t o m a k e a n a ng ry s c e ne .

" R e a d t h i s , " h e sa i d .

" What's the matter wi th i t? " I said , determi ned to

d e f en d i t , t h o u g h i t h a d g o n e r a th e r f ar i n i t s b i t i n g

i r o ny a g a i n s t th e N a z i s .

"Why, i t's wonderful ! We here tho ught i t was a

w o n d e r f ul b r o ad c a s t , w i t t y b u t f a i r - he kin d you

m i g h t d o s om e t i m e i f y o u c o u l d fo rg e t y o ur p e r s on a l

anti pathy to Nazism," he said .

I f I l i v e i n G e rm a ny a h u n d red y e a r s I s h a l l n e v er

u n d e rs t a nd t h e s e p e o p l e .

BERLIN,December 10

E d [ M u r ro w ] a n d I o n t h i s S a b b a t h e v e n i n g

h a v e j u s t h a d t h e f i r s t te l e p h o n e c o n v e rs a ti o n t o ta k e

p l a c e b e tw e e n B e rl i n a nd L o n d on s i n c e t h e t e l e p h o n e

l i nes were cut at the beginni ng of the war. It was broad-

cast . Pau l Wh i te' s i dea, I bel i eve, he bei ng a f iend fo r

" features . " Our voi ces actuall y travel l ed a l ong way .

I heard Ed 's af ter i t had gone by short -w ave from Lon-

d o n to N e w Yo r k , f r o m w h e r e i t w a s sh o r t - w a v e d b a c k

t o B er l i n . Mine travel l ed the same route in the opp osite

d i r e c t i o n. S o th a t w e w o u l d n o t g i v e i n f or m a t i o n of

b e n ef i t t o t h e e n em y , w e w o r k e d o u t o ur c o n v e r s at i o n i n

a d v a nc e , I s u b m i t t i n g m y q u e st i o n s an d E d ' s a n sw e r s a s

s His moving Christmas broadc ast from the Finni sh front was to

Inspire Robert Sherwood 's play There Shal l Be No Ni gh t



°2 5 8 1939 B E $ L I N, Decem ber 1 3

Orig in s o f the War, published by the Foreign Office,

is out today in several languages . From a first hasty

perusal, I conclude it is about as di shonest as the man

himself and the master he serves. Somewhere in Mein

Kampf Hitler critici zes the old Imperial government

for i ts l ukewarm propaganda between 1914 and 1918 as

to the origins of the war . Ber li n at tha t time, it seems,

took the stand that Germany in 1914 was no more to

blame for the war than any other nation . Hitler thought

that was bad propaganda . He says the Imperial gov-

ernment should have din ned it in to the ears of all Ge r-

mans tha t the All ies were excl usively r espons ible for the

war . He's doing that now.

In an introduction Ribbentrop repeats an old lie

which Hitler has assi duously built up as a gospel truth

in this c ountry : namely, that after Versail les Great

Britai n opposed every attempt by Germany to free her-

sel f from the chai ns of the peac e treaty by peaceful

means . Did Britain oppose . German conscription in

1 9 3 5 ? The occupation of the Rhineland in 1936? The

Anschluss in 1938? The ceding to Germany of the Su-

detenland, which had never belong ed to it, in 19 38?

The Christmas trees are in and being snapped up .

No matter how tough or rough or pagan a German may

be, he ha s a c hil dis h pass ion for Christmas tre es . Peopl e

everywhere bravely trying to make this Christmas seem

l i k e t h e o l d o n es i n t h e t i m e o f p e a c e . I di d a l i t tl e C h ri s t-

mas shopping today, and it was a bit sad . There were

so many nice things in the windows which you couldn't

buy becau se they were only there for show, on the

orders of t he a uthorities . Germans usually give wear-

ing apparel and soaps and perfumes and candy to one

another f or Chris tmas, but this year, wi th these articles

rationed, they must find something else . In the shops,

which were crowded, they were buying toda y mostly



1939 B E R L I N ,December 21 061

of so uthern German y . What is left of Germany is la-

belled " Occupied Territory ." Clever propaganda, and

the German people wil l fal l for it .

LATER - hen I mentioned the above story

in my broadcast I commented : " I have seen no map of

how Europe will look if Germany wins the war ." My

censors held this was unfair and cut it out .

BER LIN , December 21

A curious communique from the German navy

today : "The High Command of the Navy announces

The co mma nde r of theGraf Spee, Capt ain Hans

Langsdorff, did not want to survive the sinking of his

ship. True to old traditions and in the spirit of the

traini ng of the Offic ers Corps o f whic h he was a member

for thirty years, h e made this decis io n. Having brought

his c rew to s afety he con si dered his duty fulfil led, a nd

followed his ship. The navy understands and praises

t h i s st e p. Captain L angsdorff has in this way fulfill ed

li ke a fig hter and a h ero t he expectatio ns o f hi s Fuhrer,

the German people, and the navy ."

The wretched German people, deprived of al l truth

from outsid e, wil l not be told tha t Captain L angsdorff

did notfollow his ship to the bottom, but committed

suicide by putting a revolver-shot through his head in

a lonely hotel room in Buenos Aires . They will not be

told- thoug h the navy did its be st to hint at it in this

communique

-hat Hitler, i n a burst of fury over t he

defeat, o rdered the C aptain to end his li fe .

Hitler and Ribbentrop have wired their Christmas

greetings to Comrade Josef Stalin . How ludicrous .

Wires Hi tler : "Best wishes for your personal well-

bein g a s w ell a s for the prosper ous future of the pe oples



260 1939 B E R L I N , Decem ber 1 8

s i b l e . T h e a t t en t i o n of t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e t om o r r o w

m o r n i n g w i l l b e c o n c e n tr a te d b y t h e p r e s s a n d ra d i o o n

somethi ng else, an al l eged vic tory

-hi s tim e in the ai r

- f f H e l g o l a nd . A n of fi c i a l s t a te m e nt w h i c h t h e p a -

pers and radio h ave been tol d to bang for al l i t's worth

says that th i r ty -four ou t of fo rty -four Bri t i sh bom bers

w e re s h o t d o w n t h i s a ft e rno o n n o r th o f H e l g o l a n d . A

v e r y ti m e l y v i c t o ry . We h a d j u s t l e ft t h e e v en i n g p r es s

c o n fe ren c e a f t er f i r i n g e m b a r ra s s i n g q u e s ti o n s ab o u t

th e Gra f Spee and were putti ng on our overcoats down-

s t ai r s w h e n D r . Boehmer rushed i n b reath l essl y and sai d

h e h a d s o m e b i g n e w s a n d w o u l d w e p l e as e re tu rn u p -

s t a i r s t o t h e c o n fe re nc e ro o m . Then he re ad us in

breathl ess tones the c ommuni que about the thi rty-four

B r i t i s h p l a ne s b ei n g s h o t do w n . Suspec t i t i s eyewash .

H e a r t h a t th e n a v y i s f um i n g t o H i t l e r ab o u t t h e w a y

G o e b b e l s b u n g l e d t h e p r o p a g a n d a on t h e Graf Spee .

The admi rals are especi al l y so re because the day before

i t sank itself, Goebbel s had the press play up a di spatch

(and radio ed photographs) f rom Montevideo s aying

the pocket-bat tl esh i p h ad suffered onl y superfic i al dam-

a g e a nd t h a t B r i t i s h r e p o r t s t h a t i t h a d b e e n b a d l y

d a m a g e d w e re p u re l i e s .

M o re a st u te p ro p a g a nd a i s t h a t w h i c h t ri e s to w h i p

u p t h e s up p o r t o f t h e p e o p l e fo r t h i s w a r b y t e l l i n g

them of the dire consequences should the Al l i es wi n . To -

morrow the V ol k i s e h e B e ob a c h t er w i l l publis h a map

: sh o w i n g h o w G e r m a n y w i l l l o o k i n c a se of a F r an c o -

. B ri t i s h v i c t o ry . N e w s p a p er s i n t h e A l l i e d l a n d s h av e

A l r ea d y p ub l i s h e d i t , t h e V .B . c l a i m s , t h o u g h I d o ub t

no t that the Nazi ed i to rs have done some neat touch i ng-

up . Acc ording to thi s map, France has the Rhi neland,

. P o l a n d h a s ea s te r n G e r m a n y , D e n m a r k h a s S c h l e s w i g -

Hol s tei n, Czech os lovaki a has Saxony, and to the south

t h e r e i s a h u g e H a b s b ur g E m p i r e w h i c h i n c l u d e ss m o st



1939 B E R L I N, Decembe r 24- 5°26 '4

apartment house, they had just learned that a J ewish

tenant in return for receiving clothing ration cards

(Jews get food cards, but no clothin g cards) had turned

in former for the ho use, an d th ey had to be very careful .

They played the radio so low I could hardly catch the

news, a nd one of the dau ghters kept watch by the front

door .

BERL IN , December 24-5, three a .m .

Christmas Eve . Rainin g out, but it will turn

to snow . The first war Christmas somehow has brought

the war home to the people more than anything else . It

was al ways the high point of the year for Germans but

this year it' s a bleak C hristmas, with f ew pre sents, Spar-

tan food, th e men fol k aw ay, the stree ts blac ked o ut, the

shutters and curtains drawn tight in accordance with

police re gula tions. On many a beautiful night I have

walked through the streets of Berlin on Chris tmas Eve,

There was no t a home in the poorest quarter that did not

have its cand leli t Chris tmas tree sparkl ing cheerfully

through the uncurtained, unshaded window. The Ger-

mans feel the di fference toni ght . They are glum, de-

pressed, sad . Hitler has gone to the western front,

though we have not been all owed to say so. He pulled

o ut o n t h e L i s t i n a h u f f, s k i p p i n g h i s t ra d i t i o n al C h r i s t -

mas party for the Chancellery staff and his old party

cronies, though it had been al l planned. Mysel f, I went

to the Oechs ners' for Christmas d inn er this evenin g, a nd

a right good one it was. There a good portion of what

remains of the shrinking American colony gathered and

I'm afraid we al l were jus t a li ttle too d esperate in o ur

effort to f orget the war a nd the Germans and enjoy for

the fleetin g moment Chri stmas in "the good old Ameri-

can way ." Dead , they are, f or us al l- he " good old



1939 B E It L I N, December 27 265

BERLIN, December 27

T h i s h a s b e en q u i t e a C h r i s t m a s h o l i d a y. Two

days wi th the German fleet, the fi rst forei gner given the

o p p o r t un i t y .

U p h o u r s b e fo re d a w n o n C h r i s t m a s m o rn i n g , b u t m y

a r m y c h a u f fe u r g ot l o s t i n t h e b l a c k - o u t a nd h e a v y f og

o v e r B e rl i n a nd i t t oo k u s tw o h o u rs t o fi n d m y g u i d e ,

Oberleutna nt X from the High Command . A ty p i c a l

World W ar typ e of offic er, monocl e and all , he w as so

a ng r y h e c o u l d h a r d l y s p e ak . He fumed tha t he ha d

been standi ng on a darkened corner for two hours i n the

p o u r i n g r a i n a n d th a t w e h a d p a s s ed h i m s e v e ra l t i m e s .

A t H a m b u rg t h e r ai n w a s st i l l c o m i n g d o w n i n s h e et s

when we arrived . The c ity r emin ded me very much

o f L i v e rp o ol . W e fi n a l l y f o u nd t h e d o c k s a n d w a d e d

through foot-deep puddl es to where the warshi ps were.

I s pent an hour go ing throu gh th e new 10,000-ton

c r u i s e r Admiral Hipper, w h i c h w a s ti e d up a t a do c k.

M u c h d e b r i s o n i t s d e c k s a n d b en e a th i t s d e c k s , b u t

- t h e o ff i c e r s e x p l a i n e d i t w a s m e r e l y u n d e rg o i n g t h e

u su al o v er h a ul w h i c h e v e ry n e w v e s s el n ee d s . They

s w o r e th e s h i p h a d n o t b e e n d am a g e d b y e ne m y a c t i o n.

F o r s o m e r ea s on I g e t al o n g a l l r i g h t w i t h G e r m a n n av a l

p e o p l e , a n d w h e n o v e r ou r p o r t w i n e a n d s an d w i c h e s I

r em i n d ed t h e m t h a t th e B r i t i s h A d m i ral t y h a d r e c en tl y

reported the torpedoi ng of a crui ser by a Bri ti sh U-boat

t h e c o m m a n d e r w i n k ed a n d b ec k o n ed m e t o fo l l o w h i m.

W e c l i m b e d a nd c l i m b e d u p a n ar ro w l a d d er - w a y u n ti l

I was sweati ng and out of breath, m y overcoat torn i n

five pl aces. F i n a l l y w e e m e r g e d o n th e b a t t l e t o w e r .

" Look over there," he said sl y l y . A h u n d re d y a r d s

a w a y a s om e w h a t s m a l l e r c r ui s er w a s p r o p p e d u p i n

d r y - d o c k , a h u g e h o l e t h a t m u s t h a v e b e en f i f t y f e et i n

d i ameter to rn i n i t s side exact ly ami dsh i ps, o r whatever



2 6 6 1939 BERLIN, December 27

the sailors call the middle . It w as the cruiser Leipzig

and the offic er said they had been luc ky to get it back

into port afloat after a British torpedo had hit i t

squarely. The BBC, he said, h ad claimed the ship had

been sunk . But there it was , a nd though it was Christ-

mas Day, a swarm of workers were labouring on it . A

little way down the river, returning to our ca r, I n o-

tic ed the 35,000-to n battles hi p Bismarck . It looked

very near completion . Great secrecy surrounded this

and i ts siste r ship - he onl y two 35,000-to n ba ttle-

ships laid down by the German navy .

As we sped towa rds K iel in the late afternoon , i t grew

colder, the rain turned t o snow, and the car had di ffi-

culty gett in g over t he hil ls beca use of the ice . At Kiel

some offici al representing, I suppose, the Propaganda

Ministry welcomed me with a li ttle speech .

" I have just heard," he said , " that you have stopped

at Hamburg and seen all our warships there . Did you

see t he crui ser Leipzig, Herr Shirer? "

" Yes, sir, and . . ."

" Those British l iars, they say they have sunk the

Leipzig, Herr Shi rer ."

" It did n't loo k su nk to me, I must admit, and I'll be

glad to broadcas t that I've seen it, that it was n't sun k,

but that. . ."

He cut me off with a mighty roar . " Herr Shirer,

tha t i s f ine . You will an swer this d astardly English l ie,

isn 't it? You wil l tell the truth to the gre at Americ an

people . Tell them that you have seen the Leipzig with

your own eyes, is n't it? -and that the ship has not

been scratched ."

Before I could interrupt he was pushing me down a

gangplank towards a naval launc h . I turned to my

Oberleutnantto protest . His monocle dropped out of

his eye and a l ook of such distress came over him that I



1939 B E R L I N , December 27 2 6 7

desis ted . After all, w hat coul d he say in this c ompany,

which now included several naval officers who were wait-

ing in the launch?

Out in Kiel harbour I was surprised to see that al-

most the enti re German fleet was concentrated here for

Christmas . I noticed the pocket-battleship Deutsch-

land, two cru isers of the Cologne class (for days i n Ber-

lin I had boned up on types of German naval vessels so

that I could recognize them and felt proud when an

officer confirmed that th ey were of the Cologne class),

both 26,000-ton battleships, and about fifteen subma-

rines, not including three in dry-dock . I f the Britis h

only knew, I could not help thinking, they could come

over this night, which will s ee almost a full moon, and

wipe out the whole German fleet . Ju st one real big

bombing attack . Kiel harbour looked beautiful in the

greying li ght of the late Chris tmas afternoon. The hill s

around the bay were white with snow .

Our launch finall y stopped next to an immense dry-

dock . One of the 26,000-ton battleshi ps was i n i t, the

Gneisenau . My hosts decided to show me over it . They

were quick to explain that it, too, was in for a general

overhauling, and I must admit that on the one side of

the hull tha t I coul d see, there were no holes . We spent

an hou r goin g through the immense craft . I was sur-

prised at the spirit of camaraderie between officers and

men o n t he sh ip and s o w as - soon n oticed - y

monocled Oberleutnant fr om the Wo rld Wa r . Four or

five senior officers accompanied me through the ship,

and when we entered one of the crew's quarters there

was n o jumping up, no snapping to attention as I had

expected . The captain must have noticed our surprise .

" That's the new spirit in our navy," he said proudly

He also explained that in thi s war the men on all Ger-

man men-of-war get exactly the same kind and the same



° 2 6 8 1 9 3 9 BE R L I N , December 27

amount of food as the offi cers . Thi s had not been true

i n t h e l a s t w a r a n d h e q u o t e d s om e n a v a l p r o v e r b t o

the effect that the same food for offi cers and men p uts

an end to discontent and h elp s wi n the war . I r em e m -

b e r ed a s n o d o ub t d i d h e - h a t t h e G e rm a n re v o l u -

ti on in 1918 started here i n Kiel among the di scontented

s a i l o r s .

When we re turned to shore in the l aunch , a magni fi-

c e n t f ul l m o o n w a s ri s i n g b e h i n d th e s no w - b a n k ed h i l l s ,

s p r ea d i n g a s i l v e ry l i g h t o v e r t h e w a t er a nd m a k i n g t h e

shi ps s tand out in outl i ne . Back at the hotel w e di s -

c u s s e d o ur b r o ad c a s t w h i c h w a s t o ta k e p l a c e f r om a

submari ne tender, wh ere the c rew of a U-boat just re-

t u rn e d w o ul d b e c e l e b ra t i n g C h r i s t m a s . The naval of-

fi cers agreed to meet me at nine p .m . We woul d dri ve to

t h e s h i p . T h e b r o a d c a s t w a s s c h e d u l e d f o r t e n f i f t e en .

Nine o'clo ck c ame . N o o f fi c e r s . N i n e fi f t ee n . Nine

t h i r t y . I h a d n ot t h e sl i g h t e s t i d e a w h e re o ur s h i p w a s

docked . Even i f I had had, I doubted whether a taxi -

driver coul d find i t in the bl ack-out . At f ive m i nu tes to

t en m y n a v a l o f f i c e r s f i n a l l y a r ri v e d . W e r e ac h e d t h e

s h i p j u s t i n t i m e t o b e g i n th e b r o ad c a s t , th o u g h I h a d

pl anned a rehearsal or two and certainl y needed at l east

on e . W ol f M i t t l e r , a b i g , g e n i a l c h a p f ro m t h e RR G

w h o h a d c o m e u p t o h e l p m e , s n ap p e d i n a n d g o t th e

crew, w ho w ere seated around a table i n the bowel s of

t h e s h i p , t o s i n g C h r i s t m a s so ng s. T h e m o o n ov e r t h e

h a r b o u r w a s n o w w e l l u p a n d i t w a s so s up e r b I d e c i d e d

t o s ta r t th e b r o a d c a s t on t h e t o p d e c k , d e s c r i b i n g t h e

scene even though the h ead naval o ffi cer warned me that

I must not - o r G o d ' s s a k e - e l l t h e B ri t i s h t h at

t h e w h o l e G e rm a n f l e e t w a s t h e re , w h i c h w a s r e as o na b l e

e n ou g h u n d e r th e c i r c u m s t a n c e s . I woul d s tart up on

d e c k u n d e r t h e m o o nl i g h t a n d t h e n sl i d e d o w n a h a tc h

w i t h m y m i c r o p h o n e to th e c r e w ' s q u a r te rs b e l o w f o r



1939 B E R L I N,December 27 2 6 9

t h e m a i n p a r t o f th e s h o w . The fi rst part went off all

rig ht, and after exhausting my adjecti ves I started to

s li de down the hatch, graspi ng my p ortabl e mi crophone .

Al as, I am not a sai l or . Before I had reach ed bottom, or

whatever the sail ors call i t, I had rip ped a sleeve and

smashed the face of the stopwatch strapped to my wri st .

Onl y I di dn't noti ce i t at once . I barged i nto the crew' s

quarters, got the boys to singi ng, descri bed how the m en

just back from the U-boat ki l l i ngs celebrate Ch ristmas,

cal l ed for volunteers to say a few words i n Engl i sh, and

the show was going all right . I gl anced at my watch to

s ee h o w o u r t i m i n g w a s . No face left to i t . I m a d e

moti ons to the captai n for hi s watch, but he di dn't get

m y s i g n l a n g u ag e . Fi n a l l y I c l o s ed t h e sh o w . L a te r

Berl i n tol d us we were onl y ten seconds off . In the rush

we h ad forgotten the censor . And I had ad-l i bbed a l i ne

about the L ei p z i g b e i n g b ad l y d am ag ed b u t n o t s u nk .

Ap parentl y none of the offic ers understood Engl i sh, for

nothi ng was said .

S u rp r i s i n g w i t h w h a t i n g en ui t y t h e se t ou g h l i t tl e

sai l ors had fixed up their dark hole - or that i t was -

f or C h r i s t m a s . I n on e c o rn er a l a r g e C h r i s tm a s t re e

shone wi th elec tric c andles, and along one side of the

ro om t h e s a i l o r s h a d r i g g e d u p a n um b e r o f f an t as t i c

C h r i s t m as e x h i b i t s . One was a mi niature i ce-skating

rink i n the mi ds t of a snowy mountai n resort on wh i ch

couples di d fancy figure-skati ng . A magneti c c ontrap-

tion set the fancy skaters in m otion . A n o th e r s h o w ed

t h e c o a s tl i n e of Eng l a n d an d a n ot h e r el e c t r i c a l c o n -

trapti on set a very real i s tic naval battl e in acti on .

After the broadcast we sat around a l ong table, offi cers

a nd m e n i n t er m i n g l e d i n a m a n ne r th a t s h o c k e d m y

Ob .erl eutnant, s i n g i n g a nd t al k i n g . The commandant

served rum and tea, and then case after case of Muni ch

beer was brought out . T h e Oberleutnant an d I h ad a



2 7 0 1939 BER LI N, December 28

bit of troubl e downi ng the beer from the bottle, there

being no glasses. Towards midnight everyone became

a bit sentimental .

" The English, why do they fight us? " the men kept

putting it to me, but it wa s obviousl y not the time nor

place for me to speak o ut my own s entiments . Im-

pressi ve, thoug h, the splendi d morale of these submarine

crews, and more impressive still the absolute lack of

Prussia n caste dis ciplin e. Aro und our table the of fic ers

and men seemed to be on an equal footin g and to lik e it .

We walked back to the hotel through the moonlight,

and after a fin al roun d of drin ks to bed at three .

BERLIN, December 28

I must record Dr. L ey's Christmas proclama-

tion . " The Fuhrer is always right . Obey the Fuhrer .

The mother is the highest expression of womanhood,

The soldier is the highest expression of manhood. God

is no t punishi ng us by this war, he is givi ng us the op-

portun ity to prove whether we are worthy of our free-

dom ."

Himmler has suddenly decided to revoke the p ermis'

sion for cafes and bars to stay open all night on New

Year's Eve and wa rns the public against excessive

drinking on that night . Is he afraid the pe ople of this

land may go out on a binge, get drunk (which Germans

rarely do, normally), an d express their feeli ngs about

this war? At any rate, everyone must shut up shop at

one a .m. o n New Year's .

BERLIN, December 31

A flood of New Year's procl amations from all

and sundry - itler, Goring, Himmler, etc . Hitler

hold s out hope of vic tory to the people in 1940. Says



1940 B E R L I N, January 1 271

he : " United w ithin the cou ntry, econo mical ly prepared

a nd m i l i t a ri l y a r m e d t o t h e h i g h e s t d e g re e , w e en t er t h i s

most decisive year in German history. . . . May the

year 1940 bring the d eci si on

. I t w i l l b e , w h a te v er h a p -

pens, our victory." He goes to extre me lengths to jus-

tify his war, and if the German people were not so

poiso ned by propaganda and suppressi on of the sl ight-

est factual news from abroad, they would laugh . He

says the " Jewis h reaction ary warmongers in the capi-

tali stic democrac ies " started the war ! Words have no

more meani ng for the man n or, I fear, for hi s people .

He says : " The German people did not want this war ."

(True.) "I tried up to the la st minu te to keep peace

with England ." (Fal se .) "But the Jewish and reac-

tion ary warmongers wa ited for this min ute to ca rry out

their plan s to d estroy Germany." (Fals e . )

Curious how the Germans, who should know better by

t h i s t i m e , t r y t o s c a re t h e E ng l i s h b y b l u s te r i n g t h r e at s .

Goring has a piece in tomorrow's V .B .: " Until now

German ai rpla nes h ave been co ntent to keep a sha rp eye

on England's war measures . But it needs o nly t he wo rd

o f t h e F i i h r e r t o c a r r y o v e r th e r e , i n s t ea d o f t h e p r e s e n t

l i g h t l o a d of c a m e r as , t h e d e st ru c t i v e l o a d o f b om b s . No

c o u n t ry i n t h e w o r l d i s s o op e n t o ai r a tt a c k a s t h e B r i t -

ish Isles. . . . When the German a ir forc e real ly gets

s t ar t ed , i t w i l l m a k e a n a t ta c k s u c h a s w o r l d h i s to r y h a s

never seen ."

Cold, and a c oal s hortage . T h e o ff i c e b o y sa i d t o n i g h t

we were out of coal at the of fic e and that there was n o

more coal to be had .

BER LI N, Jan uary 1, 1940

What will thi s year bring? The decis ion, as

Hitl er boas ted yesterda y? I ha ven't met a German yet



2721940 B E R L I N, J anuary 1

who is n't absolutely certain . Certain it is that this

phony kind of war cannot continue long

. Hitler has

g o t t o g o f or w a r d t o ne w v i c t o r i e s or h i s k i n d o f sy s t e m

cracks .

More drunkenness on the Kurfurstendamm last night

tha n I've e ver seen i n Berlin. Himmler had thousands

o f p o l i c e s c a t t er e d o v e r t ow n t o s e e t h a t n o o ne u s ed h i s

car and that the cafes shut up promptly at one a.m

Saw the old year out at S igrid Schul tz's, then a n hour

o r so w i t h t h e G e r m a n s a t th e R u n d f u nk , t h e n w i t h R u s -

s el l H i l l o v e r t o V i r g i n i a ' s. About two a

.m. i n t h e K u r -

furstendamm we jumped into a taxi . A German, hi s

wife and daughter, aged about twelve, sprang in

through the other door an d we ag reed to sha re it, ther e

being practical ly no taxis out . A soldi er and hi s girl

t h e n c l i m b e d i n ne x t to th e d r i v e r. We had not gone far

when a polic eman s topped us and ordered us all out, on

the ground that we could not ride in a taxi u nless we

were on state business . I ad mitted I had no s tate busi-

ness at two a .m . on New Year's Eve, but pointed out

that we had a child with us and that she was ill. He

f i n al l y a l l o w e d us to p i l e i n a g ai n. We rode a few blo cks

and then the soldi er began to throw a fit -wh ether

from drink or shell-s hock I coul dn't tell. A t any rate ,

h e c l a m o u r ed f o r t h e d r i v e r t o s t op a n d l e t h i m o u t , a n d

h i s g i r l s c r e a m e d fi r st a t h i m a n d t h e n a t th e d r i v e r to

do something . The driver, whether from drink or na-

ture I don't know, was i ncli ned to do no thing. We kept

on going . Then the alarming psychological atmosphere

of t he f ront seat began to spread to t h e r ear one , w here

we five w ere j ammed i n . T h e l i t t l e g i r l s u d d en l y s t a rt e d

to sc ream, wh ether from cl austropho bia o r fear of the

screaming sold ier, or both, Russell a nd I were not sure.

S h e t o o c r i e d t o g e t ou t. Her mother join ed her . Then

her fath er. Finally the driver, apparently awakened



1 9 4 0 B E It L I N,Jan uary 3

27°r

b y t h e b e d l a m , d e c i d e d t o s to p . O u t o n th e c u r b t h e

father and the sol di er began to engage in a fi erce argu-

ment as to w ho h ad spoi led wh ose New Year's Eve .

Russell and I and the taxi -dri ver stole away, l eaving

them to fi gh t i t out . The frayed nerves of the war, w e

d e c i d e d .

BERLIN, January 3

I l e a rn e d t od a y w h a t t h e R u s si a n s h a v e p r o m -

i sed to del i ver to Germany th i s year

1 ,000 ,000 tons of fodder and g rai n ;

500,000 tons of oil seeds ;

500,000 tons of soya beans ;

900,000 tons of petrol eum ;

150,000 tons of cotton (thi s i s more c otton than Rus-

sia h ad to export to the who l e world l ast year) ;

T h r e e m i l l i o n g o l d m a rk s ' w o r th o f l e a th e r an d h i d e s .

T h i s l o o k s g o o d on p a p e r , b u t I w o u l d b e t a l o t th e

Russians del i ver no more than a fracti on of wh at they

h a v e p r o m i s ed .

An offic i al statemen t announces that Goring i s to be-

c o m e a b s ol u t e d i c t a t o r o f G e rm a n y ' s w a r e c o n o m y - a

j o b h e h a s h a d i n e ff e c t f or a l o n g t i m e . T h e p r e s s i s

b e g i n n i n g t o h a rp a b o u t " B r i t ai n ' s a g g r es si v e d e s i g n s

i n S c an d i n av i a . " Hi tler, we hear, has tol d the army ,

navy, and ai r force to rush pl ans for heading off the

A l l i e s i n S c a nd i n av i a sh o u l d t h e y g o i n t h e re to h e l p

F i n l a n d a g a i n s t R us s i a . T h e a r m y a n d n a v y a r e v e ry

p r o - F i n n i s h , b u t re a l i z e th e y m u s t p r o t ec t t h e i r t ra d e

routes to the Swedi sh i ron-ore fi el ds . If Germany l oses

these, she i s sunk .



2 7 4 1940 BE R L I N , January 8

BERLIN, Ja nuary 8

Did a mike interview with General Ernst Udet

tonight, but Goring, his boss, censored our script so

badly that it wa sn't very interesting . I s pent most of

the day coaching the general on his English, which is

none too good . Udet, a lik able fellow whom I used to see

occasionally at the Dodds', i s something of a phenome-

non . A profession al pilot, wh o only a few years a go was

so broke he toured A meric a a s a stun t flyer, performing

often in a full -dress su it and a top hat, he is now re-

sponsible for the designing and production of Ger-

many's war planes . Though he never had any business

experience, he has proved a genius at his job . Next to

Goring and General Milc h, he is given credit in inner

circles h ere for buil ding up the German air force to

what it is today. I could not help thinking tonight that

a man like Udet would never be entrusted with such a

job in America . He would be considered " lacking in

business experience ." Also, businessmen, if they knew

of his somewhat Bohemian life, would hesitate to trust

him with responsibility . And yet in this crazy Nazi

system he has done a phenomenal job . Amusing : l a st

night Udet put on a l ittle p arty in his h ome, wi th thre e

generals, n apkins slung over their should ers, presiding

over his very consi derable bar . There w ere pretty gi rls

and a great deal of cutting up . Yet these are the men

who have made the Luftwaffe the most terrible in stru-

ment of its ki nd i n the world .

BERLIN, January 9

Ha rry C ., probably the best-i nformed man

we have in the Moscow Embassy, passed through today

with hi s wi fe, who is g oing to have her b aby in America .



1940 B E R L I N, Jan uar y 9 9d7h

Harry, no Bolo-baiter, had some weird tales . He says

the one and only thought of a Russian nowadays is to

t o e t h e S t a l i n l i n e so t h a t h e c a n sa v e h i s j o b o r a t l e a s t

his l i fe . The Russia ns, h e says, h ave hopelessl y bungled

the attack on Finland . A hundred thousand casualties

already, the hospitals i n Leningrad and the north

jammed with woun ded . But they are the luc ky ones be-

cause thousands of lightly wounded died of cold and ex-

posure . Harry says everyone in Moscow, from Stalin

down, thought the Red army would be in Helsin ki a

week after the attac k started . They were so s ure that

they timed an attack on Bessarabia for December 6, a nd

o n l y c a l l e d i t o f f a t t h e l a s t m i n u t e.

This h as been on e of the col dest da ys I 've experienc ed

in fourteen years in Europe. Tens of thousand s of

homes and many offices a re without coa l . Real s uffering

among many . With the rivers and canals , which trans-

port most of the coal, frozen over, the Germans can't

bring in adequate supplies . Learn that eighteen Poles

were killed and thirty wounded recently in a Polish

prison camp . The S . S . here clai m there was a " revolt ."

The army is protestin g to Hitler abou t the senseless

brutali ty of the Gestapo i n Pol and, but I do ubt if that

will ch ange matters .

Must note a new propaganda campaign to convince

the German people that this is not only a war against

the " plutocratic "British a nd French, but a h oly

struggle against the Jews. Says Dr . L e y i n t h e Angriff

tonight : "We know that this war is an ideological

struggle against world Jewry . England is allied with

the Jews aga inst Germany . . . . England is spiritu-

all y, politica lly, and econo micall y at one with t he Jews .

. . . For us England and the Jews remain the common

fo e . . . ."



e76 1940 BER LI N, J anuary 1 1

BERLIN, January 11

Col d .Fifteen degrees below zero centigrade

outside my window . Hal f the populatio n freezing i n

their homes and offices and workshops because there's

no coal . Pitiful to see in the street s yesterday pe ople

carrying a sack of coal home in a baby-carriage or on

their sho ulders . I'm surp rised the N azis a re letting the

situatio n become so serious . Everyone is grumbling .

Nothing like con tinual c old to lower your morale .

Hitler is back i n town and last ni ght at t he Chancel-

lery, I hear, he and Goring lambaste d the big in dustrial -

ists, who had been hurriedly convoked from the Rhine-

land, for being slack . These great tycoons, who made

it poss ible wi th their money f or Hitler to c limb to pow er,

sa t there, I'm told , w ith red f aces an d never dared utter

a peep . Hitler als o saw the mil itary yesterday and to-

day and there is talk a bout a big push i n the spring .

The army, a ccording to my sp ies, i s s till a gain st an of-

fensi ve on the Magi not Li ne despite party pressu re for

it . Will the Germans try to go through Holland, as

many think? They want air bases on the Dutch coast

for the take-off against Britain . Also fantastic talk

here of an invasion of England ; of the Germans going

into Sweden to sew up their Swedish i ron-ore supplies,

the justif ic atio n to be that the Swedes are p lo tting to

let in A lli ed armies to f igh t in F inl and.

Learned today from a traveller back from Prague

that producers of butter, flour, a nd other thin gs i n

Slovakia and Bohemia are marking their goods des-

tined for Germany as "Made in Russ ia ." This on

orders from Berlin , the idea being to show the German

people how much " help " is already coming from the

Soviets .

A Wil helmstrasse offici al admitted to me today that



1940 AMSTE RDAM, J anuary 1 8 2 77

t h e G e rm a ns h a d i m p o s e d fo rc e d l a b o u r o n a l l J e w s i n

Pol and . H e sa i d t h e t er m of fo rc e d l a b o ur w a s " o nl y

two years . " 1 A G e r m a n sc h o o l - t e ac h e r te l l s m e t h i s o ne

the i nstructors begin the day wi th thi s greeting to their

p up i l s : " G o t t s t r af e E ng l a n d ! " - w h e r e up o n t h e c h i l -

d r e n a r e s up p o s e d t o a n s w e r : " H e w i l l . "

AMSTER DAM, January 18

E d [ M u r r o w ] a n d I h e r e f o r a f e w d a y s t o

di scuss our European coverage, or at l east that' s our

excuse . Actual l y, i ntoxi cated by the li ghts at nig ht and

t h e f i n e f o od a n d th e c h a n g e i n a t m o s p h e r e , w e h a v e

b e e n c u t t i n g u p l i k e a c o u p l e o f y o un g s t er s su d d e nl y

escap ed from a stern o l d aun t o r a reform sc hoo l . Last

n i g h t i n s h e er j o y , a s w e w e re c o m i n g h o m e f r om a n

e no rm o us d i n n er w i t h a f re s h s no w d r i f t i n g d o w n l i k e

c o n fet ti , w e s t op p e d u n d er a b r i g h t s t r ee t - l i g h t a nd

f ou g h t a m i g h t y s n ow - b a l l b a tt l e . I lost my g l asses and

m y h a t a nd w e l i m p e d b a c k t o t h e h o t el e x h a u st e d b ut

happy . Th i s m o rni n g w e h a v e b e en i c e - s k a ti n g o n t h e

c a n al s w i t h M a ry M a r v i n B r e c k i n ri d g e , w h o h a s fo r-

saken the soft and dull l i fe of Ameri can soci ety to repre-

sent us here . T h e D ut c h s t i l l l e ad t h e g oo d l i f e . The

food they c onsume as to bo th quan t i ty and q ual i ty (oys-

ters, fowl , meats, vegetabl es, oranges, bananas, coffee

- h e t h i n g s t h e w a r ri n g p e o p l e s ne v e r se e ) i s f a n -

tasti c . They din e and dance and go to chu rch and

skate on canal s and tend thei r businesses . A n d t h e y a re

1 T h e o f f i c i a l G e r m a n d ec r e e r ea d: " A l l J e w s f r o m f o ur t e en to

s i x t y y e a rs o f ag e a re s ub j e c t to f or c e d l a b ou r . Th e l e n g t h o f f o rc e d

labour is two years, but i t wi l l be prol onged if its educati onal pur-

pose is not considered fulfi ll ed . Jews cal l ed up for forced labour must

r ep o r t p r o m p t l y , a n d m u st b ri n g f o od f or tw o d a y s a nd t h e i r b e d-

d i n g . Skil l ed Jewish w orkers must report with thei r tools . Thos e who

d o n ' t a r e s u b j e c t t o s e n t en c e s r u n n i n g t o t e n y e a r s i n t h e p e n i t e n -

t i a r y . "



278 1940 AMST ERDAM, January 20

blind - h, so blind - to the dangers that confront

them . Ed and I have tried to do a li ttle missionary

work, but to no avail, I fear . The Dutc h, li ke every-

one else, wa nt it both ways . They want peace and the

comfortable li fe, but they won't make the sa crific es o r

even the hard decisi ons which might ensure their way of

li fe in the lon g run . The Queen, they say, stubbornly

refuses to al low staff talks with the Alli es or even wi th

the Belgians . In the meantime, as I c ould observe when

I c ross ed the border, the Ge rmans pile u p their forces

and supplies on th e Dutch frontier . If and when they

m o v e , t h e re w i l l b e no ti m e f or st a ff t al k s w i t h t h e A l l i e s .

The Dutch tell you th at if they even whisper to the

Allies about joint defence plans, Hitler will c onsider

that an excuse to walk in . As though Hitler will ever

want for an excuse if he reall y decid es to wal k i n .

Ed a little alarming with his tales of British mud-

dling and the comfortable beli ef in Britai n that the

Allies will win the war without losing many men or

doing much fighting by merely maintaining the block-

ade and waiting until Germany cracks . We broadcast

together tonight to America from Hilversum .

AMSTER DAM, January 20

Ed off today to Paris and I, alas, must head

back tonight to Berlin . I've invite d Marvin to come up

next month and do the " women's angle ." Ran into

Tom R ., a n American businessman, in the bar of the

Carlto n this afternoon . He gave me the story at la st

of what happened to Eleanor K . 1 He himself was in-

volved . He had given her' a couple of business letters

to certain parties in Germany which he says he di d not

1 See pag es 228 -9 an d 25'T



1940 AMSTE RDAM, January 2 0 279

think were compromisi ng, but which obvious ly were .

T h e s e w e re t h e l e t t er s w h i c h i n t h e en d a l m o st l e d t o

h e r d e a t h . E l e a n or d i d n o t l o o k a t th e m , m e r e l y t uc k -

ing them into her b ag . A t Bentheim, on the Dutch -

G e r m a n b o r d e r, t h e G e s t a p o d i s c o v e r e d t h e m . T h e y a r -

r e st e d h e r , b u t a l l o w e d h e r t o b e c o n fi n e d i n t h e l o c a l

hotel, there bei ng no suitabl e jail . E ac h d a y t h e r e w e r e

l ong hours o f quest ion i ng , wi th the Gestapo i nqu isi t ion -

e r s t r y i n g t o b r ea k h e r d o w n a n d m a k e h e r a d m i t w h a t

she i n truth refused to : that she knew th e con ten ts o f

h e r l e t te r s a n d w a s r ea l l y a c o u ri e r i n t h e s e r v i c e o f

s h a d y b u s i n e ss i n t er e st s i n s i d e a n d o ut s i d e G e r m a n y

w h i c h w e re e ng a g i n g i n u nl a w fu l f i n an c i a l p r ac t i c e s .

To m a k e m a t t er s w o r s e , o n e o f t h e l e t t er s w a s t o a J e w

i n B e rl i n . O ne n i g h t i n t h e h o t e l E l e a no r fe l l i n t o a

m o o d o f d e ep d e p r e ss i o n . The Gestapo ha d ques tion ed

a n d th r e a te n ed h e r a l l d a y . S h e s aw h e r se l f r ec e i v i n g a

l o n g p r i s o n s e n te n c e . She had in tended to r eturn to

A m e r i c a f o r g oo d i n a fe w w e e k s . Now she woul d spend

y e a r s i n a Nazi c oncentration camp or a da mp priso n

c e l l . S h e d e c i d e d t o m a k e su r e s h e w o u l d n ' t . S h e d e -

ci ded to ki l l h ersel f . T h e r e s o l v e m a d e , s h e p r e p a r e d f o r

it cooll y . She p rocured a rope , t i ed one end to the r adi a .

t o r , th e o t h e r a r o un d h e r n e c k , o p e n e d t h e w i n d o w, s a t

d o w n o n th e w i n d o w - l e d g e , a nd b e g a n to s w a l l o w s t ro n g

s l eep i ng - p i l l s . She w ou ld soon be unconsci ous, she knew,

w o u l d t o p p l e o ut o f t h e w i n d o w , a nd t h e r op e w o u l d d o

the rest . W h y i t d i d n ' t , s h e w i l l n ev e r k n ow , T o m s a y s .

Probabl y the rope sl ipped o ff the rad ia tor . All shEs

k n o w s i s t h a t so m e d a y s l a t er t h e y t o l d h e r i n t h e h o s •

p i t a l t h a t t h e s n o w i n t h e s tr e et b e l o w h a d b r o k e n h e r

fal l , that she had l ain there fo r fi ve hours unt i l some-

o n e h a d s tu m b l e d a c r o s s h e r h a l f - f r oz e n f o rm i n t h e

f i r s t l i g h t o f d a w n , a n d t h a t s h e h a d b r o k e n al m o s t



280 1940B E R L I N, January 2 2

every bone in h er bod y, but probably would reco ver .

Eventually she was removed to a prison hospital in Ber-

lin , where the American consulate, in great secrecy,

procu red h er release and qu ietly got her out of the

country . She is now in America, Tom says .

BERLIN, January 22

I got an i dea yesterday of how German trans -

portation, a t least of railro ad passengers, has been par-

alysed by the severe winter and the demands of the

army . At the German border we were t old tha t the usua l

express train to Berlin had stopped running . Wi th

fifty other passen gers I took refuge from the bli zzard i n

the station at Bentheim and waited several hours until

the railroad officia ls organized a local train which they

said would take us some twenty-five miles of the two

hundred and fifty miles to Berlin. The train, which was

unheated, soon stopped ; we piled out in the snow with

our luggage as best we could, there being no porters

in Ger ma ny no wada ys. By the time it was d ark, we had

progressed on various local trains about seventy-five

miles when in one little stat ion word came that an ex-

press train from Colo gne wou ld be coming al ong soo n

and would pick us up for Berlin . But when it came in,

it wa s jammed an d there were at least five hu nd red

peo ple on the platfo rm who wan ted to g et aboar d.

There was a free-for-a ll fight. I us ed college football

tactics and charged in behind my baggage, just man-

aging to squeeze into the ou ter platform of a thi rd-cla ss

coach, the rest of the crammed passengers shouting a nd

cursing at me . For the next eight hours I stood in that

unheated spot until we got almost to Berlin . Several

hundred irritable passengers stood in the corridors most



1940 B E EL I N , January24 281

of the nig ht, and there were thousands on the station

pl atforms we stopp ed at wh o never got on the train at

a l l. Suc h grumbli ng I have no t heard from Germans

si nce the w ar started .

BERL IN , January 24

I t h i n k P er c i v a l W ., a retired Ameri can busi -

n e s s m a n o f G e r m a n p a r e n t a g e w h o h a s s p e n t m o s t o f

hi s li fe in thi s country, sees somethi ng I've been tryi ng

t o g e t st r ai g h t . I h a d n e v e r m e t h i m b e f o r e , b u t h e

d r op p e d u p t o m y r oo m t h i s m o r ni n g f o r a c h a t . We

d i s c u s s ed t h e G e r m a n c o n c e p t i o n of e th i c s , h o n ou r, c o n -

d u c t . S ai d h e : " F or G e rm a n s a th i n g i s r i g h t , e th i c a l ,

h o n o ur a b l e , i f i t s q u a r es w i t h t h e t r ad i t i o n o f w h a t a

German think s a German should do ;or i f i t advances

t h e i n t er e st s o f G e r m a n i s m o r G e r m a n y . B u t t h e G e r -

m a n s h a v e n o a b s t ra c t i d e a o f et h i c s , o r h o n ou r , o r

r i g h t c o n du c t . " H e g a v e a p r e tt y i l l u s tr a ti o n . A G e r -

m a n f ri e nd s a i d t o h i m : " Isn't i t terribl e what the Finns

are doing, taki ng on Russia ? It's utterly wrong . "

When Mr . W . remonstrated that , af ter al l , th e F i nns

were only doing w hat you woul d expect a ll decent Ger-

mans to do if they g ot in the same fi x - a m el y , d e -

fendi ng thei r l i berty and i ndependence agains t wanton

a g g re s si o n - h i s friend re torted : " B u t R u ss i a i s G e r -

m a n y ' s f r i e n d . "

In o ther words, fo r a German to defend h i s coun try ' s

l i b e rt y a nd i n d ep e n d en c e i s r i g h t . For a Finn to d o

t h e s a m e i s w r o n g , b e c a u s e i t d i s t ur b s G e r m a ny ' s r e l a -

t i o n s w i t h R u s si a . The abstract idea there i s mi ssing i n

t h e G e r m a n m e n t a l i t y .

T h a t p r o b a b l y e x p l a i n s th e G e rm a n s ' c o m p l e t e l a c k

o f re g a rd or s y m p a t h y fo r t h e p l i g h t o f th e P o l e s or



1 9 4 0 B E R L I N, January 2 5 283

1 9 3 4 i s t h e b e s t y e a r n ow fo r o rd i n a ry w i n e s . I w a s

a b o ut t o l e a v e w h e n a w h i t e - h a i r e d ol d d u f f er s at d o w n

a t m y t a b l e . A s h e h a d n o f at c a r d f o r a m e at d i s h h e

h a d o r d e r ed , I o f f er e d h i m o n e of m i n e . W e s t a r t ed

t al k i n g .

" W h o w i l l w i n t h ee w a r ? " he asked .

" I don ' t know," I sai d .

" Why, se lbs tvers tandl i ch , Germany," he la ughed .

H e a r g u ed t h a t i n 1 9 14 G e rm a n y h a d t h e w h o l e w o rl d

a g a i n s t h e r , n o w o n l y G r e at B r i t a i n a n d F r an c e , a n d

R u s si a w a s f r i e n d l y .

" Ea c h si d e th i n ks i t w i l l w i n , " I sa i d . " I n al l t h e

w a r s . "

He l ooked at me wi th p i ty in h i s ol d eyes . " Germany

wil l win ," he said . " It is c ertai n . T h e F i i h r e r h a s s ai d

so."

B u t a s w e t al k e d I w a s c o n s c i o u s t h a t m y r e m a r k s

w e r e j a rr i n g h i m . H e b e c a m e a g g r e s si v e , i r r i t a t ed . He

s a i d B r i t a i n a n d F r a nc e s t a rt e d t h e w a r .

" B u t y o u a t ta c k e d P o l a n d , a n d s om e p e o p l e f e el that

s t a rt e d t h e w a r , " I p u t i n . He drew h imself up in

a s to n i s h m e n t .

" I beg your pardon," he gasp ed, and then proceeded

for ten mi nutes to repeat every l i e about the orig i ns of

t h e w a r th a t H i t l e r h a s t ol d . (The German people do

b e l i e v e H i t l e r th e n , I m u s ed . ) " T h e d o c u m e n t s i s s u e d

b y o u r F or e i g n O ff i c e h a v e p r o v e d b e y o n d th e s h a d o w

of doubt," he w ent on, " that Bri tai n and France star ted

t h e w a r a n d i n d e e d p l a n ne d i t f o r m o r e t h a n a y e a r . "

" They don ' t p rove i t to me," I said .

T h i s c a u se d h i m t o l o s e h i s b r ea th . W h e n h e h a d r e -

c o v e r ed h e s a i d : " As I w as s aying , the documents

prove i t . . . . "

I n o t i c e d m y s o u r r e m a rk s w e re at t r ac t i n g t h e a t -

tenti on of the rest of the room and th at two hatc het-



1940 B E R L I N, January 2 7 285

ment, as she put it, no w has the upper hand in Germany

and she thought the only way the west-European nature

of the German could be saved would be by another de-

feat, even an other Peace of Westphali a (which spli t up

Germany in 1648 into three hundred separate states).

I'm rather inc lin ed to a gree .

BERL IN, January 27

Some miscellany . With the publi cation of a

pocket-sized edition of Mein Kampf for the troo ps a t

the front, total sal es of Hitle r's Bible, I l earn toda y,

have now reach ed the f an tas tic to tal o f 5,950,000 co pies .

. . . The greatest organ ized mass migration since the

exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey

after the las t war is no w coming to an end in Poland .

Some 135,000 Germans from Russi an-occupied eastern

Poland and 100,000 Germans from the Baltic states are

now being settled in the part of Poland which Germany

has annexed outright . To make room for them an equal

number of Poles are being turned out of house, ho me,

and far m an d se nt t o oc cupied Po . . . Dr

Frank , German Governor-General of Poland, has de-

creed the death sentence for Poles who hold back goods

from sale or refuse to sell their wa res when offered a

" decent " price . This will ena ble the Germans to com-

plete their pill age of Pol and. I f a Pol e objects, off wi th

his head . . . . A German court in Posen has sentenced

eight Poles, inc luding three women, to death for all eg-

edly m i s t re a ti n g German flyers - robably parachut-

ists . Even the Germans a dmit that no t one o f the flyers

was kil led . ,

A phony war . Toda y's di spatc hes from the front d eal

exclusively with an account of how German machine-

guns fought French l o u d - s p e a k e r s ! It seems that alon g



1940 V I L L A R S-S U R-O L L o N, Februa ry 20 2 89

off the funeral wi thou t let ting the au thorities k now tha t

someone in the co nfid ence of the famil y had li stened to

a foreign station ? If the parents w oul dn't tell , perhaps

they themselves would be arrested. A family council

was held. It wa s d ecided to go through with the f uneral .

After it wa s o ver, the mou rners g athere d i n the parents'

home, were told the truth if they already didn't know

it, a nd everyone celebrated with champagne .

3 . A big German film company completed last sum-

mer at the cost of several mill ion marks a movie based

on the exploits o f the German Condor Legio n in Spain.

It was a su per-film sho win g ho w German bloo d h ad

been shed in the holy war in Spain against Bolshevism .

Hitler, Goring, Goebbels, Hi mmler, saw it, praised i t .

Then came the Nazi-Soviet pact las t August . The fil m

is now in storage . It was never shown to the public .

VILLARS-SUR-OLLO N, SWIT ZE RLAND , Fe br uary 20

Across the vall ey from the window, the great

sweep of the Dents du Midi Alpine peaks . Towards

evening in the setting sun these snowy mountain-sides

take on a magnificent pink . Down in bed with my an-

nual flu for ten days . Must start back to Berli n to-

morrow . Spring will s oon be here . Action . The o ffen-

s i v e . The war . Far away it has seemed here . Tess

coming in at dus k with flus hed cheeks after a four-mile

ski run down the mountain behind the hotel, Eileen

coming in with redder cheeks after playing around all

day in the sno w . In the evening

-efore I go t sic k

-an excellent, unrationed dinner and then talk and danc-

ing in the bar with peop le who still retain their senses .

At first, and the l as t thre e da ys a fter I g ot ou t of bed,

skating on the rink below with Wellington Koo, Chinese



1940 BER LIN , Ma rch 3 ° 0 9 3

From what I saw in the Netherlands, the Dutch will be

easy pickings for the Germans . Their army is miser-

able . Their famous defensi ve water-lin e is o f doubtful

worth. Switzerland will be tougher to crack, and I

doubt if the Germans wil l try .

Welles received us in the Embassy after lunch . A

taciturn fellow, he said he could say nothing . I gath-

ered from wha t little he di d s ay that h e was intere sted in

seeing Goring . Is it be cause in the e nd h e thi nks Goring

may lead a conservative government?

BERLIN, March 3

We l l e s l e ft to ni g h t , h i s l i p s s ea l e d t o t h e l a s t .

Those of the Wil helmstrasse were not, however . They

gave the American correspond ents front-pag e copy .

They told us Hitler had made it plain to Welles

1 . That there is n o chance for an immediate, negoti-

ated peace. The war must be fought out to the bitte r

end . Germany is c onfident of winning it .

2 . That Germany must be given a free hand i n what

she considers her Lebensraum in eastern Europe . She

will never consent to restore Czechoslovakia, Poland,

or Austria .

3 . A condition of any peace must be the breaking of

Britain's control of the seas, including not . only her

naval disarmament but the abandonment of her great

naval bases at Gibraltar, Malta, and Singapore .

I do ubt if this tal l talk i mpress ed Welles, w ho s truck

me as s uffic ientl y cynic al . At any rate, the Germans

did not, a s s ome expected, offer a nic e-sounding but

meaningless peace proposal . My spi es report Hitler is

in a confident mood these days and thinks he can win

the war outright and quickly .

Touc hing how the German people have had a na ive



2 9 4 1940 BER LIN , March 4

hope that Welles's vis it migh t pave the way to peace .

Several Germans dropped in today to i nquire whether

" Welles ha d any luck ."

BERLIN, March 4

Last nigh t, by request, I broadcast a p i e c e

about the actual routine of broadcasting from here in

warrtime . Had never stopped to think of it before.

Some extracts, for the reco rd: The daily broadcast at

s i x f o r ty - f i v e p .m . , New York time, means our talking

from here at a, quarter to one on the foll owing morning.

If I co uld get gasol ine for my car I c ould drive to the

studio in twelve minutes . As it is, I have a ten-minute

walk down the completely blacked-out Wilhelmstrasse

to the subway . It is a rare night that I do not colli de

with a la mp-post, a fire-hydrant, o r a projecting s tair-

way, or flop head lon g in to a pile of snow. Sa fely in th e

subway, I have a ha lf-ho ur's ride to the Rundfunk

House . As half of the route is above ground , the tr ain

is plunged in darkn ess for fifteen minu tes . My pockets

a r e s t uf f e d f u l l o f p a s s e s . If I ca nnot find the righ t one

I must wai t in the vestibule on a rrivin g at the station

and fil l o ut a paper permitting me to enter . Finally

arrived, I g o to a n offic e and write my script . Two of-

fices dow n I can hear Lord Haw-Haw attack ing hi s

typewriter with gusto or shoutin g in his nasal voic e

against " that plutocrat Chamberlain." A half-hour

before my broadcast I must h ave my script in the ha nds

of the cens ors . Follows a h alf-hour battle with them.

If they leave enough to make it worth while to do the

broadcas t, as they usual ly do, I must then, i n order to

reach the studio and microphone, dash through wind-

ing corridors in the Broadcasting House, down many

s t ai r s , a n d o u t i n t o a pitch-dark vaca nt lot in the middle



1940 BER LIN , March 10295

o f w h i c h a re h i d d e n st ep s - h e l o t b ei n g t e rr a c e d -b e i n g c a re fu l n ot t o b um p i n to s ev e ra l s h e d s l u r k i n g i n

t h e w a y o r t o f al l i n to a sn ow - d r i f t . I n t h e c o u r se o f

t h i s j o u r ne y t h r o u g h t h e l o t , I m u s t g e t p a s t at l e a st

th ree steel -h el meted S .S . guards wh om I cannot see in

the darkness , but who I know are armed wi th sawed-off

automati c ri fl es and have orders to shoot anyone not

h a l t i n g a t t h ei r c h a l l e ng e . T h e y m u s t s e e m y p a s s . I

s e ar c h f o r i t w i t h m y f r o ze n f i n g e rs , a nd i f I ' m l u c k y

and fi n d i t, I arri v e at the s tudi o i n tim e and not too

much out of breath, th ough not a lw ays i n the sweetes t

of temp ers . I f the censors keep m e, o r the guards keep

me, I arr ive l ate, ou t o f b reath , so re and sour . I sup -

p o s e l i s t en e rs w o n d e r w h y w e p a n t so o f te n t h r o ug h

our talk s .

BERLIN, March 8

D i p l o m at i c c i r c l e s b uz zi n g w i t h t al k o f a

s e c r e t p e a c e p a r l e y i n S t oc k h o l m t o e nd t h e R u s so -

F i n n i s h w a r . A d e c r ee to d ay o r d er s a l l p e r so ns an d

f i r m s w h o p o s se ss o l d m e ta l o r sc r a p i r on t o d el i v e r i t

to the state. La c k o f i ro n m a y l o s e G e rm a n y t h e w a r .

BERLIN, March 10

Today is Memoria l Day in Germany, a day

t o r e m e m b e r th e d e a d w h o ' v e b e e n s l a i n i n a l l t h e w a r s .

I n f or m e r y e a r s t h e G e r m a n s r em e m b e r e d th e t w o m i l -

l i o n m e n s l a u g h t e re d b e t w e e n 1 9 1 4 a n d 1 9 1 8 . Today

the Nazi s ask the peopl e not to thi nk too much of the

Wo r l d Wa r d e a d , b u t t o c o n c e n t r at e t h e i r t h o u g h t s o n

those wh o have been done to death or wi l l di e in thi s

war . H o w p e rv e r se h u m a n b e i n g s c a n b e ! A f ron t -p a g e

editori al i n the Lokal Anzeiger says : " Thi s is no ti me



e 9 6 1 9 4 0 BERLIN, Marc h 10

fo r being sent i men tal . M e n ar e d y i n g f o r G e r m a n y d a y

a nd n i g h t . O n e' s p e r so n al f a te n o w i s u n i m p o r t a nt .

There i s no ask i ng wh y i f one fal l s o r i s b roken . "

That 's the troubl e . I f th e G e r m a n s a s k ed w h y , t h e

f l o w e r o f t h e i r y o u t h m i g h t n ot a l w a y s b e c o n d em n e d

to be butchered on the bat t lef i el d . G e n e r a l v o n R u n d -

stedt, one of the l eadi ng mi l i tary fi gures i n the conquest

of Poland, w rites in the V ol k i s c h e B e o b ac h t er : " Me-

mori al Day -1940 : Certa inl y w e thi nk earnes tly of

t h e d e a d , b u t w e d o n o t m o u rn . ' d A nd th i s p a p e r b a n-

n e rl i n e s i n r e d i n k a c r o s s P a g e o ne : "OV ER TH E

GRAVES FO RWARD!"

H i t l e r s p o k e t od a y i n a c o u rt y a rd i n t h e Ze u g h a u s ,

the War Museum . T h e r e am i d s t th e m u s e um p i e c e s -t h e a rm s a n d w e a p o n s Eu ro p e a ns h a v e u s e d to k i l l o n e

another i n all the wars of the p ast, he orated . H i s v oi c e

w a s fu l l o f h at re d , w h i c h h e m i g h t h a v e b e en e x p e c te d

t o av o i d o n M e m o ri a l D a y . H a s t h e m a n n o ot h e r e m o -

tion? He promi sed hi s peopl e that the end of thi s war

w o u l d g i v e G e rm a n y th e m o s t g l o ri o us m i l i t ary t ri u m p h

i n hi story . He th i nks on l y o f arms . Does he und ers tand

the economic rol e in th i s war? .

Ri bbentrop off to Rome to make sure wh at Mussoli ni

w i l l d o w h e n t h e G e rm a n of f en si v e s t ar t s an d a l s o t o

s e e t h e P o p e . Talk of a new concordat . Monsi gnor

C e s a re O rs e ni g o , t h e P a p a l N u n c i o , h a s b e en q u i e tl y

p a y i n g v i s i t s t o t h e W i l h e l m s t r as se fo r w e ek s . Ger-

many d i dn ' t observe the last concordat , persecu t ing th e

c h u r c h w h e ne v er i t p l e a se d . B u t t h ey w i l l p r ob ab l y s i g n

a n e w o n e . I t w i l l m e a n p r e st i g e f o r H i t l e r a t h o m e an d

a b r o a d .

Al l Germans I tal k to afraid h ell wi l l break loose thi s

month .



1940 BER LI N, March 13$97

BERLIN, March 11

A talk today with General von Schell, a wiz-

ard who is responsible for oil and automobiles . He

claimed he would have enough oil for a ten-year war .

He said his factories were now produci ng only 20 types

of trucks as compared with 120 last year .

Beginning April 90, al l German youths between ten

and eighteen will be compelled to joi n the Hitler Y outh.

Conscription of youth. was laid down in a law dated

1936, but o nl y goes i nto effect no w . Boys between sev-

enteen and eighteen will receive preliminary military

training .

BERLIN, March 13

In Moscow last night peace was made between

Russia and Finland . I t is a very hard peace for Fin-

land and in Helsinki today, according to the BBC, the

flags are at half-mast . Berlin, however ; is delig hted.

For two reason s : (1) It re leas es Rus si a from the strain

of war, so that she now may be able to furnish some

badly needed raw materials to the Reich. (2) It re-

moves the danger of Germany having to fight a war on

a long northern front, which she would have had to

supply by sea and which would have dispersed her mil-

itary forces n ow concentratin g in the west for the de-

cisive blow, which may begin any day now .

I think in the end Norway and Sweden will pay for

their r efusal to al lo w Alli ed troops acros s their t erri-

tories to h elp Finl and. To be sure, they were not in a

pleasant spot . Baron von Stumm of the F.O . con firmed

to me today that Hitler had informed both Oslo and

Stockholm that had Allied troops set foot in Scandi-

navia, Germany immedia tely would have invaded the



298 1940BERLIN, March 14

n or th t o c u t t h e m o ff . T h e t r ou b l e w i t h t h e S c a n d i -

n a v i a n s i s t h a t a h u n d r ed y e a r s o f p e ac e h a v e m a d e t h e m

soft , peace-at -any-p ri cers . A n d t h e y h a v e n ot h a d t h e

courage to look i nto the future . B y t h e t i m e t h e y m a k e

up thei r mi nds to take sides, i t wi l l be too l ate, as i t

w a s w i t h P ol a nd . Sandler, Sweden's Foreig n Mi nis ter,

al one seems to have seen the situation c orrectl y, and he

has been forced to resig n .

Fi nl and now i s a t the mercy of Russ ia . O n a n y f a k e

pretex t the Sov i ets can henc efo rth overrun the c oun try,

s i n c e th e F i n n s m u s t no w g i v e u p t h e i r f o rt i f i c a t i o n s,

as the C zech s had to do after Muni ch . ( C z e c h o l a s te d

fi ve and a hal f months after that . ) Have w e not reach ed

a s ta g e i n h i s t ory w h e re n o sm a l l n at i o n i s s af e an y

l onger, wh ere they al l must l i ve on su fferance from the

di ctators? Gone are those pl easant nineteenth- century

days wh en a country coul d remai n neutral and at peace

just by sayi ng i t wanted to .

W i t h p e a c e i n F i n l a nd , t h e t al k h e r e i s o n c e m o re o f

t h e G e rm a n o f fe n s i v e . X , a G e rm a n , k e ep s t el l i n g m e

it wi ll be frightful ; p oison gas, bacteri a, etc . Li ke al l

G e r m a ns , t h o u g h h e s h o ul d k n o w b e t te r, h e t h i n k s i t

wi l l be so terri bl e that i t wil l bring a quic k vic tory for

Germany . I t ne v e r o c c u r s t o h i m t h a t th e e n e m y t o o

has po i son gas and bacteria . ,

A r e c o r d : A l e t te r fro m C a r l B ra nd t p o s t ed i n N e w

Yo r k O c t o b e r 7 l a s t y e a r a r r i v e d d a y b e f o r e y e s t e rd a y ,

Marc h 11 . I t h a d b e e n o p e n ed b y b o t h t h e B r i t i s h a n d

G e r m a n c e n s o rs .

BERLIN, March 14

In L ondon last nigh t, on e Mohamed Singh

Azad shot and kil led Sir Michael O'Dwyer . Not

G a nd h i , b u t m o s t of t h e o th e r I n d i a n s I k n ow, w i l l f ee l



g oo 1940 B E R L I N, March 1 7

tory " telegram, praising him for having destroyed

Czechoslovakia and wishing him victory in this war .

Hitler 's c ynic ism i s o f rich qual ity, but mill ion s o f Ger-

mans believe t hat today's exc hange of telegrams is per-

f ec t l y s i n c e re . H i t l e r r ep l i e s t h a t h e i s " deeply moved "

by Hacha's wire and adds : " Germany has no intention

of threatening the nati onal exis tence of the Czechs ."

When he has al ready destroyed it! Neurath, a typical

example, of the German aristoc rats wh o sacrific ed their

souls (they had no minds) to Hitler, sends him a sla vish

telegram thanking him for his " historic deed " and

pledging the " unbreakable loyalty of Bohemia a nd

Moravia ." In an in terview with the German press

Neurath sa ys the Czechs are content with their lo t, al l

except " a few intellectual s a nd tho se elements of dis -

turbance which were put down in a manner the sharp-

ness of which was not misunderstood ." He refers to the

mass shooting o f Czech students la st fall .

My good friend Z, a captain in the navy on duty with

the High Command, has no t appeared in uniform all

week . Toda y he told me why . " I have no more white

s h i r t s. I h ave not been able to have my laundry done

for eig ht weeks . I have no soap to wash my shirts my-

self, being in the same position as the laundry . I ha ve

only colored shirts left . So I wear civili an clothes ."

A nic e state f or the na vy to be in .

BER LI N,March 17

Much excitement on this Palm Sunday in

official quarters over a war communique claiming that

the Luftwaffe hit a nd damaged three British battle-

ships in Scapa Flow last night . More important to me

was that for the first time the Germans admitted that

during the raid their planes al so bombed British air



802 1 9 4 0 BERLIN, Mar ch 1 9

f r o m t h e B a l k a n s an d I t a l y . He had some good dope

H e d o ub t s t h a t I t al y w i l l g o i n t o th e w a r . S o d o I .

I t al y can b e b l o c k a d ed . John said h e no t ic ed a lessen-

i n g o f t h e d ri v e i n F a sc i s m . Peopl e are more re laxed .

Il Duce does not push them so hard . H e ' s ag i n g , g r o w -

i n g f at , a nd s p e nd s m u c h t i m e w i t h h i s y o ut h f ul b l o nd e

m i s tr es s , b y w h o m - o h n w a s to l d i n R om e - e h a s

j u st h a d a c h i l d . J o h n s ai d h e s a w P e ta i n i n M a d ri d .

The old man sa id : " I p r a y t h a t t h e G e r m a n s t ry t o

break through the Magi not L ine . I t c a n b e b r o k e n

through - t a cost . B u t l e t t h e m i n f i l t r at e t h r o u g h .

I ' d l i k e to b e i n c o m m a n d of th e A l l i e d ar m y t h e n . "

I c a l l e d o n M a j o r X o f t h e X E m b a s sy t h i s a ft e r-

noon . H e s ee s th r e e p o s si b i l i t i e s o p e n t o G e r m a n y

now :

1 . G e r m a n y c a n m a k e p e a c e. H e t h i n k s H i t l e r w a n ts

p e a c e . A n d t h a t h e c o u l d a f f or d t o of f er a p e a c e w h i c h

w o u l d s o un d p r e tt y f ai r an d m i g h t b e a c c e p t a b l e to al l

b u t t h e En g l i s h , an d w h i c h w o ul d st i l l c o ns ol i d a te m os t

of hi s gai ns . S u c h a p e a c e , h e a r g ue d , w o u l d b e e q u i v a -

l e n t to a g r e a t G e r m a n v i c t o r y .

2 . Germany can continu e as at pr esent, keep ing

S c a n d i n a v i a a nd I t a l y n eu tr al a nd c o - o p e ra t i v e e c o -

n o m i c a l l y , a n d d e v e l o p i n g s o ut h e a s te r n E u ro p e a nd

e sp e c i a l l y R u ss i a . Th i s wou ld take t im e, at least th ree

y e a r s, b u t o n c e d ev e l o p e d , i t w o u l d m a k e t h e A l l i e d

b l o c k a d e c o m p a r a ti v e l y i n ef fe c t i v e . T h e m a j o r p o i n t ed

out that no nation wh i ch l os t control of the seas had

e v e r i n a l l h i s to ry w o n a m a j o r w a r . B u t h e t h i n k s i t

m i g h t b e a c c o m p l i s h ed t h i s ti m e i f G e rm a n y k ee p s h e r

northern, south ern, and southeas tern doors open and

d e v el o p s R u ss i a s u ff i c i e nt l y . H e r e g a rd s t h e R u s s i a n

ti e-up as Hi tl er's master stroke, but says it w as forced

u p o n h i m b y t h e G e rm a n G en er al S t a f f, w h i c h s i m p l y

t ol d h i m t h a t w a r w i t h t h e Wes t w a s i m p o s si b l e i f R u s-



30,E19 40 B ERL IN, March 2 1

of Chamberla in 's speech in the House la st nig ht : "HOLI-

DAY OF LIE S IN LOW ER HOUS E . -THE PIRATES

CO NFES S THEI R C RIM E A GAINST THE NE U-

TRAL S!"

BER LIN , March 21

They took the American correspond ents up

t o S y l t a ft e r a l l t o d a y , b u t I w a s no t i n v i t e d . They tele-

phoned Berlin tonight that they had not seen much

damage at the chief seaplane base at Hoernum, which

was the only one they were shown -a fact I pointed

out in my broadcast tonight. The Nazi press has been

ordered to make a terrific play tomorrow morning of

the reports of these American correspondents .

Three more Poles s entenced to d eath a t Posen toda y

for allegedly slaying a German during the war. I hear

six teen Poli sh women are in a Ber lin jail w aiting to have

their heads lo pped off, a ll o f them havin g been sen tenced

to death .

BERL IN, March 22

Induced Irwi n, of NBC, al so to poin t out that

the American correspondents were not sh own all of Sylt .

This a fternoon the High Command was very angry

with me for having mentioned this .

Good Friday today. The sidewalks thronged . No

speci al Eas ter joy notic eable in the f aces . Long lines

the last few days before the candy shops. H ow p a-

tiently Germans will *stand for hours in the rain for a

tiny ration of holiday candy ! Last week's ration of one

egg was increased by two eggs ; this week's by one.

LATER-

adio people called up. They will

fly Irwin and me to Sylt tomorrow to i nspect thenorth-

ern part of the isl and .



3061940 BER LIN , March 24

BERLIN, March 24

Easter Sunday, grey and cold, but the rain

has held off . I cancell ed my engagements wi th some

German friends for lu nch a nd tea . Couldn't face a

German today, though they are no friends of Hitler .

Wanted to be al one . Got up about noon and listened to

a broadcas t from Vienna . The Phil harmonic, and a

nice li ttle thin g from Haydn .

In the afternoon, a stroll . Unt er de n Li nd en

thronged with people . Surely the Germans must be the

ugliest-looking people in Europe, individually . Not a

decent-looking woman in the whole Linden . Their aw-

ful clothes probably contribute to one's i mpression .

Comparatively few soldiers in the stree t . Few leaves

granted? Meaning? Offensive soon?

I was surprised to notice how shabby the Kaiser's

Pala ce at the end o f the Lin den i s. The pla ster fal li ng

o f f a l l o v e r t h e p l a c e. Very dilapidated . The stone rail-

ing of the balcony on which Wilhelm II made his fa-

mous appearance in 1914 to announce to the delirio us

mob at hi s feet the co ming of war appeare d to be fal li ng

to pieces. Well, they were not d eliri ous before Hitler's

balcony when this war started .

I trie d to read in the faces o f the t housan ds what was

in their minds this Easter day . But their faces lo oked

blank . Obviously they do not like the war, but they

will do what they're told . Die, f or ins tanc e .

BERLIN, March 25

Th e D NB tod ay : " At some places along the

Upper Rhine front Easter Sunday, there were on the

French side demonstrations against the English war,



1940 BER LI N, March 28 307

w h i c h c l e ar l y s h o w e d h o w f oo l i s h t h e Fr en c h t r oo p s c ol i -

s i d e r i t t o b e t h a t G e r m a n y a n d F ra n c e h a v e b e c o m e

enemi es as a result o f Bri tish connivance . "

BERLIN, March 28

G e r m a n y c a n no t s ta y i n t h e w a r u n l e s s s h e

c o n t i n u e s t o r ec e i v e S w e d i s h i r on , m o s t o f w h i c h i s

s h i p p e d f ro m t h e N o r w e g i a n p o rt o f N a r v i k o n G e rm a n

v e ss el s w h i c h e v ad e th e b l o c k a d e b y f e el i n g t h e i r w a y

d o w n t h e N o r w e g i a n c o a s t a n d k ee p i n g w i t h i n th e t h r e e-

m i l e l i m i t , w h e r e th e y a r e s af e fr om t h e B r i t i s h n a v y .

Some of us have wondered why Ch urchi l l has never done

a n y th i n g a b ou t t h i s . "Now i t begins to l ook as if he m ay .

T h e W i l h e l m s tr as se sa y s i t w i l l w a tc h h i m . F or G e r -

many th i s i s a l i fe-and-death m atter . X a s s u r e s m e t h a t

i f B r i t i s h d e s tr oy e r s g o i n to N o r w e g i a n t er ri t o ri a l

w a t er s G e r m a ny w i l l a c t . B u t h o w i s n ot c l e ar . The

German navy i s no match for the Bri tish .

I h o p e I d i d n ' t p u t m y s e l f o u t ona

l i m b , b u t f ro m

w h a t I ' v e h e ar d t h i s w e e k I w r o te t on i g h t i n m y b r o a d -

cast : " Some peopl e here beli eve the war may spread to

S c a n di n av i a y e t . I t w a s re p o r te d i n B e r l i n t od a y t h a t

l ast week a squadron of at least nine Bri ti sh destroyers

was conc entra ted off the Norweg i an coas t and that in

several i ns tances German frei gh ters carryi ng i ron re-

c e i v e d w a r ni n g s h o t s . . . . From h ere i t l ooks as if the

n e ut r al s , es p e c i a l l y t h e S c a n d i n a v i a n s, m a y b e d raw n

i nto the confl i ct after al l . "

I o f te n w r i t e a p a ra g rap h l i k e t h a t to s ee h o w t h e

mi l i tary censor wi l l react . H e m a d e n o o b j ec t i o n, w h i c h

i s i nteresting .



V08 19 40 B ERL IN, March 30

BERL IN, March 30

The Nazis l aunched la st nigh t what t hey

t h ou g h t w o ul d b e a bo m b - sh e l l i n A m er i c a . T od a y i t

l o o k s m o r e l i k e a b oo m e r a ng . A n d a fi n e ex a m p l e o f

c l u m sy G e r m a n d i p l o m at i c b l u n d er i n g .

T h e F o r ei g n O f fi c e r e l e a s ed a n e w W h i t e B o ok c o n-

t a i n i n g w h a t i s p u r p o r t e d to b e s i x t e e n d oc u m e n t s d i s -

c o v e r ed b y t h e G e r m a n s i n t h e Wa r sa w F o r ei g n O f fi c e .

Ri bben trop says they are secret reports o f various Po l-

i s h e n v oy s . T h e m o s t i m p o r t a nt a re f ro m t h e P o l i s h

a m b a s s a d o rs i n L o n d on , P a r i s , a n d Wa s h i n g t o n . They

" i m p l i c a te " A m e r i c a n a m b a s sa d or s K e nn ed y , B u l l i t t,

a nd B i d d l e , a nd t h e p o i n t of t h e m i s t h a t t h e se d i p l o -

m a t s , b a c k e d b y R o o s ev e l t , w e r e l e ad i n g c o n s p i r a to r s

i n forc i n g t h i s w a r o n G e rm a n y !

T h o u g h i t s ee m s i n c r ed i b l e t h a t e v en t h e G e r m a ns

cou ld be so stup id , my fri ends i n the Foreign Offi ce say

t h a t R i b b e n t ro p a c t u a l l y t h o u g h t t h e s e " revelati ons "

woul d make Roosevelt 's p os iti on so untenable that hi s

defeat i n the nex t el ect i on - o r the defeat of h is cand i-

d a t e , s h o u l d h e n o t ru n - o u l d b e a s s u re d . Having

g o t w i n d o f th e s t r on g s e nt i m e n t i n A m e r i c a t o s ta y o u t

o f w a r, R i b b e n trop t h o u g h t t h e s e " documents " would

g r e a tl y s t r en g t h e n th e h a n d of t h e A m e r i c a n i s o l a t i o n -

i s ts b y c o nv i n c i n g t h e A m e r i c a n p e op l e t h a t Ro os ev e l t

and hi s personal l y app ointed ambassadors had not only

h a d a h a n d i n s ta r ti n g t h e w a r b u t h a d d o n e e v e ry t h i n g

to get us i n . H a p p i l y , f i r st A m e r i c a n re ac t i o ns a re g o od

a n d th e N e w Y o r k p r e s s i s s ug g e s ti n g t h e d o c u m e n t s

are fakes . T h e y m a y n o t b e f ak e d ; p r o b a b l y o n l y d o c -

tored .

LATER -One of the most amusing Nazi

fakes I've seen i n a l ong tim e appears in the evening



1940 B E L L I N , A p ri l 7 309

press . It tells the German people that the public ation

of the P ol is h " doc uments " has hit America like a bomb-

s h el l . The implication is that Roosevelt has been dealt

a staggering blow. Secre tary Hull is sues a n o ffici al de-

nial of the all egation s in the " doc uments ." Th e DNB

twists it around and heads it : "HULL DISA VOW S

USA AM BASSA DORS! " A crude piece of faking!

The only trouble is that men like Ham Fish and Sen-

ator Rush Holt may snatch at Nazi propaganda suc h

as this to h elp figh t Roosevelt . The DNB cables fla tly

that Senator Holt " agrees wi th the German Whi te

Book ."

BERL IN , April 2

I broadcast tonight : " Germany is now wait-

ing to see what the All ies intend to do in stopping shi p-

ments of Swedish iron ore down the Norwegian coast to

the Reich . It' s accepted here as a foregone conclu sio n

that the British will go into Scandinavian territorial

w a t e r s i n o r d e r t o h a l t t h i s t r af f i c . It' s a lso accept ed as

a foregone conclusion here that the Germans will react .

. . . Germany imports ten milli on tons of Swedish iron

a year . Germany cannot a fford to see these sh ipments

of iron stopped withou t figh ting to prevent it ."

But h ow? S . whispers about Nazi troops being con-

centrated at the Baltic ports . But what can Germany

do against the British navy?

BERL IN, April 7

The V .B . to d ay : "Germany is ready. Eighty

mill io n pai rs of eyes are turned upon the Fil hrer



310 1940 B E L L I N , A p r i l 8

BERLIN, April 8

The British announce they have mined Nor-

wegian territorial waters in order to stop the German

iron sh ips coming dow n from Narvik . The Wil helm-

strass e sa ys : "Germany will know how to react ." But

how? There are two rumours afloat tonight, but we can

confirm nothing . One, tha t the German fleet has sa il ed

into the Kattegat, north of Denmark, west of Sweden

and south of Norway, and is heading for the Skager-

rak . Two, that a German expedition ary force i s form-

ing at the Baltic ports an d that dozens of passenger

ships have been hurriedly coll ected to transport it to

Scandinavia .

BERLIN, April 9

Hitler this spring day has occupied a couple

more countries . At dawn Nazi forces invaded the two

neutral s tates of Denmark and Norway in order, as an

o f fi c i a l s t a te m e nt p i o u sl y p u t s i t , " to pro tect thei r free-

dom and independence ." After twelve sw ift ho urs it

seems al l but over. Denmark, with whom Hitler signed

a ten-year non-aggression pact only a year ago, has

been completely overrun, and all i mportant military

points in Norway, including the capital, are now in

Nazi hands . The news is stupefying . Copenhagen oc-

cupied this morning, Oslo this afternoon, Kristiansand

this evening . All the great Norwegian ports, Narvik,

Trondh eim, Bergen, Stavan ger, c aptured. How the

Nazis got there - nder the teeth of the British navy

- s a co mplete mystery . Obviousl y the action was lon g

prepared and longer planned and certainly put into op-

eratio n befo re the British min ed Norwegian territorial

waters da y before yesterd ay. To get to Narvik from



1940 BBaL 11 N,April 9 311

German bases would have taken at lea st three days.

At ten twenty this morning we were urgently con-

voked to a special press conference at the Foreign Of-

fic e to begin a t te n thi rty . We waited a half-hour. At

eleven a .m. Ribbe ntrop str utted i n, dressed in his flas hy

field -grey Foreign Offic e uniform and looking as if he

owned the earth. Schmidt, his press chief, a nnounced

the news and read the text of the memorandum addressed

in the early hours of this morning to Norway and Den-

mark, calli ng on them to be" protected " and warning

that "all resi stanc e would be broken by every avai la ble

means by the German armed forces an d would therefore

onl y lead to utter ly useless blood shed ."

" The Reich government," Schmid t, a fat, lu mpy

young man, droned on," therefore expects the Norwe-

gia n government and the Norwegian people to ha ve

full understanding for Germany's procedure and not

to resist in any way. . . . In the spirit of the good

German-Norwegian relation s w hic h h ave existed so

long, the Reich government declares to the Royal Nor-

wegian government that Germany has no intention now

or in the future of touching upon the territorial i n-

tegrity and politica l independence of the Kingdom of

No rway ."

Ribbentrop sprang up, snake-like, an d said : " Gen-

tlemen, yesterday's Allied i nvasion of Norwegian terri-

torial waters represents the most flagrant vio latio n of

the rights of a neutral country. It compares with the

British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. How-

ever " -showing his tee th in a smug grin - " i t d i d n ot

takg Germany by surprise. . . . It was the Br itish i n-

tention to create a base in Scandinavia from which Ger-

many's flank could be attacked . We are in possessi on,

gentlemen, of incontestable proof . The plan included

the occupation of all Scandinavia - en ma rk, N or -



3121 9 4 0 BERLIN, A p r i l 9

way, Sweden . T h e G e r m a n g o v e r n m e nt h a s t h e p r o o f s

t h a t F re n c h a n d B r i t i s h G e n e ra l S t a ff o f fi c e r s w e r e al -

r e ad y o n S c a n d i n a v i a n so i l , p r e p a r i n g t h e w a y fo r a n

A l l i e d l an di n g.

" T h e w h o l e w o r l d c a n n o w s e e, " h e w e n t o n, s o m e -

h o w r e m i n d i n g y o u of a w o rm , " t h e c y n i c i s m a nd b ru-

tal i ty wi th wh i ch the All i es tried to create a new theatre

o f w a r . A n ew i n t er n at i o n a l l a w h a s n ow b e e n p r o -

cl aim ed whi ch gi ves one bell i gerent the ri ght to take un-

l awful acti on in answer to the unl awful acti on of the

o ther bel l i geren t . G e rm a ny h a s av a i l e d i t s e l f o f t h a t

r i g h t . T h e F i i h r e r h as g i v e n h i s a n sw e r. . . . Ger-

m a n y h a s oc c u p i e d D an i s h a n d N o r w e g i a n s o i l i n or d er

to p rotect those countr ies from the Al l i es, and wi l l de-

fend thei r true neutrali ty unti l the end of the w ar. Thus

a n h o n o u re d p a r t o f Eu rop e h a s b e e n s av e d f ro m c e r -

t a i n d o w n f al l. "

T h e l i t tl e m a n , t h e o nc e s u c c e s sf ul c h a m p a g ne s a l e s -

man wh o had married the boss 's daughter, who h ad cur-

r ied H i t ler ' s favour i n the most ab ject fash i on, w ho had

s t ol e n a c a st l e n e a r S a l z b u rg b y h a v i n g t h e r i g h t fu l

o w n e r s e nt t o a c o n c e n t r a t i o n c a m p , s t o p p e d . G l a n c i n g

over the room, h e essayed ano ther g ri n - nane, vapi d .

" G e n t l e m e n , " h e s h o u t ed , " I t h a n k y o u a g a i n a n d

w i s h y o u a g o od - m o r n i n g . " F o l l o w e d b y h i s un i fo rm e d

l ackeys, h e strode out .

I was stunned . I sh o u l d n ' t h a v e b e e n - fter so

m a n y y e ar s i n H i t l e r l a n d - u t I was . I w a l k e d u p t h e

W i l h e l m s t r a ss e an d t h e n th r o u g h t h e T i e r g a rt e n t o

c o o l o f f . At noon I drove out to the Rund f unkt o d o m y

regul ar broadcast . The peopl e i n the streets, I notic ed,

w e r e t ak i n g t h e ne w s c a l m l y . Few even both ered to buy

t h e e x t ra s w h i c h t h e n ew s b o y s w e r e b eg i n n i n g t o s h o ut .

From a score of rooms at the RRG, Goebb el s's unpl eas-

a n t v oi c e c a m e r o a ri n g o u t o v er t h e l o u d - s p e a k er s . He



19 40 BE RL IN, A p ri l 9 313

was reading the various memorandums, proclamations,

news bulletins - l l t h e l i e s - ith customary vehe-

mence . I n otic ed for the first time a sw arm of cen sors .

They wa rned me to "be careful ." I glanced over the

late German dispatches. A special communique of the

High Command s aid Copenhagen ha d been co mpletely

occupied by eight a .m . The German forces, it sa id, had

been trans ported in ships from Bal tic ports duri ng the

night, landed at Copenhagen at dawn, and had first

occ upied t he citadel and the r adi o station .' It was c lear

that the Danes had offered no resistance whatsoever .

The Norwegians , it appeared, had, though the Ger-

mans were confident it would cease by nightfall . I

phoned a couple of friends . The Danish Minister here

had protested in the Wilh elmstrasse early t his morning,

but had added quickly that Denmark was not in a po-

si tion to figh t Germany . The Norwegia n Minis ter -a man notorious i n Berlin for his pro-Nazi sympathies,

I recalled - ad also protested, but had added that

Norway wou ld fight . I wrote my sad li ttle piece, an d

spoke it .

LA TER -Appar ently som et hing ha s gone

wrong with the Norwegi an part of the affai r . The Nor-

wegians were not supposed to fight, but apparently

did - t least at one or two plac es . There are reports

of German naval losses, but the Admiralty keeps mum .

All the Dani sh and Norwegian correspondents were

fish ed out of their beds a t dawn this morning a nd l ocked

up at the Kaiserhof . It was the first they knew that

their cou ntries ha d been protected .

The Nazi press has some rare bits tonight : The

Angri f f :" The young German army has hoisted new

glo ry to its banners. . . . I t i s o n e o f th e m o s t b ri l l i a n t -

Thi s was a li e, as later entries wil l show .



3141940 BER LI N, A p r i l 1 0

feats o f al l ti me ." A f eat it is, of cou rse . The Borsen

Zeitung : " England goes coldbloodedly over the dead

bodies of the small peoples . Germany protects the weak

states from the Engli sh highway robbers . . . . Nor-

way ought to see the righteous ness of Germany's ac tion ,

which was ta ken to ensu re the freedom of the Norwegian

people ."

To morrow the V o l k i s c h e B e o b ac h t e r, Hitler's own

pride (and money-maker) will bannerline in red ink :

"G ERM ANY SA VES SC ANDIN AVIA!"The excl a-

mation point is not mine.

Broadc ast for a third time at two a .m . , and now, sick

in the stomach from nothin g I've e aten, to bed .

BERLIN, A p ri l 10

It is plai n from what I have heard today that

Hitler and the High Command expected Norway to

give up without a scrap . Now that it hasn't , the com-

plete confidence of yesterday is evaporating . An in-

spired statement today warned the populace that " yes-

terday was only the beginning of a daring enterprise .

Alli ed counter-action i s still to be reckoned with ." As

a matter of fact, I get an impression in army and navy

circl es that if the British go in with their navy and

back it up with strong landing-forces, Germany will

have a much bigger fight on her hands than she bar-

gained for. The German weak spot is its l ack of a navy .

The garrisons in the western Norwegian ports can only

be suppli ed by sea . Al so there are no sui table airf ields

north of Stavanger .

Follow ing a brief acc ount of the naval battle between

German and British destroyers at Narvik today, the

High Command mention s something that has us a bit

b a f fl e d . It remarks that on April 8 - hat is, the day



1940 BER LI N, A p r i l1 1 315

before the Germans seized the Norwegian harbours -

"a Britis h destroyer was sunk in another affai r." Sev-

eral of us have a hunch that if we could find out what

that " oth er af fai r " was, we might penetrate the mys-

tery of how the German navy managed to get warshi ps

and landing-parties into so many Norwegian ports so

quickly without the British navy doing anything about

it . ' A s i t i s , i t i s i n c o m p r eh e ns i b l e .

BERL IN, April 11

Londo n reports that Bergen and Trondheim

have been recaptured by the Al li es . The Ger man Hi gh

Command flatly denies it . It also categorically denies

London reports that the re has been a great naval battle

in the Skagerrak - scene of the World War Battle of

Jutland, incidentally . Only naval losses admitted up

to date are the 10,000-to n crui ser Blucher in Oslo

Fjord and the 6,000-cruiserKarlsruhe off Kris tian -

sand, both sunk by Norwegian coastal batteries the

morning of the 9th .

Learn that Hitler has warned Sweden of the dire

consequences of acting unneutral a t this present junc-

ture. As far as I c an learn the Swedes a re scared stif f,

will not come to the aid of their Norwegian brethren,

and will take their medicine later. Strange how these

li ttle na tion s prefer to be swall owed by Hitler one at

a time .

1 The destroy er, w e woul d l earn later, was theGlow-worm, the

o n l y c r a f t i n t h e wh o l e Br i t i s h n a v y t o e n c o u n t e r a n y o f t h e s c o r e s

of German wa r vessels an d transports whi ch stole up the Norwegian

coast before April 9 . I t s i g h t e d t h e Ge r ma n 1 0 ,0 0 0 - t o n c r u i s e rAd-

miral Hi pper o f f th e N o r w e g i a n c o a s t o n A p r i l 8 , b u t w a s b l o w n t o

b i t s b e fo r e i t c o u l d g e t a w a y. H a d j u s t a sm a l l B r i t i s h n av a l f o r c e ,

s u c h a s l a t e r w e n t i n t o N a r v i k , b e e n w i t h i n s tr i k i n g d i s t a n c e o f t h e

Norwegian coast on A p r i l 8 , H i t l e r ' s N o rw e g i a n v en t ur e w o ul d h a v e

failed. O ne c a n on l y c o n c l u d e th a t t h e B r i t i s h n a v y w a s c a u g h t n a p -

ping



3 1 6 1 9 4 0 B E R L I N, A p r i l 1 4

A F o r e i g n O ff i c e s p o k e s m a n t o l d u s t o d a y t h a t M r .

H a m b r o , P r e si d e nt o f t h e N o r w e g i a n p a r l i a m e nt , w a s

an " u n c l e a n g e n t l e m a n an d a J e w . " Th e N a z i m a n i n

N o r w a y t u r n s o u t t o b e a f or m e r W a r M i n i s t e r , o n e

V i d k u n Q u i s l i n g , a n d h e se em s t o h a v e h a d a f ai r l y

s t ro n g fi f t h - c o l u m n o rg a n i z a t i o n . O ne m a n i n t h e Wi l -

h e l m s t r a ss e t o l d m e h e w o u l d b e t h e N o r w e g i a n p r e m i e r .

The Borsen Zei tung c o m p l a i n s o f K i n g H a a k o n' s " u n-

i ntell i gi ble attitude . . . . By h i s in flex ib l e at ti tude he

h a s s h o w n h i m s e l f t o b e b a d l y a d v i s e d an d n o t t h e t r ue

protector of the interests of hi s peopl e . "

Th e B B C t o ni g h t q u ot es C h u rc h i l l a s h a v i n g s ai d i n

the Hous e of Commons toda y that " H i t l e r h as c o m -

mi t ted a g rave st rateg i cal erro r " a n d th a t t h e B r i t i s h

n av y w i l l n o w t ak e t h e N o rw e g i a n c o as t a n d si n k a l l

s h i p s i n th e S k a g e r ra k a nd t h e K at t eg a t . G o d , I h o p e

he's ri gh t .

BERLIN, A p r i l 1 4

I 've at last found out how th e Germans, wi th -

o ut a n ad e q u at e na v y , o c c u p i e d t h e c h i e f N o r w e g i a n

p o r t s al o n g a t h o u sa nd -m i l e c o a s tl i n e u nd e r t h e v e ry

nose of the Bri tish fleet . G e r m a n t r oo p s w i t h g u n s a n d

suppl i es were transported to thei r desti nati ons i n cargo

boats whi ch os tensi bl y were on thei r way to Narvi k to

f et c h S w e d i s h i r on . T h e s e fr e i g h t e r s, a s th e y ' v e b e e n

d o i n g s i n c e t h e b e g i n n i n g o f th e w a r, sa i l e d w i t h i n th e

N o rw e g i a n t h ree -m i l e l i m i t a nd t h u s es c a p e d d i s c o v e ry

b y t h e B ri t i s h n a v y . Ironical l y ! - they were even es-

c o r te d to t h ei r g o al s b y N o rw e g i a n w a r sh i p s w h i c h h a d

orders to protect them from the B riti sh!

But that does not exp lai n how the Bri t i sh l et hal f the

s t r i k i n g p o w e r of t h e G e r m a n fl e e t - s e v e n d e s t r o y e r s,



1940 BER LIN , April 17

L

3 1 7

one heavy cruis er, an d one battleshi p - et all the way

up the Norwegian coast unobserved .

German naval circl es admit that their seven destroy-

ers were wiped ou t by a s uperior British attacki ng force

at Narvik yesterday, but s ay they hold the town . To-

morrow's papers however will say :"GREAT BRITISH

ATTACK ON NARVIK REPULSED . "When I sh ow ed

an early editio n of one of the papers to a naval captai n

tonight, he blushed and cursed Goebbels .

Learn General von Falkenhorst has posted the fol-

low ing proclamation in Oslo : " The Norwegian go vern-

ment has turned down several offers of co-operatio n.

The Norwegian people must now decide the future of

their Fatherland . If the procla mation i s obeyed, as it

was with great understanding in Denmark, Norway

will be spared the horrors of war . However, if any

more resis tance is offered and the hand which was held

out with friendl y intentions rejected, then the German

High Command will feel i tself forced to act with the

sharpest means to break the resistance ."

Hitler is sowing something in Europe that one day

will destroy not only him but his na tion .

BERLIN, A p ri l 1 7

Hitler has sent greetings today to the royal

family of Denmark on the occasion of the birth of a

daughter to the Crown Princess !

The German press and radio turned its big guns on

Holland today . Said an inspired statement from the

Foreig n Offic e : "In contrast to Germany, the All ies do

not wis h to prevent the little states f rom being drawn

into the war "!



3 1 8 1940 BER LIN , A p r i l 18

BERLIN, A p ri l 18

Joe [Harsch] back from Copenhagen with

a nic e tale . He reports that on the evening of April 8

the Danish King, somewhat disturbed over that day's

reports, summoned the German Minister and asked him

for a ssurances. The Minis ter swo re to Hi s Majesty

that Hitler had no intention of marching into Denmark

and that the day's sill y rumours were merely " Allied

l i e s ." Actuall y at that moment, as the German Minister

knew, several German coal sh ips were tied up in Copen-

hagen harbour, where they had arrived two days previ-

ously . Under the hatch es, as he als o knew, were German

troops .

At dawn up came the hatches and the German soldiers

piled out . The Royal Palace is but a short distance

from the doc ks . Up the streets towards the palace

marched the Nazi troops . The amazed Danes, going to

work on their bicycles, could not believe their eyes.

Many said afterwards they thought it was some film

being shot . As the Germans approached the palace, the

King's guards, however, opened fire . The Germans re-

turned it . When the King heard the firin g, J oe says,

he sent his adjutan t out t o tell h is gu ards for good ness'

:sak e to stop shooting . The adjutant, waving wildly a

white handkerchief, d ashed out and gave the order to

cea se f ire . The Germans, thankful for this co-opera-

tion, surrounded the palace. Meanwhile Danis h work-

men, rid ing to work on their bicycles, were ordered by

the Germans to take a si de street and avoid the palace.

Some of them did not und erstand German quickly

enough . The Germans fired, killi ng a dozen or so . Y,

a Yankee busi nessman who happened to be in Copen-

hagen, thinks the Germans are minimizing their naval

l o s s es. For one thing, he says he saw the masts of a



1940 BER LI N, A p ri l 19 3 19

s u nk e n p o c k e t- b a t tl e s h i p n o t si x t y m i l e s fr om C o p e n -

hagen .

To d ay , i t i s t ru e , t h e G e rm a n A d m i r a l t y c a l l e d on

t h e p o p u l a c e t o sh o w m o re p a t i e nc e a n d d i s c i p l i n e an d

s t op b e s i e g i n g t h e A d m i r a l t y f o r n e w s of re l a t i v e s. It

promi sed that the rel a tives of the dead would b e duly

noti fied . Meanwh i l e I learn that the Ges tapo has for-

b i d d e n re l a t i v e s w h o d o k n ow t h a t o n e o f th e i r k i n h a s

been ki l l ed to publi sh death noti ces in the papers . O nl y

t w o o r th r e e fa m i l i e s of t h e t op n a v a l m e n w h o w e r e

k i l l e d h a v e b e en p e rm i t te d to p u b l i s h t h e fa c t .

Wounded sai l ors and soldi ers wh o escaped wi th thei r

l i ves from the Blucher a re a rr i v i n g w i t h h o r r i b l e b u rn s

on their faces and necks . It seems that wh en the c ruiser

went down, i t set l oose on the w ater a l ot of burning oi l .

Many men swimming about were burned to death. I

s up p o se s om e o f t h e m d i e d h a l f f ro m d r o w n i n g , h a l f

from burni ng - n i c e c o m b i n at i o n .

Not a word about these thi ngs i n the press . T h e G e r -

m a n p e o p l e a re s p o o n- f e d o n l y t h e m o r e p l e a sa n t a n d

vi ctorious aspects of the war . I doubt that in thei r pres-

e nt m o o d t h e y c o ul d s t an d m u c h b a d n e w s .

N o t e t h a t t h e D a n e s h a v e b e e n r ui n e d b y t h e G e r -

man occupation . D en m a rk ' s t h r e e m i l l i o n c o w s , t h r e e

m i l l i o n p i g s an d t w e nt y - fi v e m i l l i o n l a y i n g h e ns l i v e o n

i m p o r te d f od d e r , m o s t l y f r o m N o r th a n d S o u th A m e r -

ica and Manchukuo . Th o s e su p p l i e s ar e no w c u t of f .

Denmark m ust sl aughter most of i ts li vestock, one of its

mai n sources of exi stence .

BERLIN, A p ri l19

A n o ff i c i a l c o m m u n i q u e t od a y : "In view of

t h e h o s ti l e a tt i t u d e o f th e N o rw e g i a n K i n g a nd t h e

f or m e r N o r w e g i a n g o v e rn m e nt , t h e N o r w e g i a n M i n i s t e r



SRO 19 40 BE RL IN, A p ri l 2 1

and the staf f of the Norwegia n Legatio n have been asked

to l eave German territory by toda y ." They ha ve .

Hitl er's fift y-first birthda y tomorro w, an d the people

ha ve be en as ked to fly their f la gs . Said Dr . Goebbels i n

a broadcast tonight : " The German people ha ve fou nd

in the Fi hrer the incarnatio n of their strength and

the most brill iant exponent of their nation al aims ."

When I passed the Chancellery tonight, I noticed some

seventy-five people wai ting outsid e for a gli mpse of t he

leader . In other years on the eve of his birthday ther e

were ten thousand .

BERL IN, A p ri l 2 1

The secrecy of the All ies a bout where their

troops have landed in Norway was lifted by the High

Command today . They have landed at Namsos and

Aandalsnes, the two railheads north and south respec-

tivel y of Trondheim, th e key port hal f-way up the Nor-

wegian coast occupied by the Germans . A frien d of mine

on the High Command tells me that the whole issu e

in Norway now hangs on the outcome of the battle for

Trond hei m . If the All ies tak e it, they have saved Nor-

way, or at leas t the northern hal f . I f the Germans,

pushing northward up the two railway lines from Oslo,

get there first, then the British must evacuate . The

Germans tod ay oc cupied Li ll ehammer, eighty miles

north of Oslo, but they stil l ha ve a hundred and fifty

miles to go . What the Germans fear most, I gather, i s

that the Britis h navy will go into Trondheim Fjord and

wipe out the G erman garriso n i n the c ity before the Nazi

forces from Oslo can possi bly get there. I f i t d o e s, t h e

German gamble is l ost .

I feel be tter toni ght, af ter workin g thi s o ut, tha n at

any other time sin ce the war began .



1940 BER LI N, A p ri l 2932-1

BERLIN, April 22

Opposition to the German forc es driving

northward on Trondheim is stiffening . For the f irs t

time tonight the German High Command speaks of

stubborn resistanc e in this s ector . Bu t the L uftwaffe

is gi ving the British bases at Namsos, Aandalsnes, and

Dombas a terrible pounding . General Milc h, Gorin g's

right-hand man, has been dispatched to Norway to di-

rect the ai r forc e . I t's Germany's bigg est ho pe there

now

BERLIN, April 23

Joseph Terboven, the tough young Nazi

Gauleiter of Cologne, who was more than a match for

Fritz Thyssen there, has been named Reich's commiss ar

for Norway . In other words, if Hitler wins, Norway

will be just another Nazi province.

Off to Lausanne to a meeting of the International

Broadcasting Union . Spring along the lake under the

Alps will be good .

BERLIN, April 29

Returned thi s morning from Switzerland .

The crucial battle for Trondheim wi ll probably be

fought this week . The Germans, I find, are much more

confident than a week ago when I left . Apparently the

Britis h expedition ary force is n ot so s trong as they had

expected. It seems evident f rom what I heard in Switz-

erland and here today that the first British troops

thrown into the fighting around Lillehammer a week

ago were few in numbers an d miserably equipped - o

tanks , no artiller y, few anti-tank guns .

Fred N . . the best-in formed man we have on this cam-



1940 BER LI N, May 1

paign at the Embassy, s hocked me today by saying he

still doubted whether the British were reall y takin g the

Norwegian campaign seriously . To cheer mysel f up I

recal led to hi m that in the last war it took the British

two years to get within s triki ng distanc e of Bagdad,

and then their main army and their commander-in-chief

were captured by the Turks . A year or two later, h ow-

ever, the British took Bagdad and drove the Turks and

German s out of Mesopotamia . What the Britis h army

and navy need is a reverse or two. Then perhaps they

wil l become serious .

I heard jus t now that the origin al British force em-

barked in central Norway has been decimated .

BERLIN, May 1

Two days ago, for the fourth or fifth time

since the war began, I travell ed down the Rhine from

Basel towards Frankfurt . The firs t twenty miles or s o

out o f Basel, you s kirt the Rhine where it divides France

an d G er ma ny . Actuall y you rid e through a so rt of no-

man's land, as the main German lines are behind the

railroad tracks on the slo pes that form the high ground

of the Black Forest . Two great armies stand divided

by the ri ver . Yet, al l was quiet . In o ne village play-

gr ou nd - t was Sun da y - erman ch ild ren were

playing in full sig ht of some French sol diers loi tering

on the other sid e of the river . In an open meadow, not

two hundred yards from the Rhine and in full sig ht of a

French block-house, s ome German soldiers were frolick -

ing about, kicking an ol d football . Trains on both si des

of the Rhine, so me loaded w ith those very articl es whi ch

are workin g suc h deadly havoc in Norway, chu gged

along undisturbed . Not a shot was fired . Not a single

airplane coul d be seen in the skies .



19 40 BE RL IN, May 18 8

Last night I said in my broadcast : " What kind of

war, what kind of game, is thi s? Why do a irplanes

bomb communications behind the lines in Norway, as

they did i n Poland, as they did everywhere in the World

War, and yet here on the western front, where the two

greate st armies i n the w orld stan d face to f ace, refrain

completely from kill ing? "

Is gas gett in g s hort? In Berli n 300 out of 1,6 00 taxi s

stopped runni ng today and some twenty-five per cent of

t h e p r i v a t e c a r s an d t ru c k s s ti l l a l l o w e d t o c i r c u l a t e h a v e

been suddenly ordered to c ease circul ating .

It's c lear that the G ermans, with a ll the air bases in

the north, h ave co mplete superiority in th e air in No r-

way . Will this i n i tself be enough to all ow them to a d-

vance victorious ly to Trondheim? I'm afraid i t wil l . It

is this thre at o f the Lu ftwaffe that is makin g the British

navy hold back. How otherwise explain the failure of

the British to attack Trondheim from the sea, as they

attacked Narvik, which is out o f the reach of most Ger-

man planes? But unl ess the Britis h do go in from the

sea , they' ll probably never get it. It' s a race, and the

Germans are moving fast .

LATER - oday, which is German Labour

Day and a holiday for all but munition workers, has

seen Hitler iss uing a grandi ose order of the day to his

troops in Norway . La st nigh t the High Command an -

nounced that German troops coming north from Oslo

and a German d etachment coming so uth from Trond-

heim had made contact just south of the latter town .

The battle for Tron dh eim ha s been won by Hitler .

Where the Allies are, and what they're doing, are not

clear . But it doesn't make much difference. They ha d



SR4 1940 BER LIN , May 2

a w o n d e rf u l o p p o r tun i ty to stop H i t l e r an d th ey ' v e

muffed it . One's worst suspi ci ons seem to be confi rmed

-amely, that the Bri tish never went i nto the figh t for

T r on d h e i m ( re ad N o rw a y ) s er i o u s l y .

" Th e i n te nt i o n of th e A l l i e s, " c r i e s H i t l e r t ri u m -

p h antl y , " to force us to our knees by a tardy occ upati on

o f N o r w a y h a s f ai l e d ." Hi tler addresses hi s order to

th e " S o l d i e r s o f th e N o r w e g i a n T h e a tr e of W a r . "

Three weeks ago Ri bbentrop tol d us that the Fi i hrer

h a d p r e v e nt e d N o r w a y f r o m b e c o m i n g a " t h e a tr e of

war . "

So thi s May Day turns out to be a day of vi ctory for

t h e G e r m a n s. Hi tler, for the fi rst time si nce he came to

p o w e r, d i d n ot sp e ak o r m a k e a p ub l i c a p p e aran c e . H i s

d ep u ty , Ru d ol f H ess , s p o ke i n h i s p l ace - r om th e

K r u p p m u n i t i o n w o r k s a t E s sen . He kept referri ng to

Mr . Hamb ro as " th a t J ew, Mr . H a m b u r g e r . "

J u d g i n g f r om t h e l o ok s o f th e g o o d b u r g h e r s w h o

t h ro ng e d t h e Ti e rg a r t en t od a y, t h e o n e w i s h i n t h e i r

hearts is for peace, and to hel l wi th the vi ctori es . S t i l l ,

I s up p o s e t h i s tr i u m p h i n N o rw a y w i l l b u c k up m o ral e ,

after the terri bl e wi nter . S ., a veteran correspondent

here, thi nks every m an, woman, and ch i l d i n this c oun-

try i s a natural-born kil l er . P e rh a p s s o . But today I

n o ti ced i n th e Tie r g a r ten m any o f th em f eed i n g th e

squi rrel s and ducks - i th thei r rationed bread .

BERLIN, May 2

A bl ue day for the All i es . I n J o e ' s ro om w e

l i s t e n e d t o t h e s i x p .m . BBC broadcast for the bad news .

Ch amberlai n had just announced i n Comm ons the awful

reverse. The Bri ti sh force whi ch had been l anded south

of Trondheim , and whi ch for the past ten days had been

resi sting th e Germans movi ng towards Trondhei m from



1 9 4 0 BERLIN, May 4 325

Oslo, has been evacuated from Aandalsnes, thei r coastal

base . Thus the B ri ti sh abandon southern and c entral

N o r w a y - t h e m o s t i m p o rt an t p a r t s . T h e N o r w e g i a n s

i n that consid erabl e area, who h ave been putti ng up an

e p i c f i g h t , a r e l e f t t o t h e i r f a t e . Ch am b er la i n ad m i t ted

that i t was the German air force that had prevented the

Bri ti sh from l anding tanks and arti l l ery at Aandal snes .

B u t w h a t a b ou t C h u rc h i l l ' s b o as t of A p r i l 1 1? W h a t

a b o ut t h e B r i t i s h n a v y ?

Th e f e a t of t h e G e rm a n a rm y i n a d v a nc i n g m o re t h a n

t w o h u n d r ed m i l e s no rt h up t h e O s t er d a l a n d G u d -

b ra nd s d a l v a l l e y s f ro m O s l o t o Tron d h e i m , a nd a t t h e

s am e t i m e e as i l y h o l d i n g Tro nd h e i m w i t h a sm a l l forc e

ag a in s t A l l i ed a tt ack s f ro m b o th th e n or th and th e

south, i s certainl y a formidabl e one . The whol e seizure

o f N o rw a y, t h o u g h a i d e d b y t h e b a s e s t tr e ac h e ry, h a s

u nd o ub t ed l y b e en a b r i l l i a nt m i l i t ar y p e r fo r m a nc e .

After three weeks the Briti sh, w i th all their sea power,

hav e not even been abl e to take Narvi k .

Ch amberlai n boasted that as a resul t of the partial

destructi on of the German fleet the Al l i es had been able

to strengthen thei r naval forces i n the Medi terranean.

Mussol i ni' s bluff that he mi ght hop i nto the war behi nd

Hi tl er thus w as taken seriousl y by the old m an . I t c e r -

tainl y w asn't h ere . It seems incredibl e to us here that

Br i ta in w o u ld w i th d r aw th e nav al f or ces w h i ch w o u ld

have enabled i t to take Trondheim and thus defeat Hi t-

l er in Norway i n order to strengthen i ts positi on agai nst

the ti n-pot strength of Italy i n the Medi terranean .

BERLIN, May 4

The Bri tish have pul led pell -mell out of Nam-

sos to the north of Trondhei m, thus compl eting the de-

bacl e of Al l i ed ai d to the Norwegi ans in central N orway.



32 6 1940 BERLIN, May 4

Where was the British n avy which Churchil l only a

fortnight ago boasted would drive the Germans out of

the Norwegian waters? I saw a German news-reel to-

day . It showed the Germans landing tanks and heavy

guns at Oslo . Except for the use of submarines, and

apparently not many of these, the All ies made no seri-

ous effort to sto p German supplies from reaching Nor-

way through Oslo . They didn't even risk destroyers in

the Skagerrak and Kattegat, not to mention cruisers

and battleships.

Is it that air power has shown in this short Nor-

wegian campaign that it has superseded naval power?

At least, wi thin flying di stanc e of your la nd bases? In

1914-18 such a German thrust as has now taken place

would have been unthinkable . But with the Luftwaffe

holding the flying fields in Denmark and Norway, the

Allied fleet not on ly did n ot venture into the Ka ttegat

to stop the German shipment of arms and men to Oslo,

but has not even attempted action at Trondheim, Ber-

gen, or Stavanger, with the exception of one eighty-

minute shelli ng of the St avanger ai rfield the first week

of the wa r . The Germans now boast that ai r power has

demonstrated i ts superiority over naval power .

To sum up : Goring's plan es acc omplished four vital

tasks in Norway :(1) They kept t he s ea rou te throu gh

the Kattegat to Osl o free of Britis h warshi ps and thus

enabled the main German land force to be liberally

suppli ed with men, artillery, tanks . (2) They pre-

vented (or successfully discouraged) the British navy

from attacking the vital German-held ports of Stavan-

ger, Bergen, and Trondheim . (3) By con tinua lly

bombing the Allied ports of debarkation, they made it

al most imposs ible f or the Britis h to lan d heavy art il lery

and tank s, as Mr . Chamberla in admitted . (4 ) B y



1940BERLIN, May 4 S27

b o m b i n g a nd m a c h i n e- g u n ni n g e n em y p o s i t i o ns , t h e y

made i t fai rly easy for the German land troops to ad-

v a n c e th r o u g h d i f f i c u l t c o un t ry .

In o ther words, they revo l u t ion i zed war i n and around

t h e N o r t h S e a .

I t a l k e d t o m y p o l i c e m a n f ri e nd t o d ay . H e t h i n k s th e

w a r w i l l d e v el o p i n a f ew w e e k s i n to b om b i n g t h e b i g

t o w n s , a n d e v e n g a s . I agree . Hi tler wants to fi nish the

w a r t h i s su m m e r i f h e c a n . If he can't, despi te all the

G e r m an v i c t o ri e s, h e ' s p r o b a b l y l o st.

A decree today expl ains that whi l e there are pl enty

o f oi l s up p l i e s , c o n su m p t i o n m u s t b e fur t h e r r e d uc e d .

Many cars and trucks sti l l operati ng are to be taken out

o f c i r c u l a t i o n . Two question s pop up: ( 1) S u p p l i e s

a re no t s o b i g ? ( 2 ) Av a i l a b l e o i l w i l l b e ne ed e d fo r

further mi l i tary acti on on a big scal e now that the Brit-

i s h h a v e p u l l e d o ut of N a m s o s an d t h e G e rm a n s h a v e

w o n t h e w a r i n N o rw a y ?

The German pap ers today are ' fu l l o f accusati ons that

B r i t a i n n o w i n t en d s t o " spread the war . " I n th e M e d i -

t e r ra n e a n o r B a l k a n s o r somewh ere el se, b y w h i c h I t a ke

i t th e y m e a n H o l l a nd .

A s a n e sc a p e , I s u p p o s e , I r e a d s om e G o e t h e l e t t e rs

thi s afternoon . I t was reassu ri ng to be remi nded o f the

d e v a s ta t i o n o f G e r m a n y t h a t N a p o l e o n w r o ug h t . Ap-

parently Jena , n ear Goethe' s Weimar, w as pretty

r ou g h l y h a nd l e d b y t h e F r e nc h t ro op s . But thr ough

i t all the great poet never l oses hope. H e k e ep s s a y i n g

that the Human Spirit wil l triumph, the Europe an

spi r i t. B u t to d a y , w h e r e i s t h e E ur o p e a n s p i r i t i n G e r -

many? Dead . . . . Dead . . .

G o e t h e h a rp s o n t h e t h e o ry t h a t a w r i t e r c a n o n l y

g e t th i n g s d o ne b y r et i r i n g f ro m t h e w o r l d w h e n h e h a s

work to do . He comp l ai ns that the world takes, bu t does



328194 0 B ERL IN, May

6

not give. Some of his letters o n l ocal a dministrative

problems in Weimar are amusing. He had his small,

b i c k e ri n g si d e . And - s urpris ing - he is very subser-

v i e n t t o h i s P r i n c e R ul e r !

BER LIN , M ay 6

Bernhard Rust, Nazi Minister of Education,

in a broadcas t to sc hoolch ild ren today, sums up p retty

well th e German mentality in th is year of 1940 . He

says : " God created the world as a place for work and

b a t t l e . Whoever doesn't und erstand the law s of li fe's

battles w ill be counted ou t, as i n the b oxin g ring. A l l

the good things on this earth are trophy cups. The

strong win them. The weak lose them . . .

. The Ger-

man people under Hitler did not take to arms to bre ak

into foreign lands and make other people serve them .

They were forced to take a rms by states w hi ch bloc ked

their way to bread and union."

The crying problem of Europe, I am beginning to

thin k, i s no t Communism or Fasci sm - is not therefore

s oc i a l. It i s the problem of Germanis m, of the mental-

i t y s o c l e ar l y e x p r e ss ed b y R u st . Until i t 's so lv ed , th ere

wil l be no peace in Europe .

German schoolgirls today were asked to bring the

combings from their hai r to s chool. The combings will

b e c o l l e c t ed t o m a k e f el t.

BER LI N, May 7

For three or four days no w the German news-

papers have been carrying on a terrific campaign to

c o n v i n c e so m e b od y t h a t t h e A l l i e s, h a v i n g fa i l e d i n N o r -

way, are about to become " aggressors " in s ome other

part o f Europe. Six weeks ago we had a similar cam-



1940 BER LI N, May 8 329

paign to convince somebody that the Allies were about

to become the " aggressors " in Scandinavia. Then Ger-

many, using the all eged Allied in tention of aggression

as a n excuse, went in herse lf

Where is Germany going in next? I'm suspicious of

Holland, partly because it's the on e place no t specifi-

cally mentioned in this propaganda campaign . Or are

the Allies, having sucked the German army far from

home bases into Norway, going to draw it far into the

Balkans?

Amusing to read the headlines today: "C HAMBER -

LAIN, THE AGGRESSOR ALLIE D PLANS FOR

NE W A GGRE SS IO N! " If the German people were

not so intellectually drunk themselves, or so stupid,

they might see the humour in it .

My guess : the war i n the next few weeks will be on

all over Europe . And, finally, with all the weapons

bombing of open towns, gas, and all .

BERLIN,May 8

Could not help notici ng a feelin g of tension

in the Wilh elmstrasse today . Something i s up, but we

don't know what . Ral ph Barnes, ju st in from Amster-

dam, says the guards on his train pulled clown the

window-bli nds for the f irst twenty-f ive miles o f the jour-

ney from the Dutch-German frontier towards Berli n .

I hear the Dutch and Belgians are nervous . I h ope they

are . They ought to be. I cabled New York today to

keep Edwin Hartrich i n Amsterdam for the time being .

They wanted to send him off to Scandinavia, where the

war is o ver .

Just before I went on the ai r today, Fred Oechsner

telephoned to say that Webb Miller had been found

dead on a railroad track at Clapham Junction, near



33019 40 BE RL IN, May 9

London. T h e n ew s s h o c k e d m e g r e a tl y . I h a v e k n o w n

h i m f or tw e l v e y e ar s, l i k e d h i m , a d m i r ed h i m . In my

fi rst years over here as a green newsp aperman, h e be-

f ri e nd e d a nd h e l p e d m e . In the l ast decade our paths

often crossed, i n India , th e Near Eas t, the Bal kans ,

G e r m a n y , G e n e v a, I t a l y , a n d o f c o u rs e i n L o n d on , w h e r e

he was U .P .'s star correspondent and European ch i ef .

We b b w a s a n i n o rd i n a te l y m o d e s t m a n , d e s p i t e a s d i s t i n -

gui shed a journal i s tic career as any Am eric an has had

i n ou r t i m e . H i s s u c c e s s n ev e r w e n t to h i s h e a d . I re-

m e m b e r h i m o n m a n y a b i g s t or y b e i n g a s ex c i t ed a n d

nervous, and if i t were an i ntervi ew, as shy, as the young-

e s t a n d m o st i n e x p e r i e n c e d o f u s . H i s sh y n e ss w a s te r -

r i f i c and he never l o st i t . I w on d er w h a t k i l l e d h i m ?

Ti red ? S l e e p y ? I k n o w i t w a sn ' t su i c i d e .

I w e n t o ut t o a s u b ur b l a s t n i g h t t o s e e t h e f i l m o f

h a v o c w r ou g h t b y t h e G e r m a n ai r f or c e i n P ol a n d . It

i s ca l l edFe uertau f

e-or

Baptis m o f Fir e .The wan-

ton des truction of Pol i sh towns and vi l l ages , but es -

p e c i a l l y o f W a r sa w , i s sh o w n n ak e d l y . The German

a ud i e nc e t oo k th e f i l m i n d e ad s i l e nc e .

LATER - y c e n s or s w e re q u i t e d e c e n t t o-

day. T h e y l e t m e h i n t v er y b r o ad l y t h a t t h e n e x t G e r -

m a n b l o w w o u l d f a l l i n th e w e s t, - o l l a n d, B e l g i u m ,

t h e M a g i n o t L i n e , S w i t ze rl a nd . Ton i g h t t h e t ow n i s

full of rumours . T h e Wi l h e l m s t ra ss e i s es p e c i a l l y a ng r y

at an A .P . r e p o r t t h a t t w o G e r m a n a r m i e s , o n e f ro m

B r e m e n , t h e o t h e r fr o m D i i s s el d o r f, a r e m o v i n g t o w a r d s

the Dutch fronti er .

BERL IN, May 9

What an iron y that Webb Mil ler, w ho had

spen t most o f the l ast twen ty -four years coveri ng w ars,



19 40 B ERL IN, May 1 0 331

and was often under fire, sho uld have escaped them all

only to di e by fall ing out o f a rai lroad coach far from

a field of battle! The German press full of absurd

stories toda y that Webb was murdered by the Britis h s e-

cret service . This i s worse than nonsense . Contempti-

b l e . (What happens to the inner fabric of a people

when they are fed li es li ke this dai ly?)

Hitler, in ordering the release of some Norwegian

prisoners, proclai ms today : " Against the will of the

German people and its go vernment, Ki ng Haakon of

Norway and his army staff brought about war against

Germa ny "!

LATER - he shouting headlines increased

in s ize tonight, al l thunder ing the accus ation that Eng-

land plans a big act of aggression, somewhere . "BRIT-

AIN PLOTS TO SP RE AD TH E W AR, "they roar .

All of which moved me to say in my broadcast to-

night " Regardless o f who spreads it, there see ms li ttle

doubt that it will spread . And it may well be, as many

people over here think, that the war wi ll be fought an d

decided before the summer is over . People so mehow

seem to feel that the Whitsuntide holidays this week-

end will be the last holid ays Europe will observe for

some time ."

My censors d idn't like the paragraph, but after some

argument they let it pass . Their line wa s that there

was no question of Germany spreading the war .

BERL IN ,May 10

The blow i n the west has fall en . At dawn to-

day the Germans marched into Holland, Belgium, Lug-

embur g . It is Hitler's bid for victory now or never .

Apparently it was true that Germany could not outlast



332 1 9 4 0 BERLIN, May 10

t h e ec o n o m i c w a r . S o h e s tr uc k w h i l e h i s ar m y s ti l l h a d

s up p l i e s a nd h i s ai r fo rc e a l e a d ov e r t h e A l l i e s' . He

seems to reali ze he is riski ng all . In an order of the day

to the troops he begi ns : "The hour o f the deci si ve bat-

t l e fo r the fu tu re o f the German nati on has com e ." And

h e c o n c l u d es : "T h e b at tl e b eg i n ni n g to d ay w i l l d e c i d e

the future of the G erman nation for the next th ousand

years ." If he loses, it certainl y wi l l .

As I see it, H i tler had three choi ces : to wai t and f igh t

the war ou t on the economi c fron t, as was done al l wi n -

ter ; t o m e e t th e A l l i e s i n s o m e ea sy s p o t , s ay t h e B a l -

k a n s ;to seek a deci sion i n the west by str ik i ng th rough

n eu tr a l H o l l a nd a nd B e l g i u m . He has chosen the th i rd ,

and the b i ggest ri sk .

I c a n ' t b o a s t t h a t I w a s p re p a re d fo r i t. In fact,

af ter b roadcast ing as usual l ast ni gh t at twel ve fo rty -

f i v e a .m . , I w a s s o u nd a s l e e p w h e n t h e p h o n e ra n g a t

s e v en t h i s m o r ni n g. It was one of the gi rl s at the Ru nd-

f unkSh e broke the news .

" W h e n d o y o u w a n t t o b r o a d c a s t ? " sh e ask ed .

" As soon as I can get there," I said .

" Ri bbentrop has a press conference a t the Forei gn

Offic e at ei gh t," she offered .

" I ' l l s k i p i t , " I s a i d . " Tell New York - s e n d t h e m

a n u rg e n t - o mon itor D JL -nd that I'l l be on the

a i r i n a n h o ur . "

A c t u al l y i t w a s t w o h o u rs o r so b e fo re I c o u l d g e t

on the ai r . Ti me dressing, tim e getti ng out to theRund-

funk,t i m e g e tt i n g t h e w h o l e s t or y . Th e re w a s c o n si d -

erabl e exc i tement at theRu ndf unk,

a nd i t w a s s om e t i m e

before I coul d w rest the vari ous communi ques from the

hands of the German announcers. Fortunately , the

c e n s or s , w h o m u s t h a v e b e en t i p p e d d u r i n g t h e n i g h t ,

w e r e on t h e j o b a nd d i d n o t h o l d m e u p l o ng . E x c e p t

I could not cal l i n my l ead wh at the Germans were do-



1940 B ERL IN , M ay 103 3 3

ing in Holland and Belgium " an invasion." They de-

n i e d i t w a s . I fl a m e d up , b u t fi n al l y d e c i d e d th a t si n c e

the censors had overloo ked the word " invasi on " thre e

t i m e s i n t h e sc r i p t , i t m i g h t b e w o r th w h i l e t o su b st i t u te

" m a r c h i n " i n t h e l e a d i n o r d er t o g i v e r a d i o l i s t en e rs

in America a s tory from Berli n . I d i d n ' t l i k e th e c o m -

promise. It wa s a question of sacrif icin g the whol e im-

portant story for one word

. And anyway, America

knew an invasion when it happened.

LA TE R . - The pe ople in Berlin , I must sa y,

have taken the news of the battle whi ch Hi tler says is

goin g to d ecid e the f uture of their na tion for the next

thousand years with their usual calm. None of them

gathered before the Chancellery as usually happens

when big events occur. Few bothered to buy the noon

papers whi ch carried the news

. For some reason Goeb-

bels f orbad e extras .

The German memorandum " justifying " this latest

aggressi on of Hitler's was handed to the minis ters of

Holland and Belgium at six a .m ., about an hour and a

half after German troops had violated their neutral

soi l . It set s up a new record, I thi nk, for cyni ci sm and

downright impudence - even for Hitler. I t requests

the two governments to is sue orders that no resistanc e

be made'to German troo ps . " Shou ld the German forces

encounter resis tance in Belgium or Holland," it goes

on, " it wil l be crushed w ith eve ry means. The Belgi an

and Dutch governments al one would bear the responsi-

bility for the cons equences a nd for the bloods hed w hic h

would then become unavoidable ."

The memorandum, which Ribbentrop also read to the

correspond ents at the e igh t a.m . press conference , a r -

gues tha t Britain and France were abou t to attac k Ger-

many through the two Low Coun tries and that

. the



334 1940 BERLIN, May10

Reich therefore deemed it n ecessary to send in i ts own

troops to " safeguard the neutrality of Belgium and

Holland ." This nonsensical hypocrisy is " backed up "

by a spurious " document " from t he H igh C omman d

claiming that it has proofs that the All ied troops were

about to march into Belgium and Holland in an effort

to seize the Ruhr .

It's evident that the German army has struck with

everything it h as. The air force has go ne all out and is

obviousl y going to take f ull advantage of its su periorit y

over t he Al lies . The High Command says tha t at dawn

the Luftwaffe bombed scores of airfield s in Holland,

Belgium, and France as far south as Lyon . And then

this is news : a c ommuniqu e speaks of German troops

having been landed by ai r at many airports in Belgium

and the Netherlands . The Germans claim they seized

the airfields and occupied surrounding territory . Ap-

parently, though the High Command censor would not

let me say it in my talk s tod ay, they've been dropping

thousands of parachutists . A report that the German

parachutists h ave already occupied part of Rotterdam

is not confirmed . It s ounds inconceivable, but after

Norway anything can ha ppen .

First German reports c la im they've cros sed the river

Maas (Meuse) and captured Maastricht, and have also

driven through Luxemburg and into Belgium To-

night the German army li es before Liege, which held it

up for several days i n 1914, an d where Lu dendorff firs t

attracted atte ntio n .

War on ci vilia ns s tarted too . The other si de reported

German planes had killed many. Tonight the Germans

claimed three All ied plan es dropped bombs i n the mid-

dle of Freiburg, killing twenty-four civili ans . As a

taste of what this phase of the war is going to be lik e,

a German communique tonight says that " from now on,



1940 BER LI N, May 11 33 5

every enemy bombing of German civil ians will be an-

swered by five times as many German planes bombing

Englis h and French ci ties ." (Note Nazi technique

there . (1) The s tatement i s part of the nerve wa r on

the enemy . (2) It is d esigned to make German civil ian s

stand up to bombings by assuring them the English and

French are getting five times worse.)

That's one taste . Here's another : When the Belgi an

and Dutch ministers called for their passports at the

W lhelmstrasse today and at the same time lodged

strong protests a t the r uthless viol ation of their neu-

trali ty, an official statement was promptly published

here saying that " an official on duty [at the Foreign

Offic e] after readi ng the co ntents, w hich were arroga nt

and stupid, refused to accept them, and asked the two

ministers to request for their passports in the usual

manner "! The Germans are out of their min ds .

Tired, after broadcasting all this day, and sick in

the pit of the stomac h .

BERLIN, May 11

The German s teamroller sweeps on through

Holland and Belgium. Tonight the Germans claim to

hav e capt ur ed what the Hi gh Co mma nd cl aim s is

Liege's most important fort, Eben-Emael, which com-

mands the junc tion of the Meuse (Maas) River and the

Albert Canal. The Hig h Comman d, wh ic h u nd er Hit-

ler's l eadershi p is missi ng no opportunities f or propa-

ganda, makes it look mysterious by saying that the

fort was taken by a " new method of attack." Is his-

tory repeating itself ? In 1914, when L iege held u p

the Germans for twelve days, the German army also

had a surprise -he new 42-centimetre howitzer, which

smashed the Belgi an forts as if they were made of wood .



3 3 61940 BERLIN, May

11

The Germans are keeping mum about their troops

landed behind the Dutch lines at The Hague and Rot-

terdam by parachute and by plane . But the High Com-

mand, stung by Allied reports, did deny today that the

Dutch had recaptured the airfields at The Hague or

Rotterdam . The parachutists, then, carry portable

radio trans mitters too !

Strange, th e apathy of the people in the fac e of this

decisive tur n in the war . Most Germans I've seen, out-

sid e of the offici als , a re sunk deep in depression at the

news . The question i s : Ho w ma ny Ger man s s upp or t

this fin al , d esperate gamble that Hitler has tak en? Dis -

cussing it at the Adlo n today, most of the correspond-

ents agreed : many, many . And yet I can't find any

Germans who actuall y beli eve Hitler's excuse that he

went into the neutr al c ountries, w hose integrity he had

guaranteed, to counter a simila r move which the Allies

were about to begin . Even for a German, it's a n obvious

l ie .

Goebbels's propaganda machine, shifting into high

gear, d is covers toda y, twen ty-four hou rs aft er the offi-

cial announcement that twenty-four persons had been

kill ed by the bombing a t Freiburg, tha t thirtee n of the

twenty-four were children who were peacefully froli ck-

ing on the municipal playground . What were a l ot of

children doing on a playground in the midst of an air-

raid? This particular Goebbels fake is probably pro-

duced to justify German killi ngs of civilians on the

other sid e .

The Berlin pa pers have great headl ines toda y about

the " shameful " protests of the two Low Countries

against being invaded .

The Nazis l ocked up in the Ka iserhof yesterday al l

the Dutch journalists who were not Nazis, including

Harry Masdyck . who did not quite believe it would



1940 BER LI N, May 12 33 7

come when it did . A Dutch w oman reporter f or the

Nazi Dutch paper has been sitting at the Rundfunk

since dawn yesterday broadcasting false news to the

Dutch people in their own language . A sort of Lady

Ha w-Ha w

Have one more broadcast at four thirty a .m . ,which

is only te n thi rty p .m . last night in New York . On the

job sinc e eigh t a .m .

BERLIN, May 12

Sunday, an d got a l ittle sleep . Hill took the

noon broadcast .

After a mere two days of fighting the High Com-

mand claims to have occupied all of northeastern Hol-

la nd east of the Zuid er Zee, br oken throug h the f irst an d

second defence lines in the heart of the Netherlands,

and pierced the easter n end of the Belgi an li ne of de-

fence along the Albert Canal . A year or so ago I had

a look at that canal, which the Belgians had fortified

with bunkers . It lo oked like a very formidable tank-

trap with its d eep and very steep, paved sid es . Can it

be that the Belgians didn't blow up the bridges?

A typical Sunday in Berlin today, with no evidence

that the Be rlin ers, at lea st, a re greatly e xercis ed at the

battle for their thousand-year existence . Cafes have

been ordered to cl ose at eleve n p .m . in stead of one a .m .

That wil l get the folk home before the nigh t air-rai ds

start, though we've had none yet . Also, dancing has

been verboten for th e time being .

The radio warned tonight that if Germans were mis-

treated in Holla nd, there is " ample opportunity of re-

taliating on the numerous Dutch nationals living in

German y ."



3 3 8 1940 BER LI N,May 18

BERLIN, May 13

Astounding news . The headli nes a t five p .m .

"LI EGE FA LL EN! G ER MAN L AND FORC ES BRE AK

TH RO UGH AND ESTA BLI SH C ON TACT WITH

AIR -FORC E TRO OP S NE AR RO TTE RDAM!"

No wonder a German officer told me tod ay that even

theOberkommando was a li ttle taken aback by the

pace

The air-force troops were the parac hutists an d those

landed by plane on the beach near The Hague begin-

ning with the first da y of the campaign . It was these

men who took part of Rotterdam (!)inclu ding the air-

port, though they had no a rtil lery and the Dutch

should have had plenty, being a wealthy people . How

a German land force has travelled clear across the

southern part of Holla nd to the sea is a mystery to al l

of us here. It wo uld have to be a motorized force, and

in Ho lla nd there are scores of can als and rivers in their

path. One supposes the Dutch wo uld have blown up

the bridg es .

"SWA STIKA FLIE S FROM TH E C IT ADEL OF

LIEGE," say the headl ines ton igh t . A pparently the G er .

man army which had forced the Albert Canal circled

down to Liege from the northwest, where it was most

weakly held, the Belgians having expected the main at-

tack from the opposite directio n. Liege held out for

twel ve da ys in 1914 . If it has fall en now in four, that

loo ks bad for the Allies .

The foreign radio station s continue to tell o f Ger-

man parachutists dropping all over Belgium and Hol-

land and seizing airports and towns. (Here we can get

no information on the subject whatsoever .) It' s a new

form of warfare and it wi ll be interesting to see wh at

effect it has, if any, on a lo ng, hard campaig n, i f this

is to be one and not another German walkover .



1940 BER LI N, May14

3 39

Last ni ght Premier Reynaud of Franc e ann ounced

t h a t G e r m a n p a r a c h u t i s t s f o un d b e h i n d t h e l i n e s i n a ny -

t h i n g b u t a G e r m a n u ni f o rm w o u l d b e s h o t o n s i g h t .

To ni g h t t h e Wi l h e l m s t ra ss e to l d u s i t w a s i n f or m i n g t h e

A l l i e d g o v e rnm e n t s th a t fo r ev e ry G e rm a n p a ra c h u t i s t

shot, the Germans woul d execute ten French p ri soners !

N i c e p l e as an t p e op l e , t h e G e rm a n s . That takes us back

a thousand or two years . B u t k e ep i n m i n d th a t th i s i s

merel y a part of Hi tl er's new techni que of terror .

I p a s s e d s o m e t i m e a t t h e E m b a s s y t o d a y . E v e r y -

o n e d e p r e s s e d a t t h e n e w s a n d m o s t th i n k - n t h e

fou rth d ay o f the o ffensi ve ! - that i t is all over with

t he Al l i es . I t ri e d t o r ec a l l h o w b l a c k A u g u st 1 91 4 m u s t

h a v e s e e m e d t o P a r i s a n d Lo n d o n as t h e G e rm a n s sw e p t

on the c api ta l and the French government fled to Bor-

deaux. T e ss s ai d o n t h e t el e p h o n e l a s t n i g h t t h a t t h e

S w i s s w e r e c a l l i n g up e v er y av a i l a b l e m a l e . W h en w i l l

i t be Swi tzerl and 's tu rn? I asked her to t ry to book on

t h e f i r s t s h i p h o m e a n d ta k e th e b a b y . She won't . Her

arguments :she h as my G eneva offic e to run, she doesn't

l i k e t h e f am i l y t o g e t to o fa r ap a r t , a nd n o w t h a t t h e

war i s becomi ng a war, she wants to see i t .

BERLIN, May 14

We ' re a l l a l i t tl e d a ze d t on i g h t b y t h e n ew s .

The Dutch army has c apitul ated - fter only five

d a y s of fi g h t i n g . W h a t h a p p e n ed t o i t s g r e at w a t e r

l i n es , w h i c h w e r e s u p p o s ed t o b e i m p a s sa b l e ? To i t s

a rm y o f o v er h a l f a m i l l i o n m e n ?

A n h o u r b e fo re w e l e a rn ed t h i s f ro m a s p e c i a l c o m -

m u n i q u e , w e w e r e to l d o f R o tt e rd a m ' s f a l l . " U n d e r t h e

tremendous i mp ressi on of the a ttacks of German di ve-

bombers and the i mm i nent a ttack of German tanks , the

ci ty o f Ro t terdam has cap i tu lated and thus saved i tsel f



3 4 0 1940 BER LI N, May 15

f r o m d e s t r uc t i o n , " r e a d t h e G e r m a n a n n ou n c e m e n t . It

w a s t h e f i r s t n e w s w e h a d t h a t R ot t er d a m w a s b e i n g

bomb ed and was a t the p oi nt of being d es troyed . How

m a n y c i v i l i a ns w e re k i l l e d th e r e, I w o nd e r, i n t h i s w a r

w h i c h A d ol f H i t l e r " p r o m i s ed " w o ul d no t b e c ar ri e d

o ut ag a i n st c i v i l i a ns ? Was th e w h o l e c i t y , th e h a l f m i l -

l i on o r so peop l e in i t , a mi l i tary ob ject i ve so that i t

had to be destroyed?

Having broken through at Li ege, the Germans

c l a i m e d to ni g h t t o h a ve p i e rc e d t h e se c o nd l i n e o f B e l -

g i a n d e fen c e s n o rt h w e s t of N a m u r . Th e y m u s t b e v e ry

cl ose to Brussel s. T an k s an d a i r p l a ne s, e s p e c i a l l y a i r -

p l a n es , a r e d o i n g t h e j o b f o r t h e G e r m a n s . H ow c r i m i -

nal of the Briti sh and French to have neglected their ai r

forces!

A l i t t l e t i r e d of t h e w a y t h e G e r m a n ra d i o a nn o un c e s

e ac h n ew v i c t o ry . The p rogram i s hal ted , there are fan -

fares, then the com muni que i s read , then a chorus si ngs

the current hi t : " We March on England . " F or t h e b i g

vi ctories the two national hy mns are added.

BERLIN, May 15

Ve ry l o n g , s t u nn e d f ac e s a m o n g t h e fo re i g n

c o r r e s p o n d en t s an d d i p l o m a t s t od a y . The Hig h Com-

m a n d c l a i m s t o h a v e b ro k e n t h r o ug h t h e M a g i n o t L i n e

n e a r S e d a n a n d t h a t G e r m a n f o r c e s h a v e c r o s s e d th e

Meuse River b oth a t Sedan and between Namur an d

Gi vet, farther north. To anyone wh o has seen that deep ,

h e a v i l y w o o d e d Me us e Val l e y , i t s e em s a l m o st i n c r e d i b l e

that the Germans coul d get across i t so qui ckl y, p ro-

v i d e d t h e re i s a n y a rm y a t al l d e fen d i n g t h e w e s te rn

bank . B u t b o th s i d e s s p e a k of b i g t a n k b a t tl e s west of

t h e M e u s e .

A l m o s t a l l o f m y f ri e nd s h a v e g i v e n u p h o p e; n o t I ,



1940BERLIN, May 15 34 1

yet . It must have looked even darker in Paris i n Au-

gust 1914, when nothing appeared to stand in the way

of the German army and the ca pital . Our mili tary peo-

ple remind us tha t the main battle has no t yet started,

that the Germans have not yet run up against the bulk

of the French a nd British armies . And the Belgia ns still

have a ha lf-mil li on men in the f igh t . The li ne today held

by the Allies is roughly : Antwerp, Louvain , Namur,

then down the Meuse to Sedan, with the Germans across

t h e r i v e r at s ev e r a l p o i n t s .

There was in creasing tal k from Rome today that

Italy, now that the Germans appear to be winning, may

jump into the war this week-end . Tess phoned this

morning from Geneva to give me this news . Again I

urged her t o l eave with the child, and at las t she see ms

w i l l i n g . She a nd Mrs . V ., with her two youngsters,

will s trike out across France for Spain . From Li sbon

they can get the Cli pper to New York . Worried all d ay

about this . If Italy attacks France, going across to

Spain from Geneva wil l be unpleasa nt, i f not imposs ible .

It seems the reason the Dutch gave up yesterday was

that the Germans bombed the hell out of Rotterdam,

and threatened to do the same to Utrecht and Amster-

dam . Hitler' s techn iqu e of helpi ng h is a rmies by threat-

ening terror or meting it ou t is as masterful a s i t is

diabolical .

His High Command, for instance, tonight threat-

ened to bomb Brussels unless al l troop movements, w hic h

the Germans claim their reconnaissance planes have ob-

served there, ceas e immediately . " If the Belgian gov-

ernment," says the communique, " wishes to save Brus-

sels from the horrors of war, it must immediately put

a stop to troop movements in the city and the work on

f or t i f i c a t i o n s ."

A nice war .



1940 BERLIN, May 1 6

BERLIN, May 16

Worried about Tess and the baby . If Ital y

goes in to the war in the next day or two, as some think,

escape for them in tha t direction i s out . Today there

are reports of more German activity alo ng the Swiss

border . The Nazis may break into Switzerland any mo-

ment no w . The tr ouble is the French won't let the Ame r-

icans out through France . They are not issu ing trans it

visas at the moment . Yet the American government has

advised Americans in Switzerland to leave immediately

for Bordeau x, where they'll be picked up by America n

ships. Most of our consulate people at Geneva have

sent out their own women and child ren with their diplo-

matic passports through France . I believe Hitler wil l

bomb Geneva to destructio n jus t out of personal hate

for the Leagu e and what Geneva stan ds for .

Wil l Brussels be bombed, after last n ight's German

threat? P ., a lways well informed on German intention s,

thinks Hitler will bomb Paris and L ondon to daylights

within th e next forty-eig ht hou rs.

I just saw two uncensored news-reels at our press

conference in the Propaga nda Ministry. Pictures of

the German army smashing through Belgium and Hol-

land. Some of the more destructive work of German

bombs and shells was shown. Towns laid waste, dead

soldiers and horses lying around, and the earth and

mortar flying when a shell o r bomb hit . Yelled the Ger -

man announcer : "And thus do we deal death and de-

struction o n our enemies ! " The fil m, in a way, su mmed

up the German people to me

Towards sund own Joe [Harsch] and I took a wal k

in the Tiergarten and agreed : The savage destruction

by high explosives and steel of the other fellow is a

beautiful thing and the fulfil ment of a hig h a im in Ger-



1940 BERLIN, May16 ° 3 4 3

manic life ; blow up his home and his wife and his chi l-

dren . But let him do the same to you -then he is a

barbarian destroying the innocent . The film, we re-

call ed, switched back to Freiburg, where the Germans

now claim some thirty-five people, including thirteen

children (though Goebbels forgot to mention the chil-

dren until twenty-four hours after he had announced

the bombing and the number of victims), were kill ed

by Alli ed bombs . Said the announcer angrily : " Thus

do our brutal and unscrupulous enemies bomb and kill

and murder innocent German children ."

" It's the old story," I sa id to J oe. " The Ger ma n

always wants it both ways ."

How would I get through the war without the Tier-

garten, one of God 's great parks? We remarked on

wha t a deep green the grass had today and a rgued

about the respective merits of mowing grass, as at

home, and letting it grow lon g, for hay, as here. Curi -

ous that the lawn-mower is almost unknown on the Con-

tinent . The foliage around the little stream in the

middle of the park was so luxuriant today, it reminded

me of the Barbizon paintings . Or of a Normandy lily

pond by Monet. Missing was only a stately lady clad

in f i n de siecl e garb sitting very upright in a rus tic boat

in the mid dle of the pond .

Picked up on the sho rtwave Roos evelt reading a

special message to Congress . He came through very

c l e ar l y . In great form, I thou ght . He proposed we

build 50,000 (! )planes a year and deliver Allied o rders

immediately. He said Germany now had 20,000 planes

to the All ies' 1 0,000 and was stil l bui ld in g them faster .

This is a truth obvious to all of us here, but when we

used to report it we were accused of making Nazi prop-

aganda . Roosevelt received the greatest ovation I've

ever heard i n a broadcast from Congress . It makes you



3411940

BERLIN, May 17

feel g ood tha t they're waki ng up at ho me at last .

How l ong before we' re in thi s war, as at least a migh ty

supplier t o the All ies - f there' s sti ll time? The Ge r-

mans say we're too late. The Herald Tribune came

out today, according to the BBC, for a declaration of

war on Germany . This led s ome of the America n cor-

respondents at dinner tonight to speculate as to what

chances we who are stationed here would have of getting

out, were diplomatic rela tion s to be severed. The ma-

jority thought we would be interned . No one liked the

prospect .

We're on th e eve tonight of a great battle, perhaps

the deci si ve batt le of the war, o n a front stret chin g for

125 miles from Antwerp through Namur to a point

south of Sedan . It lo oks as though the Germans were

going to throw in everythin g they have, whi ch i s plenty .

Their drive throug h Belgium appears to have been

halted yesterday on the Meuse River and the Dyle Line

farth er no rth. But it is o nly a pause before the great

fin al attack . Hitler must win i t, and all the battles

in the next weeks or months, or he's finished . His

chances look very good. But great decisi ve battles in

history have not always been won by the favourites .

BERLIN, May 17

What a day ! Wha t new s! At three p .m . the

High Command came out with its daily communique . I

would not have beli eved it except that the German land

army has seldom misled us since the first days of the

Polish war on w hat it has accomplished . Often its

clai ms have sounded incredible, o nly to turn out in the

end to h ave been co rrect .

Today the High Command states its armies have

broken through the Belgian Dyle defence line south of



1940 BERLIN, May 17 345

Wavre and have taken the " northeast front " o f t h e

fortress of Nam ur . M or e i m p o r t a nt st i l l - i t clai ms i ts

forces have broken through th e Magi not Line on a one-

hundred-ki l ometre front ( ! )s t re t c h i n g f r o m M a u b eu g e

t o C a r i g n a n , s o u t h e a s t of S e d a n . T h i s i n d e e d l o o k s b ad

for the Al l i es . And i t beg i ns to look too as i f the help

- speci all y i n badl y needed pl anes (for the Germans

a re w i n ni n g t h i s c a m p a i g n l a rg e l y t h r ou g h e f fe c ti v e

u s e o f a s up e r i o r a i r fo rc e ) , w h i c h R o o s ev e l t o ff e re d

to the Al l i es yesterday - i l l c o m e t oo l a te . U n l e s s

t h e G e r m a n s a r e i m m e d i a t el y s l o w e d d o w n , a nd t h e n

s t op p e d . Tha t they ha ven't bee n yet, the BBC ad-

m i t te d t h i s e v e ni n g . It spoke of figh ting g oing on at

R e th e l , w h i c h i s h a l f - w a y t o R e i m s f r om S e d a n . We

here had no id ea the Germ ans had broken through that

far . A t t h e Rundfunk t on i g h t I n ot i c e d th e m i l i t ary

peopl e for the first tim e spoke of a " F r e n c h r o u t . "

I w ent on the ai r as soon as • I cou l d t ranslate the com-

munique - t three thi rty p .m - i t h a n e x t r a b r oa d -

cast o f the news . I r e t u rn e d t o t h e Em b a s s y, w h e re I

found everyone dazed at events . A f e w s e e m e d c h e e red

b y a n e d i t o ri a l i n th e D .A .Z .w h i c h d e c l a re d th a t th e

bi g deci sion had not yet fall en and that a hard road stil l

l a y a h e a d f o r th e G e r m a n s . But hell , thi s offensi ve is

o nl y e i g h t d a y s o l d . A nd the Germans have over run

Holla nd and half of Belgi um and are now half-way

from the French border to Rei ms !

Wo r r i e d a b o u t Te ss . P h o n e d h e r t h i s n o o n a n d u r g e d

her to get off today over France towards Spain w i th the

baby . Now, toni gh t, I hope she h asn' t done it , espe-

c i a l l y a s th e F ren c h a re m a k i n g t h e m g o w a y n or t h t o

Paris fi rst, i n order to get to Bordeaux . P ar i s i s n o

pl ace to get i nto now, after today's news . Th e Ger-

m a n s m a y b e a t h e r t h e r e . Annoyed because I coul dn' t

g e t th ro u g h t o h e r a g a i n o n th e p h o n e t on i g h t , w h i c h



34619 40 B ERL IN,

May18

makes me think she already has left for France. Thin k

best thing for her to do is to take refuge in a Swiss

mountain village . Perhaps Hitler won't bomb a small

Swiss mountain village .

Today turned warm and sunny, a nd you couldn't tell

from the apathetic, almost lazy attitud e of Berli ners

takin g the sun in the Tiergarten that a deci sive, per-

haps the decis ive batt le of the war was on. Not a sin gle

ai r-rai d al arm here yet si nce the new offensi ve starte d,

though we hear that the Ruhr and the Rhine towns are

catching it at night .

LA TER - he High Command late tonight

announced that German troops entered Brussels at sun-

do wn . During the day they had pierced the Al lied lin es

north and south of Louvain . Things seem to be moving

fas t . I n 1914 it took si xteen d ays for the Germans to

reach Brussels . This time ; e i g h t d ay s .

BERL IN, May 18

Goi ng to the front tomorrow . At last will

get a chance

-aybe

-o see how this German army

colossus has been doing it, walking through Belgium,

Holland, and now northern France, so fast .

I hesitated about going for fear the decision might

come in France while I was away and that the story in

that case would really be here and I'd miss it . Also

they've given us so many dud trips sin ce this war starte d

last September that it' s highly possi ble we shan't see

an ythin g of real in terest .

I fina lly decided to take t he cha nce . We lea ve at ten

a .m . tomorrow, and will first drive to Aachen . Nine in

the party : four America nos, thre e Italians , a Spani ard,

and a Jap .



1940 AACH EN , May19 347

Antwerp fell today . And while the German army is

rolling back the Allied forces i n Belgium towards the

sea, the southern army, which broke through the Ma-

ginot Line between Maubeuge and Sedan, is driving

rapidly towards Paris. A piece in the well -i nformed (on

mili tary matters) Borsen Zeitun gtonight hints that

the German armies now converging on Paris from the

northeast may not try to take Paris immediately, as

they di d i n 1914, but strik e northwes t for the Channel

ports i n an effort to c ut o ff Engl and from France . A

secon d force, it hi nts, may str ike i n the opposite direc-

tion and try to take the Maginot Li ne in the east from

behind .

German reports a dmit the Al li es are putting u p fierce

resis tance in Belgi um and France, but sa y that they are

being " outclas sed " by the sh eer mass of German metal ,

especiall y tanks a nd airplan es . Perhaps in the nex t few

d a y s I ' l l b e a b l e t o s ee f or m y s e l f .

AACH EN, H OTEL IN TERN ATION AL, May 19 (mid-

n i g h t )

Most amazing thing about this Ruhr district,

the industrial h eart of Germany, which Alli ed planes

were to have (and could have, we thought) knocked out

in a few days, is that, so far as I c an see, the night

bombings of the Britis h have done very li ttle da mage

I thought the night bombings of western Germany,

the dead ly effects o f which the BBC has been boa stin g

since the big offensive began, would have affected

the moral e of the people . But all afternoon, driv-

in g through the Ruhr, we sa w them-especial ly the

womenfolk -standing on the bridges over the main

roads cheering the troops setting off for Belgium and

France .



348

1940 AACH EN , May 1 9

We d r ov e t h r o ug h m a n y o f t h e R uh r c e nt re s w h i c h

the Al l i es were supposed to have bombed so heavi l y the

l ast few nig hts . We naturall y couldn't see all the fac-

tori es and bridg es and rai l road juncti ons i n the Ruhr,

b u t w e s a w s e v e ra l , a n d n ot h i n g h a d h a p p e n ed t o t h e m .

T h e g r eat n e tw o r k s o f ra i l r o ad t r ack s an d b r id g es

a rou n d Ess e n a nd D u i s b u rg , w h e re B r i t i s h n i g h t b o m b -

i ngs had been reported from London, were i ntact . T h e

Rhin e bridges at Col ogne were up . The factori es

th r o u g h o u t th e Ru h r w er e s m o k i n g aw ay a s u s u al .

Just east of Hannover there had been a nig ht rai d by

t h e B r i t i s h a f e w h o u r s b e fo re w e a r r i v e d . L oc a l i n -

habi tants tol d us twenty ci vi l i ans, all i n one house, had

been k i l l ed . Fi fteen mi l es east of Hannover we spotted

a b i g H a n d l e y - P ag e b om b e r l y i n g sm a s h e d i n a fi e l d

t w o h u n d re d y a rd s o f f th e Autobah n G e n d a r m e s to l d

us it had been brought down by anti-ai rcraft fire . T h e

c r e w o f f i v e e s c a p e d i n p a r ac h u te s . F o ur h a d g i v e n

t h e m s e l v e s u p t o th e v i l l a g e b u rg o m a s t er i n t h e t o w n

near by ; one was sti l l at large and the peasants and the

g e n d a rm e s w e re s c o u r i n g t h e c o u n t ry s i d e for h i m . We

i n sp e c t ed t h e m a c h i n e . G u n ne r ' s r ea r c o c k p i t v e r y

smal l , and he had no pro tecti on . Front engi nes and

pi l o t's cabi n badl y smashed and burned . Funny : the

gl ass i n the rear cockpi t had not been broken . Germ an

air- force mec hani cs were busy removi ng the i nstruments

and valuabl e metal . T h e G e r m a ns n ee d a l l t h e y c a n

find . Hundreds of p easants stood by , l ooki ng at the

debri s . They di dn't seem at al l unnerved .

We k e p t g e tt i n g l o st a l l d a y . Very dum b c hauffeur

l eading our col umn of four cars . O u r d r i v e r r e m a rk e d :

" I n p ea c e - ti m e h e w a s a ta x i c h a u ff eu r . H e ' s al w a y s

getting l ost and al ways taking the l ongest way round . "

We mi ssed Col ogne com pl etel y af ter we'd spotted the

towers of the Cathedral across the green fiel ds, and onl y



1940 AA CHEN, May 19 349

turned back after we were half-way to Frankfurt and

it began to get dark . Almost a full moon towards the

end, an d it wa s very beautiful d riving into A achen a long

a road arched with trees . Along the road, endless col-

umns of troops, in trucks and on foot, were moving up

to the front, sin ging and in go od s pirit s .

(An example of the German a rmy's ter rific attentio n

t o d e ta i l : For three hundred miles along the Autobahn

from Berlin to Cologne, broken-down farm implements

made to look lik e anti-ai rcraft guns from any altitude

at all were placed every two hundred yards . Ploughs

with the shaft pointed to the sky to look like a gun ;

rakes, harrows, wheelbarrows, sewing-machines - very

conceivable old implement had been carefully arranged

to look l ike a piece of flak,' so that an A lli ed pilot f ly-

ing al ong the r oad would get the idea that it was s uicid e

to swcap down on that road . Noticed on the map found

in the British plane near Hannover that strong concen-

tration s of German anti-a ircra ft were marked in red

ink . Another purpose of the farm machines of course

was to impede the lan ding of Allied planes on the high -

way . Telephone posts driven into the narrow strip of

ground between the double lanes also served this pur-

pose . )

Except for a few German bombers starti ng out from

near Hannover, we saw not a singl e plan e in the sky all

day, even when we drew close to the Belgi an frontier .

We passed the Cologne airdrome . It was packed with

planes, but the hangars had not been touched . Beauti-

fully camouflaged with netting they were . Obviously

these night attacks of the British h ave fail ed not only

to put the Ruhr out of commission, but even to damage

the German flyin g fiel ds. A phony sort of war the Al-

l i e s s ti l l s e e m to b e f i g h t i n g.

1 German for anti-aircra ft gun .



350 1940 A A C H E N, May r 2 0

.

M y r o o m h e r e i n t h e H o t e l I n t e rn at i o n a l i s o n th e

very top fl oor, or rather i n the atti c . U n p l e a s a n t r o o m ,

t o b e i n i f t h e B r i t i s h b o m b e r s c o m e ov e r to ni g h t . B u t

i t h a s b e e n d a rk fo r t w o h o ur s n o w (o n e a .m . ) a n d n o

sig n o f them y et .

LAT ERT h r e e th i r t y a .m . - h e y c a m e o v er

at two f i f ty a .m . I a w o k e t o t h e c r a s h i n g o f an t i - a i r -

c ra f t c a n n o n an d t h e r a t - t a t - t a t of a m a c h i n e -g u n o n

the roof across th e street . Th e B r i t i s h , j u d g i n g b y t h e

s o un d o f t h e i r m o t o r s, a n d b y t h e w a y a g u n o n th e

s t at i o n a h u n d r ed y a r d s fr o m m y w i n d o w k e p t f i r i n g

away, w ere hi tting for the Aach en ra i l road yards . No

a i r - r a i d a l a r m . We g o t ou r f i r s t w a r n i n g f r o m t h e s ud -

den thunder of the flak guns . I wen t ou t in to the hal l

to see what peopl e do on such occ asions, how th ey react .

A h a l f -d o z e n fr i g h t e n ed w o m e n w e re fr a nt i c a l l y ru s h -

i ng downstai rs in thei r ni gh tgowns, fear frozen on thei r

faces . A few m en , wh om I took to be o ff ic ers, sauntered

down . Bu t none of our party o f n i ne jou rnal i sts . Fal se

b ravery? B ecause the army o ffi cers were no t fr i gh tened ,

j u s t t a k i n g n o u nn e c e s sa r y c h a n c e s . Th e r a i d l a s te d

t w e nt y - f i v e m i n ut es , a nd t h e n a l l w a s q u i e t . I feel very

sleepy, but we must be up at fi ve .

AACH EN , May 20 (midnight)

T h i s h a s b e en a d a y i n m y l i f e . To hav e seen

t h e d e s t ru c t i o n o f w a r , w h a t g u n s an d b o m b s d o t o

houses and peopl e in them, to towns, ci ties, bri dges, rail -

road sta tions and tracks and tra ins , to univ ers iti es

and anci en t nob le bu i l d i ngs, to enemy so ld i ers, t rucks,

t a n k s , an d h o r s e s c a u g h t a l o n g t h e w a y .

It i s not pretty . No, i t i s not beauti ful . T a k e L o u -

vai n, that l ovely old uni vers ity town, burned i n 1914



1940 AACHEN , May 203 5 1

b y t h e G e r m a n s i n t h e i r f u ry a n d r eb u i l t - p a r t l y b y

American aid . A g o o d p a r t o f i t i s a sh a m b l e s . The

great l i brary of the uni versi ty, rebui l t by the donati ons

of hundreds of Americ an school s and coll eges , is com-

p l e te l y g u t te d . I a s k e d a G e r m a n o f f i c e r w h a t h a p p e n ed

to the books .

" Burned," he sai d .

I m u s t h a v e l o o k ed a l i t tl e s h o c k e d a s I w a t c h e d t h e

d e so l a t i o n an d c o n te m p l a t ed t h i s o ne l i t tl e b l o w t o

l e ar n i n g a n d c u l t u re a nd m u c h t h a t i s d e c e n t i n E u -

ropean l i fe .

T h e o f f i c e r ad d e d : "Too bad . A p i t y . But, my

friend, that's war . L o o k a t i t . "

I d id . But i t hu rt .

M y b r o ad c a s t, w h i c h I ' m t o m a k e f ro m C o l o g n e a t

four th i r ty a .m . , i f I get there, g i ves a resume o f what

w e s a w t o d a y . H e r e i s a m o r e or l e ss c h r o n ol o g i c a l a c -

c o u n t

W e w e r e o ff s h o r tl y a f t e r d a w n f r o m A a c h e n (A i x -

l a -C h a p e l l e ) ac ro s s t h e Du t c h p ro v i n c e of L i m b u rg to

M a as tr i c h t . L i t t l e e v i d e n c e th a t t h e D u tc h d i d m u c h

f i g h t i n g h e re . T h e h o u s es w h o l e , t h e w i n d o w s u ns h a t -

tered . A n oc c a si o na l D u t c h p i l l b o x s h o w ed s i g n s o f

havin g been hit by machin e-gu n fire, b ut nothi ng

h e a v i e r . A pparentl y the Dutc h made n o a ttempt to

s l o w u p t h e G e r m a n s b y b l o w i n g u p t h e r o a d to M a as -

t ric h t . O ne brid ge over a creek had been damag ed .

That was al l .

W e c r o s s ed o v e r t h e M a a s ( M e u s e) a t M a a s tr i c h t .

The ri ver i s broad h ere and was a natural l i ne of de-

f e nc e , t h o u g h t h e D u tc h d i d n o t t a k e m u c h a d v a n t a g e

o f i t. T h e y h a d d o n e a h a l f - h e ar t ed j o b o f b l o w i n g u p

t h e b r i d g e s . Bl own up one out of seven or eig ht sp ans

on the two bri dges I saw . T h e G e rm a n s ev i d e n tl y h a d

s u b st i t u t e s p a ns , m a d e o f s te e l f r a m e s , w a i t i n g i n t h e



352 1 9 4 0 A A C H E x, May 20

r e ar , a nd w i t h i n a f ew h o ur s of b r i n g i n g t h e m u p h a d

the bri dges good as new . G e r m an s up p l y c o l u m n s w e r e

thundering over both bri dges wh en we arriv ed .

7 .30 a .m . - rrived a t the Al bert Canal.

W i t h i t s s te ep b a n k s, t h i r ty f e et h i g h , w h i c h t h e B e l -

g i a ns h a d c e m e nt ed t o m a k e i t i m p o s si b l e to c l i m b

t h e m , i t w a s a g oo d d ef en c e l i n e, e s p e c i a l l y a g a i n s t

tanks . O nl y t h e B e l g i a ns h a d n ot b l o w n u p t h e b r i d g e .

I asked a German offi cer wh y .

" We w e r e to o q u i c k f o r th e m , " h e s ai d . A p p a r en tl y

w h a t h a p p e n ed h e r e, a n d a t m o s t o f t h e o t h e r i m p o r t an t

b ridg es over the Al bert Canal , al l l ead i ng to Li ege, was

t h a t G e rm a n p a ra c h u t i s t s ru s h e d t h e b r i d g e s f ro m b e -

hi nd, wi ped out the defendi ng mach i ne-gun crews , even

overpowered the pi l l boxes a lso defendi ng the bri dges ,

and cut the wi res l eading to the expl os ive ch arges i n

the bri dges before the B elg i ans coul d set them off . Th i s

p a r t i c u l a r b ri d g e o v e r th e c a n a l w a s p r o te c t e d b y a

b u n k e r a t th e B e l g i a n en d o f th e b r i d g e i t s el f , a nd b y

t w o o t h e r b un k e rs l y i n g a h u n d r ed y a r d s t o th e r i g h t

a n d l e f t o f t h e b r i d g e . T h e b u n k e r at t h e b r i d g e h e a d

m u s t h a v e b e e n t ak e n i n t h e s a m e m y s t e r i o u s w a y t h a t

F o rt E b e n - E m a e l w a s t ak e n a t L i e g e - y p a r a c h u t -

i s ts wi th some newfangl ed weapon .

Th e G e rm a n o ff i c e r w a rn e d u s n o t t o g o i n s i d e t h e

bunker, as mi nes were st i l l l y i ng about , bu t a coup l e o f

us ven tu red i n . I saw at once that there had been a fire

i n s i d e t h e b u n k er . From that I c oncluded - hough

w i t h s e v e r al r e se r v at i o n s - t h a t th e p a r ac h u ti s ts w h o

took the p i l l box from beh i nd must have had a f i re-p i sto l

o f so m e k i n d a n d sh o t th e i r f l a m e s i n s i d e t h e p i l l b o x .

N e a r b y I n o ti c e d f r es h l y d u g g ra v e s o v e r w h i c h B e l -

g i a n st e el h e l m e t s w e r e p o s e d o n s t i c k s . P r ob a b l y t h e

c r ew o f th e p i l l b o x .



1940 A A c H E N, May 20 S58

Speed played a role too, w ith its resul tant surprise .

The motorized Germans h ad crossed the Dutch border

twenty mil es aw ay at five a .m . and were over this canal

into Belgium (past Maastricht, which should have been

stron gly defended but was n't) at ten a .m - ive hours .

You were immediately struck by the difference be-

tween Holland and Belgium . As soon as we crossed into

Belgium, we started running into blocks of pulverized

houses along the road . Obviously the Belgians were of

a different metal from the Dutch . At the outset they

fought like lions . From house to house .

7.4 5 . Tongres . - ere for th e firs t time w e

suddenly came across real devastation. A goo d part of

the town through which we drove was smashed to pieces .

Stuka dive-bombers an d artillery , an officer explai ned.

The railroad station was a shambles ; obviously hit by

Stuka s . Th e r ai lr oa d tr ac ks a ll ar ou nd tor n a nd

twisted ; cars and locomotives derailed . One could - or

could one? - magine the consternatio n of the inha bit-

ants . When they had gon e to bed that Thursd ay night

(May 9), Belgium had been at peace with the wo rld, in-

cl ud in g G er man y . At da wn o n Frida y the Ger man

bombers were levelli ng the station and town - he

houses in which they had gone to bed so peacefully -to a charred mass of ruins . The town itself was abso-

lu tely deserted . Two or three hungry dogs nosed sadly

about the ruins , apparently search ing for water, food,

and their master s .

8 .10 . S t . Tron d - his town is some twelve

miles to the west of Tongres . As we felt our way slowl y

through the debris in the streets, I scrawled a few rough

notes : " houses smashed . . . shambles . . . bitter

faces Belgian civilians . . . they jus t starting to re-



354 1940 AACH EN , May 20

turn .. . wome n

sobbing . . . th e i r menfolk? . . .

where? . . . here houses destroyed at ran do m . . .

Stukas careless? . . . on purpose? . . . war of roads

. . . the G erman army on whee ls . . . Germans

simply went up the roads . . . with tanks, planes, a r-

till ery, anti-tan k stuff, everythin g . . . all morning,

roads massed with supplies, troops going up . . . c u ri -

ous, not a si ngle All ied plane yet . . .and these end-

less co lumns o f troops, gu ns, supplies, str etchi ng al l the

way from the German border . . . what a target ! . . .

Refugees streaming back along the roads in the dust

and heat . . . tears your heart out . . . ."

The refugees trudged up the road, old women lug-

ging a baby or two in their old arms, the mothers lug-

ging the family belongings . The lucky ones had theirs

balanced on bicycles . The really lucky few on carts .

Their faces - da zed, ho rrified, the li nes frozen in so r-

row and suffering, bu t dign ified . What a h uman being

can't take ! And survive and go on! -

In a few hours

they would go picking through the charred heaps of

what the day before yesterday or so had been their

homes .

8 .30 Tirlemont . - A German officer re-

marks here: "

It took us five da ys to g et to Tirlemont ."

We have come about a hundred kilometres from Aachen

-twenty ki lometres a day. Not bad . I no tice t hat in

all that distanc e I have no t seen one bomb crater in the

road . I dedu ce that whi le German Stukas put the Bel-

gian railroad out of action, they were careful not to

blow up the road s or t h e i r bridges . Apparently the

German command decided in advance not to try to use

the Belgian railways ; only the roads . Their army was

built t o go on g aso lin e-motored vehic les.

We came to a terrific hole in th e road, just as it



1 9 4 0 A A C H E N, May 20 $55

crossed a creek at the entrance to the town . A pi t thi rty

y a rd s i n d i a m e t e r a n d t w e n ty - f i v e fe e t d e e p . Th e o f -

f i c e r e x p l a i n e d t h e Fr en c h b l e w t h i s o ne up .

" F r en c h d y n a m i t e e x p e r t s , " h e s a i d . " A t p l a c es

they have done a beautiful job . But they di d not s top

o u r ta n k s . Th e t a n k s w e n t ro u n d t h ro u g h t h e f a c t o ry

you see at the left, pi erci ng the factory wal l s as i f they

were made of ti ssue paper, c rossed the creek a coupl e of

h u n d r e d y a r d s u p s t r e am , a n d p u r s u e d t h e e n em y. We

l ost li ttle ti me," he added, " e v e n th o u g h y o u h a v e t o

a d m i t t h e F re n c h d i d a g o o d j o b o f i t h e re . " H i s ad -

m i r a ti o n fo r th e F r e nc h d y n a m i t e rs w a s t er r i f i c .

Much evi dence of street fig hti ng here i n Tirl emont .

H o u se s p o c k m a rk e d w i t h m a c h i n e- g u n b u l l e ts ;many

l e v e l l e d t o t h e g r o un d b y S t u k as a nd a r ti l l e r y .

9 .15 . Louvain . - T h i s a nc i e nt u ni v e r si t y

c i t y , b u r n t b y t h e G e r m a n s i n a b u r s t o f f ur y i n 1 9 14 ,

i s n ow a g a i n - o a c o n s i d e r a b l e ex t e n t - e s t ro y e d .

T h a t ' s t h e fi r s t i m p r e ss i o n a n d s o m e h o w i t h i t s m e b e -

tween the eyes . B l o c k u p o n b l o c k u p o n b l o c k o f h o us e s

a n ut te r sh a m b l e s . S ti l l s m ou l d e ri n g . For the tow n was

onl y taken two or three days ago .

We d r i v e t h r o ug h t h e r u i n s t o t h e u ni v e r si t y , t o t h e

uni versi ty l i b rary . I t t o o w a s b u r ne d b y t h e G e r m a n s

i n 1 91 4 , a n d r e b u i l t ( re b o o k e d t o o ? ) b y d o n a t i o n s f r o m

h u n d r e d s o f A m e r i c a n i n s t i t u t i o n s o f l e a rn i n g .

" W h a t h a p p e n ed t o t h e l i b r a ry ? " I a sk t h e l o c a l

c o m m a nd a nt , an el d e rl y , p o u c h - f ac e d c o l o ne l w h o i s

certainl y not an uns ympathis ch f el l o w .

" W e sh a l l b e th e re i n a m i n ut e . Y ou w i l l s ee , " h e

says . H e i s si l e nt fo r a m o m e nt . M a y b e h e n ot i c e s

my impatience . He add s : " T h e r e w a s a s h a r p b a t t l e

h e r e i n t h e t o w n i t s e l f . H e a v y s t r ee t fi g h t i n g. Town

c h a ng e d h a n d s s ev e r al t i m e s . We would come in an d



3 5 6 1940 A A C H E x, May 20

they wou ld d rive us out . There was bound to be damag e,

mei n Herr. "

I t h a s b e e n d e st r oy e d t h e n , I c o n c l u d e . In a mi nute

we are there, d ri v i ng up the square in fron t of the l i -

brary, w hi ch i s broken by rows of trench es . We cl imb

ou t o f ou r cars and l ook . . . .

The g reat l i b rary bui l d i ng is compl etely gu t ted . The

rui ns st i l l smoul der . S o m e o f t h e g i r d e rs t h a t h e l d t h e

r o o f r e m a i n . The Tudor-lik e facade, blac kened by

s m o k e , h o l d s ou t p r o u d l y , t h o u g h a G e rm a n s ol d i e r

ru n s u p t o m e a s I a p p ro a c h a n d w a rn s no t t o g e t t oo

cl ose, as the wal l s may cave in a t any moment . We go

i n c l o se , a ny w a y .

I ' m f a s c i n a te d b y t h e i n s c r i p t i o n s o n th e s t o ne s. I

n o t e a f e w d o w n o n a sc r a p o f p a p e r : THE FINCH

SCH OOL ; UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER ; PHIL LIPS

ACADEMY, ANDOVER ; UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ;

AMER IC AN AS SOCIATION OF U NI VER SITY WO-

MEN ; PUBLIC SCH OOLS OF THE CITY OF

PHIL ADEL PHIA IN PENN SYLV ANI A And so on .

T h e y a n d m a n y o t h e r s o f th e k i n d d o n a te d t h e m o n e y

to rebui l d th i s l i b rary . I l o o k f o r th e f a m o u s i n s c r i p -

t i o n a b ou t w h i c h t h e re w a s s o m u c h s i l l y c o n t rov e r sy

( i t d o e s n' t s o u nd q u i t e s o si l l y t o d a y ) b e t w e e n so m e

o f t h e A m e r i c a n d o n or s a n d th e B e l g i a n a u th o r i t i e s

about the tim e I firs t arrived i n Europe in 1925 w hen

t h e b ui l d i n g w a s be i n g c o m p l e te d . I c a n ' t fi n d i t . I

t r y t o re m e m b e r ' i t s ex a c t w o r d i n g a n d c a n ' t . B u t I

t h i n k i t ra n s om e t h i n g l i k e t h i s : " Destro yed by Ger-

man fury ; r eb u i l t b y A m e ri c a n g e ne ro si t y . "

"And the books?" I ask my commandant, who

stri kes me more and more li ke a decent fel l ow . " Burnt,"

he says, " a l l o f t h e m , p r ob a b l y . "

A N a z i w o r k e r w i t h a g n ar l e d , d i s h o n es t f a c e , w h o s e

y e l l o w a rm - b a n d p r oc l a i m s h i s b el o ng i n g t o th e Or-



1940A A C H EN, May 20

35 7

ganisation Todt, which goes in after the German army

and clears up the debris, comes up to me, a nd offers

"The British did it . S e t i t a f i r e b e f o re t h e y l e f t . Typi-

cal, ain't it? "

I do not say anything, but later when I have the

col onel alo ne, I put it to him . He eyes me and shrugs

his sh oulders and says : " Mein Herr, there was a battle

i n t h i s t o w n , a s I t o l d y o u . Heavy f ig htin g i n the s treets .

Artil lery and bombs . You see how much has been de-

stroyed . I do not know myself that one building was

des troyed di fferently from the next . Whether the li -

brary went lik e the others or in another way ."

Before we l eft Berli n a certa in offic er in th e German

army had come down to the Wilhelmplatz to tell us

"Gentlemen, we have just ha d word . From Louvain .

The Britis h have plundered that fine old town . Plun-

dered it in the most sh ameful manner ."

We spend the morning in Louvain, looking over the

ruins, snooping into some of the buildings that still

stand , talki ng with the first returning inhabitants and

with priests and nuns, s ome of whom have lived out the

three-day battle huddling in the cellar of a near-by

con vent and monastery . We do n ot see or hear one

shred of evidence that the Britis h plundered the town .

Nor -it is only fair to say = do any of the regular

army offic ers su ggest i t .

When we enter the tow n at ni ne fifteen a .m . , t h e b a t -

tered streets are des erted . Not a civilian about ; only

a few troops a nd Arbeitsd ienst men in Czech uniforms

(are there not enough German uniforms to go aro und?)

or Organisation Todt men in nondescript working

clothes and yellow arm-bands .

Forty-one thousand people lived in Louvain until the

morning Hitler moved west . A week later, when the

Nazi army poured into the town, not a one of them was



3 5 8 1940 A A C H E x, May 20

there . How many civilians were killed we cou ld not find

out . Probably very few . Perhaps no ne . Wh at hap -

pened was that the populatio n, gripped by fear of the

Nazi hordes and remembering no doubt how the last

time the Germans came, in 1914, two hundred of the

leadin g citizens, held as h ostages, ha d been shot in re -

pris al for a ll eged s ni ping , fled the ci ty before the G er-

mans arrived .

When we leave, about noon, we see the first ones

straggling back . L ook at their f aces . Dazed . So . . .

horror-stricken . So . . . bitter and resentful . And

yet - so dignified ! I s e e i t - ignity masking suffer-

ing is, i n a way, on the human face at such moments, a

noble and even a beautiful thing . Our super-sophisti-

cates l ike Aldous Huxley need to see more of this - i n

the flesh, amongst the r uin s .

Our commandant takes us to the Cathedral and the

City Hall . Except for a broken window or two, they

are untouched . They must have escaped the burning of

the tow n i n 1914, for they are no t new edi fic es . A Ger-

man offic er remarks to me : " The Stukas have one ad-

vantage over ordi nary bombers ."

" What's that? " I ask .

" They're more accurate . See how the Rathaus and

Cathedral here have been spared . Ordinary bombers

attackin g the town probably would h ave hit them, too .

Not our Stukas . They hit their targets ."

We fil e in to th e City Hal l . In a lo ng mediaeval hall,

probably the reception room, for i t's in the front, we

see immediately that this has been a British head-

quarters. On a la rge table made of unpainted wood :

maps, note pads, whisky bottles, beer bottles, ca ns of

biscuits with their quaint English labels . They bear

evidenc e that the Br itis h were but lately her e .



1 9 4 0 A A C H E N, May 20 3 5 9

A c o r ri d o r l e a d s o ff t o sm a l l e r, i n n e r ro o m s w h e re

various Briti sh offi cers seem to have instal l ed themsel ves .

O n th e i r d e sk s , m o r e m a p s , F re n c h - E n g l i s h d i c t i o n ar -

i e s . On one I notic e an artil l ery manual . T h e f l o o r i n

o n e ro o m i s b l o o d s ta i n e d . The commandant venture s

t h e i n f or m a t i o n t h a t tw o w o u n d e d B e l g i a n s b l e d t o

death there . I n ea c h ro o m u n d e r t h e s w e e p i n g R e n a i s -

s a nc e p a i n t i n g s o n t h e w a l l s , d i s h e v e l l e d m a t tr e ss e s o n

w h i c h t h e B r i t i s h s l e p t . Most of them bl oodstai ned, as

i f i n the l ast days they w ere used not to sleep on, but to

d i e on .

W h e n w e l e av e th e C i t y H a l l , f i l i n g ou t t h rou g h t h e

l arge recepti on room I notic e that a great bronze pl aque

s t an d i n g a g a i n s t t h e b a c k w a l l h a s b e en ta m p e r e d w i t h ,

a nd o n e h a l f r i p p e d a w a y a n d r em o v e d .

" How about i t ? " I a s k a n o f f i c e r .

H e p u f f s o u t s om e t h i n g a b o u t t h e h o n o u r o f t h e G e r -

m a n a rm e d f o r c e s , a nd t h a t t h i s p l a q u e c o m m e m o r a t ed

t h e m a r t y r s o f L o uv a i n - h e t w o h u n dr ed c i v i l i a ns

wh o were shot as hos tages by the German army i n 1914,

a nd t h a t , a s t h e w h o l e w o r l d k n ew , t h o s e tw o h u n d re d

l e a d i n g c i t i z e ns h a d o n l y b e e n sh o t a s a r e su l t o f t h e

B e l g i a n s' s n i p i n g a t G e r m a n s ol d i e r s, ' a n d t h a t t h e

pl aque said somethi ng about the barbarity of the Ger-

m a n s o l d i e r s, a n d t h a t t h e r e w a s t h e h o n ou r o f t h e G e r -

m a n a r m y t o u p h o l d , a n d t h a t a s a c o ns e q u en c e t h e h a l f

o f the p l aque whi ch tol d o f the " h e ro i c m a rt y rs an d th e

barbaric Ger mans " h a d b e e n re m o v e d , b u t t h a t t h e

o t h e r h a l f , c o m m e m o r at i n g t h e h e ro i c d e e d s of th e B e l -

g i a n ar m y i n 1 91 4 i n d e fe n c e o f t h e l a n d , h a d b e e n l e f t

b e c a u s e th e G e r m a n s h a d n o t h i n g a g a i n s t t h a t - ust

t h e o p p o s i t e .

In the shambl es of the square by the rai l road stati on

1 T h e r e w a s n o sn i p i n g i n 1 9 4 0 .



360 1940 AACH EN , May20

a massive monument in ston e around whic h Germans

and Bri tish fought thi s tim e for three days stil l stands .

It a lso com mem orates the good burgh ers wh o were shot

i n 1 9 14 . It even l i sts thei r names. S o f a r t h e G e rm a n s

h a v e n ot d y n am i t e d i t .

We p a u s e o n t h e s q u a re fo r b re a t h . Refugees, fear

on their faces stil l , and shock, begi n to tric kl e in, pi ck-

i n g t h e i r w a y o v e r t h e ru i n s . They are sil ent, bi tter,

proud . Though i t breaks your heart to do i t, we stop

a f e w a n d t ry t o q u e s t i o n t h e m . Some of our nu mber

w a n t t o g e t t o th e b o t t o m o f t h e G e r m a n c h a r g e t h a t

the Briti sh set fire to the Louvain l i brary i n the bel i ef

t h a t th e G e r m a n s w o u l d b e b l a m e d a nd A m e ri c a n o p i n -

i o n th u s f ur t h e r i n f l a m e d a g a i n s t t h e N a z i s . But eye-

i ng the German o ffic ers wi th us, they g row sl y, act shy,

a nd t el l u s n ot h i n g . T h e y s a w n ot h i n g , t h ey a l l i n si s t .

T h e y w e r e n o t i n th e t o w n d ur i n g t h e f i g h t i n g . They

had fl ed to the hi ll s .

" H o w c o u l d I s e e a n y th i n g ? " one o ld m an p ro tests,

g l a r i n g b i t t er l y a t th e G e r m a n s . A B e l g i a n p r i e st i s

just as cagey . " I w a s i n t h e c e l l a r of t h e m o n a st e ry , "

he says . " I prayed for my fl ock . " A G e r m a n n un t e l l s

h o w s h e an d fi f ty - s i x c h i l d r en h u d d l e d i n t h e c e l l a r o f

the c onvent for three days . She does remember that the

bombs s tarted fa ll i ng Friday m orni ng, the 10th . That

t h e re w a s no w a r ni n g . T h e b o m b s w e r e n o t ex p e c t e d .

B e l g i u m w a s no t i n th e w a r . B e l g i u m h a d d o ne no t h i n g

to a nybody . . . S h e p a u se s a nd n o t i c e s t h e G e r m a n

offi cers eyei ng her .

" Y ou 're Germ a n, are n' t y ou ? " o n e o f t h e m s a y s.

" J a . " Then she puts in hurri edl y, i n a frigh tened

v oi c e : " O f c o u rs e , a s a G e r m a n , I w a s g l a d w h e n i t w a s

al l over and the German troops arriv ed . "

T h e c o m m a n d a nt , e n c o u r a g e d , w a n ts t o t a k e u s o ut

t o t h e c o n v e n t t o s p e a k t o m o r e G e r m a n n u n s, b u t w e



1 9 4 0 A A C H E N, May 20 3 6 1

fi gure i t i s onl y fo r p ropaganda, and u rge the o ffi cers

o f ou r party to p ush on . We set ou t fo r Brussel s .

A b o u t n o o n w e a re sp e e d i n g a l o n g a d u s t y ro a d t o -

wards Brussels wh en someone si gh ts Steenockerzeel and

the medi aeval -l i ke ol d cas tle wh ere Otto von Habsburg

and his mother, Zi ta, former Empress of Austria-

H u n g a r y , h a v e b e e n l i v i n g . We s t o p t o t a k e a l o o k . It

h a s b e e n b o m b e d .

Otto's castl e is an anci ent edifi ce, ugl y wi th i ts nu-

m e ro u s to w e r s a nd c o n g l o m e ra t e o u tl i n e . A r ou n d i t i s

a muddy moat . A s w e a p p ro a c h w e s e e t h a t a p a r t o f

t h e r o of h a s b e e n b l o w n o f f , a n d o ne w a l l l o o k s sh a k y .

Windows broken . E v i d e n tl y t h e r e h a s b e e n c o nc u s s i o n

f ro m a h i g h e x p l o si v e . C o m i n g c l o s er w e s ee t w o h u g e

bomb c raters, actuall y formi ng a part of the m oat and

e nl a rg i n g i t . T h e h o us e o b v i o u s l y s t i l l s ta nd s on l y b e -

c a u s e b o th b o m b s , a n d th e y m u s t h a v e b e e n fi v e -h u n -

dred-pounders at least , fel l i n the moat , and the water

and mud deadened the expl os ive force . T h e m o a t b ei n g

but si xty feet from th e castle, the bombs w ere certainl y

w e l l a i m e d . Evi dentl y th e work of Stukas.

But why bomb Otto von Habsburg's castle? I a sk

a n o f f i c e r . He can't fig ure i t out . F i n a l l y h e s ug g e s ts

" It was undoubtedly used by the British as head-

quarters . It would therefore be a fai r mi l i tary target . "

La t e r w h e n w e h a v e g o n e t h ro ug h t h e c a s t l e f ro m b o t -

tom to top, we find no evidence that the Bri tish have

been there .

T h e c a s t l e , w e s o on n ot i c e , o nc e w e a re i n s i d e , h a s

b e e n p l u n d e re d , t h o u g h n o t v e ry w e l l . T h e r e i s ev i -

dence that the occup ants l eft in great haste . In the up -

s t ai r s b ed r o om s w o m e n ' s c l o t h e s ar e l y i n g o n th e f l o o r,

on chai rs, on beds, as if those wh o were there coul d not

m a k e u p t h e i r m i n d s w h a t d r e s s t o ta k e , a n d d i d n o t



362 1940 A A C H E x, May 20

h a v e t h e t i m e n o r th e l u g g a g e s p a c e t o ta k e v e ry m u c h .

Al l the cl osets are fil l ed wi th dresses and robes, hangi ng

n e a tl y f ro m h a n g e r s . I n on e ro o m , o c c u p i e d b y a m a n ,

books, sweaters, suits, gol f-sti cks, vi ctrola records, and

no tebooks are scat tered abou t . In the salon downstairs,

a large room furnish ed in h orribl e bourgeois taste, books

and notebooks and chi na li e i n di sorder on a l arge table .

An enormous book on bugs ha d evidently been well

t h u m b e d t h r o ug h b y s o m e on e , p e r h a p s O t t o . I n w h a t

I take to be hi s study upstai rs, I noti ce a book i n French

entitl ed : The Coming War . I l o ok o v e r h i s b o ok s .

There are some very good ones in French, German,

E ng l i s h . O b v i o u s l y h e h a d a n ex c e l l e n t t a st e i n b o ok s .

Many, o f course, are h i s uni versi ty tex tbooks, on po l i -

tic s, economi cs, etc .

We rummage for a h al f-hour through the roo ms .

They are poorly furni shed for the most part . The

b a th r o om s v e ry p r i m i t i v e . I r e m e m b e r t h e s p l e n d ou r

I ' v e s e e n i n t h e H o f b u r g i n V i e n n a , w h e r e t h e H a b s -

b u rg s ru l e d s o l o n g . A fa r c ry t o t h i s . S o m e o f o u r

p a r t y a re l o a d i n g u p w i t h s o uv e n i r s , s w o rd s, a n c i e nt

pi stols, vari ous knic k-knacks . I p i c k u p a p a g e o f En g -

l i s h c o m p o s i t i o n w h i c h O t to ev i d e nt l y d i d w h e n h e w a s

b o ni n g u p o n h i s En g l i s h p r i o r t o h i s r e c en t v i s i t t o

America . Fe e l l i k e a r o b b e r . A G e r m a n o f fi c e r h a n d s

me Otto 's s tudent cap . S h e ep i s h l y I ta k e i t . Someone

d i s c o v e rs s om e o f Z i t a ' s p e r s on al c a l l i n g c a r d s an d

hands me one . It says : " L' Im p e rat r i c e d ' A u t ri c h e e t

Rein de Hongrie ." I p o c k et i t , p l u nd ere r th a t I

am . A s a d , h u n g r y , b e w i l d e r ed d o g w a n d er s ar o un d

t h e l i t t er i n t h e r o om s a n d f o l l o w s u s o ut t o ou r

c a r. We l e a v e t h e c a s tl e t o h i m . No human being i s

a b o u t .

From Steenockerzeel to Brussels the roads are

j a m m e d w i t h G e r m a n a rm y t r uc k s a n d m o t o ri z e d g u n s



1940 A A C H E x, May 20 3 6 3

speeding westward, on the right side ; o n t h e l e f t si d e

an unbroken column of tired refugees returning in the

heat and the dust to their destr oyed town s . An appetite

for a good hearty lunch i n Brussels had been growing in

me. This sight takes it away .

2 p .m . , B ru ssel s . - Brussels has been spared

- he one lone city in Belgium that has not been in

whole or in part laid w aste . Hitl er threatened to bomb

or destroy it on the ground that the Belgians were

moving troops through it and that it was no longer an

open city . Perhaps its rapid fal l s aved i t .

Here and there, as you drive through the town, you

see a demoli shed house where a s tray German bomb

f e l l ( j u s t to t er r or i z e t h e p e o p l e ? ) . And all the bridges

over the canal in the middle of the city -and there

must ha ve been a dozen o f them -were blow n u p by

the Britis h . . . .

It's a warm late-spring day, and the streets are

thronged with the local inhabitants . The same bitter,

but proud faces we have seen in the other towns. The

German officer in c harge of our four cars stops to ask

a pas ser-by the way to a restauran t where we are booked

to eat . The gentleman, a professorial -l ooking fellow

with a beard and a wide-brimmed black hat, gives di-

rectio ns. He is coolly polite . The officer thanks him

with a salute . The prof ess or tips h is ha t stif fly.

Soon we are in the centre of town, i n front o f the

East Station, and speeding, the claxon shrieking ruth-

lessl y and needlessl y, do wn the stre et to the square in

front of the Hotel Metropole . H ow man y da ys a nd

ni ghts I 've walk ed this stree t in the time of peace . . .

observed the good burghers of Brussels, the painted

whores, the stre ets full of good thin gs you never saw i n

Germany, oranges, bananas, butter, coffee, meat ; t h e



36 E 1940 A A C H E x, May 20

movie fronts with posters of the latest from Hollywood

and Paris, the cafe terraces, always jammed on the

square .

We eat at the Taverne Royale, which I often fre-

quented wh en in Brussels. I'm a little embarras sed

showing up there with German officers. Fortunately

the head waiter and his staff do not recognize me -- - or

act as if they didn't. The restaurant, lik e the Ilotel

Metropole, has been taken over by the army, though

during the meal two or three civili ans stray in a nd are

served - as exceptions, I suppose . We eat well . The

Germans from the Foreign Office and the Propaganda

Min is try an d the of fic ers, especia ll y . Food like this has

not been avai la ble in Berlin for years.

Some of our party buy out the restaurant's stock

of America n tobacco in a few minutes . I take three

packages of Luckies myself. I c an n o t resi st after a y ear

of smoking " rope " in Germany . I w il l sa ve them for

breakfas t ; o ne a d ay, after. Most buy by the carton,

which relieves my conscience . We pay in marks at the

absu rd rate of ten franc s to o ne mark . After lunch most

of the party go out to plu nder with their paper marks,

now worth a great deal. They buy shoes, s hirts, rain -

coats, women's stockings, everything . One Italian buys

coffee, tea, two gal lons of cooking oil, besides s hoes an d

clo thes .

F a n d I g o o f f t o f i n d a s h o p I u s e d t o p a t r on i z e h e r e;

not to buy, but t o tal k . The w ife of the patr on i s t e nd -

ing it . She half remembers me. She is dazed, fright-

ened -but brave . She does n ot yet real ize what has

happened . She sa ys : " It came so suddenly . I c an't ge t

it strai ght yet . First the German attack . Then the

government fled . We didn't know what was happening .

Then Friday [today is the following Monday], about

eight in the evening, the Germans marched in ." She



1940 A A C x E N, May 20 3 6 7

Left Bruss els i n the la te afternoon, our ca rs fil led

with the loo t almost everyone had bought . We returned

to Aachen about nine thirty p .m . I had some luck . I ' v e

arranged with RRG in Berlin to broadcast from Co-

lo gne at four thirty a .m . th i s ni g h t .

I've jus t fin is hed the piece . Had to get the censors

from the Propaganda Min istry and the High Com-

mand out of bed to read it. Though I've had little slee p

for some time, I do not feel s leepy or tire d . I hi red a

car and a c hau ffeur to drive me to Colo gne -about

forty mil es . He insists on starting no w - one a .m .

Says the troops on the road will slow us up, maybe too

the British bombers . So far they've not been over to-

nigh t, though i t's al most full moon .

May 21, 6 .15 a .m - road cast went off al l

right . No Engli sh bombers . Had difficu lty in finding

the broadcasting studio in the black-out . Finally a fat

blonde, standing on a doorstep with a soldier, gave us

directions in Cologne that worked. Snatched a half-

hour's sl eep at the studio, and dozed for the hour and

a half that it took us to drive back to Aachen . Dozed

almost all the way, that is . It was a beautiful dawn

a nd I f i n a l l y w o k e u p t o f ee l i t . Down to breakfast now

an d w e're of f to th e fron t at s ix thi rty a .m . No time to

take my cl othes off, but did snatch a sha ve .

Footnote to May 20 . -Re tur ni ng f rom

Brussels to Aachen, we ran across a batch of British

priso ners . It was somewhere in the Dutch province of

Limburg, a suburb, I think, of Maastricht . They were

herded together in the brick-paved yard of a disused

factory . We stopped and went over and talked to them.

They were a sad sight . Priso ners alw ays are, especi al ly

r i g h t a f t e r a b a t tl e . Same obviously shell- shocked, some



368 1940 AA C H E N,

May 20

w o u n d e d , a l l d e a d t i r e d . B u t w h a t i m p r e ss e d m e m o s t

about them was their physique . They were holl ow-

c h e s te d a n d s k i n n y a n d r o un d - s h o u l d e r ed . About a

th i rd o f them had bad eyes and wore g l asses . Ty p i c a l , I

concl uded , o f the you th that Eng l and neg l ected so cri m-

i n a l l y i n t h e , tw e n t y - t w o p o s t- w a r y e a r s w h e n G e r m a n y ,

desp i te i t s defeat and the i n fl ati on and six m i l l i on un-

e m p l o y ed , w a s r ai s i n g i t s y o u t h i n t h e o p e n a i r a nd t h e

s un . I a sk e d t h e b o y s w h e re th e y w e re f ro m a n d w h a t

t h e y d i d a t h o m e . A b o u t h a l f o f t h e m w e r e fr o m o f fi c e s

i n L i v e r p o o l ; t h e re st fr om L o nd o n o ff i c e s . Th e i r m i l -

i t a ry t r a i n i n g h a d b e g u n n i n e m o n t h s b e fo r e, t h e y s a i d ,

wh en the war started . But i t had not, as you coul d see,

made up fo r the bad d i et , the lac k o f fresh ai r and sun

a nd p h y s i c a l t r ai n i n g , o f t h e p o s t- w a r y ea rs . T h i r t y

yard s a way German in fantry were marc hi ng up the

r oa d to w a rd s th e f ro nt . I c o u l d n o t h e l p c o m p a r i n g

t h e m w i t h t h es e B r i t i s h l a d s . T h e G e r m a n s , b r o n z ed ,

cl ean-cut physi call y, healthy-l ooki ng as li ons, chests de-

vel oped and al l . I t was part o f the unequal f igh t .

The English youngsters, I kn ew, ha d fought as

b r a v e l y a s m e n c a n . B u t b r a v er y i s n ot a l l ; i t i s n o t

e no u g h i n t h i s m a c h i n e- a g e w a r . Y o u h a v e t o h a v e a

b o d y t h a t w i l l s ta nd t e rr i f i c w e ar a nd t e ar . A n d t h e n ,

especi al l y i n th i s war, you must have al l the mach i nes o f

w a r f a r e . I a s k ed t h e En g l i s h a b o u t th a t . T h e r e w e r e

six of them,, standi ng a l i ttle apart - l l that were left,

t h e y t o l d m e , f r o m a c o m p a n y t h a t h a d g o n e i n t o b a t tl e

n e ar L o u v a i n .

" We d i d n ' t h a v e a c h a n c e , " on e o f t h e m s ai d . " We

were si mply overwhel med . Es p e c i a l l y b y t h o s e d i v e -

b o m b e r s a n d ta n k s . "

"What about your own bombers and tanks?" I

a s k e d .

" D i d n ' t s e e an y . " Th i s a ns w e r w a s c h o ru se d .



1940 AACHEN , May 213 7 1

dent . B u t w e h a v e n o i l l u si o ns . We kn ow w e st i l l h a v e

a bi g battle ahead of us . '

" R e i c h e n a u sa i d t h e G e r m a n l o s se s w e r e c o m p a r a -

t i v e l y s m a l l , s o f a r, a v e r ag i n g a b o u t o n e te n th o f t h e

N u m b e r o f p r i s o ne r s t ak e n . L as t o f fi c i a l c o u nt i n g o f

p r i s o ne r s w a s 110 , 0 0 0 , no t c o u n ti n g t h e h a l f -m i l l i o n

D u t c h w h o s u r r e nd e r e d .

" S o m e o ne a sk e d h o w t h e G e rm a n i n fa n try g o t a c ros s

the riv ers and canals so fast, seei ng that the Al l i es de-

stroyed the bridg es pretty wel l .

" ` Mostl y i n rubber boats,' he sai d . "

Some further quotatio ns from Reic henau I noted

d o w n r ou g h l y

" H i t l e r i s a c t ua l l y d i r ec t i n g t h e G e rm a n a rm y f ro m

hi s h eadquarters . M o st o f t h e b l o w i n g u p o f b ri d g e s

a nd r o ad s i n B e l g i u m c a r r i e d o ut b y F r en c h s p e c i a l -

i s t s . . . . I r i d e 1 5 0 m i l e s a d a y a l o n g t h e fr o nt a nd I

haven't seen an ai r-fi gh t yet . We've certain l y been su r-

p r i s e d th a t t h e A l l i e s d i d n ' t t ry a t l e a s t t o b om b o u r

brid ges o ver the Maas Ri ver and the Al bert Canal .

T h e B r i t i s h t ri e d i t o nl y o nc e i n th e d a y - ti m e . We shot

d o w n e i g h t e e n o f t h e m . B u t t h e r e s e em s t o b e n o d o u b t

t h a t t h e En g l i s h a re h o l d i n g b a c k w i t h t h e i r a i r f o rc e.

At l east that's the i mp ression I get . "

A n d I g o t t h e i m p re ss i o n t h a t t h i s r a th e r b o t h e re d

him !

F u rt h e r n ot e s of t al k w i t h R e i c h e n au

" E ng l i s h h a v e tw o a rm y c o rp s i n B el g i u m , l a r g e l y

m o t o r i z e d . B e l g i a n s h o l d t h e n or t h s ec t o r ; Briti sh the

centre and southern fl anks . . . . We enco untered one

M or oc c a n d i v i s i o n . I t f ou g h t w e l l , b u t l a c k e d s t a y i n g

power and di dn't hold out long . . . . The ha rdest

f i g h t i n g t h e f i r s t d ay s w a s a l o n g t h e A l b e rt C a n al.

T h e n , l a t e r, a l o n g t h e D y l e L i n e , e sp e c i a l l y a r ou nd

- re m b l o u x , n o rt h w e s t o f N a m u r . "



87 2 1940 AACH EN , May21

A few more questions and answers . The general is

in an almost jovial mood . He is no t tense . He is not

worried . He is not rushed . You w onder : " Have these

German generals no nerves? " Beca use, a fter all , he is

directing a large army in an important battle . A few

miles down the road two mil lio n men are trying to

slaughter one another . He bosses almost a million of

them . The general smiles and, ja untily, says good -bye .

"I've just given permission for you to go to the

front," he says . His eyes lig ht up. " You may be un-

d e r fi r e . But you'll h ave to take your chances . We al l

do ."

He turns us over to his adjutant, who wines us with

an excellent Bordeaux, no doubt from the cella r below.

Then off to th e fron t .

Soon we hear the dis tant rumble of artillery . We are

on the road to Ath, which, I n ote on my map, is as near

to Lil le, still held by the French, as it is to Brussels .

More evidences now that the battle is ju st ahead . The

Red Cross ambulances pass by more frequently . The

stench of dead horse s in the v illage str eets . In the pas-

ture s off the r oads, ca ttle lying motion less o n the grass ,

fell ed by a bomb or a sh ell .

Near Ath we make a little detour and hit down a

pleasant country lane. A first li eutenant, recently an

offic ia l in a Wil helmstrass e min is try, who is o ne of our

guides, stands up, Napoleon-like, in the front seat of

his car and goes through great gesticulations to give

us signals, n ow to turn, now to stop, etc . Our drivers,

all s oldiers, sa y his excited signals mean nothing ; t h e

boys at the wheels of our cars laugh . . . . But the

lieutenan t apparently smells the blood of battle, tho ugh

we are still some dis tance f rom it .

We come, all of a sudden, on a very pungent smell .

All that is l eft of a s mall, miscellan eous French c olumn



1940 AACH EN , May 21 3 73

after a German ai r attack . A l o n g t h e n a r ro w ro a d a re

a d o z e n d e a d h o r s e s s ti n k i n g t o h e a v e n i n t h e h o t s un ,

t w o F re n c h t a n k s, t h e i r a rm o u r p i e r c e d l i k e t i s s u e p a -

p e r , a n ab a n d o ne d s i x - i n c h g u n an d a 75 ; a n d a f e w

trucks, abandoned i n great haste, for scattered about

them are utensi l s, coats, shi rts, overcoats, hel mets, tins

of food, and - etters to the wi ves and gi rl s and mothers

back home .

I n o t e th e f r e s h l y d u g g r a v e s j u s t of f t h e r o ad ,

m a r k ed b y a st i c k o n w h i c h h a ng s a Fr en c h h e l m e t . I

pi ck up some of the l e tters, thi nki ng perhaps one day

I can mai l them or take them to thei r destination and

exp l ain , maybe, wh at the last p l ace, where the end came,

w a s l i k e . B u t T h e r e a re n o e n v e l o p e s , n o a d d r e s se s , n o

l as t names . Just the scrawl ed l etters : " Ma c here Jac -

quel i ne," " Chere Maman ," etc . I g l a nc e t h r o u g h o n e

or two . They m ust have been wri t ten before the push b e-

gan . They tel l o f the bo redom of army l i fe and how you

are wai t i ng fo r your nex t leave i n Pari s, " m a c h eri e . "

The stench o f the dead horses in the l ate sp ri ng sun-

shi ne is h ard to endure , though someone has spri nkled

l i m e on th e m . S o w e p u s h o n . We p as s a ti n y v i l l a g e .

Fi ve or si x farmhouses a t the c ross ing of a path w i th

t h e r o a d . C a t tl e g r a ze i n t h e p a s tu re s . P i g s s q ue al

a b o u t t h e b a r n y a r d s . A l l a r e t h i r s ty, fo r th e f a rm -

houses are deserted . T h e c o w s h a v e n ot b e en m i l k e d

fo r some days and thei r udders are pain fu l l y swol l en .

W e c a n h e a r th e g u n s p o u nd i n g v e r y c l e a rl y n o w .

We speed down the dusty road past endl ess German col -

u m n s o f t ruc k s c a rry i n g t roo p s , c a r ry i n g a m m u n i t i o n ,

c a r ry i n g al l - i m p o rt an t o i l , h a ul i n g g u n s, b i g a n d s m a l l .

The bri dge over a stream or a canal at Leuze has been

blown up, but German engi neers have al ready con-

s tructed an emergency one over whi ch we go .

Le uz e i s j a m m e d w i t h v e h i c l e s an d t ro op s . B l o c k s of



374 1940 A ACHEN , M ay 21

houses ha ve been smashed to s mithereens . Some still

smoulder . We s to p f o r h a l f a n h o u r o n a p l e a sa n t l i t t l e

square, surrounded by a ch urch, a school , an d the City

Hall or some government build ing . The schoo l is a Red

Cross s tation . I meander over to it . The ambulances

are lined up, waiting to unlo ad the wounded, seven or

eight of them, waiting. Even with the wou nded there

is the same machine-lik e, impersonal o rganization. No

excitem ent, no tensio n . Even the wounded seem to play

their par t in this gigan tic businesslik e machi ne . They

do not moan . They do not murmur . Nor complain .

We get a bite to eat whi le we wa it - a pi ece of brown

bread with so me sort of canned fis h rago ut spre ad o ver

i t . Then off to the front . Before we sta rt, th e army

officer in ch arge wa rns o f the dan ger . Warns that we

must foll ow his orders promptly . Explains how to dive

f or a n e ar - b y f i e l d a nd l i e fi a t o n y o u r b e l l y i f th e A l l i e d

plan es c ome over or i f the Fr ench artil lery opens fire.

Our party is a l ittle t ense no w as we go forward . We

proceed no rth, parallel wi th the f ront, an d bac k o f it

about f ive miles to Renaix , h urry through the t own, a nd

then north towards the Scheldt River, where they're

fig htin g. Infantry on foot, a lmos t the f irst w e've seen

- on foot - are deploying down various paths towards

t h e r i v e r . Heavy artillery - an d this is a mazing to see

- six -inch guns, pulled by caterpillar trucks, a nd on

r ub b e r ti r es , a re b e i n g h a u l e d u p a h i l l s i d e a t f or ty m i l e s

an hour . (Is this one of the German mili tary secrets,

such big guns being hauled so fast?) Finally we stop .

A battery of six -in ch g uns , co ncealed und er trees in an

orchard at the right of the road, is pounding away.

Now we have a view over the vall ey of the Scheldt an d

can see the slopes on the other side . The artil lery

thund ers, and a s econd later y ou see t he smoke f rom the

shells on the far sl opes . An officer explain s they're



3 7 6 1940 A A c x E N, May 21

vanci ng tanks at forty miles per hour, is a tremendous

fac tor . The All ies probably had not reckon ed that ar-

t i l l e r y c o ul d m o v e s o f a st. Around us now the Germans

are firing with six -in ch guns and 105's . The noi se is

not so deaf enin g as I expected . Perhaps o ne's ea rs get

used to i t .

A young s oldier comes u p and attempts to plan t some

propaganda on us

. Remarks offhand that last night

the British c ounter-attacked, got back as far as the

woods where we are, a nd carried off all the civilia ns .

Most of us are no t impressed . I co ncl ude that if they

did counter-attack and came back for an evening, most

of the civi li ans probably went back with them of their

own accord, so as n ot to fall into German hands. Even

the Italians with us laugh.

I no te that over the front al l a fternoon hover two

or three reconnais sance planes, German, o bvious ly di-

r ec t i n g ar ti l l e r y f i r e. They crui se a bove the battlef ield

unmolested . But there are no planes d irecting Al li ed

a rt i l l e ry f i r e , w h i c h s ee m s to b e a i m e d ex c l u si v e l y a g a i n s t

the German forward posi tions , a t no time again st Ger-

man artill ery, whic h is strange . The lac k of observa-

tion planes alon e puts the Alli es in a ho le. In fact we

do no t see an Alli ed plane all d ay long . Once or twice

we get an alarm, but no planes sh ow up. How England

and France are paying no w for the criminal neglect of

their aviation !

As the afternoon wears a way to the pounding of the

guns, artillery uni ts near us get order s to take up new

posi tion s forward

. The advance, you suppose, is going

ahead according to schedule . Immediately from all

around us in the woods, men and motors, which we have

not even s een, li mber up, the men tos s o ff some of the

tree-li mbs which have so c ompletely camouflaged them,

and get of f. We take a la st lo ok at the S cheldt Vall ey,



378 1940 B E R L I N, May 24

get the station and the rail road yards . You hear the

roar of their big pla nes ; occasi onally the whirr of Ger-

man night chasers . . . .

My call comes through about one twenty a .m . I can

hardly make myself heard for the sou nd of the guns and

the bombs .

Whil e writing my story, I keep notes o n the ai r-raid,

12 .20 a .m . Sound of anti-ai rcraft .

12 .40 Air-raid sirens sound off

12 .45 Big anti-a ircraft gun near by thunders

suddenly .

12 .50 Sound of can non from German chas ers .

1 .00 Light anti-aircraft around station blazes

away

1 .15 Still going on .

It went o n for four hou rs, u ntil jus t after four a .m .

But af ter my cal l to Berlin , being a l ittle sleep y, I went

up to bed a nd fell i mmedia tely to sl eep .

BERLIN, May 24

Two weeks ago today Hitler unlo osed h is

Blitzkrieg in the west . Since then this h as happened

Holland overrun ; four fifths o f Belgiu m occupied ; t h e

French army hurled back towards Paris ; and an Allied

army believed to number a million men, and including

the elite of the Franc o-British forces, trapped an d en-

circl ed on the Channel .

You have to see the German army in action to be-

l i eve i t . Here are some of the things, so far as I c ould

see, that m ake it goo d

It ha s absolute air superiority . It see ms incredible,

but at t he front I di d no t see a s ing le All ied plane du r-

ing the day-time. Stuka d ive-bombers are softening the



880 1940BERLIN, May 25

tension . A n o ff i c e r d i r e c t i n g a r t i l l e r y fi r e st o p s fo r h a l f

an hour to explain to you what he is up to . General

von Reichenau, directing a huge army in a crucial bat-

tle, h alts for an hour to explai n to a mateurs his par-

ticula r job .

Morale of the German troops fantastic ally good . I

remember a company of engineers which was about to

go down to the Scheldt River to lay a pontoon bridge

under enemy fire . The men were reclin ing on the edge

of the wood reading the day's edi tion of the army daily

paper, the Western Fron t . I've never seen men going

into a battle from which some were sure never to come

o u t a l i v e s o - ell, so nonchalantly .

The c ontentio n of the BBC tha t these f lyin g German

columns- uch as the one that broke through to the

sea a t Abbeville - re weak forces which cannot pos-

sibly hold what they get, is a myth . Th e G er ma ns

thrust not only with tanks and a few motorized in-

fantry, but with everythi ng . Light and heavy motor-

ized artillery goes right up behind the tanks and in-

fantry .

BER LIN , May 25

German mili tary circles h ere toni ght put it

f l a tl y . They said the fate of the great Alli ed army

bottled up in Flan ders is s ealed .

BERL IN , May 2 6

Calai s has fallen . Britain is now cut off from

the Continent .



3 861940 BER LI N, May 30

Prince Wilh elm of Prussi a, kil led in action on the

western front, wa s buried wi th military hono urs in Pots-

dam today . I f things had gone smoothly for Germany

after 1914, he probably would have been the German

emperor . Present a t the funeral w ere the Crown Prin ce

and Princess, Mackensen and a lot of World War offi-

cers in their quai nt spike helmets. The former Kai ser

sent a wreath .

More on the nerve war : An offici al statement tonigh t

says tha t for every German civil ian kil led and every

stone damaged in Germany during the night raids of

the Britis h, revenge wil l be taken many times over .

BERLIN, May 30

Ou r Mem or ia l Day . I remembered i t when

one of the consuls phoned and reminded me of a month-

old go lfing da te . How many kill ed in th e Civi l War?

A German dropped in today . He said : " How many

y e a r s w i l l t h e w ar l a st ? " The question surprised me in

the ligh t of the news . Last week three Germans in the

Wilhelmstrasse bet me the Germans would be in Lon-

don in three weeks

-hat is , two weeks from now .

This German also mentioned a matter that's been

bothering me : German l osses a nd the effect on the peo-

ple of not being allowed to know by Hitler what the

losses ar e and who is killed . (Hitler wil l n ot permit the

publica tion of cas ual ty lis ts .) He said people are com-

paring that si tuati on with the one in 1914-18, when

every day the papers publi shed the na mes of thos e los t,

and every few months, h e sai d, a resume of the total

casualties up to date in ki lled and wounded . But today

no German has the sli ghtest idea o f what the weste rn of-

fensi ve has c ost in German l ives . He doesn't even know



1940BERLIN, May

31 3 8 9

in a d esperate effort t o k noc k o ut the All ies i n o ne blow .

So far, a fter three weeks, he has had nothi ng but suc-

cess . What it has co st him in li ves and material, w e do

not know yet . This is what he's accomplished in three

weeks

1 . Overrun Holl and ; forced Dutch army to s urren-

der .

2 . Overrun Belgium ; forced Belgian army to sur-

render .

3 . Advanced far south of the extension of the Magi,

not Line on a front extending over two hundred miles

from Montmedy to Dunkirk .

4 . Knocked out the 1st, 7th, and 9th French Armies,

whi ch wer e c ut of f wh en on e Ger ma n a rmy br oke

through to the sea.

5 . Knocked out the BEF, which also is surrounded .

Some of the men, at leas t, of the BEF, are gett in g away

on s hips from Dunki rk . But as an army it's fini shed .

It cannot take away its guns and supplies and tanks .

6. Obtained the Dutch, Belgian, and French Chan-

nel coasts as a jumping-off place for an invasion of

England

7 . Occupied the important coal mines and industrial

centres of Belgium and northern France .

I sai d in my broadcast tonight : " The Germans have

certain ly won a terrific first r ound . But there has been

no knockout blow - et . The fight go es on ."

Some of my friends thought that was being a bit op-

t i m i s t i c - rom the Allied point of view . M aybe . But

I'm not so su re .

First American ambulance driver to be captured by

the Germans is one Mr . Garibaldi Hill . The Germans

have of fered to re lease hi m at once . O nl y they ca n't f in d

him



1940 BER LIN , June 6 3 9 5

and that they were approximately 35,000 to 40,000

dead ; 150,000 to 160,00 0 wo unded . But most Germans

will believe any f ig ures they are given .

The communique speaks of Allied losses : 1,200,000

prisoners, counting the Belgians and the Dutch. And

a whole navy destroyed, including five cruisers and

seven destroyers su nk, and ten cruisers an d twenty-four

destroyers damaged . It also claims the German navy

d i d n o t l o s e a si n g l e v e ss e l .

Paris sa ys 50 ki ll ed, 150 inju red in yesterday' s Ger-

man air-raid. BBC says the Parisians are demanding

revenge . But no plan es came over here las t night ; none

so far tonigh t . . . .

I'm worried about Tess an d B aby . She called this

afternoon, said she'd at last got passa ge on the Wash-

ington, but that it would not call at Genoa. She must

get it at Bordeau x . But she's advised not to cross

France with the French in their present panic ky mood .

The railroad near Lyon which she must take has been

bombed twice this week by the Germans. And she would

s t i l l p r e f e r t o st a y o n .

BERLIN, June 6

The church bells rang, a nd all the flag s were

out toda y, by order of Hitler, to celebrate t he vi ctory

in Flanders . There is n o real elatio n over the victory

di sc erni ble in the people here. No emotion of any kind .

In grandiose proclamations to the army and the people,

Hitler announced that today a new offensive was being

launched in the west . So far no detail s are available

here, but t he BBC sa ys the of fensi ve is o n a two- hundred-

ki lo metre front f rom Abbevil le to Sois so ns, w ith the big-

gest German pressure along the Somme-Ais ne Canal .



1940 BER LIN , Jun e 1 0 3 9 7

have been beaten al l al ong the lin e . It talks about the

German troops driving towards the lower Seine, which

is a hell of a way forward from the Somme, where they

started four days ago . BBC at si x tonight confirmed

t h i s . Weygand issues another order of the day to his

men to hold. But ther e is something desperate in it .

The Germans a lso anno unc e : " This morning on a

furth er part of the fron t in Fran ce a n ew offens ive h as

started ." Weygand reveal s i t's o n a front from Reims

to the Argonne . The Germans are now hurling them-

selves forward on a two-hundred-mile front from the

sea to the Argonne . No drive in World War I was on

t h i s s c al e !

The High Command also states that Germany's only

two battleships, the Gneisena u and the Sch arnhorst , ,

have put io sea a nd have gon e to the re li ef of the Ger-

man forces d riven ou t of Narvik a couple of weeks ago,

Hand it to the Germans for their darin g, their sense

of surp rise . How cou ld the Brit ish fleet allo w two battle-

ships to get up to Narvik? High Command says the

two have already sunk the British aircraft-carrier

Gl ori ous, the p21,000-to n trans port Orama, and an oil

tan ker o f 9,100 tons . Another ins tanc e of the Germans

taking a chanc e-takin g the initiative . The Allies

seem to tak e neither .

BERLIN, June 10

Italy is i n the war .

She has stabbed France in the back at the moment

when the Germans are at the gates of Paris , a nd France

appears to be down .

At six o 'cl ock this evening , jus t as people here were

tuning in on their radios to hear t he latest ne ws of the

German army's onslaught on Paris, the announcer said



4 021 9 4 0

BERLIN, June 12

fled th e s teamer? (3) If the comm ander thought i t was

h i s G r e ek s t ea m e r , w h y d i d h e w a i t t e n m i n u te s af te r

th eWashington h a d s i g n a l l e d th a t i t w a s a n A m e r i c a n

shi p? Th ese points are not taken up i n the offi ci al state-

ment . In my broadcas t the censors a ll owed me to m en-

tion onl y the first point . T h e i r v i e w w a s t h a t th e l a st

two q u e s ti o n s w e r e u nf a i r .

In vi ew of the suspi ci ous German warni ng of June 3,

i n w h i c h B e rl i n c l a i m e d t o h av e k no w l e d g e th a t th e

Bri tish i ntended to torpedo the Wash ing ton, I ' m c o n-

v i n c e d t h a t B e rl i n i t se l f g a v e o r d er s to s i n k t h a t s h i p .

It then i ntended to l aunch a terrifi c p ropaganda cam-

p a i g n c h a r g i n g t h a t th e B r i t i s h d i d t h e d ee d an d p o i n t -

ing out that the G erman government had already

warned Washington on June 3 of what woul d happen .

I th i nk Ribben trop naivel y bel i eved he cou ld thus po ison

Anglo-American relations and put a damper on our

s en d i n g s u p p l i e s t o B r i t ai n . G e rm a n n av a l m e n t el l m e

t h a t th e U - b o a t h e l d u p t h eWashington j u s t a t d a w n .

W a s h i n g t on d i s p a t c h e s sa y t h e s h i p w a s so m e w h a t b e -

h i n d sc h e d ul e . It is hi ghl y p ossibl e, then, that the Ger-

m a n s u b m a r i n e c o m m a n d e r p l a n ne d t o t o r p e d o t h e s h i p

whi l e it w as stil l too dark for hi s craft to be identi fied .

B u t t h e Washington d i d no t arr ive on the scene unt i l

d a w n , a c o u p l e o f h o u r s l a t e r th a n e x p e c t e d , a n d th e

c o m m a nd e r r ef ra i n e d f r om l a un c h i n g h i s t or p e d o o nl y

out of fear that i n the prevail i ng l i ght hi s U-boat coul d

b e r e c o g n i z e d a s G e rm a n . I t w a s n o t s u b m e r g e d a n d

therefo re was easi l y recogn izab l e .

I had a nasty scare thi s afternoon . I was li stening to

t h e t h r e e f i f t ee n B B C b r o a d c a s t w h e n t h e a n n o u nc e r

s u d d e nl y r e p o r t e d t h a t G e n ev a h a d b e e n b o m b e d l a s t

nig ht, that bombs had fa ll en i n a resi denti a l suburb,

a n d t h a t th e r e h a d b e e n k i l l e d a n d w o u nd e d . For a



1940 BER LIN , June 14 403

moment I was floored. O ur ho me is in one of the few res-

idential s uburbs .

It took h ours to g et through to Geneva with an u r-

gent call . But about eight I heard Tess's voi ce . The

bombs didf a l l i n o ur d i s t ri c t , s h e s a i d , s h o o k t h e h o u se ,

and h it a h otel do wn the stre et where we formerly li ved,

kil lin g five or six a nd in juring a sc ore more . They ha d

two ai r-raid a larms an d she took the baby to the cella r .

I told her she and the chil d must co me to Germany, much

as we both hate the idea . It's the safest place now .

They're cu t off from an y pos si bil ity of gettin g home .

The B .Z . am Mi ttag plays up the farewell broad cast

of the CBS man from Paris Monda y ni ght, probably

Eric Sevareid . It quotes him as concluding : " I f i n t h e

next days anyone talks to America from Paris, it won't

be under the control o f the French government

." I sup-

pose I'm nominated . I t's my job. It will be the saddest

assi gnment of my li fe.

Thou gh the German High Command does no t men-

tion it, the truth is that the Germans are at the gates

of Paris tonight . Thank God, the city will not be de-

stroyed . Wisely the French are declaring it an open

city and will not defend it . There was some question

as to whether the Germans would recognize it as an

open city, but abou t midnig ht it became p lai n tha t they

would .

The taki ng of Paris will be a terrific blow to the

French and the Allies . To the east of Paris , too , the

Germans appear to have broken through to Chalons .

BERLIN, Ju ne 14

Paris has fal len. The hooked-cross flag of

Hitl er flu tters f rom th e Eiffel Tow er there by t he Sein e



4 0 4 1940BERLIN,

Jun e 14

i n that Paris wh i ch I knew so i n ti mately and loved.

T h i s m o r n i n g G e r m a n tr o op s e n t er e d th e c i t y . We

got the news on the radi o at one p .m . , af ter loud fan -

fares had b l azed away fo r a quarter o f an hour, c al l i ng

the faith ful to hear the news . Th e n e w s w a s a w a r .com-

munique from the Su preme Command . It sai d : " The

comp l ete col l apse of the entire French front from the

C h a n ne l t o t h e M a g i n o t L i n e a t M on t m e d y d e s t ro y e d

t h e o r i g i n a l i n t en t i o n o f t h e F re n c h l e a d er s t o d e f en d

the cap i tal o f France . Paris th erefore has been decl ared

a n o p e n c i t y . T h e v i c t o ri o us t ro op s a r e j us t b eg i n ni n g

t o m a rc h i n t o P a ri s . "

I w a s h a v i n g l u nc h i n t h e c o ur ty a r d of m y h o te l .

M o s t o f th e g u e st s c r o w d e d a r ou n d t h e l o u d - s p e a k e r ,

i n t h e b a r to h e a r t h e n ew s . Th e y r e t u rn ed t o t h e i r

tab l es wi th w i de smi l es on thei r faces, bu t there was no

u n d u e ex c i t e m e n t a nd e v e r y o n e r e su m e d e a t i n g .

I n f a c t , B e r l i n h a s t a k e n th e n e w s o f t h e c a p t u re o f

P ar i s a s p h l e g m a ti c a l l y a s i t h a s ta k en e v er y th i n g e l s e

i n t h i s w a r . La te r I w e n t t o H a l e n s ee for a sw i m , i t

being w arm and I feel i ng the need o f a l i t tl e rel axati on.

It was crowded, but I overheard no one di scussi ng the

news . O ut o f f i v e h u n d r e d p e o p l e , t h r e e b o ug h t e x t ra s

wh en the newsboys rushed i n, shouti ng the news.

I t w o u l d b e w r o n g , t h o u g h , t o c o n c l u d e th a t t h e t ak -

i ng o f Pari s has no t st i rred someth i ng very deep i n the

h e a r t s o f m o s t G e rm a n s . I t w a s a l w a y s a w i s h d r e am o f

mi l l ions here . And i t hel ps wi pe ou t the b i t ter memories

o f 19 18 w h i c h h a v e l a i n s o l o ng - w e n t y - t w o y e a rs -i n the German soul

.

P o o r P ar i s ! I w e e p f o r h e r . F o r so m a n y y e a rs i t

was my home - a n d I l o v e d i t a syou love a woman .

S a i d t h e V ol k i s c h e B e o b ac h t er t h i s m or ni n g : "P ar i s

w a s a c i t y o f f ri v o l i t y a n d c o r rup t i o n, o f d em o c ra c y

a n d c a p i t a l i s m , w h e r e J e w s h a d e n tr y t o th e c o u r t , a nd



1940 MA G D E B U R G,

June 154 05

ni ggers to the salons . That Pari s wi l l never ri se again . "

B u t th e H i g h C o m m a nd p r o m i s e s th a t i t s so l d i e rs w i l l

b e h a v e

-i l l be "as different as nig ht i s from day,

comp ared to the conduct of the French soldi ers i n the

Rhine and Ruhr . "

The High Command als o sa id toda y : "The secon d

p h a se o f th e c a m p a i g n i s o v er w i t h t h e c a p t ur e of P ar i s .

T h e t h i r d p h a s e h a s b eg u n. It i s the pursui t and final

d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e e n e m y . "

I w a l k e d i n to a d oo r i n t h e Herald Tribune o f f i c e

t on i g h t. First ti me si nce the black -out that it has been

cl osed . Cu t my nose considerab l y, bu t go t i t patch ed up

at a near-by fi rst-aid station and recovered suffi ci ently

to go out and do my m i dni gh t broadcas t .

To m o rr ow , p r ob a b l y , I s h a l l l e a v e f or P ar i s . I d o

not want to go . I d o n o t w a n t t o s e e t h e h e a v y - h e e l e d

German boots trampi ng down the s treets I l oved .

BERL IN, June 15

Le a v i n g fo r Pa r i s t o d a y .

NEAR M AGDEBURG, June 15 (later)

S p e n d i n g t h e n i g h t i n a h o s t el r y a l o n g t h e

Autobahn . Very good a nd modern, a nd better food

t h a n i n B er l i n . O ur c a r b r ok e d o w n s i x m i l e s ou t of

Berlin on the way to Potsd am . T h i s h e l d u s u p t w o

hours wai ting for a new c ar . I fear we shal l not get to

P a r i s t o m o r r o w . At ten p .m . i n the restaurant of the

road- house we heard the ne ws . Verdun taken ! The

V e r d u n t h a t c o s t t h e G e r m a n s si x h u n d r e d t h o u s a nd

d e a d th e l a s t t i m e t h e y t r i e d to take i t . A nd t h i s t i m e

they take it i n one day . G r a n t ed t h a t t h e F r e n c h a r m y



406 1940 MAU BEUG E, June 16

i s in a fix; t h a t t h e fa l l o f P a ri s h a s d em o r a l i z e d i t

sti l l further . S ti l l you ask: W h a t h a s h a p p e n ed t o th e

French? Germans als o cla im Magi not Lin e broken

through .

MAU BEUG E, June 16

G o t u p a t t h r e e a .m , started at four a .m

f r o m th e l i t t l e r o ad - h o u s e f o r A a c h e n . In the Ruhr

t h e re w a s l i t tl e ev i d e nc e o f t h e B r i t i s h n i g h t b om b i n g s .

We a r ri v e d a t A a c h e n a t el e v e n a .m . T h e n c e t h r o u g h

Limburg to Li ege and Namur . Surpri sed to see so l i ttle

dest ruct i on al ong th i s rou te . It's quite unl i ke the road

f rom A a c h e n t o B ru s se l s , w h e re m o st o f t h e t ow n s l i e

i n r ui n s . We drove al l afternoon up the val l ey of the

Meuse . A m a zi n g l y l i t tl e ev i d e nc e o f t h e w a r . D i n n er

a t C h a r l e r oi . Bi tter faces i n the streets . N o b r e ad i n

t h e t o w n , a nd w a t e r on l y f o r d r i n k i n g . But we got

some meat and sal ad in a l i t tl e bis tro .

I bough t the l ocal j ou rnal , the Journal de Charleroi .

I t p u b l i s h e s b ot h t h e G e r m a n andFrench war co m-

muniques . A n o rder in the paper said the German

troops and the Belg i an gendarmeri e would fi re wi thout

w a rni n g i n t o a ny l i g h t e d w i n d o w s . Another noti ce from

the Germ an Feld komm anda nt urh a d t o d o w i t h s t op -

p i n g a ny m o nk e y b u si n es s w i t h c a r ri e r p i g e on s . A n -

o t h e r s i g n e d b y t h e c h i e f a rm y p h y s i c i a n o rd ere d a l l

l o c a l d o c t o r s to r e p o rt . Anyone unjus tifi abl y absent,

s a i d t h e o r d e r, w o u l d b e p u n i s h e d. " N o e xc u se s w i l l b e

a c c e p t e d , " i t ad d e d .

M a u b e ug e i t s e l f h a s b e e n te r ri b l y d e s t r oy e d . The

mai n part of the town i s reduced to broken stone, twi sted

g i r d e rs , a n d a sh e s . One of the German o ffic ers tel l s u s

what happe ned . G e r m a n t a nk s t r i e d t o g e t t h r o u g h t h e

town . F re n c h a n t i - t a n k g u n s c o n c e a l e d i n h o u s es g o t



1 9 4 0 M A U B E U G E, June 16 4 0 7

t h e f i r s t f i v e o r s i x . The G ermans had to re treat . Word

was sent back to the Stukas . T h e y c a m e o v e r a n d d i d

t h e i r j o b w i t h t h e i r u su al d e ad l y e f fi c i e nc y . U n d e r -

n ea th t h e c h u rc h , t h e c o m m a n d an t te l l s u s, w a s th e

t ow n ' s b i g g e s t ai r - ra i d s h e l t e r . O ne o f t h e b o m b s h i t

i t s q u a re o n . Resu l t : f i v e h u nd r ed c i v i l i a ns l i e b ur i e d

u n d er t h e d e b r i s . B u ri e d ai r - t i g h t , t h o u g h , b e c a us e on

t h i s w a r m , s ta r l i t su m m e r e v e ni n g t h e r e i s no sm e l l .

O ne o f t h e s ol d i e r s fro m S o u th G e rm a ny l a t er w h i s -

pers to me : " Yeah, i t was the Pruss ians wh o des troyed

the town . " H e , a c o m m o n G e rm a n so l d i e r, i s d i s g u s te d

w i t h t h e d es t ru c t i o n . " Always the poor pe ople wh o

get it," he says .

T h e l o c a l c o m m a n d an t , a G e r m a n b us i n e s sm a n c a l l e d

up from th e reserve, receiv es us in one of the few houses

i n town sti l l standi ng . A few facts from h i m : - Te n t h o u -

s a n d o u t o f t w e n t y - f o u r t h o u s a n d r e si d e n t s o f M a u -

b e u g e e i t h e r h a v e r e t u rn e d o r r od e o u t t h e b o m b i n g

and bombardment . The German army, and, s i nce a few

d a y s , G e r m a n r el i e f w o r k er s, h e l p t o k e ep t h e m f r o m

starvi ng . They b rin g bread from Ger man y . But yes-

terday, th e old boy says , h e uncovered some wh eat and

i s g e tt i n g i t g rou n d i n t o f l o u r . " O n e b u si n e s s, " h e

says, " apparent ly d idn ' t cl ose up shop at any t ime, du r-

i ng the battle or si nce . T h e l o c al b or de l . Ifinall y cl osed

i t , but the Madame c ame i n to see me and was very p ut

out . ` B u s i n e ss a s u su a l , w h y n o t ? ' she sai d ." Yester-

d a y , h e r e v e al s , t h e H i g h C o m m a nd o r d er ed t h e o p e n ,

i ng o f al l houses o f p rost i tu ti on in the part o f France

occupied by German troops . "I mus t send for the

Madame. She wil l be pleased to hear i t," he chuckl es .

We consume several bottl es of pretty fair vin rouge

a nd n i b b l e b i s c u i t s , a n d t h e c o m m a nd a n t ta l k s o n e n -

t h u si a st i c a l l y a b ou t h i s p r ob l e m . Ob v i o u sl y h e e nj o y s

hi s job, and he is certai nly not the old sadi stic Prussian



4081940 MAU BEUG E, June 16

master o f the story -b ooks . O n t h e w h o l e , a v e ry h u m a n

fel l ow . H o m e si c k , I g a t h er . Hopi ng the war won't las t

m u c h l o ng e r . S o m e h o w i t ' s w o r se , h e t h i n k s , th a n w h a t

h e w e n t th r o u g h t h e f o u r y e a r s of t h e W o r l d W a r i n

th is very d ist ri ct. B u t p e r h a p s t h a t i s b e c a u se i t ' s s o

recen t, and the o ld m emories b l u rred . A n y w a y, h e t a l k s

o f h i s d og a nd h i s w i f e a nd f am i l y .

We f i n a l l y t a k e o u r l e a v e . A n o r d e rl y s h o w s u s o u r

q u a r t e r s, i n a n a b a n d o n e d h o u s e w i t h a t r o c i o u s p s e u d o -

O ri e nt al f ur ni s h i n g s , w h i c h , w e s o on e st ab l i s h f r om t h e

w a l l - h a ng i n g s a nd p a p e r s l y i n g ar o un d , w a s o c c u p i e d

b y o n e o f th e l e a d i n g l o c a l b a n k e rs . F re n c h b o u rg e o i s

taste at i t s very l owest . I take to my self one of the

family bedroo ms . T h e m a t tr e ss i s s t i l l o n th e o l d -

fashi oned doubl e bed . T h e b a n k e r' s c l o t h e s h a n g n ea t l y

i n the armoire E v en t h e l o n g - t ai l e d b l a c k c o a t - ou

can see hi m, fa t and i mp ortant, s troll i ng through the

s t r ee t s t o c h u rc h o n S u nd a y s i n i t - s there . Ob v i -

ousl y h e has l eft i n a great hurry . N o ti m e t o p a c k h i s

wardrobe . Downstairs w e noti ced th e breakfast di shes

on the dini ng-room table . A m e al n ev e r fi n i s h e d .

W h a t a b r ea k i n h i s c o m f or ta b l e b o u rg e oi s l i f e th i s

must have been, thi s has ty fl i gh t before the town was

blown up ! H e r e i n t h i s h o u se - n ti l l a st m o nt h -sol i di ty, a certai n comfort, respectabi l i ty

; the odds and

ends col l ected for a house during a l i fetim e . Thi s house

o n e ' s l i f e , s u c h a s i t i s . Then boo m ! The Stukas . The

s h e l l s . A n d th a t l i f e, l i k e t h e h o us es al l a ro un d , b l o w n

to bi ts ; the soli di ty, the respectabil i ty, the hopes, gone

i n a j i f f y . And you and your wi fe and maybe your ch i l -

dren a l ong the roads now, hungry, c raving for a drink

o f w a t er - l i k e a n an i m a l , o r a t b e s t - and who would

h a v e d r e am e d i t a m o n th a g o ! - l i k e a c a v e m a n.

Three soldi ers take us for a strol l through the debri s

of the town as dusk fa ll s . J us t i ns ide the town gates



1940 PARTS, June 17 409

a fr ow s y - l o ok i n g w o m a n i s d i g g i n g i n a p i l e of b ri c k s .

T h e s o l d i e r s sh o u t f or h e r t o b e at i t . It i s after the

c u r f e w h o u r . S h e c o n ti n ue s d i g g i n g . O ne of t h e m e n,

graspi ng hi s rifl e , s teps over to chase her away . We

h e a r h e r s h o u t : " Coucher? " S h e a s k s h i m t o g o t o b e d

w i t h h er . By G od, all i s not destroyed here . T h e so l d i e r

l aughs and sort of pushes her on her way . A p p a r en tl y

she is li ving i n a cell ar near by - i ke a rat . We co n-

t i n u e th r o u g h t h e t o w n a n d p r e t t y s o o n w e s e e h e r o v e r

t h e s h a m b l e s of w h a t w a s o n c e a nalley . S h e s h o u ts :

" Coucher? " and then runs . We walk through the

town, paus ing before what i s l eft of the ch urch . I t i s

h a r d t o g r a s p t h a t u n d e r th o s e c h a r r e d b r i c k s a n d r ub -

b l e fi v e h u nd r ed w o m e n an d c h i l d r en l i e b ur i e d . T h e r e

i s so much debris that their g rave has been perfectl y

sealed. Th ere i s not a whi ff of the fami l i ar, nauseating,

sweet smel l .

Bac k to our banker's house as darkness comes . Out-

side, the army t rucks ro l l by al l n igh t long . O n c e d u r -

i ng the nigh t I hear some anti- aircraft goi ng i nto action

down th e road . Up at dawn, feel i ng not too bad, and off

towards Pari s .

PARIS, June 17

I t w a s n o f u n f o r m e . W h e n w e d r o v e i n t o

P a ri s , d o w n t h e fa m i l i a r st r ee t s, I h a d a n ac h e i n t h e

p i t o f m y s t o m a c h a n d I w i s h e d I h a d n ot c o m e . My

G e r m a n c o m p a ni o n s w e r e i n h i g h s p i r i t s at th e s i g h t

of the ci ty .

We cam e i n about noon , and i t was one o f those l ovely

J u n e d a y s w h i c h P a ri s al w a y s h a s i n t h i s m o nt h a nd

wh i ch , i f there had been peace, woul d have been spent

b y t h e p e op l e g o i n g t o th e r a c e s at L o ng c h a m p o r th e

tenn i s at Ro l and Garros, o r id l i ng along the bou levards



410 1 9 4 0 PARIS, June 17

under the trees, or on the c ool terraces of a c afe .

F i r s t s h o c k : t h e s t r e e t s a re u t t e rl y d e s e rt e d , t h e

stores cl osed, the shutters down ti gh t over al l the wi n-

dows . I t was the empti ness that go t you . Comin g from

Le B o urg e t (r e m e m b e ri n g , s e nt i m e nt a l l y, t h a t n i g h t I

raced afoot a ll the way i nto town from th ere to wri te

t h e s to ry o f L i n d b e rg h ' s l a nd i n g ) , w e d rov e d o w n t h e

r u e L a f a y e t t e . German army ca rs an d motorc ycl es

s p e e d i n g , s c r e am i n g d o w n t h e s t r ee t . B u t o n t h e s i d e -

walks not a human be ing . T h e v a r i o u s c o r n e r c a f e s

a l o n g t h e s tr ee t w h i c h I k n ew s o w e l l. T h e y h a d t a k en

i n t h e ta b l e s an d d r a w n t h e s h u t t e r s . A n d h a d f l e d -th e p a t r o n s , th e garfons, t h e c u s to m e rs . O u r tw o c a r s

r o a r ed d o w n t h e r u e L a f a y e t te , h o n k i n g a t e v e r y s t r e e t

we c rossed, until I asked our driv er to desist .

Th ere, on the corner, the P e t i t J o u rn al b ui l d i n g i n

w h i c h I h a d w o rk e d fo r t h e C h i c a g o Tribun e when I

f i r s t c a m e t o P ar i s i n 19 2 5 . A c r o s s f r om i t , t h e T ro i s

Portes cafe - o w m a n y p l e a sa n t h o u r s i d l e d t h e re

w h e n Pa r i s , t o m e , w a s b e au t i f u l a n d g o rg e o u s ; a n d m y

home !

We turned l eft down the rue Pell e tier to the Grand

Boulevard . I no t i c e d t h e Pe t i t R i c h e w a s c l o s ed . The

b o u l e v a r d t o o w a s d e s e r te d e x c e p t f o r a fe w G e r m a n

sol d i ers, stari ng i n to the wi ndows o f the few shops that

d i d no t have thei r shu t ters down . The Pl ace de l 'Opera

now . For the first ti me i n my l i fe, no traffic tie-up h ere,

n o F re nc h c o p s s h o u ti n g m e a n i n g l e ss l y a t c a rs h o p e -

l e ss l y b l o c k ed . The f acade of the Oper a Hous e wa s

h i d d e n b e h i n d s ta c k ed s an d b ag s . T h e C a f e d e l a P ai x

seemed to be just reopening . A l o ne ga rfon w a s b ri n g -

i n g o ut s om e t a b l e s a n d c h a i r s . German soldi ers s tood

o n th e t e rr a c e g r ab b i n g t h e m . T h e n w e t u r n e d a t th e

Madelei ne, i ts facade al so covered wi th sandbags , and

raced do wn the rue Royale . L a r u e ' s a n d We b e r ' s , I



1940 PARIS, Ju ne 17 411

noted, were closed . Now before us, the famili ar view .

The Pla ce de l a Concorde, th e Seine, the Chambre des

Deputes, over which a giant Swastika flag flies, a nd in

the distanc e the golden dome of the Invali des . Pas t the

Ministry of the Marin e, guarded by a big German tank,

into the Concorde. We drew up in front of the Hotel .

Crill on, now German Headqua rters . Our offic er went

in to inqu ire about quarte rs . I , t o t h e d i s p l e a su r e of t h e

German offic ia ls w ith u s, s tepped over to pay a ca ll at

the American Embassy next door . Bull itt, Murphy -everyone I knew

- ere out to lunch . I l eft a n o te fo r

Bullitt

We got roo ms in th e Scribe, where I ha d often stayed

i n t h e c i v i l i z e d d ay s . To my surpris e and pleasure, De-

maree Bess and Wal ter Kerr, wh o had stayed on in

Paris after al most al l o f their col leag ues h ad left, were

in the lo bby. They came up to my room an d we had a

talk. Walter seemed more nervous than ever, but jus t

as likable . Demaree was his old stolid s elf. He and

Dorothy had been in the Elysees Park Hotel on the

Rond-Point . The d ay bef ore the c ity f ell , th epatron of

the hotel had come panting to them and begged them

to f lee too ; at any rate, he was scoo ting and c losi ng the

hotel. They persuaded him to turn the hotel over to

them! . . . I i nquired abo ut my friends. Most of them

ha d l eft Pari s .

Demaree says the panic in Paris was indescribable .

Everyone lost his head . The government gave no lead .

People were told to s coot, and at least thre e mill ion out

of the five millio n i n the ci ty ran, ran wi thout baggag e,

li teral ly ran on their feet towards the so uth . I t seems

the Parisi ans actually believed the Germans would rape

the women and do worse to the men. They had h eard

fantastic tales of what happened when the Germans oc-

cupied a city. The ones who stayed are all the more



412 1940 PARIS, June 18

amazed at the very correct behaviour of the troops

so far .

The in habitan ts are bitt er at t heir government, w hic h

in the la st days, f rom all I hear, co mpletely coll apsed .

I t e v e n f o rg o t t o t e l l t h e p e o p l e u nt i l t o o l a t e t h a t P a ri s

would not be defended . The French polic e and fire de-

partments remained . A curious sight to see the agents,

minus their pistols, direct ing traffic, which con sists ex-

clusively of German army vehicl es, o r patrolli ng the

s t r e e t s . I h ave a feeli ng that what we're seeing here

in Paris is the complete breakdown of French society

a c olla pse of the army, o f government, o f the morale

of the people . It is al most too tr emendous to believe

PARIS, June 18

Marshal Petain has asked for an armistice !

The Parisi ans, already dazed by all that has happened,

can sc arcely beli eve it . Nor c an the rest of us . That

the French army must give up is clear . But most of us

expected i t to surrender, as did the Dutch and Belgian

armies, with the government going, as Reynau d had

boasted i t woul d, to Africa, where France, wi th its na vy

and African a rmies, ca n hold out for a long time .

The in habitants g ot the news o f Petain's ac tion by

loud-speaker, conveniently provided by the Germans in

nearly every square in town . I stood in a throng of

French men and women on the Place de la Concorde

when the news first came. They were almos t struck

dead. Before the Ho tel Crill on

-here Woo drow Wil -

son stayed during the Peace Conference when the terms

for Germany were being drawn up -cars raced up

and unloaded gold-braided officers . There was muc h

peering through monocles, heel-clicking, saluting . In

the Place there, that square without equal in Europe,



1 9 4 0 PARIS, June 18 413

w h e r e y o u c a n se e f ro m o n e s p o t t h e M a d e l e i n e , t h e

L o u v r e, N o t re - D a m e i n t h e d i s t a n c e d o w n t h e S e i n e ,

t h e C h a m b e r o f D e p u t i e s , t h e g o l d e n d o m e o f t h e I n -

vali des, where Napol eon i s buri ed, then the Eiffel Tower,

o n w h i c h f l o a ts t od a y a h u g e S w a st i k a , a n d f i n a l l y , u p

t h e C h a m p s - E l y s e es , t h e A r c d e T ri o m p h e - t h e p e o-

pl e in the Place de l a Concorde did not notic e the bustl e

i n front of German Headquarters at the C ril l on . They

s tared a t the ground, th en a t each other . T h e y s ai d

" P e t a i n s u r r e nd e r i n g ! What does it mean? Com-

ment? Pourquoi ? " A n d n o o n e a p p e a r ed t o h a v e t h e

h eart for an answer .

Thi s evening Paris i s weird and, to me, unrecogniz-

abl e . There's a curfew at nine p .m . - n h o u r b e fo re

dark . T h e b l a c k - o u t i s s t i l l e nf or c e d . Th e streets to-

ni gh t are dark and deserted . T h e P ar i s o f g a y l i g h t s ,

t h e l a u g h t e r, t h e m u s i c , t h e w o m e n i n t h e s tr e et s--

w h e n w a s t h a t ? A n d w h a t i s t h i s ?

I noti ced today some open fraterni zi ng between Ger-

m a n t r oo p s a n d th e i n h a b i t a nt s . M o s t of t h e s o l d i e r s

s e em t o b e A u s t r i a n , a r e w e l l m a n n e r ed ; a n d q u i t e a

f e w s p e a k F r e n c h . Most of the German troops act l i ke

naive tou ri sts, and th i s has p roved a p l easan t su rp ri se

t o t h e P a ri s i a n s. I t s e em s f u n n y , b u t e v e r y G e r m a n

so ld i er carr i es a camera . I s aw t h e m b y t h e t h o u s an d s

toda y, pho tographi ng Notre-Dame, the Arc de Tri -

o m p h e , t h e I n v al i d e s . T h o u s a nd s o f G e r m a n s ol d i e r s

c o n g r e g a t e al l d a y l o n g a t t h e To m b o f th e U n k n o w n

Soldi er, where the fl ame sti l l burns under the Arc. They

b a r e th e i r b l o n d h e a d s a nd s t a nd t h e r e g a z i n g.

T w o n e w s p a p e r s ap p e a re d y e s t er d a y i n P a ri s , La

Vi c t o i r e ( as l i f e' s i r on y w o u l d h a v e i t ) a n d Le Matin .

I saw Bueno-Vari l l a, pub l i sher o f the Matin , a t t h e Em -

b a s s y y e s t e rd a y . I ' m t o l d h e ' s a n x i o u s t o p l e a se t h e



4 14

1940 PARIS, June 19

Germans a nd see that hi s paper get s o ff to a favoura ble

start . It has a lready begun to attack England, to blame

England for France's predicament! L a Vi c t o i r e , run

by a crank, urges Parisi ans no longer to refer to the

German s as " Boches ." Its edi torial yesterday ended

"V ine P a ri s ! Vine l a Fran ce! "

The German army moved into Bes s's h otel yester day,

but t hey vali antly held on to their f loo r .

PARIS, June 19

The armistic e is to be sign ed at Compiegne !

In the same w a g on -l i t coach of Marshal Foch that wit-

nessed the signing of that other armistice on Novem-

ber 11, 1918in Compiegne Forest. The French don't

know it yet . The Germans are keeping it secret . But

through somebody's mistake I found out today .

At four thirty p .m . the military rushed me out to

Compiegne . That was the mistake . They sho uld n't

have . But orders got mixed u p, an d before they could

get unentangl ed I was there . Yesterday Hitler and

Mussoli ni met at Munich to draw up the armis tice terms

for France . Driving out, I recalled that yesterday I

had asked a German Foreign Office offici al, half jok-

ingly, if Hitler (as rumour had it) wou ld i nsi st on the

armistice being signed at Compiegne . He did not like

my question and replied c oolly : " Certai nly not ."

But when we arrived on the scene at six p .m . , German

army engineers were feveris hly engaged in tearing out

the wall of the museum where Foch's private car in

which the 1918 armistice was sig ned had been preserved .

The building itself was donated by one Arthur Henry

Fleming of Pasadena, California . Before w e left, th e

engineers, working with pneumatic drill s, had demol-

ish ed the wall an d ha uled the car out f rom its sh elter . ,



1940 PA It I S,

June 19 4 1 5

The plan is, the Nazis tell me, to plac e the car in

exactly t he same spot it occu pied in the little clearing

in Compiegne Forest that morni ng at five a .m . on No-

vember 11, 1918, a nd make the French sign t h i s armi-

stic e here . . . We talked over techni cal detai ls for

broadcasting the story with vario us German officers

a nd o ff i c i a l s . It will make a spectacular broadcast, but

a tragic one for Americans . Some colonel showed me

through the armistice car . Place cards on the table

showed where each had sat at that historic meeting in

1918 .

Returning to Paris towards evening, we stopped on

the road that winds over the wooded hill s between Com-

piegne and Senlis . A small French co lumn ha d been

bombed there on the road . Scattered along a quarter of

a mile were twenty hastily dug graves . The dead horses,

buried ver y sha llow , s till stunk . A " 75 " stood n ear the

road with the other leavings, which from the look of

them - lankets, coats, shoes, socks, guns, ammuni-

tion , etc . -had been abandoned in great haste . I

loo ked at the date of the cannon . 1918! Here th e

French defended the most important road to the capital

with World War guns !

It is s till a mystery to me how this campaign has

been won so easily by Hitler . Admitted, the French

fought in the towns . But even in the towns not many

of the mill ions of men available could have fought .

There was not room . B u t t h e y d i d n o t fi g h t i n th e f i e l d s ,

as i n all other wars . The grain twenty yards from the

main roads has not been touched by the tramping feet

of soldiers or their te ns of thou sands of motorized ve-

h i c l es . I do not mean to say that at many places the

French did not fight val iantly . Undoubtedly they did,

But there was no organized, well-thought-out defence



41 6 1 9 4 0 PARIS, June 19

as in the last war . From all I've seen, the French let

the Germans dictate a new kind of warfare . This was

fought largely along the main roads ; rarely on a li ne

running across the country. And on the roads the Ger-

mans had everythin g in th eir favour : u tter superiority

in tanks and planes, the main implements for road

figh ting . An Austrian soldier told me last night that

it was unbelievably simple . They went down the roads

with tan ks, with artillery support in the rear . Seldom

did they meet any seriou s resis tanc e . Dug-outs or posts

here and there woul d fire . Usually the heavily armoured

German tanks paid no attention, just continued down

the road . Infantry units on trucks behind, with light

artiller y, wo uld liqu ida te the pillboxes and the machi ne-

gun nests . Once in a w hile, if resistance was a li ttle

strong, they'd phone or radio or signal back for the

a rt i l l e ry . I f th e b i g g u n s d i d n ' t s i l e n c e i t , a n or d e r w e n t

back for the Stukas, which invariably did . So it went,

he sa id, day after day .

I keep asking myself : If the French were making a

serious defence, why are the main roads never blown

up? Why so many strategic bridges left untouched?

Here and there alon g the roads, a tank barrier,, that is,

a few logs or stones or debris -but nothing really

serious for the tanks . No real tank-traps, such as the

Swiss built by the thousands .

This has been a war of machines down the main high-

ways, and the French do not appear to have been ready

for it, to have un derstood it, or to have ha d anything

r ea d y to st op i t . T h i s i s i n c r ed i b l e .

General Glaise von Horstenau (an Austrian who

betrayed Schu sch nigg shamelessly and has now been

named by Hitler one of the chi ef offic ia l h is torian s of

this war) put it another way last night . His idea is

that Germany caught the Allies at one of the rare mo-



1940 PARIS, June 204

1 7

ments in military history when, for a few weeks or

months or years, offensive w eapons are superior to thos e

of defenc e . He explains that this fantastic campaign

probably could have taken place only in this summer

of 1940 . Had i t been del ayed un til next y ear, the Alli es

would have had the defensive weapons - anti-tank

guns, a nti-ai rcraft guns, and fighter airplanes- o

have offset the o ffens iv e arms o f Germany . There then

would have ensued, he thinks, the kind of stalemate

which developed on the western front from 1914 to

1918, when the pow ers of offenc e an d defenc e were abou t

equal .

Another thing : I do not think the losses on either

sid e have been large . You see so few graves .

PARIS, June 20

The men who went down to Orleans and Blois

yesterday t ell a h orrible tal e . Along the road they saw

what th ey esti mated to be 200,000 refugees- eople

of all c lass es, rich and poor, lying along the roadside

or by the edge o f the forests , s tarvin g- ithout food,

without water, no shelter, nothing .

They are j ust a few of the mill ions who fled Paris

and the other cities a nd towns before the German in-

vaders . They fled, tearing in fright a long the roads

with their belongings on their backs or on bikes or in

baby-carriages, an d their chi ldren atop them . Soon the

roads were clogged. Troops also were trying to use

them . Soon the Germans came over, bombing the roads .

Soon there were dead and dying . And no food, no

water, no shelter, no care . Bul li tt estimates there are

seven million refugees between here and Bordeaux . Al-

most all face starvation unless something is done at

once. The German army is helping a little, but not



4 18 1940 P AR11

S, June 20

much . It has had to carry mos t of i ts own food into

France from Germany . T h e R ed C r o s s i s d o i n g w h a t

i t can, but i s wh oll y i nadequate .

A h u m a n c a t a st r op h e , s u c h a s e v e n C h i n a h a s n ot e x -

p e r i e n c e d . (An d how many Frenchmen or other Eu-

r o p e a n s so f t e ne d t h e i r h e a r t s w h e n a f l o o d o r a f a m i n e

o r a w a r s nu f fe d o ut a m i l l i o n C h i n e se ? )

L un c h w i t h B u l l i t t, a t h i s r e si d e nc e . H e i s st i l l

stunned by what has happened . T h ou g h H i t l e r, R i b -

bentrop, and Goebbel s hate hi m al mos t as much as they

l o a th e R o o s ev e l t , h e r e p o r te d t h a t th e G e r m a n m i l i t a ry

a ut h o r i t i e s h a d s h o w n h i m e v e ry c o ur t es y . T h e N a zi s

h a d m a d e t h e t h r e e A m e r i c a n r e p r e s en t at i v e s o f th e

t h r e e A m e r i c a n p r e s s as s o c i a t i o n s p l e d g e n o t t o se e

B u l l i t t or e ve n c a l l a t th e A m e r i c a n Em b a s sy ( a p l e d g e

t h e y s c ru p u l o u s l y k e p t , t h o u g h F re d Oe c h s h e r h a d t h e

c o u r a g e t o p h o n e t h e E m b a s s y a n d p a y h i s r es p e c t s ) .

I feel under no obl i gati on not to act as a free Am eric an

ci t izen here, desp i te Nazi p ressu re, and g l ad ly accep ted

the i nvi ta ti on of the Ambassador, whom I've known for

many years . Most talkative guest at lunc h was M .

Henry-Ha ye, 1 s e n a to r , a nd m a y o r o f Ve r s a i l l e s . H e i s

o n e o f t h e f ew p o l i t i c i a n s w h o st u c k t o h i s p o s t . H i s

b i t t er n es s at t h e B r i t i s h d u r i n g t h e l u n c h e o n ta l k w a s

only matched by his bitt erness at the Ge rmans . I

c o u l d n ' t te l l w h i c h h e b l a m e d m o st fo r t h e Fr en c h c o l -

l a p se ;h e s p u t te re d a w a y a t b ot h . H e w a s i n a g r e a t

state o f emot i on . Yesterday, h e related, a young Ger-

man offi cer had brushed i nto his mayoral ty offi ce at Ver-

s ai l l e s an d s um m a r i l y o rd ered h i m t o h a v e h i s c a r re -

p a i r e d . I f t h e c a r w a s n ' t r ea d y i n a n h o u r, s a i d t h e

German, M. H e n r y - H a y e w o u l d b e a r r es t ed . T h i s w a s

too much for the senator-m ayor .

1Later named by Marsha l Petain French Ambassado r

in Wash-

ington .



1940 PARIS, June 21 419

" Yo u a re sp e a k i n g , s i r , " h e sa i d h e to l d t h e G e rm a n ,

" t o a F re n c h s e n a t o r a n d t h e m a y o r o f Ve rs a i l l e s . I

s h a l l r ep o r t y ou r c o nd u c t i m m e d i a t e l y t o y o u r m i l i t ar y

superiors i n Pari s . "

Whereupon, though hi s gasol i ne suppl y was short, he

sped o ff to Pari s to make good h i s word .

" O h , l e s B oc h e s ! " h e k e p t m u tt er i n g , a w o rd w h i c h ,

I must say, w e all tossed across the tabl e wi th some fre-

quency

PAxnIs, June 21

On the exact spot in the li ttle cl earing i n the

F o res t of C o m p i e g n e w h e re a t f i v e a .m. o n November

11 , 1 91 8 th e a rm i s ti c e w h i c h e nd e d t h e Wor l d W a r w a s

s i g n ed , A d o l f H i t l e r to d a y h a nd e d hi s a rm i s ti c e t e rm s

to Franc e . To mak e German revenge co mplete, the

m e e t i n g o f t h e G e r m a n a n d F r e nc h p l e n i p o t en t i a r i e s

t oo k p l a c e i n M a rs h a l F o c h ' s p r i v a te c a r, i n w h i c h F o c h

l a i d d o w n t h e a rm i s ti c e t e rm s t o G e r m a ny t w e n t y - t w o

years ag o . E v en t h e s am e t a b l e i n t h e r i c k e t y o l d

w a g on - l i t c a r w a s u s ed . And through the windows we

s aw H i t l e r oc c u p y i n g t h e v er y s ea t on w h i c h F oc h h a d

s a t a t th a t t ab l e w h e n h e d i c t a t e d th e o t h e r ar m i s t i c e .

Th e h u m i l i a t i o n of F ra n c e , of t h e Fre nc h , w a s c o m -

p l ete . And yet i n the preambl e to the armi s tic e terms

H i t l e r t o l d t h e F r en c h t h a t h e h a d no t c h o s e n t h i s sp o t

a t C o m p i e g n e o ut o f re v e n g e ; m e r e l y t o r i g h t an ol d

wrong . F ro m t h e d e m e a n ou r o f th e F re n c h d e l e g a t e s I

gathered that they d i d no t appreci ate the d i fference .

The German term s we do not kn ow yet . T h e p r e -

ambl e says the general basi s for them i s : ( 1 ) t o p r e v e n t

a r es u m p t i o n of t h e f i g h t i n g ; ( 2 ) t o o f fe r G e r m a n y

c o m p l e t e g u a ra n te e s fo r h e r c o n t i n u at i o n o f t h e w a r

a g a i n st B r i t ai n ; (3) to create the foundati ons for a



4201940 PARIS, June 21

peace, the basis o f wh i ch i s to be the reparati on of an

i n j u s ti c e i n fl i c t e d up o n G e rm a n y b y forc e . T h e th i r d

poi nt seems to mean : revenge for th e defeat of 1918 .

K e rk e r fo r N B C a n d I fo r C B S i n a j o i n t h a l f - h o u r

b ro ad c a s t e ar l y t h i s e v e ni n g d e s c r i b e d t o d ay ' s a m a z -

i ng scene as best we coul d . I t m a d e , I t h i n k , a g o o d

b r o a d c a s t .

The armi stic e negoti ations began at three fi fteen p .m .

A w a r m J u n e s u n b e a t d o w n o n t h e g r e a t el m a n d p i n e

t r e es , a n d c a s t p l e a s an t s h a d o w s o n t h e w o o d e d a v e n u es

as Hi tler, wi th the German pl eni potentiari es at hi s si de,

appea red . H e a l i g h t e d f r om h i s c a r i n f r on t of t h e

F r e nc h m o n u m e n t t o A l s a c e - L o r r ai n e w h i c h s t an d s at

the end of an avenue about two h undred yards from th e

c l e ar i n g w h e re th e a rm i s t i c e c a r w a i t s o n e x ac t l y t h e

s a m e s p o t i t o c c u p i e d t w e n ty - t w o y e a r s ag o .

T h e A l s a c e - L o r r a i n e s ta t u e, . I noted, w as covered

w i t h G e r m a n w a r f l a g s s o th a t y o u c o u l d n o t s ee i t s

scu lp tured work nor read i t s in scrip t ion . But I had seen

i t some years before - h e l a r g e sw o r d r e p r e se n ti n g t h e

sword of the Al l i es, and i ts poi nt sti cki ng into a l arge,

l i m p e ag l e , r ep r e se nt i n g t h e o l d E m p i r e of t h e K ai s er .

And the ins cript ion underneath in Fr ench s aying

"TO THE HE ROI C SOLD IE RS OF FRA NC E . . .

DEFEN DERS OF TH E C OUNT RY A ND OF RI GHT

. .GLO RI OUS LIB ER ATOR S OF A LSA CE-LOR -

R A I N E ."

T h r o ug h m y g l a ss es I s a w t h e F u h r e r st op , g l a nc e

a t t h e m o n um e n t , ob s e rv e t h e R e i c h f l a g s w i t h t h e i r b i g

Swast i kas in the cen tre. Then he s trode s lowl y towards

us, towards the li ttle cl earing i n the woods . I observed

h i s fa c e . I t w a s g rav e , s ol e m n , y e t b r i m m i n g w i t h r e-

v e n g e . T h e re w a s al s o i n i t , a s i n h i s s p r i n g y s t ep , a

n o te o f t h e t r i u m p h a n t c o n q u e r o r, t h e d e f i e r o f t h e

world. T h e r e w a s so m e th i n g e l s e , d i f fi c u l t t o d es c r i b e ,



1 9 4 0 PARIS, June 21 4 1

in his expressi on, a so rt of sco rnful, inn er joy at being

present at thi s great re versa l of fate- reversal h e

himself had wrought .

Now he reaches the little opening in the woods. He

pauses and looks slowly around . The clearing is i n the

form of a circle some two hundred yards in diameter

and l aid o ut like a par k . Cypress trees li ne it al l rou nd

-an d behind them, the great elms a nd oak s o f the

f o r e s t. This has been one of France's national shrines

for twenty-two years . From a discreet positio n on the

perimeter of the ci rcle w e watch .

Hitler pauses, and gazes slowly around . In a group

just behind- him are the other German plenipotentiar-

i es :Goring, grasping his field-marshal's baton in one

hand . He wears the sky-blu e uniform of the ai r force .

All the Germans are in uniform, Hitler in a double-

breasted grey uniform, with the Iron Cross hanging

from his left breast pocket. Next to Goring are the

two German army ch iefs - eneral Keitel, c hief of

the Supreme Command, and General von Brauc hitsch,

commander-in-chief of the German army . Both are

just approaching sixty, but loo k younger, especially

Keitel, w ho h as a dapper appearance with hi s ca p

sligh tly cocked on o ne side .

Then there is Erich Raeder, Grand Admiral of the

German Fleet, in his blue naval uniform and the in-

variable upturned co ll ar which German naval officers

usually wear. There are two non-military men in Hit-

ler' s s ui te -his Foreign Minister, Joachim von Rib-

bentrop, in the field -grey uniform of the Foreign Of-

f i c e; a nd Rudolf Hess, Hitler' s d eputy, i n

a grey party

uniform .

The time is now three eighteen p.m . Hi tler' s per-

sonal flag i s run up on a small standard in the centre

of the openin g .



P

422 1940 PARIS, June 21

A l s o i n th e c e n t re i s a g r ea t g r a ni t e b l o c k w h i c h

s tands some three feet above th e ground . Hi tler, fol-

l o w e d b y t h e o th e r s, w a l k s s l o w l y o v e r to i t , s te p s u p ,

and reads the i n scri p t i on engraved i n g reat h i gh l etters

on that bl ock . It says : "HERE ON TH E E LEV ENTH

OF NO VEM BER 1918 SUCC UMBED TH E CRIM I-

NAL P RI DE O F THE GER MAN E MPIR E . . .

VANQU ISH ED BY TH E FREE PEO PLE S WH IC H

IT T RI ED TO E NSLAV E."

Hi t ler reads i t and Goring reads i t . They al l read it,

s t an d i n g t h e r e i n t h e J u n e su n a nd t h e s i l e n c e . I l ook

for the expressi on on Hi tler's face . I am but fifty yards

f r om h i m a n d s ee h i m t h r o u g h m y g l a s se s a s th o u g h

h e w e r e d i r e c t l y i n f ro n t o f m e . I have seen that face

many t im es at the g reat moments of h i s l i fe . But today !

I t i s a fi r e w i t h s c o r n , a ng e r , h a t e , re v e ng e , t r i u m p h .

H e s t e p s o f f t h e m o n u m e n t a n d c o n t r i v e s t o m a k e e v e n

t h i s g e st ur e a m a st er p i e c e of c o nt em p t . H e g l a n c e s

back at i t , contemptuous , angry - a ngry, you almost

feel , because he cannot wi pe out the awful , provoki ng

l e tt er i n g w i t h o n e sw e e p o f h i s h i g h P ru ss i a n b o ot . He

g l ances slowl y around the cl earing , and now, as h i s eyes

meet ours, you g rasp the dep th o f h i s hat red . Bu t there

i s t ri u m p h t h e r e t oo - e v e ng e f ul , t ri u m p h a nt h a t e .

S u d d en l y , a s th o u g h h i s f ac e w e r e no t g i v i n g q u i t e

comp l ete expression to h i s feel i ngs, he th rows h i s who l e

b o d y i n t o h ar m o ny w i t h h i s m o od . H e sw i f tl y s na p s h i s

hands on h i s h i ps, arches h i s shoul ders, p l ants h is feet

w i d e ap a r t . It is a magni fi cent gesture of defiance, of

b u rn i n g c o nt em p t f o r th i s p l a c e n ow a n d a l l t h a t i t h a s

s t oo d f o r i n t h e t w e n t y - t w o . years since i t wi tnessed' the

h u m b l i n g o f t h e G e rm a n Em p i r e .

Final l y H i tler l eads hi s party over to another grani te

stone, a smal l er one fifty yards to one sid e . H e r e i t w a s

t h a t th e r ai l roa d c a r i n w h i c h t h e G e rm a n p l e ni p o t en -



1940 PARIS, June 214l3

tiaries s tayed during th e 1918 armistic e was placed -from November 8 to 11 . Hitler merely glances at the

inscription, which reads : " The German Plenipoten-

t i a r i e s ." The ston e itself , I notic e, is set b etween a pai r

of rusty old railroa d tracks , the ones o n which the Ger-

man car stood twenty-two years ago . Off to on e sid e

alo ng the edge of the clearing is a la rge statue in wh ite

stone of Marshal Foch as he looked when he stepped out

of the armisti ce car on the morning of November 11,

1918 . Hitler ski ps it ; does not a ppear to see it .

It is now three twenty-three p .m . and the Germans

stride over t o the armistic e car. For a moment or two

they stand i n the sunli ght outsid e the car, cha tting .

Then Hitler steps up into the car, followed by the

oth ers. We can see nic ely through the car windows .

Hitler takes the place oc cupied by Marshal Foch when

the 1918 a rmistic e terms were si gn ed. The o thers

spread themselves around him. Four chairs on the op-

posi te sid e of the table f rom Hitl er remain empty. The

French have no t yet appeared. But we do not wait long .

Exactly at three thi rty p .m . they alight from a ca r .

They have flown up from Bordeaux to a near-by land-

i n g f i e l d. They too glance at the Alsace-Lorraine me-

m o r i a l , b u t i t ' s a sw i f t g l a nc e . Then they walk down the

avenue fla nked by three German offic ers. We see them

now as they come into the sun li ght of the clearing .

General Huntziger, wearing a bleached khaki uni-

form, Air General Bergeret and Vice-Admiral Le Luc,

both in dark blue uniforms, and then, almost buried in

the uniforms, M N o el , French Ambassad or to Pola nd .

The German guard of honour, d rawn up at the entrance

to the clearing, sna ps to atte ntion for the F rench as they

pass, but it does n ot present arms .

It is a g rave hour in the lif e of Franc e . The French-

men keep their eyes straight ahead . Their faces are



424

1940 PARIS, June 21

solemn, drawn . T h e y a r e t h e p i c t u r e o f tr a g i c d i g -

n i t y.

T h e y w a l k s t i f f l y t o th e c a r , w h e r e t h e y a r e m e t b y

two German offic ers, Li eutenant-General Ti pp elski rch,

Q u a r t er m a s t e r G e n e r al , a n d C o l o n e l T h o m a s , c h i e f o f

t h e F i i h r e r ' s h e a d q u a rt e rs. T h e G e r m a n s sa l u t e . The

F ren c h s a l u t e . Th e a t m o sp h e re i s w h a t Eu rop e a n s c a l l

" correct ." There are sal utes, but no handshakes.

N o w w e g e t o ur p i c t u re t h r ou g h t h e d u s ty w i n d ow s

of that ol d w a g on - l i t c a r . H i t l e r a nd t h e o th e r G e rm a n

l eaders r ise as the French en ter the d rawi ng-room . H i t -

l e r g i v e s t h e N a z i s a l u t e, t h e a rm r a i s e d . R i b b e n t ro p

a n d H e s s d o t h e s a m e . I c annot see M . Noel to not ic e

w h e t h e r h e s a l u t e s o r n ot .

Hi tl er, as far as we can see through the wi ndows, does

n o t sa y a w o rd t o t h e F re nc h o r t o a n y b o d y e l s e. He

n o d s t o G e ne r al K e i t e l a t h i s s i d e . We s ee Genera l

K e i t e l a d j u s t i n g h i s p a p e rs . Th en he s tarts to read .

H e i s r ea d i n g t h e p r e a m b l e t o t h e G e r m a n a rm i s ti c e

t e rm s . T h e F r en c h s i t t h e re w i t h m a r b l e - l i k e f ac e s a nd

l i sten intentl y. H i t l e r a n d G o ri n g g l a n c e at t h e g ree n

t a b l e - t o p .

T h e r e a d i n g o f t h e p r e a m b l e l a s ts b u t a f e w m i n u te s.

H i t l e r , w e s o on o b s er v e , h a s n o i n t e nt i o n of r e m a i n i n g

v e r y l o n g , o f l i s t en i n g t o th e r e ad i n g o f t h e a rm i s t i c e

terms them selves . A t t h r e e f o r ty - t w o p .m . , t w el v e m i n -

utes after the French arri ve, w e see Hi tl er stand up,

salute sti ffly , and then stri de out of the drawi ng-room,

f ol l o w e d b y G o r i n g , B r au c h i t sc h , R a e d er , H e s s, a n d

Ribbentrop . T h e F re n c h , l i k e f i g u r e s of s to n e, r e m a i n

a t th e g r e en - to p p e d t a bl e . G e ne ra l K e i t e l r e m a i n s w i t h

them . He starts to read them th e detai l ed condi ti ons of

the armi sti ce .

Hi tler and hi s a ides s tri de down the avenue towards

t h e A l s a c e - L o r r ai n e m o n um e n t , w h e r e t h e i r c a r s a r e



t . 1940 P A B I S, June 22 1 . ° 2 5

waiting As they pass the guard of honour, the Ger-

man b and strikes up the two national anthem s, Deutsch-

land, Deutschland fiber All es and the Horst Wessel

song . The w hole ceremony in which H itl er has reach ed

a new pinnacle in his m eteoric c areer and Germany

av enged the 1 918 defeat is over in a q uarter of an ho ur .

PARIS, June 22 (m idnight)

Too tired to write of today . Here is what I

broadcast :

" The armistice has been signed . The armistice be-

tween France and Ge rmany wa s signed at exactly six

f i f t y p .m . , German summer time-that is, one hour

and twenty-f iv e minutes ago . . . . It was signed here

in the same old rail road c oach in the middl e of Com-

piegne Fores t where the armistice o f Nov emb er 11 , 1918

was made . . . Now the armistice, though signed by

the French and the Germans, does not go into effect

yet . We've b een informed that the Frenc h delegation

is leav ing by specia l plane for I taly . When it gets

there, I taly wil l lay down armistice terms for ce asing

its war with France . . . . As soon as the French and

Italians sign, the news will be fl ashed to th e Germans .

They will immediately inform the Frenc h government

at Bordeaux . And then, six hours after this, the fight-

ing stops, the guns cease fire e down,

the bl ood-letting of war is at an end . That is, b etween

Germany and Italy on the one hand, and France on the

other . The war wi th Britain, of course, goes on . . .

" The negotiations for this armistice have gone much

faster than anyon e expected . There has been a good

deal of telephoning and telegraphing between here and

Bordeaux b y the French . O ne of the little wonders o f

this war was a tel egraph line to Bordeaux whic h went



4 2 6 1940 P Ants, June 22 A

r i g h t t h r o u g h b o t h t h e f r o n t l i n es w h e r e t h e y ' r e s t i l l

f i g h t i n g .

" A s a m a t t e r o f f a c t , l a t e l a s t n i g h t t h e G e r m a n s a n d

F re n ch s u c c e e de d i n e s t a b li s h i ng t e le ph on e c o nt a ct b e-

t w e e n t h e p l e n i po t e n t i a r i e s h e r e a t C o m p i e g n e a n d t h e

Frenc h gov ernment at Bordeaux . A few minutes ago

I l i s t e n e d t o a r e c o r d i n g o f th e f i rs t c o n v e r s a t i o n a s t h e y

w e r e e s t a b l i s h i n g th e f i rs t c o m m u n i c a t i o n . I t ' s a n i n-

t e r e s t i n g r e c o r d , i f a m i n o r o n e , f o r h i s t o r y .

" T h e G e r m a n s g o t t h e t e l e p h o n e l i n e g o i n g a s f a r

a s t h e L o i re R i v e r a t T o u r s . There German army en-

g i n e e r s s t r u n g a l i n e o v e r a b ri d g e a c r o s s t h e r i v e r ,

where it was hoo ked up, strangely and m irac ulously

e n o u g h , w i t h t h e F r e n c h t e l e p h on e c e n t r a l , w h i c h c a r -

r i ed i t o n to B or d e a ux . W e c o u l d h e a r t h e G e r m a n t e l e -

phonist her e in C ompiegne say : ` He l l o , B o r d e a u x .

Hell o, the Frenc h gov ernment in Bordeau x! ' He said

it in b oth Frenc h and German . It sounded uncanny,

a n d i t m u s t h a v e b e e n , t o o , t o t h e F r e n c h w h en h e s a i d

i n F r e n c h : ' I ci l a c e n t r a l e d e l ' a r m e e a l l e m a n d e a Com-

piegne Here's the he adquarters o f th e Ge rman a rmy

a t C o m p i e g n e , c a l l i n g t h e F r e n c h g o v e r n m e n t a t B o r -

deaux. ' T h e l in e w a s v e r y g o o d , a n d w e c o u l d h e a r t h e

t e l e ph o n i s t i n B o r d e a ux v e r y c l e a r l y . T h e l i n e wa s t h e n

t u r n e d o v e r t o t h e F r e n c h g o v e r n m e n t a n d t h e i r d e l e -

g a t e s h e r e .

" A n d s o t h e n e g o t i a t i o ns w e n t o n l a s t n i g h t a n d t o -

d a y f o r t he e n d i ng o f th e w a r . O c c a s i o n a l l y t h e F r e n c h

d e l e g a t i o n w o u l d r e t u r n t o t h e c a r f r o m t h e i r t e n t f o r

f u r t h e r t a l k s w i t h G e n e r a l K e i t e l . A b o u t m i d n i g h t l a s t

n i g h t t h e t a l k s w e r e b r o k e n o f f a n d t h e F r e n c h d e l e -

g a t e s , t h o u g h c o t s h a d b e e n p r o v i d e d f o r t h e m i n t h e ir

t e n t , w e r e d r i v e n b y t he G e r m a n s i n t o P a r i s , s o m e f i f t y

m i l e s a w a y , w h e r e t h e y s p e n t t h e n i g h t . T h e c i t y m u s t

h a v e s e e m e d s t r a n g e t o t he m .



1 9 4 0 PARIS, June 22 427

" T h e F r e n c h d e l e g a t e s r e t u r n e d t o C o m p i e g n e F o r -

e s t t h i s m o r n in g . A b o u t t e n t h i r t y a .m . w e s a w t h e m

f i l i n g in t o M a r s h a l F o c h ' s o l d P u l l m a n c o a c h . They

r e m a i n e d fo r a n h o u r a n d t h e n G e n e ra l K e i t e l a r r i v e d .

T h r o u g h t h e w i n d o w s w e c o u l d s e e t h e m t a l k i n g a n d

g o in g o v e r v a r i ou s p a p e r s . A t o n e th i r ty p .m . there

w a s a r e c e s s s o t h a t th e F r en c h c o u l d c o n t a c t th e i r g ov -

e r n m e n t i n B o r d e a u x f o r t h e l a s t t i m e .

" And th en came the big m oment . A t s i x f i f t y p . m.

t h e g e n t l e m e n i n t h e c a r s t a r t e d a f f i x i n g t h e i r s i g n a -

t u r es t o G e r m a n y ' s a r m i s t i c e c o n d i t io n s . G e n e r a l K e i -

t e l s i g n e d f o r G e r m a n y ; G e n e r a l H u nt z i g er f o r F r a n c e .

" I t w a s a l l o v e r i n a f e w m o m e n ts . "

A n d n o w t o d e p a r t fr o m m y b r o a d c a s t t o s e t d o w n

a s cene which I gave to Kerker fo r h is part o f the t rans -

m i s s i o n . I k n o w t h a t th e G e r m a n s h a v e h i d d e n m i c r o -

p h o ne s i n t h e a r m i s t i c e c a r . I s e e k o u t a s o u n d -t r u c k

i n th e wo o d s . N o o ne s t o p s m e a n d s o I p a u s e t o l is t e n.

It is j ust before the armistice is s igned . I h e a r G e n er a l

H un t z i g e r' s v o i c e , s t r a i n e d , q u i v e r i n g . I n o t e d o w n h i s

e x a c t w o r d s i n F r e n c h . T h e y c o m e o u t s l o w l y , w i t h

g r e a t e f f o r t , o n e a t a t i m e . H e s a y s : " I d e c l a r e t h e

F r e n c h g ov e r n m e n t h a s o r d e r e d m e t o s i g n t h e s e t e r m s

o f a r m i s t i c e . I d e s i r e t o r e a d a p e r s o n a l d e c l a r a t i on .

F o r c e d b y t he f a t e o f a r m s t o c e a s e t h e s t r u g g l e i n

w h i c h w e w e r e e ng a g e d o n t h e s i d e o f t h e A l l i e s , F r a n c e

s e e s i m p o s e d o n h e r v e r y h a r d c o n d i t i o ns . F r a n c e h a s

the r igh t to expect in the fu tu re nego t iat ions tha t Ger-

m a n y s h o w a s p i r i t w hi c h w i l l p e r m i t t he t w o g r e a t

n e i g h b o ur i n g c o u n t r i e s t o l i v e a n d w o r k p e a c e f u l l y . "

T h e n I h e a r t h e s c r a t c h i n g o f p e ns , a f e w m u f f l e d

remark s fro m the French . L a t e r s o m e o n e , w a t c h i n g

t h r o u g h t h e w i n d o w , t e l l s m e A d m i r a l L e L u c f i g h t s

b a c k t h e t e a r s as t h e d o c u m e n t i s s i g n e d . Then the

d e e p v o i c e o f K e i t e l : " I r e q u e s t a l l m e m b er s o f t h e



4 28 1940 PARIS, June 23

G e r m a n a n d F r e n c h d e l e g a t i o n s t o r i s e i n o r d e r t o f u l -

f i l a d u t y w h i c h t h e b ra v e G e rm a n a n d F re n c h s o l d i e r s

h a v e m e r i t e d . L e t u s h o n o u r by r i s i n g f ro m o u r s e a t s

a l l t h o s e w h o h a v e b l e d f o r t h e ir f a t h e r l a n d a n d a l l

t h o s e w h o h a v e d i e d f o r t h e i r c o u n t r y . " Th e r e is a

minu te o f s i lence as they al l stand .

A s I f i n i s h e d s p e a k i n g i nt o t h e m i c r o ph o n e , a d r o p o f

r a i n f e l l o n m y f o r e h e a d . D o w n t h e r o a d , t h r o u g h t h e

w o o d s , I c o u l d s e e t h e r e f ug e e s , s l o w l y , ti r e d l y , f i li n g

b y - o n w e a r y fe e t , o n b i c y c l e s , o n c a r t s , a f e w o n

trucks, an endles s line . T h e y w e r e e x h a u s t e d a n d d a z e d ,

t h o s e w a l k i n g w e r e f oo t s o r e , a n d t h e y d i d n o t k n o w y e t

t h a t a n a rm i s t i c e h a d b e e n s i g n e d a n d t h a t t h e f i g h t -

i n g w o u l d b e o v e r v e ry s o o n n o w .

I w a l k e d o u t t o t h e c l e a r i n g . T he s k y w a s o v e r c a s t

and r ain w as c oming on . An army of German engi-

n e e r s , s h o u t i ng l u s t i l y , h a d a l r e a d y s t a r t e d t o m o v e t h e

a r m i s t i c e c a r .

" Where to? " I a s k ed .

" To B e r l i n , " t h e y s a i d .

PARIS,June 23

I t s e e m s w e h a d s o m e t h in g o f a s c o o p ye s t e r -

day . W e b e a t t h e w o r l d w i t h t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t t h a t

t h e a r m i s t i c e h a d b e e n s i g n e d , n o t t o m e n t i o n a d e t a i l e d

des crip t ion o f i t . S o m e o f t h o s e w h o h e l p e d u s g e t i t

are catch ing hel l . I h a d n o i d e a w e ' d h a d a s c o o p u n ti l

t h i s m o r n i n g w h e n W a l te r K e r r t o l d m e h e h a d p i c k e d

u p s o m e A m e r i c a n b ro a d c a s t l a s t n i g h t . F o r t w o o r

t h r e e h o ur s , h e s a y s , w e w e r e t h e o n l y o n e s w i t h t h e

n e w s . S o m e o f o ur c o m m e n t a t o r s , h e s a y s , a p p e a r e d t o

g r o w a l i t t le n e r v o u s a s t h e h o ur s t i c k e d b y a n d t h e r e

w a s n o c o n fi r m a t io n . T h e y w e r e p r o b a b l y t h i nk i n g o f



1 9 4 0 PARIS, June 2 3 4 2 9

the premature U . P . s t o r y o n t h e a r m i s t i c e o n N o v e m -

b e r 7 , 1 9 18 .

I got my first night's s leep in a week, and felt a little

b e t te r . B r e a k f a s t e d a t n o o n a t t h e Ca f e d e l a P a i x w i t h

J o e [ Ha r s c h ] a n d W a l t e r o n c a f e c r e m e a n d b r i o c h e s ,

a n d t h e s u n o n t h e t e r r a c e w a s w a r m a n d s o o t hi n g . A t

o n e w e w e n t d o w n t h e s t r e e t t o P h i l i pp e ' s , w h e r e w e

h a d a n i c e l u n c h , t h e f i r s t d e c e n t o n e s i n c e ' a r r i v i n g .

T h en J o e a n d I m a d e a l i t t l e " S e n t i m e n t a l J o u r n e y . "

O n f o o t, b e c a u s e t h e r e a r e n o c a r s , b u s e s , o r t a x i s . We

w a l k e d d o w n t h r o u g h t h e P l a c e V e n d o m e a n d t h o u g h t

o f N a p o l e on . P u s h e d o n t h r o u g h t h e T u i l er i e s . I t m a d e

m y h e a r t f e e l a l i t t l e b e tt e r t o s e e s o m a n y c h i l d re n

a b o u t . T h e y w e r e p l a y i n g o n t h e s e e s a w s . T h e m e r r y -

g o - ro u n d w a s t u rn i n g w i t h i t s l o a d o f c h i l d re n , u n t i l

an irate agent f o r s o m e r e a s o n ( t o c u r r y f a v o u r w i t h t h e

G e r m a n s ? ) c l o s e d i t d o w n.

I t w a s a n e x q u i s i t e Ju n e d a y , a n d w e s t o p p ed t o a d -

m i r e t h e v i e w ( m y m i l l i o n t h , s u r e l y ! ) u p t h e Tu i l e r i e s

t o t h e Ch a m p s -El y s e e s , w i t h t h e s i l h o u e t t e of t h e A rc

d e T r i o m p h e o n t h e h o r i z o n . I t w a s a s g o od a s e v e r .

T h en t h r o u g h t he L o u v r e a n d a c r o s s t h e S e i n e . The

f i s h e rm e n w e re d a n g l i n g t h e i r l i n e s f ro m t h e b a n k , a s

a l w a y s . I t h o ug h t : " S u r e l y t h i s w i l l g o o n t o t h e e n d

o f P a r i s , t o t h e e n d o f t i m e . . . m e n f i s h i n g i n t h e

S e i n e . " I s t o p pe d , a s I h a v e a l w a ys s t o p pe d a t h o us a n d

times, to see if - f ter al l these years- m i g h t w i t -

n e s s o n e m a n a t la s t h a v i n g a t le a s t a b i t e . B u t t h o u g h

t h e y j e r k e d t h e i r l i n e s o u t c o n t i n ua l l y , n o o n e c a u g h t a

f i s h . I have never s een a f ish caugh t in the Seine .

T he n d o w n t h e S ei n e to N o t r e - Da m e . T he s a n d b a g s

h a d b e e n r e m o v e d f ro m t h e c e n t r a l p o r t a l . We stopped



4 1940PARIS, June 23

to observe it . I nside the Cathedral the li ght was too

strong, with the original rose window and the two tran-

sept windows out . But fro m up the river as we had ap-

proac hed, the v iew of the fagade, the Gothic in all its

glory, was super b. We went round b ehind. The gr ace

of the flying b uttresses that support the up per part of

the na ve !

Then I turned guide for Joe . Took him to the near- by

Church o f Saint-J ulien-l e-Pauvre, the oldest in Paris,

then down the littl e street past the Hotel Du Cav eau,

in whose c ell ars we had had some nights in m y younger

days . I s howed him, a l ittle farther down, the b o r d e l

across the eighteen-f oot-wide street from t he police sta-

tion . Appar ently the who res h ad all fled, l ike al most all

of the good peopl e of France . Then up past the Cluny,

which was c losed, stopping at the statue of Montai gne

with its eloq uent quotation ab out P aris being the " glory

of France ." We stoppe d for a b eer at the Balzar, next

to the Sorbonne, a, pub where I had spent so many

nights in m y first years in P aris after 1925 . Then, since

this was a " Sentimental Journey," naked and un-

ashamed, we hit up the B oulev ard Saint-Miche l, then

up the rue d e Vaugi rard to the H otel de L isbonn e, where

I had l iv ed for two years when I first came t o P aris . The

Lisb onne looked as d irty an d dilapidat ed as e ver . But,

according to the sign, they'd added a b ath . N o such

sign of civiliz ation when I liv ed there .

Then the Pantheon, from the Boulev ard Saint-

Michel, and then through the Luxemb ourg Gard ens, as

lovel y as e ver, and c rowded with children, as ever, which

cheered me up again, and the statues of the Queens of

France around the c entral pond, and at the pond the

kids sail ing their b oats, and the P ala ce of f to one side,

and a pretty girl sitt ing under the statue of the Queen

so-and-so who reigned, I notice d, as we took our eyes



1940 BERLIN, June 26 481

off the beautiful thing, in 1100 and something .

And then Montparnasse, with aperitifs on the side-

wal k of the Rotonde, and the Dome across the str

jammed with crackpots as ever, and in front of us a

large tabl e full of middle-aged Fre nch women of the

bourgeois ie, apparently rec overing from their daze, b e-

caus e their anger was risin egamins

(el les sont franfaise s, apres tou t! )were picking up the

German soldiers .

And then a walk b ack, with a drink at the Deux

Magots across from Saint-Germain-des-Pres, whose

solid tower seemed more comforting today than e ver

before, and down the rue Bonap arte past the b ookshops,

the art shops , so civ iliz ed, past the house wher e Tess

and I had li ved in 193 4 . Acro ss the Seine again, and

Joe wanted to strol l in the gardens of the P alais Royal,

which we did, and they were as peacef ul as ev er before,

and as still , except f or the Ge rman pl anes roaring o ver-

head

And then ce to our hote l, fill ed with German sol diers,

and outs ide, on the boulev ard, a l ong co lumn of German

artill ery r oaring by

BERLIN, June 26

Returned from Paris . We left there at seven

a.m . and dr ove thro ugh t he " b a t t l e f i e l d s " (more ac -

curately, the destroyed towns where what

was in this war took place) to Brusse ls . The German

officers and o fficials said they wanted to hav e one last

square m eal b efore retur ning to the Vaterland, so I

took them around to the Taverne Royale . We stuffed

on hors d'oeuvres, steak, m ountains of vegetabl es, and

fresh s trawberries and c ream, washing it all down with

two bottl es of quite good Chateau Margaux .



4 3 2 1940 BERLIN, June 26

En route to Brusse ls we passed through Compiegne,

Noyon, V alencienn es, and Mons - ll well sm ashed up .

But except in the towns I could see no ev idence of any

serious fighting . Abandoned Allies' tank s and truc ks

here and ther e, b ut no sign along the roads that the

French had offered serious resistan ce . T he French and

Belgians in the towns sti ll seemed numbed, b ut not par -

ticularl y resentf ul, as one might have expected . A s e l s e -

where, they ac ted extremel y civil to the Ger man troops .

An attache o f the German Em bassy in Brussels ac-

eompanied us as far as Louv ain, and the reason soo n

became evident . I n L ouvain we were driven strai ght

to the c harred remains of the lib rary . As we stepped

out of our cars, it just happenedthat a priest came up

on a bi cycle an d greeted us. It just happened that he

seemed to be on good terms with the Ge rman Em bassy

official . The two of them then rel ated the story the

propag andists had given m e some weeks before on the

same spot-namel y, that the British had fire d the li-

brary of Louv ain U niversity before the ir retre at .

I admit there are some points that bother m e . None

of the near- by b uildings, som e of whic h are only fifty

feet fro m the l ibrary, suffered any damage at all . Even

their windows are intact . The Germans and the Bel-

gian priest k ept harping on this as proof that no Ger-

man b ombs could have hit the library . O n the othe r

hand, I no tice two s mal l shell -holes in the tower, whic h

s t i l l s t a n d s . And incen diary bom bs dropped on the li-

brary wouldn't hav e distur bed the adjac ent b uildings .

True, if m any had been dro pped, som e would hav e

missed the target and set the near-b y houses on fire .

The priest, who said he was one of the lib rarians, ex-

plai ned that the pric eless m anuscripts we re kept in fire-

proof vaul ts in the basement . He then c laim ed that the

British had star ted the fire in the b asement and had ac-



1940 BE RL IN , June 264 33

tually set fires goi ng in the fire-pro of v aults. He- and

the Ger mans k ept emphasizing that it was obv ious fr om

the look s of the c harred remains, girders and all ,

that the fire h ad been started from the basem ent . But

this wasn't o bvious to me .

Approaching the G

we av oided the Maastricht-Aac hen road because the

Ge rma n Em bas sy i n Brusse ls h ad t old ou r German s

that the Reic h customs people there woul d be v ery strict

with us ; and our two car s were loaded down with booty

purchased w

thiev ish rate of twenty francs to one mark . The Ger-

man offic ers and officials had raided P aris, b uying suits,

Scotc h woollens for mak ing suits, hand bags, sil k stock-

ings, perfumes, underwear, etc . We drove around for

hours trying to find a lonel y customs post . The nearer

to the border we approached, the more ous the Ger-

mans be cam e . An officer of the H igh Command -ne

of the most decent Germans I know - ept pointing out

to me how emb arrassing it would b e for him, in uniform,

to b e caugh t red-hande d b ringing in so m uch b ooty.

He said his fell ow office rs had been ab using their op-

portunities so scand alousl y that Hitler him self a few

days before had issued a bl unt order to the cu stoms

guards to seize ev erything found on returning officers

or me n . I finally offer ed to take the bl ame, if it came

to a showdown, and explain to the cus toms people that

the booty was all m ine .

The littl e val ley east of Liege was gre en and c ool in

the late afternoon, and there was l ittle trace of the war

except for one destroy ed vil lage and the blown-up

bridges of the main rail road line to Aac hen . Finally

we arrived . O ur chauffeur, a

privat e, who had ce rtainly b ought his share of the booty

in Paris, b ecame so nervous he alm ost ran down and



4 3 41940 BERLIN, June 27

killed the cus toms officer. B u t o u r H i g h C o m m a n d o f f i -

c e r s p o k e c o n v i n c i n g l y a n d f a s t , a n d w e g o t t h r o u g h

w i t h o u r p l u n d e r .

A r r i v e d i n A a c h e n j u s t i n t i m e t o c a t c h t h e n i gh t

t r a i n t o B e r l i n . S t i f f a n d c o l d f ro m fa t i g u e a n d l a c k

o f s l e e p , I s l u m p e d i n t o m y u pp e r b e r th a n d f e l l i m -

m e d i a t e l y i n to a h e a v y s l u m b e r . T h i s w a s a b o u t t e n p .m .

A b o u t e l ev e n t h i r t y I w a s a w a k e n e d b y a f u r i o us s h r i e k -

ing o f the si rens . B y t h e n o i s e , I c o u l d t e l l w e w e r e in

a s t a t i o n ( D ui s b u r g , I l a t e r l ea r n e d ) . T h e s i r e n h a d

h a r d l y s t o p p e d b e f o r e t h e t r a i n g o t o f f w i t h a t r e m e n -

d o u s j e r k a n d g a t h er e d s p e e d s o r a p i d ly I t h o u gh t s o m e

o f t h e c u r v e s w o u l d s u r e l y d e r a i l u s . I w a s n o w f u l ly

a w a k e n e d a n d n o t a l i t t l e s c a r e d - o b e p e r f e c t l y h o n -

e s t . Above the no is e o f the t rain , I cou ld hear the Bri t -

is h bombers flying low, then diving s till lower, and obvi-

o u s l y t r y i n g t o g e t u s . ( K e r k e r s a i d n e x t m o r n i n g h e

sawt h e m f r o m t h e c a r w i n d o w . ) A p p a r e n t l y t h e B r i t -

i s h i n t h e e n d g a v e o u r t r a i n u p a s s m a l l f r y , w h i c h i t

w a s . I f e l t no b o m b e x pl o s i o n s , a t l e a s t . T h e s o u n d o f

t h e B r i t is h p l a n e s d i e d a w a y . O u r e n g i n e e r s l o w e d d o w n

the t rain to a reasonab le s peed . I w e n t b a c k t o s l e e p .

BERLIN, June 27

To sum up

M a k e s o m e r e s e r v a t i o ns . That i t i s too early to know

a l l . That you d idn ' t see al l , by any means . And al l that .

B u t f r o m w h a t I ' v e s e e n i n B e l g i u m a n d F r a n c e a n d

f r o m t a l k s I ' v e h a d w i t h G e r m a n s a n d F r e n c h i n b o t h

c o u n t ri e s , a n d w i t h F r e n c h , B e l g ia n , a n d B r i t is h p r i s -

o n e r s a l o n g t h e r o a d s , i t s e e m s f a i r l y c l e a r t o m e t h a t :

F r a n c e d i d n o t f i g h t .

I f s he did, there is little evidence of it. N o t o n l y I ,

b u t s e v e r a l o f m y f r i e n d s h a v e d r i v e n f r o m t h e G e r m a n



1 9 4 0 BERLIN, J un e 2 7435

border to P aris and back, al ong all the main roads.

None of us saw any evidence of serious f ighting.

The fiel ds of Franc e are undisturbed. There was

no fighting on any sustained line . Th e German ar my

hurled itself forward along the roads . Ev en on the

roads there is littl e sign that the Frenc h did any more

than harry their enemy . And even this was done only

in th e to wns a nd villages . But it was only harrying, de-

laying . There was no attempt to come to a halt on a l ine

and strike ba ck in a well -organized counter-attac k.

But since the Germans chose to fight the war on t he

roads, why didn't the Frenc h stop them? Roads mak e

i d e a l t a r g e t s f o r a r t i l l e ry . And yet I have not seen one

yard of road in northern France which shows the effec ts

o f a r t i l l e r y f i r e . Drivi ng to P aris ov er the area where

the sec ond German offensive b egan, an officer fro m the

Hig h Co mma nd who had m iss ed the camp pt

mumbl ing that he co uld not understa nd it, that up there

on that height, dominating the road and providing won-

derful artil lery c over with its dense woods, the French

must have had the se nse to p lant a few guns . Just a few

would hav e made the r oad impassabl e, he kept rep eat-

ing, a nd he would order us to stop whil e he studied the

situation . But there had b een no guns on those wooded

heights and there were no she -holes on or near the road .

The Germans had passed along here with their m ighty

army, hardly firing a sho t .

The Frenc h bl ew up many bridges . But they also left

many strategic ones standing, espec iall y over the M euse,

a great natural defenc e b ecause of the deepness, the

steep ness of the val ley, and its woode d cover. More than

one French so ldier I talk ed to thought it was downright

treachery .

At no point in France and at onl y two or three in

Belgium did I see a road p roperly m ined, or, for that



4 36 1 9 4 0 BERLIN,J u ne 2 7

m a t t e r, m i n ed a t a ll . I n t h e v i l l a g e s a n d t o w n s t h e

F r e n c h h a d h a s t i l y t h r o w n u p t a n k - b a r r i e r s , u s u a l l y o f

b l o c k s o f s t o n e a n d ru b b i s h . B u t t h e G e r m a n s b r u s h e d

t h e m a s i d e i n m in u t es . A h u g e c r a t e r l e f t b y a n e x -

p l o d e d m i n e c o u ld n o t h a v e b e e n b ru s h e d a s i d e i n a f e w

m i n u t e s .

D . B . i n P a r i s , h a v i n g s e e n t h e w a r f ro m t h e o t h e r

s i d e , c o n c l u d e s t h a t t h e r e w a s t r e a c h e ry i n t h e F r e nc h

a r m y f r o m t o p t o b o t t o m - he fascis ts at the top, the

Comm unists at the bottom . And fro m German and

F r en c h s o u r c e s a l i k e I h e a r d m a n y s t o r i e s o f h o w t h e

C o m m u n i s t s h a d r e c e i v e d t h e i r o rd e r s f ro m t h e i r p a r t y

n o t t o f i g h t , a n d d i d n ' t . . . .

M a n y F r en c h p r i s o n e r s s a y t h e y ne v e r s a w a b a t t l e .

W h e n o n e s e e m e d i m m i n e n t , o r d e r s c a m e t o r e t r e a t . I t

w a s t h i s c o n s t a n t o r d e r t o r e tr e a t b e f or e a b a t t l e h a d

b e e n j o i n e d , o r a t l e a s t b e f o r e i t h a d b e e n f o u g h t o u t ,

t h a t b r o k e t h e B e lg i a n r e s i s t a n c e .

T he G e r m a n s t h e m s e l v e s s a y t h a t i n o ne t a n k b a t t l e

they were at tacked by a large f leet o f French tanks after

t h e y h a d t h e m s e l v e s r u n o u t o f a m m u n i t i o n . T h e G e r -

m a n c o m m a n d e r o r d e r e d a r e t r e a t . A f t e r t h e G e r m a n

t a n k s h a d r e t i r ed s o m e d i s t a n c e t o t h e r e a r , w i t h t h e

F r e n c h f o l l o w in g t h e m o n l y v e r y c a u t i o u s l y , t h e G e r -

m a n s r e c e i v e d o r d e rs t o t u r n a bo u t a n d s i m u l a t e a n a t -

t a c k , f i r i n g a u t o m a t i c p i s t o l s o r a n y t h i ng t h e y h a d o u t

o f t h e i r t a n k s , a n d e x e c u t i n g c o m p l i c a t e d m a n o e u v re s .

T h is t h e y d i d , a n d t h e F r e n c h , s e e i n g a n a r m a d a o f

t a n k s d e s c e n d u p o n t h e m , t h o ug h t h e s e w e r e w i t h ou t

a m m u n i t i o n , t u r n e d a n d f l e d .

O n e G e r m a n t a n k o f f i c e r I t a l k e d t o i n C o m p i e g n e

s a i d : " F r e nc h t a n k s i n s o m e w a y s w e r e s u p e r i or t o o u r s .

They had he av ier armour . A n d a t t i m e s - o r a f e w

h o ur s , s a y - h e F re n c h t a n k c o rp s fo u g h t b ra v e l y a n d

well . Bu t s oon we go t a defin i te feel ing that thei r heart



1 9 4 0 BE R L I N ,

J u n e 2 7 4 3 7

wasn't in it . When we learned that, and acted on the

b e l i e f, i t w a s a l l o v e r ." A m onth before , I wou ld hav e

thought such talk rank N azi propaganda . N ow I be-

l i e v e i t .

Another mystery : After th e Germans b roke through

the Franc o-Belgian b order fr om Maubeuge to Sedan,

they tell that they continued right on acro ss northern

France to the se a hardly firin g a shot . When they got

to the sea, Boulogne and Cal ais were defe nded mostl y

by the British . The whole French army seemed para-

lysed, unab le to provide the least ac slightest

counter-thrust .

True, the Germ ans had air superiority . True, the

British didn't prov ide the air power they c ould and

should hav e pro vided . Y et even that does not exp lain

the Frenc h debacl e . From what one can see, the effec-

tiveness of the air e in this war has b een over-empha-

s i z e d . O ne read of the great mass air attacks on the

Allied c olumns along th e ro ads . But you look in v ain

for the evidence of it . There are no bomb

craters . True, the German technique was first to ma-

chine-gun the troops and then,w

to the side of the road , to b omb thesides (thus sparing

the road when they wanted to u er) . But you

a l s o s e e l i t t le e v i d e n c e o f t h i s . A crater here and there

along the roadside or in a near-by field-b ut not

enough to destro y an arm y . The m ost de adly work of

the German air force was at Dunkirk, where the Br itish

stopped the Germans dead for ten d .

On the whole, then, while the French he re and there

fought val iantly and even stubb ornly, their ar my seems

to have b een paralysed as so on as the G ermans m ade

their first break -throu gh. Then it c oll apsed, almost

without a fight . In the first pl ace the Frenc h, as though

drugged, had no will to fight, even when their soil wa



4 3 8 ,1940 BERLIN, June 27

inv aded by their most hated enemy . There was a com-

pl ete coll apse of French so ciety and of the Frenc h soul .

Secondl y, there was either treach ery or criminal negl i-

gence in the H igh Com mand and am ong the high offi-

c e r s i n t h e f i e l d. Among l arge masses of tr oops Com-

munist propaganda had won the day . And its message

was : " Don't fight." N ever were the masses so betrayed .

Two other c onsideration s

First, the qual ity of the A ll ied and German comm and-

i n g o f f i c e r s . O nly a few weeks ago Gene ral S ir Edmund

Ironside, chief of the British I mperial General S taff,

was b oasting to American co rrespond ents in L ondon of

the great advantag e he had in posse ssing several gen-

erals in France who h ad been div ision co mmanders in

the W orld War, whereas all the German generals were

younger men who had nev er c ommanded more than a

company in the last war . S ir Edmund thought the

World War experienc e of his older general s would tel l

in the end .

It was an idl e b oast and no doubt the general regre ts

it now in the light of what has happene d . Tru e, th e

commanding office rs of the German arm y are, for the

most part, m ere youngsters c ompared to the French

generals we have seen. T h e l a t t e r s t r i k e y o u a s c i v i l i z e d ,

intellectu al, frai l, ailing old men who stoppe d thinking

new thoughts twenty ye ars ago and have tak en no

physical exercise in the last ten years . T he Ge rma n

generals are a compl ete contras t . M ore than one not

yet forty, most of them in the forties, a few at the very

t o p i n t h e i r f i f t i e s . And they hav e the characteristic s

of youth

-ash, daring, imagination, initiative, and

physic al prowess. General v on Reichenau, comm ander

of a whole arm y in P oland, was first to cr oss the Vistul a

River . He s wam i t. T he co mmander of the few hund red

Germa n parachutists at Rotterdam wa s a general, who



1 9 4 0 BERLIN, June 274 3 9

t o o k h i s c h a n c e s w i t h t he l i e u te n a n t s a n d p r i v a t e s , a n d

w a s i n f a c t s e v e r e l y w ou n d e d . A l l t h e b i g G e r m a n t a n k

a t t a c k s w e r e led in pers on by comm anding gene rals .

Th e y d i d n o t s i t i n t h e s a fe t y o f a d u g -o u t t e n m i l e s

b e h i n d t h e l in e s a n d d i r e c t b y r a d i o . T h e y s a t i n t h e i r

t a n k s i n t h e t h ic k o f t h e f r a y a n d d i r e c t e d b y r a d i o a n d

s i g n a l l i n g f r o m w h e r e t h e y c o u l d s e e h o w t h e b a t t l e w a s

going

A n d a s w a s t o b e e x p ec t e d f r o m y o u t h , t he s e y o u n g

g e n e r a l s d i d n o t h e s i t a t e a t t i m e s t o a d o p t i n no v a t i o n s ,

t o d o t h e u n o r t h o d o x t h i n g , t o t a k e c h a n c e s .

T h e g r e a t t r o u bl e w i t h t h e A l l i e d c o m m a n d - s p e -

c i a l l y t h e F r e nc h - w a s t h a t i t w a s d o m i n a t e d b y o l d

m e n w h o m a d e t h e f a t a l m i s t a k e o f t h i n k i n g t h a t t h i s

w a r w o u l d b e f o u gh t o u t h e s a m e g e n e r a l l i n e s a s t h e

l a s t w a r . Th e r i g i d i t y o f t h e i r m i l i t a ry t h i n k i n g w a s

f i x e d s o m e w h e re b e t w e e n 19 1 4 a n d 1 9 1 8 , a n d t h e m a t r i x

o f t h e ir m i n d s w a s n e v e r b r o k e n . I t h i nk t h i s h e l p s t o

e x p l a i n w h y , w h e n c o n f r o nt e d b y t h e G e r m a n s w i t h a

n e w t y p e o f w a r , t h e F r e n c h w e r e u n a b l e t o a d j u s t t h e m -

s e l v e s t o c o u n t e ri n g i t .

I t w a s n ' t t h a t t he s e t i r e d o l d m e n h a d t o a d a p t t h e m -

s e l v e s t o a r e v o l u t i o n a r y k i n d o f w a r f a r e o v e r n i g h t .

O n e o f t h e m y s t e r i e s o f t h e c a m p a i g n i n t h e w e s t i s t h a t

t h e A l l i ed c o m m a n d s e e m s n e v e r t o h a v e b o t h er e d t o

l e a r n t h e l es s o n o f t h e P o l is h c a m p a i g n . F o r i n P o l a n d

t h e G e r m a n a r m y r e v e a l e d t h e t a c t i c s i t w o u l d u s e i n

t h e l o w la n d s a n d F r a n c e - p a r a c h u ti s t s a n d S t uk a s t o

d i s r u p t c o m m u n i c a t i o ns i n t h e r e a r , a n d s w i f t , n e e d le -

l ike thrusts wi th Panzer d i v i s i o n s d o w n t h e m a i n r oa d s

t h ro u g h t h e e n e m y l i n e s , p u s h i n g t h e m e v e r d e e p e r a n d

then closing them like great steel claws, avoiding frontal

a t t a c k , g i v i n g n o o p p o r t u n i t y f o r f r o n t a l d e f e n c e a l o n g

a line, s triking far into the enemy's rear before he could

o r g a n i z e fo r a s t a n d . E i g h t m o n t h s e l a p s e d b e t w e e n t he



4 401 9 4 0

BERLIN, June 27

Polish campaign and the offensive in the west, and yet

there is littl e evidence that the gener al s of B ritain and

France used this prec ious tim e to organiz e a new sys-

tem of defence to cope with the tactics they watched

the Germans use in Po land. Pr obab ly they greatly un-

derestimat ed the fight the P oli sh army put up ; proba-

bl y they th ought it had been merely a badly armed rab-

bl e, and that against a first-r ate army l ike the French ,

entrenc hed behind its Maginot L ine, the new style of

warfare would beat its head in vain. Had the Maginot

Li ne reall y extende d from Sedan to the s ea, this attitude

might hav e been justified. But as the All ies knew, and

as the Germans remem bered, the Maginot L ine prope r

stopped so me mil es to the east of Sedan .

The second c onsideration is the fantasticall y good

morale of the German army . Few people who have not

seen it in action realize how different this army is from

the one the K aiser sent hurtling into Bel gium an d

France in 1914 . I re member m y surp rise at K iel l ast

Christm as to find an entirely new esprit in the German

navy . This espritwas b ased on a camaraderie between

officers and men. The sam e is true of th e German army .

It is hard to expl ain. T he old Prussian goose-ste p, the

h e e l - c l i c k i n g , t h e " Jawohl " of the pr iv ate when answer-

i n g a n o f f i c e r , a r e s t i l l t h e r e. But the great gulf b etween

offic ers and men is gone in this war. There is a sort of

equal itarianism . I fe lt it from the first day I came in

contac t with the arm y at the front. The Germ an officer

no l onger represe nts - r a t l e a s t i s c o n s c i o u s o f r e p r e -

senting

-class or caste . And the men in the ranks

f e e l t h i s. They fe el l ike m embers o f one great famil y .

Even the salute has a ne w meaning. German privates

salute each other , thus m aking the gesture more of a

comradel y greeting than the mere rec ognition of su-

perior rank . In cafes, restaurants, dining-cars, officers



1940BERLIN, June 27 441

and men off duty s it at the same tabl e and c onv erse as

men to men. This would have b een unthinkabl e in the

last war and is probab ly unusual in the armies of the

West, incl uding our own . In the field, officers and men

usuall y eat fro m the sam e soup kitchen. At Compiegne

I had my l unch with a youthful captain who lin ed up

with the men to get his rations from a mobile " soup

ca nnon." In Paris I r ecall a colonel who was treating

a dozen privates to an exce ll ent lunch in a little Basque

restau rant off the avenue de l 'Opera. When lunch was

over, he drew, with all the c are of a loving father, a

plan for them t o vi sit the sights of P aris . T he respec t

of these ordinary s oldiers for their co lonel would b e hard

to exaggerate . Y et it was not for his rank, b ut for the

man . Hitler himsel f has drawn up detailed instruc tions

for German officers about taking a n interest in the per-

sonal problem s of th eir men . O ne of the most efficient

units in the German arm y at the front is its post offic e

which brings letters and packages from home to the

men, regardl ess of where they are, and which attends

to the dispatc h of letters and packages from the men

home in record time . There are few German soldiers

who have not dispatched in the last stoc kings

and perfume home to their famil ies throu gh the free

facilities of the arm y post offic e.

One reason for the exc ell ent moral e of the tro ops is

their realiz ation that they and not the c iv il ians back

home are rece iv ing the best treatment the nation can

afford . They get the pick of the food and c lothing av ail-

able . In the winter the homes of Germany m ay not be

heated, but the barracks are . The civil ians in the s afe

jobs may not see oranges and coffee and fresh vege-

tabl es, but the tr oops see them every day . L ast Christ-

mas it was the soldiers who sent fo od pac kages home to

their families, and not the reverse. Hitler once said



442 1940 BERLIN, June 28

that as a p rivate o f the last war he wou ld s ee to i t that

t h e m e n i n t h e n e w a r m y b e n ef i t e d b y t h e l e s s o n s h e

h a d l e a r n e d . A n d i n t h is o n e c a s e , a t l e a s t , h e s e e m s t o

h a v e k e p t h i s p r o m i s e .

BERLIN, June 28

A word about something the Germans will

s h o o t m e f o r i f t h e G e s t a p o o r t h e M i l it a r y I n t e l l ig e n c e

ever find these notes . ( I h i d e t h e m a b o u t m y h o t e l ro o m

h e r e , b u t e v e n a n a m a t e u r d e t e c t i v e c o u l d f i n d t h e m

e a s i l y e no u g h . )

I h a v e b e e n s h o c k e d a t t h e w a y t h e G e r m a n a r m y i n

B e l g i u m a n d F r a n c e h a s b e e n a b u s i n g t h e R ed C r o s s

s i g n .

T h e o t h e r d a y w h e n w e w e r e w i t h i n f o r t y m i l e s o f

P a r i s , w e s t o p p e d a t a b i g a r m y g a s o l i n e d u m p to r e -

fuel our cars . F o r t y o r f i f t y a r m y o i l t r u c k s w e r e d r a w n

u p u nd e r t h e t r e e s o f a n o r c h a r d . S e v e r a l o f th e m w e r e

p l a s t e r e d w i th h ug e Re d C ro s s s i g n s . M a n y o f t h e o r d i -

n a r y t r uc k s w i t h c a n v a s t o p s w h i c h w e r e b ei n g u s e d t o

c a r r y d r u m s o f o i l ha d r e d c r o s s e s o n t h e i r s i d e s a n d

r o o f s a n d i n d e e d l o o k e d l i k e R ed C r o s s a m b u l a n c e s . A

G e r m a n o f f i c e r a p p a r e n t l y n o t i c e d m e t a k i n g i n t h i s

s h a m e l es s m i s u s e o f t h e R ed Cr o s s s i g n . H e h u r r i ed l y

b u n d l e d u s i n t o o u r c a r s a n d g o t u s o f f .

This m ay explain why the Luftwaffe has not re -

s p e c t ed t h e m a r k o f t h e R e d C r os s o n t h e A l l ie d s i d e .

G o r i n g pr o b a b ly f i g u r es t h a t t h e A l l i es a r e d o i n g j u s t

w h a t h e d o e s . T h i s m a y e x p l a i n s o m e t h i n g t h e c o r r e -

s p o n d e n ts w h o w e n t i n t o D u nk i r k t h e o t h e r d a y t o l d

me . T h e t hi n g t h a t s h o c k e d t h e m m o s t t h e r e w a s t h e

s i g h t o f t he c h a r r e d r e m a i n s o f a l o n g l i n e o f B r i t i s h

and French R ed Cross am bul ances drawn up on the

quay . T h e y h a d b e e n a b o u t t o u n l o a d t h e w o u n d e d o n



1 9 4 0 BERLIN, June 28443

s o m e s h i p s , i t wa s e v i d e n t , a n d t h e n t h e St u k a s h a d c o m e

o v e r a n d b o m b e d t h e m w i t h e x p l o s i v e a n d i n c e n d i a r y

bombs . The burn t bod ies o f the wounded st i l l lay in the

ambulance s . N o G e r m a n p i l o t , t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n t s o b -

s e r v e d , c o u l d h a v e f a i l e d t o s e e t h e l a r g e Re d C r o s s

m a r k s o n t h e t o p o f t h e a m b u l a n c e s .

I noticed too in Belgium and France many Ger-

m a n s t a f f o f fi c e r s r i d i n g u p a n d d o w n i n c a r s m a r k e d

w i t h - t h e R e d C r o s s .

T o d a y w a s t h e t w e n t y - fi r s t a n n i v e r s a r y o f t h e s i g n -

i n g o f t h e Tr e a t y o f Ve r s a i l l e s . A n d t h e w o r l d i t c r e -

a t e d a p p e a r e d t o b e g a s p i n g i t s s w a n - s o n g t o d a y a s

G e r m a n t r o o p s r e a c h e d t h e S p a n i s h b o r d e r , a n d S o v i e t

troops marched into Bess arab ia and Bu kov ina . In

P a r i s l a s t w e e k I l e a r n e d o n g o o d a u t h or i t y t h a t Hi t l e r

p l a n n e d a f u r t h e r h u m i l i a t i o n o f F r a n c e b y h o l d i n g a

v i c t o r y p a r a d e b e f o r e t h e P a l a c e o f V e r s a i l l e s o n t h i s

t w e nt y - f ir s t a n n i v e r s a r y d a y . H e w o u ld m a k e a s p e e c h

f r o m t h e Ha l l o f M i r r or s , w h e r e i t w a s s i g n e d , p r o c l a i m -

ing its official end . F o r s o m e r e a s o n i t w a s c a l l e d o f f .

It is to be held, instead, in Berlin, I hear .

O f f i c i a l c o m m e n t o n R u s s i a ' s g r a b b i n g B e s s a r a b i a

and Bu kovina from R umani a today was : " Rumania

h a s c h o s e n t h e r e a s o n a b l e w a y . "

T h e n o m i n a t i o n o f W i ll k i e g e t s t h r e e l i n e s i n t h e

B e r l i n p r e s s t o d a y . I t refers to him as " G e n e r a l - D i r e k -

t o r " W i l l k i e .

O n e o r t w o A m e r i c a n r e pr e s e n t a t i v e s o f A m e r i c a n

p re s s a s s o c i at i on s s p ok e s o s t ro n gl y t o Dr . B o e h m e r ,

t h e P r o p a g a n d a M i n is t r y p re s s c h i e f , a b o u t o ur r a d i o

s c o o p o n t h e a r m i s t i c e a t C o m p i eg n e t h a t h e a s s u r e d

t h e m I h a d n o t b e e n a l l ow e d t o u s e a G e r m a n t r a n s m i t -

t e r b u t m u s t h a v e g o t m y s t o r y o ut o v e r " s o m e F r e n c h



44 4 19 40 B E R L I N , June 28

station ." Actually we used a German transmitter and

one located just outside of Ber lin at Zeesen, as Dr .

Boehmer no doubt k nows .

As a matter of fact, the Germans did a superb tech ni-

cal job on our two armistice broadcast s . By a super-

human effort, army comm unication engineer s had laid

down in a co uple of days a radio-c able l ine from Brus-

sels to th e Compiegne Forest . Earl ier in the c ampaign

they had link ed up the Belgian capital with Col ogne,

the nearest Germ an point on the Reic h net of radio-

cabl e lines . How nec essary it was to hav e a radio-cabl e

and not just a mere ov erhead telephone line was shown

the first day at Compiegne . Whereas the voi ces of

Kerker and myself came into N ew York, we were in-

formed, as clear as a bel l, the Americ an newspaper c or-

respondents, tel ephoning their stories only as far as

Berlin over an ordinar y ov erhead telephone wire, com-

plained that ev en by shouting at the top of th eir voices

they could scarcely m ake them selv es understood in

Berlin .

Given a perfect cabl e l ine over Bruss els and C ologne

to Zees en, nine tenths of our troubl es were over . The

German Broadcasting System provided us with m icro-

phones, which they set up within fifty feet of the armi-

stice c ar, and with an a mpl ifier truc k. That was all we

needed . Also, in Berlin the R RG had a m an calling

New York constantly over the shor twave to inform them

when we would be on the air . Paul White cabl es that

on the first day they only picked us up one minute b e-

fore we starte d talk ing, which gav e very littl e time to

cut off the program then on the air and swi tch to us.

Our scoo p, l ike al l scoops, was due largely to a combi-

nation of l ucky circ umstances . In the first place, we

did not know until the next day that the o fficial com-

muniq ue on the signing of the ar mistice had had to be



1940 E R L I N ,June 28 445

a p p r o v e d b y H i t le r b e f o r e i t w a s r e l e a s e d i n B e r l i n. A s

H i tl e r w a s s o m e d i s t a n c e a w a y , t h i s t o o k s e v e r a l h ou r s.

W e h a d s u p p o s e d t h a t t h e D N B h a d r e l e a s e d t h e c o m -

m u n i q u e i n B e r l i n a s s o o n a s i t w a s f l a s h e d f r o m C om -

p i e g ne a t s i x f i f t y p .m . , t h e s e c o n d t h e a r m i s t i c e w a s

s i g n e d . We d id no t go on the ai r un t i l eigh t-f i fteen , an

h o u r a n d t w e n t y - fi v e m i n u t e s l a t e r .

I n fact we were held up fo rty -five minu tes beca us e the

R R G q u i t e n a t u ra l l y w a s u s i n g t h e c a b l e l i n e t o c l e a r

i t s o w n G e r m a n b r o a d c a s t t o B e r li n . F o r t u n a t e l y f o r

u s , t h i s G e r m a n a c c o u n t wa s n o t r e br o a d c a s t s i m u l t a n e -

o u s l y, b u t r e c o rd e d i n B e r l i n a n d h e l d u n t i l t h e H ig h

C o m m a n d c o u l d o k a y i t . T h i s , f o r t u n a t e l y f o r us , t o o k

s e v e r a l h o ur s.

N o w , t h e d a y b e f o r e, t h e H i g h C o m m a n d h a d f o r c e d

u s t o g o t h r ou g h t h e s a m e p r o c e s s . T h a t i s , w e h a d h a d

t o b r o a d c a s t o u r d e s c r i p t i on o f t h e f i r s t d a y t o B e r l i n ,

w h e re i t w a s r e c o rd e d a n d p l a y e d o f f t o t h e a rm y c e n -

s o r s , a n d w e h a d o n l y g o n e o n t h e a i r d i r e c t l y t o N e w

Y o r k a f t e r t h e m i l i t a r y i n B e r l i n h a d g i v e n u s t h e g o -

ahead . B u t o n t h e s e c o n d d a y I s a w a n o p p o r t u ni t y o f

t a k i n g a d v a n t a g e o f t h e e x c i t e m e n t o f t h e G e r m a n s o v e r

t h e s i g n i n g o f t h e a rm i s t i c e , a n d b y m u c h b l u d g e o n i n g

a n d w i t h t h e c o - o p e r a t i o n o f t h r e e G e r m a n s - ada-

m o w s k y , h e a d o f t h e G e r m a n r a d i o , D i e t t r i c h , h e a d o f

t h e s h o r t w a v e , a n d a c e r t a i n c o l o n e l o f t h e G e r m a n H i g h

Command - e d i s p e n s e d w i t h t h e r e c o rd i n g a n d w e n t

o n t h e a i r d i r e c t t o N e w Yo r k . W e w e r e n o t s u p p o s e d

to. L a t e r t h e t h r e e a b o v e - m e n t i o ne d g e n t l e m e n s w o r e

w e w e re n o t s u p p o s e d t o b e o n t h e a i r . T h e i m p o r t a n t

t h i n g w a s t h a t i n t h e e x c i t e m e n t I h a d g o t t h e m t o g i v e

t h e a l l - i m p o r t a n t o rd e r m e re l y t o t h ro w a s w i t c h i n a

B e r l i n c o n t r o l r o o m w h i c h p u t u s o n t h e a i r , d i r e c t t o

New York . When H itler, the H igh Com mand, and Dr

G o e b b e L s l e a r n e d t h a t w e h a d g i v e n t h e A m e r i c a n p e o -



446 1940 BERLIN, June 28

ple a detail ed thirty-minute description of the sign-

ing of the armistice se veral hours before the signing was

even officiall y announc ed in Berlin and several hours

more b efore the G erman radio gav e it to their own peo-

ple, they were fur ious. My three Germ an friends faced

court-martial or worse and spent some very uncomfort-

abl e days before th e matter fin all y bl ew over .

The curiou s thing is that the Ge rman arm y alone in

this country understands the position of Am erican radio

as a purveyor of news and news analysis in the U nited

States . Dr . Goeb bel s and his for eign press c hief, Dr .

Boehmer, hav e never apprec iated it, and it was only at

the insistence of the army that Kerker and I were taken

to Compiegne at all . Boehmer, who is definitely anti-

radio, actuall y rushed Lochner, H uss, and O echsne r,

the three American agency c orrespondents, from C om-

piegne to B erlin b y air the morning of the day the armi-

stice was signed so that from the German capital they

could b e first with the ne ws. As it turned out, this wa s

a strategic error and there was not a singl e press corr e-

spondent at Compiegne the day the armistice was made .

Though a couple of the American news correspond-

ents have often c ompl ained to th e Naz is about taking

me to the front, on the ground that instantaneous radio

communication puts them at a disadv antage, since they

must fil e their stor ies by the slower m ethod of telephone

and cabl e relays, I have tried to iron out this absurd

competitiv e idea by agreeing to hold up m y ordinary

broadcasts until their stories could get through to New

York. Since NBC and CBS subscribe to all the pre ss

assoc iations, there is no danger of radio ev er being

scooped by the press . And I feel we are doing di fferent

jobs which, afte r all , m erely co mpl ement each other .

There shou ld b e no insane r iv al ry between American

press and radio over here .



19 40 G EN EVA, J uly 4 4

GE NE VA , J uly 4

Here for a week 's rest. The smel l of the dead

horses and the dead so ldiers in Belgium and France

seems a part of anot her wor ld you l ived in a long tim e

ago . T he excited c ries of Eileen w hen I tak e her in

s w i m m i n g f o r t h e f i rs t t i m e o f h e r l i f e a t t h e pr o u d a g e

o f t w o a n d a h a l f , t h e s o f t v o i c e o f Te s s r e a d i n g a f a i r y -

tal e to Eileen b efore sh e goes to bed -these become

real ities again and are good.

Everyone here is full of talk about the "new Eu-

rope," a theme that b rings shud ders to most people.

The Swiss, who m obil ized more m en per c apita tha n

any other c ountry in the w orld, are dem obil izing par-

tially. T h e y s e e t h ei r s i t u a t i o n a s p r e t t y h o p el e s s , s u r -

r o u n d e d a s t h e y a r e b y t h e v i c t o r i o u s t o t a l i t a r i a n s , f r o m

whom hencefo rth they must b eg facilities for bringing

in their food and other supp. N one h ave any illu-

sions about the kind of treatment they wi get from

t h e d i c t a t o r s . The papers are f ull of advice: Prepare

for a hard life . Gone, the high liv ing standar d. The

freedom of the indiv idual . Dece ncy in publ ic life.

Probab ly, too, the Swiss do not realize what the d -

tators reall y hav e in store f or them. And now that

France has c ompl etely coll apsed and the Germans and

Italians surround Switz erland, a m ilitary struggle in

s e l f - d e f e n c e i s h o p e l e s s.

Mont Blanc from the q uay today was magnificent,

its snow pink in the afternoon sun. L ater went to a

4th of Jul y c eleb ration at the c onsul's. N ice home in

the country and restful, with the co ws grazi ng in the

pastures around it

. T alked too much.

P e o p l e a r e t a l k i n g a b o u t t h e a c t i o n o f t h e B r i t i s h y e s -

terday in sinking three Frenc h battl eships in Oran to

sav e them from fall ing into the hands of the Ger mans

.



448 1940 GEN EVA , J u l y 5

The Frenc h, who hav e sunk to a depth below your im-

agination, say they wi ll break relations with Br itain .

They say they trusted Hitler's word not to use the

Frenc h fl eet against Britain . P i t i f u l . And yet there

wil l b e great bitterness throu ghout Franc e . T he En-

tente Cordiale is dead .

We had dinner along the lak e, on the Alpine side, un-

der a thick ol d che stnut tree, its b ranches extending

over the water . The Juras were bl uer - deep smoky

blue - han I'v e ever seen the m . They looked lonel y

and proud, and now the Germ ans were occu pying them .

I left the party and went ov er to the r ail t o gaze at

the scene as the sun was setting . The overwhelming

bl ue of the Juras h ad cas t its colour on Lake Genev a,

which was lik e glass, neatl y placed amongst the gre en

h i l l s a n d , t h e t r e e s . The l ights started to sp arkl e acro ss

the lake

GEN EVA , July 5

Avenol, Secretary-General of the L eague,

apparently thinks he'll have a job in Hitler's United

Stat es of Europ e . Y esterd ay he fired all the Britis h

secretaries and packed them off on a bus to France,

where they'll probab ly b e arre sted by the Germans or

the French .

Tonight in the sunse t the great white marbl e of the

League buil ding showed thro ugh the trees . It had a

nobl e look , and the League has sto od in the minds of

many as a nobl e hope . B u t i t h a s n o t t r i e d t o f u lf i l i t .

Tonight it was a shell, the buil ding, the institut ion, the

hope - ead



1940 BERLIN, July 9 449

BERLIN, July 8

Tomorrow France, which until a few weeks

ago was regarded as the l ast stronghold of dem ocracy

on the Continent, wil l shed its democr acy and join the

ranks of the totalitarian states . Lav al, whom Hitler

has picked to do his dirty work in France -the no-

toriou s Otto Abetz is the main go-between - will hav e

the French Chamber and Senate m eet and vote them-

selv es out of existe nce, handing over all power to Mar-

shal P etain , b ehind whom L aval will pull the st rings

as Hitl er's puppet dictator . The Naz is are laughing .

The arm istice c ar arriv ed here today .

BERLIN,July 9

The Nazis are still laughing . S aid the org an

of the Foreign O ffice, D i e n s t a u s D e u t s c h l a n d , in co m-

menting on V ichy's scrapping the Frenc h Parliam ent

today : " The change of the former regim e in France'

to an auth oritarian for m of governm ent will not influ-

ence in any way the political l iq uidation of the war .

The fact is that Germ any does not consider the Franco-

Germa n acc ounts as settl ed yet . L ater th ey will b e set-

tled with historic al realism . . . not only on the basis

of the two dec ades sinc e Versaill es, b ut they will also

tak e into acc ount much earlier tim es ."

Alfred Rosenberg tol d us at a press conference this

evening that Sweden would hav e to join the rest of

Scandinavia and come under the benev olent protectio n

of the Reich . Em issari es of Goe bbels and Ri bbentrop

who were in the room dashed out to inform the osses

of Rosenberg's bl unt remark s and were back b efore h e

had finish ed speaking, he b eing very l ong-winde d . They

passed notes to Dr . Boehmer, who was presiding. As



450 1 9 4 0 BERLIN, July 10

soon as R osenberg sat down, Boehmer popped up and

announc ed excite dly that R osenberg was speaking onl y

for himself and not for the Ger man gov ernment.

BERLIN, Jul y 10

Hans came in to see me . He h ad jus t driven

from Irun, on the Franc o-Spanish b order, to Berlin.

He said he c ould not get ov er the look s of Verdun, which

he v isited yester day . N ot a house the re has been

scratched, he said . Y et in the W orld War, when it was

nev er taken, not a house remained standing . There you

hav e the differenc e b etween 191 4-18 and 1940.

BERLIN, Jul y (undated )

Ral ph Barnes, corre spondent of the Herald

Tribune(and one of my ol dest friends ), who came here

from L ondon just before the big offensive, l eft B erlin

today, b y request. With him went Rus sell Hil l, assist-

ant to R al ph and to me. T hey were thrown out because

of a story of Ralph's that Ru sso-Ger man rel ations were

not so friendly now as of old . The Wilhelm strasse is

very touc hy on the subject, but I think the real reason

is the Naz i hate of the Herald Trib une'se d i t o r i a l p o l -

icy and its insistenc e on m aintaining fearlessly inde-

pendent correspondents her e -the only New Y ork

paper that does . Though Russ el l had nothin g to do

with the sto ry, the Naz is co uld not forgive him for his

steadfast re fusal to k nuckle down to them, and so too k

this opportunity to get rid of him too . Ralph a nd I had

a farewe ll walk in the Tierga rten this aftern oon, lie

naturall y depre ssed and no t q uite realizing that his go-

ing was a proof that he had m ore integrity than any of

us who are all owed to stay . '

1Within less than fo ur months he was kil led in a British bom ber

returning from a raid on the Italian lines in Alb ania.



1940 BERLIN, July 184 5 1

BERLIN, July 15

V

The German press today informed its readers

that Ger man troops of all arms " now stand ready for

the attack on Britain . The date of the attac k wil l b e

decide d by the Fiihrer al one ." O ne hears the H igh Com-

mand is not keen ab out it, but that Hitler in ts .

BERLIN, July 17

Th ree hun dr ed S .S . m en in Berlin have

start ed learning Swah ili . Swahili is the lingua fran ca

of the former Germa n colony in East Africa .

BERLIN, July 18

For the fi rst time since 187 1, German troops

staged a v ictory parade thro ugh the Brandenburg

Gate today . They comprised a divi sion consc ripted

from Berlin . S tores and fac tories c losed, b y order, and

the whole town turned out to chee r . Nothing pleases

the Berliners - naiv e and s impl e peop le on the whole

- ore than a good mil itary parade . And nothing more

than an afternoon off f rom their dull jobs and their

dismal homes . I mingl ed amon g the crowds in the P ari-

serplatz . A holiday spirit ruled co mpl etely . Nothing

m a r t i a l about the mass of the people here . They were

just out for a good time . L ooking at them , I wo ndered

if any of them understoo d what was going on in Europe,

i f t h e y h a d a n i n k l i n g t h a t t h e ir j o y , t h a t t h i s v i c t o r i o u s

parade of the goose-ste ppers, was b ased on a great trag-

edy for mil li ons of other s whom these troops and the

leaders o f thes e peop le had enslav ed . N ot one in a thou -

sand, I wager , gav e the matter a thought . It was some-

what sultry, and sco res of women in the Platz fainted .

An effic ient R ed Cross outfit hauled them from the pave-



4 5 2.1940 BE It I N, July 19

ment on stretch ers to a near-b y first-aid station.

The troops were tanned and hard-looking, and goose-

stepped past lik e automatons . O n e o f f i c e r' s h o r s e , o b v i -

ously unused to victory parade s, prov ided a brief com-

edy . Kicking wildl y, he b acked into the reviewing stand,

just missing Dr . Goebbels .

The la st time Germ an troops p araded through the

Brandenburger Tor after a war was on a dis mal cold

day of Decemb er 16 , 1918 . Tha t was the day the Prus-

sian Guard c ame home . M emories are shor t .

Hitler will speak in the Reic hstag tomorrow, we hear .

But we're threatened with expulsion if we say it to

America . Himml er is afraid th e British bomb ers will

come over . There is some spec ulation whether it will be,

as on the grey morning of Septem ber 1, an occasion to

announce a ne w Blitzkrieg - this time against Bri tain

- r a n o f f e r o f p e a c e . My hote l filled with big generals

arriving for the show

BERLIN, July 19

It is not to b e a Blitzkrieg against Britain .

At least not yet. In the R eichstag tonight, Hitler " o f -

fered " peace . He said he saw no re ason why this war

should go on . But of course it's peace with Hitler sit -

ting astride the Continent as its conqueror . L eaving th e

fantast ic show in the R eichstag - nd it was the most

colourful of al l I've ever seen - wondered what the

British wo uld m ake of it . As t o the Germans, the re's

no doubt . As a manoeuv re c al culated to rall y them for

the fight against Britain, it was a m asterpiec e . For the

German people will now say : " Hitler offers Engl and

peace, and no strings at tached . He says he sees no rea-

son why this war should go on . I f i t d o e s , w h y , i t ' s E n g -

land's fault ."



1940 B E R L I N , J u l y 19 4 5 3

I wondered a litt le what answer the British would

make, and I had hardly arrived at the Run d funk to

prepare my tal k when I pic ked up the B BC in German . "

And there was the answer al ready ! It was a great b ig

No . The m ore I thought of it, the l ess I was surprised .

Peace for B ritain with Germ any ab solute m aster of the

Continent is impossibl e . Also : the Br itish must hav e

some reason to b eliev e they can su ccessfull y defend their

island and in the end b ring H itler down . For Hitler has

given them an easy way out to save at l east some piec es

for the mselv es. O nly a year and a half ago at Munich I

saw them grasping at such a straw . The BBC N o was

very em phatic . T he annou ncer heape d ridic ule on Hit-

ler's every utterance. O ffic ers fr om the High Command

and offic ials from various ministries sitting around the

room could not believ e their ears . O ne of them shouted

at me : " Can you make it out? Can you understand

those Britis h fools? To turn down peace now?" I

merely grunte d . " They're cr azy," he said

Hitl er put h is peac e "offer" very el oquently, at

least for Germans . He said: " In this hour I feel it my

duty before m y own consc ience to appe al once more to

reason and c ommon sense. I c an see no reason why this

war must go on ."

There was no applause, no cheer ing, no stam ping of

heavy boots . There was silence. And it was tense . For

1 I t i s o n l y f a i r t o s t a t e t h a t t h e o f f i c i a ls o f t h e G e r m a n S t a t e

Broadcast ing Com pany, who treated m e with the greatest co urtesy

throughout the war , nev er objected to my l istening to what th e

enemy had to say on the BBC . T h e y us u a l l y p u t a r a d i o s e t a t m y

disposal for this purpose . Foreign correspondents were exempted

f r o m t h e d e c r e e p r o h i b i t i n g l is t e n i n g t o f o r ei g n r a d i o s t a t i o n s a s

l o n g a s t h e y d i d n o t p a s s o n w h a t t h ey h e a r d t o G e r m a n s. R a d i o p r o -

vided the only means we in Berlin had of learning g

on in the outside worl d . Sal e of fore ign newspaper s exce pt those

f r o m I t a l y o r t h e o c c u p i e d c i t i e s w a s f o r bi d d e n . O c c a s i o n a l l y a f e w

American newspapers and periodicals got through in the mail s, b ut

t h e y w e r e f ro m t w o t o s i x m o n t h s o l d b y t h e t i m e t h e y a r r i v e d.



4 5 4 1940 BE ILL IN, July 19

in their hearts the Germans long for peace now . Hitler

went on in the silence : "I am grieved to think of the sac -

rifices which it will claim . I s hould like to avert them,

a l s o f o r m y o w n p eo p le . "

T h e Hi t l e r w e s a w i n t h e R e i c h s t a g t o n i g h t w a s t h e

conqueror, and conscious of it, and yet so wonderful an

ac to r , s o m ag n i f icen t a h an d le r of th e G er m a n m in d ,

that he mixed s uperbly the full confidence of the con-

q u e r o r w it h t h e h um b l e ne s s w h i c h a l wa y s g o e s d o w n s o

w e l l w i th t h e m a s s e s w h e n t h e y k n o w a m a n i s o n t o p .

H i s v o i c e w a s l o w e r t o n i g h t ; h e r a r e ly s h o u te d a s h e

usually does ; and he d id no t once cry ou t hysterical ly as

I 've s een h im do so o ften from th is rost rum . His oratori-

cal fo rm was at i t s best . I 've o ften sat in the gal lery of

t h e K r ol l O pe r a Ho u s e a t t h e s e R e i c h s t a g s e s s i o n s

w a t c h i ng t h e m a n a s h e s p o k e a n d c o n s i d e r in g w h a t a

s u p e r b a c t o r he w a s , a s i n d e e d a r e a l l g o o d o r a t o r s .

I 've often admired the way he uses his hands , which are

s o m e w h a t f e m in i n e a n d q u i t e a r t i s t i c . To n i g h t h e us e d

t h o s e h a n d s b e a u t ifu l l y, s e e m e d t o e x pre s s h i m s e l f a l -

m o s t a s m u c h w i th h i s h a n d s - a n d t h e s w a y o f h i s

b o d y - a s h e d i d w i t h h i s w o r d s a n d t h e u s e o f h i s

vo ice . I no t iced too h is g i f t fo r using h is face and eyes

(cock ing h is eyes) and the tu rn o f h is head fo r i rony, o f

which there was considerable in tonight's s peech, espe-

cia lly when he referred to Mr . Churchill .

I notic ed again, too, that he can tell a lie with as

s t r a i gh t a f a c e a s a n y m a n . Probably s ome of the lies

are not lies to him becaus e he believes fanatically the

words he is s ay ing , as fo r ins tance h is false recap i tu la-

tion of the las t twenty-two years and his constant reiter-

ation that Germany was never really defeated in the las t

war, only bet rayed . But tonight he could a lso s ay with

the ring of utter sincerity that a ll the night bombings

o f t h e B r i t is h i n r ec e n t w e e k s h a d c a u s e d n o m i l i t a ry



19 40 BE R L I N , July

19 455

damage whatsoever . O ne wonde rs what is in his mind

w h e n h e t e l l s a t a l l o n e l i k e t h a t. J oe [Harsc h], wa tch-

ing him speak for the f irst time, was impressed. He

said he couldn't k eep his eyes off his hands ; thought the

hand work brill iant .

Under one roof I have never seen so many gol d-

braided generals before . M assed together, their ches ts

heavi ng with cross es and other dec orations, they fill ed a

third of the first bal cony. Part of the show was for

them . S uddenly pausing in the middl e of his spee ch,

Hitler b ecame the Napoleon, creating with the flick of

his hand (in this c ase the Nazi sal ute) twelv e field-mar-

shals, and since Gor ing al ready was one, creating a spe-

cial honour for him- Keichsmarshal . It was amusing

to watch Goring . S itting up on the dais of the Speaker

in all his bulk , he acte d lik e a happy child pl aying wit h

his toy s on Christmas m orning. ( Only how deadly that

some of the toys he pl ays with, b esides the electr ic train

in the attic of K arin H all , happen to be Stuk a bom bers! )

Throughout H itl er's speec h Goring l eaned over his desk

chewing his penc il, and sc ribb ling out in l arge, scrawly

letters the text of his r emark s which he would ma ke after

Hitl er finished. He c hewcJ on his pencil an d frowned

and sc ribb led l ike a schoo lb oy over a co mposition that

has got to be in by the tim e class is ende d. But always

he kept one ear cocked on the L eader's words , and at

appropr iate mom ents he would put down his penc il and

applaud hear tily, his fac e a smil e of appro val from one

ear to the other. He had two big m oments, and he re-

acte d to them with the happy natur alness of a big child .

Once when H itler n amed two of his air-forc e generals

field-marshals, he beamed lik e a pr oud big brother , smil -

ing his approval and his happines s up to the generals in

the bal cony and c lapping his hands with Gargantuan

gestures, pointing his big paws at the new fie ld-marshal s



4 5 61 9 4 0 BERLIN, JU1 19

a s a t a b o x e r in t h e ri n g w he n h e' s i n t r o d uc e d . T he c l i-

m a x w a s w h e n Hi t l e r n a m e d h i m R ei c h s m a r s h a l . H i t l e r

t u r n e d a r o u n d a n d h a n d e d h i m a b o x w i t h w h a t e v e r i n -

s i g n i a a Re i c h s m a r s h a l w e a r s . G o r i n g t o o k t h e b o x , a n d

h i s b o y i s h p r i d e a n d s a t i s f a c t i o n w a s a l m o s t t o u c hi n g ,

o l d m u rd e re r t h a t h e i s . H e c o u l d n o t d e n y h i m s e l f a

s n e a k i n g g l a n c e u n d e r t h e c o v e r o f t h e l i d . Then he

w e n t b a c k t o h i s p e n c il - c h e wi n g a n d h i s s p e e c h . I c o n -

s i d e r e d h i s p o p u l a r i ty- econd on ly to Hi t ler ' s in the

c o u n t r y - a n d c o n c l u d e d th a t i t is j u s t b e c a u s e , o n oc -

c a s i o n s l i k e t h i s , h e ' s s o h u m a n , s o c o m p l e t e l y th e b i g ,

g o o d - n a t u r e d b o y . (B u t a l s o t h e b o y w h o i n J u n e 19 3 4

c o u l d d i s p a t c h m e n t o t h e f i r in g s q u a d b y t h e h u n d r e d s . )

C o u n t C i a n o , w h o w a s r u s h e d u p f r o m R o m e t o p u t

the s eal o f Ax is au thori ty on Hi t ler ' s " offer " o f p e a c e

to Britain, was the clown of the evening . I n his grey and

b lack Fas cis t mi l i t ia unifo rm, he sat in the f i rst row o f

t h e d i p l o m a t i c b o x , a n d j u m p e d u p c o n s t a n t l y l i k e a

j a c k - i n - t h e - b o x e v e r y t i m e H i t l e r p a u s e d f o r b r e a t h ,

to give the Fas cist s alute . He had a tex t o f the s peech in

h i s h a n d , b u t i t w a s p r o b a b l y i n I t a l i a n , s o t h a t h e w a s

n o t f o l lo w i n g Hi t l e r 's w o r d s . Wi t h o u t t h e s l i g h t e s t p r e -

t e x t h e w ou l d h o p t o hi s h e e l s a n d e x p a n d i n a s a l u t e .

C o u l d n o t h e l p n o t i c i n g h o w h i g h - s t ru n g C i a n o i s . He

k e p t w o r k i n g h i s jaws . A n d h e w a s n o t c h e w i ng g u m .

S a d d e s t f i g u re t o m e i n th e A s s e m b l y - d o n o t

c o u n t t h e w o o d e n a u t o m a t on s w h o a s " d epu t ies " s a t

b e l o w o n t h e m a i n f l o o r - a s G e n e r a l Ha l d e r , c h i e f

o f t h e G e r m a n G e n e r a l S t a f f . M o s t p e op l e t h i nk t h a t

h e i s t h e b r a i n s o f t h e G e r m a n a r m y , t h a t i t w a s h e w h o

m a d e t h e f i n a l p l a n s f o r t h e P o l i s h c a m p a i g n a n d t h e

g re a t o ff en s i v e i n t h e w e s t a n d e x e c u t e d t h em i n s u c h a n

a s t o n i s h i n g l y s u c c e s s f u l m a n n e r . B u t h e h a s n e v e r k o w -

t o w e d t o H i t l e r . I t is widely reported that he has on oc-



1940 BERLIN, July 20

c a s i o n s t a l k e d v e r y s h a r p l y t o t h e G r ea t M a n . A n d t h a t ,

a s a r e s u l t , H i t l er h a t e s h i m . A t a n y r a t e , h e w a s n o t

m a d e a f i e l d -m a rs h a l t o n i g h t , b u t m e re l y pro m o t e d o n e

grade . ( A f t e r t h e P o l i s h c a m p a i g n Hi t l e r a l s o s k i p pe d

o v e r h i m i n b e s t o w i n g h o n ou r s , b u t t he a rm y k i c k e d s o

h a r d t h a t H i t l e r h a d b e l a t e d l y t o m a k e a m e n d s .) I

watched him tonight, his clas s ically intellectual face, and

h e s e e m e d t o be h i d in g a w ea r i n es s , a s a d n e s s , a s h e

w a r m l y c o n g r a t u l a t e d h i s y o u n g er g e n e r a l s w h o w e r e

n o w r a i s e d o v e r h i m a s f i e l d - m a r s h a l s .

A l e x a n d e r K i r k , o u r c h a r g e , w a s t h e r e t o o . T h e N a z i s

p u t h i m i n t h e b a c k r o w w i t h t h e s m a l l f e l l o w s , b u t h e

d i d n ' t s e e m t o m i n d . H e s a t t h e r e a l l e v e n i n g , h i s f a c e

l i k e a s p h i n x , b r e a k i n g o n ly o c c a s i o n a l l y i n t o a n i r o n ic

s m i l e w h en s o m e o f h i s d i p lo m a t i c c o l l e a gu e s f r o m t h e

B a l k a n s p o pp e d u p t o g iv e t h e n e w s l a v e s a l u t e . Q u i s -

l ing , a p ig -eyed l i t tle man , crouched in a co rner seat in

t h e f i r s t b a l c o n y , d r i n k i n g t h e a m a z i n g s c e n e i n .

BERLIN, July 20

No official Britis h reaction to Hitler's " p e a c e

o f f e r , " b u t G o e b b e l s h a d t h e l o c a l p r e s s t o n i g h t b r e a k

t h e n e w s g e n t l y t o t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e t h a t a p p a r e n t l y

t h e B r i t o n s a r e n ' t h a v i n g a n y . T h e G e r m a n s I t a l k t o

s i m p l y c a n n o t u n d e r s t a n d i t . T h e y w a n t p e a c e . They

d o n ' t w a n t a n o t h e r w i n t e r l i k e t h e l a s t o n e . T h e y h a v e

n o t h i n g a g a i n s t B r i t a i n , d e s p i t e a l l t h e p r ov o c a t i v e

propaganda . (Like a d rug too o ften g iven , i t i s lo sing

what l i t t le fo rce i t had. ) T h e y t h i n k t h e y ' r e o n t o p .

T h e y t h i nk t h e y c a n l i c k B r i t a i n t o o , i f i t c o m e s t o a

showdown . B u t t h e y w o u l d p r e f e r p e a c e.

R o o s e v e l t h a s b e e n r e n om i n a t e d a t C h i c a g o f o r a

t h i rd t e rm . T h i s i s a b l o w t o H i t l e r w h i c h t h e Wi l h e l m -

457



458 1940 BERLIN, July 21

strasse scarc el y hid today . Goebb els gav e orde rs to the

Berlin press not to c omment, b ut he did allow the DNB

to publ ish a brief dispatch from its Washington corre -

spondent stating that the methods b y which R oosevel t's

nomination was achieved " have b een shar ply condemned

by al l eyewitness es ."

Hitl er will now hope that R oosevel t is defeated in the

electio n by Will kie . The point is th at H itler f ears

Roosevelt . He is just beginning to com prehend that

Roosev elt 's support of Great Britain is one of the prime

reasons why the British dec line to accept his kind of

peace. As R udol f Kircher, editor of the Frankfurter

Zeitung, will be al lowed to pu t it tomorrow : " Roose-

vel t is the fathe r of English ill usions about this war. It

may b e that R oosev elt' s shabb y tactic s are too much

for the Americans, it may b e that he wil l not b e re-

e l e c t e d , i t m a y b e t h a t , i f h e i s r e - e l e c t ed , h e w i l l s t i c k

closely to the non-interv ention program of his party .

But it is al so c lear that whil e he may not interv ene with

h i s f l e e t o r h i s a r m y , h e w i l l i n t e r v e n e w i t h s p e e c h e s , w i t h

intrigues, and with a powerful propaganda which he

will put at the disposal of the English ."

BERLIN, July 21

Holl and is beginning to fe el the N azi yoke .

Mass arrests, we hear .

BERLIN, July 22

Hitler has giv en Mussolini a b irthday p resent .

It's an anti -aircraft armoured train .

Halifax broadcast Britain's answer to Hitler's " peace

proposal ." It was an emphatic No . A poor speech

though, I thought while l istening to it at the Run dfun k



1940 BERLIN, July 25 4 5 9

-f or Ame ri ca . He sounded awfully pious . He ap-

pealed too m uch to G od . I re member him in I ndia as

a v ery re ligious man . But God's b een pretty good to

Hitl er so far . . . .

BERLIN, July 23

The die seems cast, a s the papers put it this

evening . Halifax's speech has jolted official c ir cl es .

There were angry N azi faces at the noon press c onfer-

ence. Said the spokesman with a snarl : "Lord Halifax

has refused to accept the peace offer of .

Gentlemen, there w ill be war ."

The press campaign to whip up the people for the

war on Britain started with a bang this m orning. Every

paper in Berlin carried prac ticall y the same headline :

"CHURCHILL'SANSWER-COWARDLY MUR-

DER IN G OF A DEF EN CE LE SS POPULAT ION!"

The story is that since H itl er's R eichstag" appeal for

peace " the British have answered by increasing their

night attacks - on he lpless women and c hildre n . De-

t a i l s n o t p r e v i o u s l y g i v e n u s a s t o t h e e x t e nt o f t h e B r i t -

ish bom bings are suddenly hauled out . Bombings of

Bremen, Hamburg, Pa derborn (where there 's a b ig

tank works), Hagen, and Bochum (all teeming with

mil itary objectives). But acc ording to Goebbel s's lies

- only women and children have been hit . Afraid the

German people will swallow th is . They are v ery de-

press ed that Britain will not have peace. But they now

pin their h opes on a quick v ictory whic h will be ov er

by fal l and therefore save them from another war wi nter .

BERLIN, July 25

Today we get the first glim pse of how H itler

intends to break up Franc e . A sp ecial German gov ernor



460 194 0 BE RLI N, July25

named Weyer has been appointed for the five French

departments which comprise Brittany, and a Breton

" National Committee " formed and made to proclaim

a new Br eton national stat e .

Today in Al sace Fre nch signs were remov ed and Ger-

man substitut ed .

Fro m Dr . Walther Funk , president of the R eichs ban k

and Minister of Economics, who showed up at our ev e-

ning press c onference , we al so rec eiv ed a first glim pse

into H itl er's " new order." Funk, a shifty -looking littl e

man who, they say, drinks too much, b ut who is not un-

intell igent and not devoid of humour, admit ted quite

frankly th at the purpose of the " new order " was to

make Germany a riche r land . He put it this way : " It

must guarantee Germany a m aximum of economic se-

curity a nd a maximum al so o f goo ds c onsumption . This

is the goal of the new European econo my." L ater th e

censor c ut this part out of m y report .

Funk al so said th at gold would b e abandoned as the

basis of the new European curr ency, and the now worth-

less Reic hsmark substituted. Gold would also lose most

of its importanc e, he claim ed, as a m eans of inter national

pay men t . Thus America's gre at gold supply woul d lose

most of its val ue . T he Reichsbank, he went on, would

act as clearing house for the new European system . In

other word s, any trade, say, that America might want

to carry on with a European c ountry would hav e to b e

done through Ber li n . On the ot her hand Funk bell ig-

erently attacked what he c all ed America's " interven-

tion "in Germ any's trade with South America . " Either

we will trade direc tly with the sov ereign South American

s t a t e s or we won't trad e at all, " he sh outed . Just one

more example of the G ermans wanting one standard

for themselv es and a worse one fo r others .

Funk's en mity to Dr . Schac ht, who m he ch ased out



194 0 BE RL IN , July 284

6 1

of the R eichsbank and the economics min istry, cropped

out when we ask ed him about the widespread reports

that Schacht, too, had worked out a p an for the " new

order ." " I haven't heard of it," he snapped . Then on

second thought : " Oh, I did read something in the for-

eign pre ss about it, b ut I only b eliev e half of what I

read in the papers ." Then se riously : " The Fu hrer en-

t r u s t e d m e w i t h t h e ec o n o m i c p l a n s f o r t h e ' ne w o r d e r . ' "

BE RL IN , J uly 28

More about the "new order ." Dr . Alfred

Pietz sch, president of the R eich Ec onomic Cham ber,

says the Continent under th e " new order " will hav e a

populati on of 320,000,000 people and cover 1,5 00,000

square m iles of spac e. I t will grow annuall y 16 0,000,-

000 tons of potatoes and 120,000,000 tons of grain

and will be practic all y self-suppor ting in foods. Dr

Pietzsch admits something which most N azis won't .

He says the Hitl er-dominated Conti nent will be far from

self-suffic ient in raw m aterials. For ex ampl e, it will

g r o w l i t t le w o o l a n d p r a c t i c a l l y n o c o t t o n. A t t h e p r es -

e n t t i m e , h e s a y s , t h e C o n t in e n t i m p o r ts a n n u a l l y a b i l -

l i o n a n d a h a l f d o l l a r s ' w o r t h o f ra w m a t e r i a l s .

Himmler announced toda y that a Po lish farm la-

bourer had been hanged for sleeping with a German

woman . N o r a c e p o l l u t i o n i s t o b e p e r m i t t e d .

Another American corr espondent ki cked out today .

He is Captain Corpening of the Chicago Trib une, said

to be a confi dentia l man of Col onel McCormick's. He

arrived yester day fro m Switzerl and and broke a story

about Germ any's peace ter ms to Britain whic h he thinks

have been sent to L ondon thro ugh Sweden . T he P ropa-

ganda Ministry attem pted to pin the story on the Trib -

une's regular cor respondent, Sigrid Schultz , whom they



482 1940 BERLIN, July 31

would l ike to toss out b ecause of her independ ence and

knowl edge of things behind the sc enes, but final ly de-

cided to expe l only the captain .

BERLIN, July 3 1

The news-reels today show Ger man army en-

gineers bl owing up the Frenc h armistice monum ents at

Co mpi egne . They dynamited all but the one of Mar-

shal Foch. L ast month in P aris a Ger man offic ial inv ited

me to Compiegne to see the dynamiting, b ut when I ex-

pressed amazem ent that the Germans would do such a

beirbaric thing he withdrew the inv itation.

I remark ed in my b roadc ast tonight that the Ger man

people at the mom ent were c ertainly benefiting by the

amount of vegetables, eggs,and b acon which the Du tch

and Danes were sending in. T he censors said I could

not mention the sub ject .

BERLIN, August 1

Goebb els m ade the G erman radio today falsify

a statement b y Secretary of War Stim son . It quoted

Stim son as sayi ng : " Britain will be ov erpowered i n a

short time and the British f leet wil l pass under enemy

control ." T his is part of a new pr opaganda campaign

to co nvince th e German people that ev en the U nited

States has giv en up hope of saving Britain .

Everyone i mpatient to k now when the inv asion of

Britain will b egin. I hav e taken two new b ets offere d

by N azis in the Wi lhelm stra sse. First, that the Swas-

tika wil l b e flying over Trafa lgar Sq uare by A ugust 15 .

Second, b y September 7 . The Naz is say General M ilch,

right-hand man of Goring, has tipped the latter date as

a dead certainty .



1940 BERLIN, August 4 4 6 3

BERLIN, August 3

Sir Lancelot O liphant, British A mbassador to

Belgium, who is being held a captive by the Naz is at a

Gestapo training sc hool b etween here and P otsdam, is

sore. T he other night they had an air-raid out there

and he said he'd be damned if he'd tak e refuge in the

cell ar when his own people came over to bom b . The S .S

guards the reupon remov ed him forcibly to the cell ar

Sir L ancelot raised suc h a howl that the matter went to

Hitler. The Fiihrer's decis ion is that he may dam ned

well stay wher e he pleases whe n his own folks come ov er,

but that he must sign a paper absolv ing the Ge rmans of

any resp onsibil ity .

Great excitem ent at our noon press conference at the

Foreign O ffice yeste rday . The offic ial spok esman was

droning away as usu al when sudd enly al l the anti-air -

craft guns on the roofs o f the Chancell ery and Air Min-

istry down the s treet star ted bl azing away. He stopped

abruptly . J ust as all present wer e getting ready to run

for shelter the firing stopped. Seem s a G erman student

flyer entered the forbidden air zone ov er Berlin without

giv ing the proper signal .

BERLIN, August 4

I fl ew to H amburg yesterday in a weird old

transport plane which the G erman arm y had been using

previousl y to transport cap tiv e horses fro m Paris to

Berlin . T here were no se ats, so we sat on the fl oor, which

vibrated cons iderabl y . The Germ an authorities had

phoned that they were inv iting m e and two others to

fly to Hamburg, where we cou ld see anything we wanted .

The British, they said, had just announced that H am-

burg had been " pulverized "by the R AF bombings .

When I got to the airport t here were twent y others



4641 9 4 0

BERLIN, August 4

who had been inv ited, and when we arrived at Hamburg

I soon saw that the Germ ans had no intenti on of show-

ing me "anything " I wanted to see

. For two hours

before leav ing I had studie d the map of Hamb urg and

made a l ist of c ertain military ob jectives such as oil-

storage tanks, airpl ane fac tories, shipbuil ding yards,

a n d o n e s e c r e t a i r f i e l d . After we had been tak en around

on a conducted tour for a couple of hours and shown

among other things how one British bom b had wiped out

a wing of an institute for epil eptics, I presented my l ist

to those in charge of the party .

" Certainly, " they answer ed . " We will show you a ll ."

Whereupon they rushed us in a b us through the docks

a t t h i r t y - f iv e m i l e s a n h o u r. The docks certainly weren't

pulv erized, b ut it was impossibl e to see whether there

had not b een hits here and there. Afterwards we c li mbed

to the top of the St . M ichae lis tower, three hundred fe et

high, from where we had a panoramic v iew of the port .

Even with field-glasses, I must admit, I couldn't see any-

thing. The oil tank s were too far away for accurate

observation . But the doc ks and one Blohm & Voss ship-

yard near by seem ed intact . In one part of the river a

couple of small boats had been sunk, their masts still

visibl e above the wate r . Soon it was getting dar k, and

we were rush ed back to the plane .

Ruminating on the v ibrating fl oor of the plane return-

ing to Berl in I was depressed . Ev en if the G ermans

hadn't kept their prom ise to show me the things I ask ed

for, it was plain from what littl e we saw th at slight dam-

age had been done . I had exp ected that after two mon ths

of alm ost nightly bom bings the R AF would hav e ac com-

plished much more . T he port, though it und oubtedly

had been hit here and there, had not reall y been affected

by the bombings . The two all -important bridge s over

the Elb e in the middle of the harbour had not been



1940 BERLIN, August 5 465

touched -the near est bomb had landed two hundred

yards away . Germa ny's two great passenger ships , the

Bremen and Europa, la y in the distance, tied up at

Finkenwerder an untouched . Several

troop trains were unloading their men in the harb our,

part of the force for the inv asion of Britain, I s uppose .

The talk was that they would be crowded on to the two

b i g l i n e r s .

The point was that a square m ile or m ore in the c entre

of R otterdam had b een utterly wiped out in one hal f-

hour of bombing by German Stukas . Why had not the

British, then, in two m onths of bomb ing wiped ou t the

Hamburg harbour works and the Blohm & V oss ship-

ping yards, which were busy construc ting nav al v essels,

especially submarines? The important targets were

largel y concentr ated on two islands in the Elb e - b-

jectives which at night you c ould hardl y miss if you fol -

lowed the river up from the sea . It was depressing, too,

to think that perhaps British propaganda had exagger-

ated the effects of their raids in other pla ces in Germany

The chief c ompl aint of the people in Hamb urg with

whom I talk ed was not the d amage caused, but the fact

that the Britis h raids robb ed them of their sleep .

Strol led in the Tiergarten this after noon, it b eing

warm and the sun out brightly . At six different spots a

crowd had gathere d to watch someone feed the squirrel s .

Even soldiers on leav e stopped to watch . And these

squirrel-feeders are the ones who have stormed through

Norway to Narv ik and thr ough Holl and, Belgium, and

France to the sea.

BERLIN, August 5

Despite all the tal k ab out the inv asion of

Britain being l aunched within the next few days, the



166 1940BERLIN, August 5

m i l i t a r y p e o p l e h e r e t e l l m e t h a t t h e L uf t w a f f e m u s t d o

a g r e a t d e a l m o r e w o r k b e f o r e t he r e i s a n y q u e s t i o n o f

a n a t t e m pt a t l a n d i ng t r oo p s . G o r i n g s a i d a s m u c h i n

an article in the V o l k is c h e B e o b a c h t e r y e s t e r d a y s i g n ed

" A r m i n i u s , " w h i c h i s L a t i n f or H e r m a n n , h i s f i r s t

name . He explained that the first j ob of an air force is

to gain complete s uperio ri ty in the ai r by des t roy ing the

o ther fel low's p lanes, ai rf ields, hangars , o i l s to res, and

anti-aircraft nes ts . That over, he said , the s econd phase

begins with the air force able to devote mos t of its ener-

g i e s t o s u p p o rt i n g t h e l a n d a r m y . T hi s w a s t h e G er -

m a n s t r a t e g y i n P o l a n d a n d i n t h e w e s t .

M y q u e s t i o n i s : W h y h a s n ' t t h e L u f t w a f f e a t t a c k e d

B r i t a i n o n a b i gg e r s c a l e , t h e n ? I s i t b e c a u s e H i t l er

s t i l l h o p e s t o f o r c e C h u r c h i l l t o a c c e p t p e a c e ? O r b e -

c a u s e t h e g e n er a l s o f t h e l a n d a r m y s t i l l d o n ' t w a n t t o

a t t e m p t t he i n v a s i o n ? O r b e c a u s e t h e R A F i s t o o s t r o n g

t o r i s k t h e L u f t w a f f e i n o n e b i g b l o w ?

F re n c h c o a l m i n e s a r e w o rk i n g a g a i n . T h e y w e r e n o t

d e s t r o y e d b y t h e F r e n c h t h i s t i m e a s i n 1 91 4 . A p h o t o -

graph in one of the papers shows French miners

u n l o a d i n g c o a l a t a p i t . W a t c h i n g o v e r t he m i s a s t e e l -

h e l m e t e d G e r m a n s o l d i e r w i t h a b a y o n e t . T h e i r M o s -

c o w - d o m i n a t e d C o m m u n i s t P a r t y a n d t h e i r u n io n s t o l d

t h e m n o t t o w o r k a n d n o t t o f i g h t w h e n F r a n c e w a s f r e e.

N o w t h e y m u s t w o r k u n d e r G e r m a n b a y o n e t s .

A b i g c o n f e r e n c e i n t h e C h a n c e l l e r y t o n i g h t b e t w e e n

Hitler and the High Comm and . M y s p i e s n o t ic e d K e i -

t e l , v o n B r a u c h i t s c h , J o d l , G o r i n g , R a e d e r , a n d a l l t h e

o t h e r b i g m i l i t a r y s h o t s g o i n g i n . T h e y a r e t o d e c i d e

a b o u t t h e i n v a s i o n o f B r i t a i n . T h e c e n s o r s w o n ' t l e t u s

m e n t i on t h e b u s i n e s s .



1940 BER LI N, August 11 4 6 7

BERLIN, August 8

The Wilhelm strasse told us today that Ger-

many dec lines all responsibil ity for any food shortages

which may occur in the territories occ upied b y the Ger-

man arm y . The Germ ans are hoping that A merica will

feed the people in the occupied lands . They wo uld lik e

to see Hoover do the job .

BERLIN, August 10

French sailors loyal to de Gau ll e will be

treated as pirates and shown no m ercy if c aptured, the

Foreign Office announce d officiall y today .

BERLIN,August 11

For some days now workmen hav e been busy

erec ting new stands in the P ariserplatz outside my hotel .

Today they paint ed them and instal led two huge golden

eagles . At eac h end they al so are buildin g gigantic

replicas of the Iron Cro ss . N ow the talk in party circ les

i s t h a t H i t l e r i s s o c e r t a i n o f t h e e n d o f t h e w a r - ither

by conq uest of B ritain or by a " negotiated " peace with

Britain - hat he has ordered these stands to b e ready

before the end of the month for the b ig v ictory p arade

through the Brande nburger Tor .

Funk, speaking at Konig sberg this morning, warml y

praised Lindb ergh fo r hav ing remarked : " If the r ich

becom e too rich and the poor too poor, then something

must b e done ."

" That's ju st wh at I said so me time ago," remar ked

Funk

LATER - oday has seen al ong the coast of

England the greatest air battl e of the war . German fig-



4 6 8 1 9 4 0BERLIN, August

13

ures o f Brit ish losses have b een risin g al l evening . First

the Luftwaffe announced 7 3 British planes shot down

against 14 Ger man ; then 79 to 14 ; finally at m idnigh t

89 to 1 7. Actuall y, when I c ounted up the German fig-

ures as given out from tim e to time during the afternoon

and evening , they totall ed 11 1 for British losses. The

Luftwaffe is lying so fast it isn't con sistent even b y its

own a ccount .

BERLIN, Au gust 13

Today was the third big day of Germany's

massiv e air attac k on Bri tain . Y esterday 's score as

giv en by the Luftwaffe was 71 to 17 . Tonight 's sc ore

for the third day is giv en as 69 to 13. O n each day the

British figures, as given out from London, hav e been just

about the rev erse. I suspec t L ondon's figures are more

truthful . Tomorrow I'm fl ying to the Channel with

half a dozen other cor responde nts . W e do n't know

whether we're being tak en up to se e Hitl er launch his

inv asion of Britain or merely to watch the air attacks .

IN A GER MAN ARM Y TRANSP ORT PLANE BE TW EE N

BERLI N AND GHENT,August 14

Last night we had our first air-raid alarm for

a long time . I t ca me at two a .m . just after I 'd returned

from broadcastin g . Tess, who has been in Berlin for a

few days, and I stayed up to see the fire works, but there

were none .

We tak e off at Staachen at ten forty-five a.m . , flying

low at about fiv e hundred f eet so as to be easil y rec og-

nizab le b y German anti-airc raft c rews . They shoot

down altogether too many of their own pl anes . . . .

Now Antwerp to the north and the pilot is coming down .



1940 G H ENT, August 14 4 69

. . . One bad mo ment . Two fighters dive on us from

out of the c louds and we think they may b e Spitfires .

(The other day they got a G erman general flying from

Paris to Brussels .) But they're Messersc hmitts and v eer

o f f . N ow the pilot is trying to find his f ield - o small

job b ecause o f the way the fields here are camou-

flaged . . . .

GHENT, BE LGIU M, August 14

The camoufl age of this field worth noting .

From the air I notic ed it l ooked just l ike any other place

in the l andsc ape, with paths cutting a ss it irregularl y

as though it we re farm l and . Each war plane on the

ground has its own temporary hangar made of mats

plastered with grass . Tent poles support the mats.

Along the ba ck and both sides of this te mats, sand-

bag s are piled to protec t the plane from spl inters. So

skil full y are these h angars construc ted that I doubt if

you co uld distinguish one from a bov e a thousand feet .

The field itself is not lar ut the Ger mans are fever-

ishly enlarging it . Gangs of Belgian workers are b usy

tearing down adjace nt buil dings -vil las of the local

gentry . An example, incide ntall y, of how B elgians are

made to aid Germany's war on B elgium's al ly, Britain.

One neat way the German s hide their planes, I notice,

is to build pockets-littl e clearings-som e distanc e

away from the field . N arrow lanes fr om the main airfield

lead to them . Al ong the sides of these pockets are rows

of plan es hidden under the trees . From the air it would

be hard to spot thes e poc kets and you might b omb the

airfield heavil y without touc hing any of these planes .

Ghent has a certain romantic interest for m e b ecause

I remem ber m y grade-sc hool histories' tell ing of the sign-

ing of the peace treaty conc luding our War of 1812 on



47 0

1940 OST END, August 14

C h ri s t m a s E v e h e r e . A F l e m i s h t o w n w o u l d b e a pi c t u r -

e s q u e p l a c e a r o un d C h r is t m a s E v e , i f w e c a n b e l i e v e t h e

e a r l y F l e m i s h p a i n t e r s . Here were the American and

B r i t i s h d e l e g a t e s l e i s u re l y c o m i n g t o a n a g re e m e n t t o

e n d a w a r w h i c h n e i t h e r s i d e w a n t e d . C h ri s t m a s w a s i n

t h e a i r , s n o w i n t h e n a r r ow, w i n d i n g s t r e e t s , s k a t e r s o n

t h e c a n a l s , a n d t h e r e w a s m u c h h e a r t y e a t i n g a n d d r i n k -

i n g . C h r i s t m a s E v e w a s a n a p p ro p r ia t e m o m e n t to c o n -

c l u d e t h e p e a c e . B u t t h e r e w a s n o r a d i o , n o c a b l e l i n e

a c r o s s t h e A t l a n t ic t h e n , a n d A m e r i c a o n l y l e a r ne d o f

t h e p e a c e t h r e e m o n t h s l a t e r . I n t h e m e a n ti m e J a c k s o n

h a d f o u g h t a t N e w O r l e a n s .

W e s i t a r o u n d i n t h e g a u d y s a l o n o f a s u g a r m e r -

c h a n t ' s v i l l a w h ic h t h e G e r m a n f l y er s h a v e t a k e n o v e r .

W e a r e w a i t i ng f o r c a r s t o t a k e u s t o t h e " f r o n t . "

S o m e o n e f o r g o t t o o r d e r t h e m i n a d v a n c e . Dr . Froelich,

from the P ropaganda Ministry, whom we call "the

o a f , " a b i g , l u m b e r i n g, s l o w - t h in k i n g , g o o d - n a t u r e d

G e r m a n w i t h a H a r v a r d d e g r e e a n d a n A m e r i c a n w i f e ,

c a n n e v e r b r i n g hi m s e l f t o m a k e a d e c i s i o n. We wait

a n d t h e G e r m a n f l y er s s e r v e d r i n k s f r o m t h e s u g a r m e r -

chant's fine cellar . T h e c a r s d o n o t c o m e , s o w e t a k e a

b u s i n t o s e e t h e t ow n . G h e n t is n o t s o r o m a n t ic a s I

had imagined . I t i s a g r e y , b l e a k , l o w la n d s i n d u s t r i a l

town . M a n y G e r m a n s o l d i e r s i n t h e s t r e e t , b u y i n g u p

t h e l a s t w a r e s i n t h e s h o p s w i t h t h e i r p a pe r m a r k s . We

d r o p i n a n d c h a t w i t h a l o c a l s h o p k e e p e r . H e s a y s t h e

s o l d i e r s b e h a v e t h e m s e l v e s f a i r l y w el l , b u t a r e l o o ti n g

t h e t o wn b y t h ei r pu r ch a s e s . W h e n p r e s e n t s t o c k s a r e

g o n e , t h e y c a n n o t b e r e p l a c e d .

OSTEND, BEL GIU M, August 14

O u r c a r s f i na l ly c a m e a t s e v e n p . m . a n d w e

m a d e o f f f o r O s t e n d , s k i r t i n g r o u nd B r u g e s , a f a i r y -



19 40 C ALAIS, August 154 7 1

tale town in which I had spent my first night on the

Continent exactly fifteen years ago . Driving into

Ostend, I kept m y eyes ope n for the barges and ships

that are to take the German army of inv asion over to

England, b ut we saw very few cr aft of any kind . None

in the harbour, and only a few barges in the can als b e-

hind the town . The Germans selecte d for us a ho tel

called the P icc adill y .

LATER August1 5 , 6 a . m

. - at up a ll night .

When the Germans had gone to b ed, the proprietor and

his wife and his exceedingly attractive b lack-haired,

bl ack-eyed daughte r of about seventeen b rought ou t

some fine v intages and we made an evening of it . Some

local Belgians joined us and we ( Fred Oechsner, Dic k

Boyer, and I ) had m uch good talk . It was touching how

the Be lgians kept hoping the B ritish bom bers would

come over . They did not seem to m ind if the British

bumped them off if onl y the R AF got the G ermans too

One Belgian wom an, whose bitterness was very pleasant

to me, explained tha t most of the damage in Ostend, the

majority of whose houses ar e pretty well smashed up,

was the work of German artil lery, which kept on firing

into the town long after the Br . Some time

before dawn we went f or a walk along the b each . There

was a slight m ist which softened the moonlig ht and made

ev en the battered ruins of the house

take on a pattern of some b eauty . The smell of th e salt

water and the pounding of the waves m ade you f eel good .

The Belgians k ept cur sing the British for not c oming

over .

CALATs, August 1 5 (noon)

Drivi ng down al ong the coast, I was struck

by the d e f e n s i v e measures of the Ge rmans . A line of



472 1940 CALAIS, August 15

trenches, dug-outs, and machine-gun n e s t s , stro ngly

manned, stretched along the sand dunes a hundred yard s

from the water's edge all the way down to D unkirk .

There were many anti-aircraft guns and about a q uar-

ter of a mil e to the rear c ountless batteries of artill ery

I h a d n o t t h o u g h t b ef o r e o f t h e p os s i b i l i t y o f th e B r i t i s h

doing any attacking . We do not see any evidence at any

pl ace along the coast of German preparations for an

invasion . N o large concentr ations of troop s or tanks

or b arges . But of c ourse t hey may b e there , and we just

didn't see them .

About ten mil es from Dunkirk, we suddenly co me

upon the sic kl y sweet smell of dead ho rse and human

f l e s h. Apparently they have not yet had time to fish

the bodies out of the numerous canals . Dunkirk itself

has been cl eaned up, and those who were there two

months ago scarcely recognize it . T he sentry does not

al low us into the part of town aro und the main port, pos-

sibl y because we might l earn something of the invasion

forces . In and around D unkirk , acres of ground are

covered with the trucks and m a t e r i e l d e g u e r r e left by

the British Expeditiona ry Force . German mechanics

are at work trying to get the trucks, at l east, to run .

Others are stripp ing off the rubb er tires, which are of a

quality unknown in Germany . In th e town long l ines

of Frenc h civil ians stand b efore the sou p k itche ns for a

hand-out of food . Surprising that the re are s till civil -

ians in this town afte r the murderous bom bing and shel l-

ing it got . We all underestimate the power of human

beings to endure .

We drive to the b each from which a quarter of a mi l-

lion British troops made their get-away . What sur-

prises me after the German b oasts about all the trans-

ports and other ship s they sank off that b each (in one

day, we were told in Berlin, the Luftwaffe had sunkf i f t y



19 40 C ALAIS, August 15 473

ships) is that along a twenty-m ile stretch you se e the

wrecks of only two freighter s . Besides these there are

the remains of two destroyers, one of whic h, I believ e,

was bomb ed long before t he withd rawal from Dunkirk,

and a torpedo boat . F i v e s m a l l v e s s e l s i n a ll . And any

boat sunk within a great distance of the beach would b e

visib le b ecause of th e shall owness o f the water . h e r e .

When a bom b does hit a ship, though, it pret ll fin-

i s h e s i t. The destroyer nearest us - bout two hun-

dred yards off shore- had received a direct hit just in

front of the bridge. A huge chu nk some twenty feet

wide had been torn off the craft down the water-l ine .

LATER - hile we are still at lunch her e in

Calais, we hear th e first wave of Ger man b ombers ro aring

over to England . They fl y so high you c an hardl y see

them- t least twelv e thous and feet . I count twenty-

three bomb ers, and abov e them is a swarm of Messe r-

schmitt fighters. The weather is clearing . It's going to

be a nice day-for the pilots. About three p .m . w e s e t o f f

in cars along the coast to Cap Gris-Nez . Passing

through the harb our, I note that here too there is no

concentration of s hips, barges, or even the littl e motor

torpedo-boats. O nly three of the latter tied up at a

quay . Can it be that the Germans have been b luffing

about their invasion of Brita in? We drive out al ong the

coast road. N ow the G erman planes are hu mming over,

there a squadron of twenty- seven b ombers, here fif ty

Messersc hmitt fighters c oming in to m eet them . They

all turn and swing ou t to sea towards Dover, fl ying very

high . I t is soon ev ident that the British do not come

out - t least v ery f ar - o meet t hem . We watc h for

the British over the Channel . N ot a single Spitfire

shows .

We speed on up the c oast towards Cap Gris-N ez,



474 19 40 CA L A I

s , August 15

w h e r e G e r t r ud e E d e r l e a n d l a t e r a f a t E g y p t i a n a n d

a hos t of others us ed to camp out in the days - o w l o n g

a g o t h e y s e e m ! - w h e n t h e w or l d w a s i n t e r es t e d i n b o y s

a n d g i r l s s w i m m i n g t h e Ch a n n e l . Th e a i r i s n o w fu l l

of the s ight and roar of planes , bombers and fighters, all

German . A sw arm of H einkel bomb ers (we hav e not

s e e n a s i n g l e S t u k a y e t ) l i m p b a c k f ro m t h e d i r e c t i o n

o f D o v e r . T h r e e o r f o u r a r e h a v i n g a h a r d t i m e o f i t ,

a n d o n e , n e a r l y ou t o f c o n t ro l , j u s t m a n a g e s t o m a k e a

p i e c e o f l a n d b a c k o f t h e c l i f f s . M e s s e r s c h m i t t 10 9 's

a n d 1 1 0' s - h e l a t t e r t w i n - m o t o r e d - a s h a b o u t a t

3 5 0 m i l e s p e r h o u r l i k e a l o t o f ne r v o u s h e n s p r o t e c t i n g

t h e i r y o u n g . They remain in the ai r un t i l al l the bomb-

e r s a r e s a fe l y d o w n , t h e n c l i m b a n d m a k e o f f fo r En g -

l a n d . W e ha v e s t o p p e d o ur c a r s t o w a t c h . O n e o f o u r

officers s wears the Heinkel was hit by a Spitfire and that

t h e B r i t i s h f i g h t e r w a s b ro u g h t d o w n , b u t t h is i s h i s

i m a g i n a t i o n , f o r h e s a w n o m o r e t h a n d i d w e . T h is s o r t

o f t h i n g w i l l h a p p e n a l l a f t e r n o o n . We resum e our

d r i v e . P e a s a n t s s i t o n b i n d e rs c u t t i ng t h e b r o w n- r i pe

wheat . W e c r a n e o u r n e c k s e x c i t e d l y t o w a t c h t h e m u r -

d e r o u s m a c h i n e s i n t h e s k y . T h e p ea s a n t s d o n o t c r a n e

their necks, d o not look up . T h e y w a t c h t h e w h e a t. You

c o u l d t h i n k :w h o ' s b e i n g c i v i l i z e d n o w ? We pa s s a bi g

r a i l r o a d n a v a l g u n w h i c h h a s b e e n f i r in g o n D o v e r . I t i s

n e a t l y c a m o u f l a g e d b y n e t t i n g o n w h i c h t h e G e r m a n s

h a v e t i ed s h e a v e s o f g r a in . A l l a l on g t he c o a s t g a n g s o f

F r e n c h l a b o u r e r s h a v e b e e n pu t t o w o r k b y t h e G e r m a n s ,

b u i ld i n g a r ti l l er y e m pl a c e m e n ts . F i n a l l y w e t u r n t o -

w a r d s t h e s e a d o w n t h e r o a d t h a t l ea d s t o C a p G r is - N e z .

M a n y n e w g u n e m p l a c e m e n t s h e r e a n d s e a r c h l i g h t s , a l l

p e r f e c t l y c a m o u f l a g e d b y n e t s . H o w m u c h m o r e a t t e n -

t i o n t h e G e rm a n s s e e m t o p a y t o t h e a r t o f c a m o u f l a g e

t h a n t h e A l l i e s ! S o l d i e r s a r e b u s y c a m o u f l a g i n g t h e

e n t i re d e f e n c e w o r k s a t C a p G r i s - N e z , w h i c h t h e F r e n c h ,



1940 C A LA I

s , August 15 4 75

i n c i d e n t a l l y , h a v e l e f t i n t a c t a n d n e v e r b o t h e re d t o

s c r e e n . G a n g s o f m e n a r e d i g g in g u p s o d f r o m a n e a r -

b y p a s t u r e a n d p u t t i n g i t ov e r t h e g r a v e l a r o u n d t h e

g u n em p l a c em e n ts a n d t h e lo o k -o u t pi t s . I t m a k e s a

lot of difference because the white gravel makes an eas ily

d i s t i n g u is h e d l a n d m a r k a g a i n s t t h e g r ee n f i e l d s .

We s p e n d t h e r e s t o f t h e a f t e r n o o n i d l i n g o n t h e g r a s s

a t t h e e d g e o f t h e c l i f f a t C a p G r i s - N e z . The German

b o m b e r s a n d f i g h t e r s k e e p t h u n d e r i n g o v e r t o w a r d s

Dover . Th ro ug h f i e l d -g l a s s e s y o u c a n s e e p l a i n l y t h e

D o v e r c l i f f s a n d o c c a s i o n a l l y e v e n s p o t a n E n g l i s h

s a u s a g e b a l l o o n p r ot e c t i n g t h e ha r b o u r . The German

b o m b e r s , I n o t e , g o o v e r i n g o o d fo rm a t i o n v e ry h i g h ,

u s u a l l y a b o u t f i f te e n t h o u s a n d f e e t , a n d r e t u r n m u c h

l o w e r a n d i n b a d fo rm a t i o n o r s i n g l y . W e k e e p o n t h e

watch fo r a dog-figh t , o r fo r a fo rmat ion o f Sp i t f i res to

l i g h t o n t h e r e t u r n i n g G e r m a n b o m b e r s . I t ' s a v a i n

watch . W e d o n o t s e e a B r i t i s h p l a n e a l l a f t e r n oo n .

O v e r t h e Ch a n n e l t o d a y th e G e r m a n s h a v e a b s o l u t e s u -

premacy . H u g g i ng o u r s i d e o f t h e c o a s t a r e G e r m a n

p a t r ol b o a t s , m o s t l y s m a l l t o r pe d o c r a f t . They would

m a k e e a s y t a r g e ts f o r B r i ti s h p l a n e s i f a n y e v e r v e n -

t ur ed o v er . T h e s e a i s a s c a l m a s g l a s s , a n d G e r m a n

s e a p l a ne s w i t h b ig r e d c r o s s e s p a i n te d o n t h e i r w in g s

k e e p l ig h t i ng a n d t a k i n g o f f . T h e ir j o b i s t o p i c k u p

a i r m e n s h o t d o w n i n t h e C h a n n e l . A b o u t s i x p . m . we

s e e s i x t y b i g b om b e r s - e i n k e l s a n d J un k e r - 8 2 ' s -p r o t ec t e d b y a h u n d r e d M e s s e r s c h m i t t s , w i n g i n g h i g h

o v e r h e a d t o w a r d s D o v e r . I n t h re e o r fo u r m i n u t e s w e

c a n h e a r p l a i n l y t he B r i t i s h a n t i - a i r c r a f t g u n s a r o u n d

D o v e r g o i n g i n t o a c t i o n a g a i n s t t h e m . J u d g i n g b y t h e

d e e p r o a r , t h e B r i t is h h a v e a n u m b e r o f h e a v y flak guns .

Th e re is a n o t h e r k i n d o f t h u d , d e e p e r, a n d o n e o f o u r

o f f i c e r s t h i n k s t h i s c o m e s f r o m t h e b o m b s f a l l i n g . I n a n

h o u r wh a t l o o k s t o u s l i k e t h e s a m e b o m b i n g s q u a d r o n



4 7 6 1 9 4 0 CALAIS, August 15

returns . We c an count only eighteen bom bers of the

original sixty . Have the British accounted for the rest?

It is diffic ult to tell , b ecau se we know the Germans often

hav e orders to return to differe nt fiel ds from those they

started from. O ne reason for do ing this apparently is

to ensur e that the Ge rman fl yers will not k now what

t h e i r l o s s e s a r e .

Boyer and I keep hoping som e Spitfires wil l show up.

But now the sun is turning l ow. The sea is lik e glass .

The skies quiet . The afternoon on the cliff has seemed

more l ik e a bucolic picnic than a day on the front line of

the air war. The same unequal struggle that we saw

in Belgium and northern Franc e. N ot a Britis h plane

over, not a bomb dropped. The littl e Jap sneaks up to

the gun empl acements to snap some photograph s until

a sentinel grabs him. The rest of us rouse ours elv es

laz ily from the grass and hur l peb bl es over the c liff into

the sea. It is time to return to Calais and sup . O ne of

our offic ers comes running down from the gun em place-

ment and says excitedly that three Spitfires have b een

shot down this afternoon ov er the French c oast. T h i s i s

surprising. We as k to b e shown .

The first Spitfire they show us on the way back has

been there so long that German m echanics h ave had time

to remov e the R oll s-Royce m otor and the instrument

board. It is already rusting . We point this out . Our

officer offers to show us another . It is near the beach of

a little v ill age h alf-way bac k to Calais. The motor is

still on and the ins trument board, b ut a young lieuten ant

from a near-by anti-aircraft battery takes m e aside and

ventures the interesting information that this particu-

la r Spitfire was shot d own weeks ago and that only this

very afternoon had he succ eeded in dragging it out of

the sea at low tide . When our officer offers to show us



1940 B O U L O G N E,August 16 4 7 7

his third Spitfire, we say we are hungry and suggest we

return to Cal ais .

LA TER - he thing I 'll never forget about

these c oastal towns in Belgium and France is the way

the Belgians and French pray ev ery night for the Brit-

ish bom bers to come ov er, though often whe n their pray-

ers are answered it means their death and ofte

cheer the bomb which kil ls them . I t i s t h r e e a .m . now and

the German f l a k has been firing at top speed sinc e elev en

thirty p .m . when we heard the fi rst thud of a British

bomb tonight down by the harbour . Fortunately the

British se em to b e aiming accurately at the harbour and

nothing has fall en near enough to us here in the town

cause much worry . There is no air-raid alarm . The

sound of the anti- aircr aft and the bursting of the bom bs

is yo ur o nly signal . N o one goes to th e cellar . W he n

the Germans have cleared out, we sit in the back room

with the Frenc h proprietor, his famil y, and two wait-

ers and drink uin rouge to each new British bomb that

crashes . To b ed now, and fear ther e are bugs in this

room

CALAIS, August 16

Th ere were bu gs . At breakfast everyone

scratching and c ompl aining he got no sl eep . You can

sleep through the night bom bin gs but not the night at-

tacks b y fleas and bedbugs . We eat a hasty breakfast

and are off for Boulogne at eight thirty a .m .

BO UL OGN E, August 16

How wonderfully the Germans have camou-

flaged their tem porary airf ields ! We drove b y at least



478 1940 BOUL OGNE , August 16

t h r e e b e t w e e n C a l a i s a n d B o u l o g n e . T he y h a v e e s t a b -

l i s h e d t h e m n o t in p a s t u r e s , a s I h a d e x p e c te d , b u t i n

wheat-fields . T h e s h o c k s o f w h e a t a r e l e f t in t h e f i e l d ,

wi th on ly narrow lanes lef t free across the f ield fo r the

p l a n e s t o t a k e o f f f r o m a n d l a n d o n . E a c h p l a n e i s

h i d d e n u n d e r a h a n g a r m a d e o f ro p e ne t t i n g o v e r w h i c h

s h e a v e s o f w h e a t h a v e b e e n t i e d . A s a t G h e n t, t h e s i d e s

a n d b a c k o f e a c h h a n g a r a r e p r o te c t e d b y s a n d b a g s . I n

o n e b i g w he a t - f i e l d t h e r e m u s t h a v e b e e n a h u n d r e d o f

t h e s e l i t t le h a n g a r s . Wor kshops and o il dumps were

al so house d under the sam e kind of netting. The

" p o c k e t " s y s t e m w h ic h I s a w a t G h en t i s a l s o u s e d .

T h e pl a n e s , w h e n t h e y ha v e l a n d e d , t a x i d o w n a l a n e

o r a r o a d t o a n e a r - b y " p o c k e t " t h a t m a y b e s o m e d i s -

t a n c e f r o m t h e f ie l d p r o pe r . H e r e th e p l a n e s a r e e i t h e r

h i d d e n u n d e r n e t t i n g o r b a c k e d u p i n t o a w o o d .

Our officers and officials have been careful to see that

w e d o no t t a l k w i t h a n y r e tu r n i ng G e r m a n pi l o t s . B u t I

t a l k e d t o a n u m b e r o f n a v y a n d a r m y m e n in c h a r g e o f

t h e c o a s t a l g u n s y e s t e r d a y a n d t h i s m o r n i n g a n d w a s

s u r p r is e d t h a t t h e y a l l t h o u g h t t h e w a r w o u ld b e o v e r i n

a f e w w e e k s . O n e n a v a l c a p t a i n i n c h a r ge o f a b i g g u n

a t C a p B l a n c - N e z , h a l f - w a y b e t w e e n C a l a i s a n d C a p

G r i s - N e z , t o o k m e t h i s m o r n i n g i nt o h i s l i t t le d u g - o u t ,

s c o o p e d o u t of t h e s i d e o f t h e s l o p e , t o s h o w m e h o w h e

had fixed it up . I t w a s v e r y c o z y . H e h a d s l u n g a h a m -

m o c k b e t w e e n t h e t w o w a l l s a n d h a d a l i t t l e t a b l e

c r o w d e d w it h G er m a n bo o k s a n d m a g a z i n e s . H e w a s a

s t r a w - b l o nd , c l e a n - c u t y o u n g m a n f r o m n e a r H a m b u r g ,

a n d e x t r em e l y i nt e l l ig e n t . I h a d t a k e n a l i k i n g t o h i m

t h e d a y b e f o r e .

"You've got a nice little pl ace here," I s a i d .

" Only - "

" O n l y w h a t ? " h e l a ug he d .

" W e l l , I k n o w N o r m a n d y i n w i n t e r , a n d f r o m t h e



1940 BRUSSELS, August 16 4 7 9

e n d o f O c t o b e r u n ti l A p r i l i t 's d a m n e d c o l d h e r e a n d i t

r a i n s e v e r y d a y . Yo u r d u g - o u t i s a l l r i g h t n o w , c a p -

t a i n , b u t i t w o n ' t b e s o c o m f o r t a b l e o v e r t h e w i n t e r . "

H e l o o k e d a t m e i n c o m p l e t e a m a z e m e n t.

" W h y , I h a v e n ' t t h e s l i g h te s t i n t e nt i o n o f s p e n d i n g

t h e w i nt e r h e r e, " h e s a i d , d e a d l y s e r i o us n o w . " Why,

the war will be ov er long before then. Yo u w e re k i d d i n g ,

I t h i n k , i s n ' t i t ? "

" No, I wasn ' t k idd ing," I sa id , a l i t t le taken back by

h i s d e a d c e r t a i n ty . " D o y o u m e a n y o u t h i n k t h e i n v a -

s i o n w i l l b e c o m p l et e d a n d E n g l a n d c o n q u e r e d b e f o r e

C h ri s t m a s , c a p t a i n ? "

" I s h a l l b e h om e w i t h m y f a m i l y th i s C h r i s t m a s , " h e

s a i d .

We h a v e l u n c h h e r e a t B o u l o g n e , t h e f o o d f a i r , a b o t,

t l e o f C h a t e a u M a r g a u x , 1 9 2 9 , e x c e l l e n t . A f t e r l u n c h

our party goes ou t to loo t a l i t t le more wi th the marks.

I n a p e r f u m e s h o p I p i c k u p a c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h a n e n-

g a g i n g l i t tl e F r e n c h s a l e s - g i r l a f t e r I ' v e c o n v i n c e d h e r

b y m y a c c e n t t h a t I ' m a n A m e r i c a n . S h e s a y s t h e G e r -

m a n s h a v e c l e a n e d o u t t he t o w n o f s i l k s t o c k i n g s , u n d e r -

wear, s oap , perfume, co ffee, tea, choco late, tobacco , a nd

c o g n a c . B u t s h e i s m a i n l y i n te r e s t e d i n f o o d. " How

wil l we f ind enough to eat th is win ter? " s h e a s k s .

About four p . m . w e s t a r t b a c k fo r B ru s s e l s , d r i v -

i n g s o m e d i s t a n c e i n l a n d t h r o u g h S a i n t- O m e r , L i l le ,

Tournai .

BRuss 1s, Au gust16

I n a coup le o f f ields along the way th is af ter-

n o o n , w e s a w w h a t l o o k e d u n d e r t h e c a m o u f l a g e l i k e

b a r g e s a n d p o n t o o n s l o a d e d w i t h a r t i l l e r y a n d t a n k s .

B u t t h e r e w a s c e r t a i n l y n o t e n o u gh t o b e g i n a n i n v a -

s i o n o f E n g l a n d w i t h . H o w e v e r , t w o o r t h r e e G e r m a n



4 8 0 1940 BRUSSELS, August 17

officers in our party keep emphasiz ing what we saw

and hinting that there is much more that we didn't see .

May be . But I'm suspicious . I think the Germans want

us to launch a sc are story about an imm inent invasion of

Britain

LATER 2 a .m -o bed now, and the Ger-

man ant i-aircraft guns still pounding away at the Brit-

ish bombers . The noise started shortly after midnight .

Can't hear o r feel any bomb s. S uspect the British are

after the airport

BRUSSELS, August 17

A littl e annoyed at no t getting back to Ber lin

today . I f e e l d e pr e s s e d i n t h e s e o c c u p i e d c i t i es . And the

Germans won't let m e broadcas t from here .

I went out to c all on Mm e X, a Russian-born Belgian

woman, whom I'v e known for twelv e year s. S he has just

been through a f rightful ordeal, b ut you would nev er

have suspected it fr om her tal k . She was as charming

and viv aciou s and beautiful as ev er . When the Germans

approached Brussels, she set off in her car with her

two young c hil dren . Som ewhere ne ar Dunkirk she got

caught between the All ied and German armies. She

took refuge in a peasant's house and for sev eral days

liv ed thro ugh the nigh tmare of inces sant artillery b om-

bardment and bombing. Fortunately there was enough

food in the hou se so that they d id not star ve . The chil-

dren, she said, behav ed beautifu ll y . When it was over,

she related simpl y, she found enough gas oline in the

barn to get back to Brussels . The b anks were closed and

she had no money, b ut the Ge rman arm y, seizing her

car, paid her a few t housand francs in cash, so that she

could b uy food.

Her chief worry, she said, was ab out P ierre, her hus-



194 0 B RU SSELS, August 1748 1

b a n d , b u t e v e n t h a t h a d t u r n e d o u t b e t t e r t h a n s h e h a d

e x p e c t e d . T h o u g h a v e t e r a n o f t h e l a s t w a r a n d a m e m -

b e r o f P a r l i a m e n t , h e h a d v o l u n t e e r e d t h e f i r s t d a y o f

t h e w a r a n d g o n e o f f t o f i g h t . S h e h a d h e a r d n o t h i ng

f r o m h i m u n t i l l a s t w e e k w h e n w o r d h a d c o m e t h a t h e

h a d b e e n c a p t u r e d .

" He's al ive," s he said s o ft ly . " I ' v e b e e n lu c k y . We

b o t h m ig h t e a s i l y h a v e b e en k i l le d . B u t w e ' re b o t h a li v e.

A n d t h e c h i l d re n . I h a v e b e e n f o r t un a t e . "

P i e r r e , s h e h a d h e a r d , h a d b e e n p u t t o w or k o n a p o -

tato farm near H amb urg

" B u t H i t l e r a n n o u n c e d a m o n t h a g o h e w a s r e l e a s i n g

a l l B e l g ia n p r is o n e r s , " I s a i d .

" O n e m u s t b e p a t i e n t , " s h e s a i d . " H e i s a l i v e . He

i s on a farm . H e c a n n o t b e s t a r v i n g . I c a n w a i t . "

F r o m m y t a l k s w i t h B e l g i a n s a n d F r e n c h i n t h e l a s t

f e w d a y s i t i s e n c o u ra g i n g t h a t t h e y b o t h p l a c e t h e i r

l a s t d e s p e r a t e h o p e s o n t h e B r i t i s h h o l d i n g o u t . F o r

t h e y n o w r e a l i z e t h a t i f H i t l e r w i n s t h e y a r e d o o m e d t o

b e c o m e a s l a v e p e o p l e . Despite the s tiff prison s entences

b e i n g m e t e d o u t b y t he N a z i s t o a n y o n e c a u g h t l i s t e n -

i n g t o a f o r e i g n r a d i o s t a t i o n , t h e y a l l k e e p t h e ir s e t s

t u n e d i n t o L o n d o n , t h e i r h o p e s e b b i n g a n d f l o w i n g w i t h

t h e n e w s t h e y g e t f r o m t h e B B C . T h ey h a v e a l l a s k e d

m e d e s p e r a t e l y : " Wi l l t h e B r i t i s h h o l d o u t ? H a v e t h e y

a c h a n c e ? W i l l A m e r i c a h e l p ? " T h e f a c t t h a t a l l t h e

n e w s p a p e r s i n o c c u p i e d t e r r i t o r y a r e f o r c e d t o p u bl i s h

o n l y G e rm a n p ro p a g a n d a o f t e n t h ro w s t h e m i n t o f i t s o f

d e p r e s s i o n , f o r G o eb b e l s f e e d s t h e m d a i l y w it h t h e m o s t

fantas tic lies .

O n t h e C h a n n el t h e G e r m a n s w o u l d n o t l e t u s t a l k

w i t h t h e G e r m a n p i lo t s , b u t t h i s a f t e r n o o n B o y e r a n d I ,

s i t t ing lazi ly on the terrace o f a cafe, s t ruck up a con-

v e r s a t i o n w i t h a y o un g G e r m a n a i r o f f i c e r.



4 8 2 1940 BRUSSELS, August 17

He says he's a Messerschmitt pil ot who took part in

the big attack on L ondon yeste rday and the day before.

(The pl anes we saw go ing ov er fro m Cal ais then wer e

London-bound.) He does not appear to be a b oastful

young man, lik e some pilots I 've m et .

He says quietl y : " It's a m atter of another couple of

weeks, you know, until w e finish with the R AF. In a

fortnight the B ritish won't hav e any more plan es . At

first, about ten days ago, they gave us plenty of trouble.

But this week their resistanc e has b een growing less and

l e s s . Y esterd ay, for exampl e, I saw prac tically no Brit-

ish fighters in the air . Per haps ten in al l, which we

promptl y shot down . For the m ost part we cruised to

our objectiv es and back again without hindrance . The

British , gentl emen, are throu gh . I a m al ready mak ing

plans to go to South America and get into the airplane

business . I t has been a pl easant war."

We ask him about the British planes.

" The Spitfires are as good as our Messerschmitts, "

he says . " The Hurricanes are not so good and the De-

f i a n t s a r e t e r r i b l e ."

He gets up, explaining he m ust see a co mrade in the

hospital w ho was wounded yesterday and rushed here

for an operation . Dick Boyer and I are im pressed and

depressed. Dick has just arriv ed over here and does not

know the Ger mans v ery we ll .

" I shall write a story about what he said," Dick re-

marks . " He seemed ab solutely sincere."

" That he did. But let's wait . Fl yers, you know,

have l arge hor izons."

LATER - ick and Fred O echsner and I are

having a night-cap in the bar of the A tlantis ab out mid-

night when there is a dull thud outside .



1 9 4 0BRUSSELS-BERLIN, August 18 48 3

"A b o m b , c l o s e , " t h e B e l g i a n w a i t e r t h i n k s .

We g o o u t s i d e , b u t d o n o t s e e a n y t h i n g. When Dick

c o m e s i n l a t e r , h e r e p or t s i t p u l v e r i z ed a h o u s e i n t h e

n e x t b l o c k a n d k i l l e d e v e r y o n e i n i t . O u t t o w a r d s t h e

airfield we can hear the f l a k pounding .

ABO ARD A GE RMA N ARMY TR ANSP ORT PLAN E, BR US -

SELS TO BERLIN, Au gust 18

T h e m o r n i n g pa p e r s o f B r u s s e l s i n t e r e s t i n g .

Th e B e l g i a n p a p e r h a s t h i s h e a d l i n e o v e r t h e s t o ry o f

t h e b o m b w e h e a r d l a s t n i g h t : "L'I GNO BL E CRIM E

ANGL AIS CO NTR E B RU XEL LES!" The Germans

m a k e t h e B e l g i a n s p r i n t s u c h h e a d l i n e s . B u t I ' m m o r e

interes ted in the H igh Comm and co mmunique in the

G e r m a n - l a n g u a g e p a p e r , t h e B r u s s e l e r Ze i t u n g . I t r e -

p o r t s t h a t i n F r i d a y ' s a i r b a t t l e s o v e r B r i t a i n t h e E n g -

l i s h l o s t 8 3 p l a n e s a n d t h e G e r m a n s 3 1. W h a t w a s t h a t

our sincere l i t t le Mess erschm it t p ilo t to ld us abou t see-

i n g p r a c t i c a l l y n o B r i t i s h p l a n e s o n F r i d a y a n d t h a t

t h e r e w a s n o o p p o s i t i o n f r o m t h e R A F ?

A t t h e B r u s s e l s a i r p o r t I n o t e t h a t w e h a v e b e e n t a k e n

t o t h e f i e l d i n a r o u n d a b o u t w a y , s o t h a t w e a p p r o a c h i t

s o m e d i s t a n c e f r o m t h e m a i n h a n g a r s . B u t o u r p l a n e i s

n o t y e t r e a d y a n d t h e re a r e a d o z e n G e rm a n a rm y o f f i -

c e r s s c r a p p in g a s t o w h i c h t wo o f t h e m s h a l l b e t a k e n

o n o u r pl a n e b a c k t o B e r l i n , a n d I t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f

t h e c o m m o t i o n t o s t r o l l o v e r t o w a r d s t h e h a n g a r s . Two

o f t h e m h a v e b e e n f r e s h l y b o m b e d , a n d b e h i n d t h e m a re

l a r g e p i l e s o f w r e c k e d G e r m a n p l a n e s . T h e B r i t i s h a t -

t a c k s , t h e n , w er e n o t s o h a r m l e s s .

T o n ot e d o w n t h e c o nt e n t s o f a p o s t e r I s a w p l a c a r d e d

a l l o v e r B r us s e l s y e s t e r d a y : " I n t h e v i l l a g e of S a v a n -

t h e m n ea r B r u s s e l s , a n a c t o f s a b o t a g e h a s b e e n c o m -



48 4 1940 BERLIN, August 20

mitted . I h av e tak en fifty hostages . I n ad dition, unti l

further notic e there will be a curfew at eight p .m . Also

all cinemas and all other kinds of pleasure c entres will

be closed until further notice ."

It is signed by the German comm andant . It is good

news . It shows the Belgian s are resisting . N oo n now

and coming into Berlin .

BERLIN, Au gust 20

An air-raid al arm l ast night, the seco nd in a

week, though we have not had a h al f-dozen since the war

began a year ago, and the B erlin population, unlik e

that of norther n and western Germany, has b een utterly

spared the slightest inconvenience from the war .

The sirens sounded forty-five seconds b efore I was due

to b roadc ast. I was sitting in the studio with a Germ an

announcer (who I notice latel y foll ows a cop y of my

script to see that I don't cheat). We he ard the alarm ,

but saw no reason for not going on with our work. A

frightened English lad, one Clark , sev enteen-year-old

son of a former BBC offic ial , who with his m other has

turned traitor and is wo rking for the N azis, pounded

on the studio window and shouted : " Flieger Alarm! "

The German with me fortunately was not frighte ned and

motioned him away . O ur broadcast then began . After-

wards I was a l ittl e surprised at the exc item ent in the

contr ol room , since the people in Belgium and Franc e

take a nightl y pound ing without th inking m uch about

it. P art of the exc item ent, it dev eloped, was due to the

fact that the b roadc aster of the news in Spanish had

made for the air-raid shelter at the first sound of the

sirens and missed his broadcast, which was to hav e

begun as soon as I finished m ine . When I returned to

t h e r a d i o o f f i c e s f r o m t h e s t u d i o s , o n e o f t h e o f f i c e b o y s ,



19 40 B E RL I N, Au gust 24 485

who at night becomes an al l im portant air- raid warden,

tried to hustle me down to the cel ar, b ut I refused. We

li stened to the anti-aircraft guns fr om a b al cony and

watched the search lights, b ut they c ouldn't pick up the

British planes which kept ov er the factor y districts to

the north

BERLIN, Au gust 24

The Germans now admit serious sabotage in

Holland . General Christianse n, the German m ilitary

commander there, warns that if it continues, fines will

be assessed against Dutc h comm unities and hostages

taken. The nature of the sabotage m ay be judged by

the general's ad monition to t he Dutch abou t " f a i l i n g

to report the landing of enemy fl yers on Dutc h soil ."

He adds : " People in Holl and who give shelt er to enemy

s o l d i e r s w i l lbe sev erely punis hed, even b y death ." This

seems to confirm som e private reports I 'v e had that the

British are landing agents b y parachute at night .

The Germans deny they're taking food from the Oc-

cupied co untries, but I see in a Dutch paper an official

statement b y the German authoritie s to the effect that

between May 15 and July 31, 15 0,000,000 pounds of

foodstuffs and fresh vegetab les hav e been sent fro m

Holla nd to the Reic h .

New cl othing cards here this week. They give 15 0

points instead of 10 0, as l ast year, b ut it's a typical

Nazi swindle. You get more total points, but you also

have to giv e more points for eac h item of clothing. For

something you cou ld form erly b uy for 6 0 points, this

year you must pay 80 points, and so on. An ov ercoat

tak es 120 of the 15 0 points . O ne point ac tually entitles

you to sixte en grams' worth of clothing material, the

card to ab out five pounds a year .



4 86 1940 BERLIN, August 26

The Foreign O ffic e has turned down America's request

for safe conduc t for American ships to ev acuate c hil -

dren under sixtee n from the war z ones .

BERLIN, Au gust 26

We had our first big air-raid of the war last

night . The sirens sou nded at twelv e twenty a .m. a nd

the all -clear came at three twenty-th ree a .m . For the

first time British bom bers came directly ov er the c ity,

and they dropped bombs . T he conc entration of anti-

a i r c r a ft f i r e wa s t h e g re a t es t I ' v e e v e r w i tn e s s e d . I t p r o-

vided a magnific ent, a terrible sight . An d it was

strangely ineffec tiv e . N ot a plane was brought dow n ;

not one was even picked up b y the searc hli ghts, which

flashed b ack and forth frantic all y acros s the skies

throughout the night .

The Berliners are stunned . They did not thin k it

could happen. When this war b egan, Goring assured

them it couldn't . He boasted that no e nemy planes

could ev er break through the outer and inner rings of

the capital's a nti-aircraft defence . The Berliners are a

naive an d si mple peo ple . T hey bel ieved him . Their dis-

i l l u s i o n m e n t t o d a y t h e r e f o r e i s a l l t h e g r e a t e r . You have

to see their faces to measure it . Goring made matters

worse by informin g the po pula tion only three days ago

that they need not go to their ce ll ars when the sirens

sounded, b ut only when they hear d the flak going off

near by . The im plication was that it would never go off .

That m ade peop le sure that the B ritish bom bers, though

they might penetrat e to the su burb s, would nev er be

abl e to get over the city pro per. And then last night

the guns all ov er the c ity suddenly began pounding and

you co uld hear the British motors hum ming directl y

overhead , and from al l, reports the re was a pell-mel l,



1940 BERLIN, August 26 48 7

fr igh tened rus h to the cel lars by the f ive mil l ion peop le

who l ive in th is town .

I w a s a t t he Run dfun k w r i t in g m y b r o a d c a s t w h e n

t h e s i r e n s s o u n d e d , a n d a l m o s t i m m e d i a t e l y t h e b a r k o f

th e flak began . O d d l y e n o u g h , a f e w m i n u t e s b e fo re , I

h a d h a d a n a r g u m e n t w i t h t h e c e n s o r f r o m t h e P r o p a -

g a n d a M i ni s t r y a s t o w h e th e r i t w a s p o s s i b l e t o bo m b

B e r l i n . L o n d o n h a d j u s t b e e n b o m b ed . I t w a s n a t u r a l,

I s a i d , t h a t t h e B r i t is h s h o u ld t r y t o r e t a l ia t e. He

l a u g h e d . I t w a s i m p o s s i b l e , he s a i d . T h e r e w e r e t o o

m a n y a n t i - a i r c r a f t g u n s a r o u n d B e r l i n .

I found i t hard to concen trate on my s crip t . T h e g u n -

fire near the Run d f un k w a s p a r t ic u l a r l y h e a v y a n d t h e

w i n d o w o f m y r o o m r a t t l e d e a c h t i m e a b a t t e r y f i re d o r a

bomb explode d . T o a d d t o t h e c o n f u s i o n , t h e a i r - w a r d -

ens, in thei r f i re-figh t ing overal ls, kep t racing th rough

t h e b u i l d i n g o r d e r i n g e v e r y o n e t o t h e s h e l t e r s . The

w a r d e n s a t t h e G e r m a n r a d i o a r e m o s t l y p o r t e r s a n d

office boys and i t was s oon ev iden t that they were mak ing

t h e m o s t o f t h e i r t e m p o r a r y a u t h o r i t y . M o s t o f t h e

G e r m a n s o n d u t y , h o w e v e r , a p p e a r e d t o l o s e l i t t l e t i m e

in getting to the cellar.

I was s chedu led to speak at one a .m . A s I ' v e e x pl a i ne d

b e f o r e i n th e s e n o t e s , t o g e t t o t h e s t u d i o t o b r o a d c a s t

w e h a v e t o l e a v e t h e b u i l d i n g w h e re w e w r i t e o u r s c r i p t s

a n d h a v e t h e m c e n s o r e d , a n d d a s h s o m e t w o h u n d re d

y a r d s t h r o u g h a b l a c k e d - o u t v a c a n t l o t t o t h e s h e d s

w h e r e t h e m i c r o p ho n e s a r e . A s I s t e p pe d o u t of t h e

building at five minutes to one, the light guns protecting

t h e r a d i o s t a t i o n b e g a n t o f i r e a w a y w i l d l y . A t t h i s m o -

m e n t I h e a r d a s o f t e r bu t m u c h m o r e o m in o u s s o u n d . I t

w a s l i k e h a i l f a l l i ng o n a t i n r o o f . Y o u c o u l d h e a r i t

d r o p p i ng t h r o u g h t h e t re e s a n d o n t h e r o o f s o f t h e s h e d s.

I t w a s s h r a p n e l f ro m t h e a n t i - a i r c r a f t gu n s . F o r t h e

first time in my life I wished I had a s teel helmet. T h e r e



/4 88 1940 BE R L I N, Au gust 26

had always been something repell ent to me about a Ger-

man helmet, something symbolic of brute Ge rmanic

force . At the front I had refused to put one on . Now I

rather thought I could ov ercome m y prejudice . I h e s i -

tated in the shelter of the doorway . In two or three min-

utes now my broadcast would begin . I made a dash for

it, running bl indly, frightenedly down th e path, stum-

bl ing down the wooden stairway where the terrace was .

Sigrid had lent me her flashlight. I switched it on . A

guard in the doorway yell ed to put it out . As he shouted,

I c rashed into the corner of a shed and sprawl ed into the

sand. The sound of the shrapnel fall ing all around

egged me on . O ne last dash and I made the studio do or.

" You're crazy," snapped the S .S . guard who had

taken shelter from the splinters in the doorway.

" Where's your pass? "

"I'v e got a b roadc ast in just one m inute," I panted.

"I don't care . Where's your pass? "

I finall y found it. In the studio c ell the engineer re-

quested me to sp eak v ery c lose to the microphone . He

did not say why, but the reason was obv ious . The closer

to the mik e I spoke, the l ess " outside" noise wo uld b e

picked up . But I wanted the guns to b e heard in Amer-

i c a . The censors had all owed me to pronounce only one

sentenc e ab out the raid, m erely stating that one was on.

Actuall y when I spoke there seemed to b e a m ost un-

f o r t u n a t e l u l l i n t h e f i r i n g . O nl y in the distance, through

the studio doors , could I hear a faint rumb le . Appar-

ently the guns were more audibl e in America than in my

studio, b ecau se a few m inutes later I pic ked up the rest

of our p rogram b y shor twav e to hear Elmer Davis re-

mark in New Y ork that the sou nd of guns or bomb s dur-

ing my b roadc ast was most realistic . This pleased me

greatl y, b ut I noticed deep frowns on the faces of the

German official s who also c aught Mr . Davis's co mment.



1940 BERLIN,August 26 48 9

Sigrid, who spokefor Mutual a half-hour l a t e r ,

pluckily b raved the shra pnel which s eemed to be fal ling

ev en thicker than before, though several of us tried to

dissuade her from going to the st. A s i t w a s , i n t r y-

ing to dodge o ne hail of splinters, she led and fell ,

receiving an ugl y gash in the leg. S he went on with her

broadcast, though in great pain . But luck was not with

her . The sam e transmit ter which had functioned per-

fectly for CBS and N BC only a few minutes b efore

suddenly brok e down and her talk did not get thr ough

to America .

Until al most dawn we watch ed the sp ectacle from a

balcony. T here was a low ceiling of clouds, and the

German searc hlight b atteries tr ied vainl y to pick up the

British bomb ers. The beam s of light wou ld fl ash on f or

a few sec onds, search the skies wil dly, and then go off.

The British were cruising as they er the heart

of the c ity and flying q uite low, judging by the sound

of their motors. T he Ge rma n flak was firing wildly,

completely b y sound. I t was easy, from the firing, to

foll ow a plane across the c ity as one battery after an-

other pic ked up the sound of the mot indl y

into the sky . M ost of the noise c ame from the north,

where the armam ent factories are

Today the bom bin g is the one topic of conversation

among Berliners . It's es pecially amusing therefore to

see that Goebb els has permitted the local newspape

publ ish only a six-line commun ue about it, to the effe t

that enemy planes fl ew over the capital, dropped a few

incendiary bombs on two suburb s, and damaged one

wooden hut in a garden . There is not a line ab out the

explosive bom bs which we all pl ainly heard. N or is ther e

a word ab out the three str eets in Berlin which have b een

roped off all day today to prevent the curious from

seeing what a bom b can do to a hou se. I t w i l l b e i nt e r e s t -



490

1940 BERLIN,August 2 9

ing to watch the reaction of the Berlin ers to the efforts

of the authorities to hush up the extent of the raid . I t ' s

the first tim e they've been ab le to compare what ac tu-

al ly happened with what D r . Goebb els reporte d . The

B r i t i s h a l s o d r o p p e d a f e w l e a f l e ts l a s t n i g h t , t e l l i n g t h e

populace th at " the war which H itler started wil l go on,

and it will last as long as H itler does ." That's good

propaganda, but unfortunately few p eople were abl e

to find the leaflets, there being onl y a handful dropped .

BERLIN, August 29

The British c ame ov er in forc e again l ast night

a n d f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e k i l l e d G e r m a n s i n t h e c a p i t a l o f t h e

Reich . T he offic ial account is ten persons kill ed and

twenty-nine wounded in B erl in . At the Kottbuserstrasse

out towards Tempelhof (which the Britis h probab ly

were aiming at) and not far from the Gorlitz er railroad

station (which they might have b een aiming at) two

hundred-pound b ombs l anded in the stree t, tore off the

leg of an air-raid warden standing at the entrance to

his hou se, and kil led f our men and two women, who, un-

wisely, were watc hing the firewor ks from a doorway .

I think the populace of Berlin is m ore affec ted by the

fact that the B ritish planes hav e been ab le to penetrate

to the ce ntre of Be rlin without troubl e than they are by

t h e f i rs t c a s u a l t i e s . For the first time the war has been

brought home to them . If the British k eep this up, it

will hav e a tremendous eff ect u pon the morale of the

people here

Goebb els today suddenly changed his tactic s . His or-

ders after the first big bom bi ng were to p la y the stor y

down in the press . T oday he orders the newspapers to

cry out at the " brutality " o f t h e B r i t i s h f l i e r s i n a t -

tacking the defenceless women and children of Berlin



1940 BERLIN,August 2 9 4 91

O n e m u s t k e e p i n m i n d t h a t t h e p e o p l e h e r e h a v e n o t y e i

b e e n t o l d o f t h e m u r d e r o u s b o m b i n g s o f L o n d o n b y t he

L u f t w a f f e . T h e in v a r i a b l e h e a d l i n e t o d a y a b o u t l a s t

n i g h t 's r a i d i s : "CO WARD LY B RI TI SH ATTACK."

And the l i t t le Doktor m a k e s t h e p a p er s d r u m i n t o t h e

p e o p l e t h a t G e rm a n p l a n e s a t t a c k o n l y m i l i t a ry o b j e c -

t i v e s i n B r i t a i n , w he r e a s t h e " B r i t i s h p i r a t e s " a t t a c k

"o n t he p er s o n a l o rd e r s o f C hu r ch i ll " o n l y n o n - m i l i -

tary ob ject iv es . N o d o u b t t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e w il l f a l l

for this lie too . O n e p a p e r a c h i e v e s a n i c e d e g r e e o f

h y s t e r i a : i t s a y s t h e RA F h a s b e e n o r d e r e d " t o m a s -

s a c r e t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f B e r l i n . "

I t ' s o b v i o u s f r o m w h a t we ' v e s e e n h e r e t he l a s t f e w

n i g h t s - n d G o r i n g m u s t h a v e k n o w n i t - h a t t h e r e

i s n o d e f en c e a g a in s t t h e ni g h t b o m b er s . N e i t h er o n

S u n d a y n o r l a s t n i g h t d i d t h e a n t i - a i r c r a f t d e f e n c e s o f

B e r l i n , w h i c h a r e p r o b a b l y t h e b e s t i n t h e w o r l d , e v e n

s po t a sing le Bri t i sh p lane in the beam of a search l igh t ,

l e t a l o n e b r i n g o n e d o w n . T h e o f f ic i a l c o m m u n i q u e , h e s -

i t a t i n g t o t e l l t h e l o c a l p e o p l e th a t a n y p l a n e s w e re

b r o u g h t d o w n l a s t n i g h t o v e r t h e c i t y w h e n t h o u s a n d s

o f t h e m p r o b a b l y s a w t h a t n o n e w e r e , a n n o u n c e d t o d a y

t h a t o n e b o m b e r w a s s h o t d o w n o n i t s w a yto B e r l i n a n d

another after it l e f t B e r l i n .

I h a d m y o w n t r o u b le s a t t h e r a d i o l a s t n i g h t. First,

t h e c e n s o r s a n n o u n c e d t h a t w e c o u l d n o l o n g e r m e n t i o n

a raid while it was on . ( I n L o n d o n E d M u r ro w n o t o n l y

m e n t i on s i t , b u t d e s c r i b e s i t . ) S e c o n d l y , I g o t i n t o

s o m e w h a t o f a r o w w i t h t h e G e r m a n r a d i o o f f i c i a l s . A s

s o o n a s I h a d f i n i s h e d m y b r o a d c a s t , t h e y o r d e r ed m e t o

the cellar . I t r i e d t o ex p l a i n th a t I h a d c o m e h e r e a s a

w a r c o r r e s p o n d e n t a n d t h a t i n o r d e r i n g m e t o t h e c e l l a r

t h e y w e r e p r e v e n t i n g m e f r o m e x e r c i s i n g m y p r o f e s s i o n .

We exchanged some rather sharp wor . L ord H aw-

H a w , I n o t i c e , i s t h e o n l y o t h e r p e rs o n a r o u n d h e r e e x -



4 9 2 1940 BERLIN, August 31

cept the very pluck y girl secre taries who does not rush

t o t h e s h e l t e r a f t e r t h e s i r e n s o u n d s . I h ave av oided him

for a year, but have b een thi nking l ately it might b e

wise to get acquainted with the traitor . In the air-raids

he has shown guts .

BERLIN, Au gust 31

Laid up with the flu for a bit . When the maid

came in last night just before the bom bing started, I

asked : " Wil l the British co me ov er tonight? "

" For cer tain, " she sighed resignedly . All her c on-

f i d e n c e , a l l t h e c o n f i d e n c e t h a t f i v e m i l l i o n B e r li n e r s h a d

that the cap ital was safe from air attack, is gone .

" Why do they do it? " she asked

" Because you bomb L ondon," I said.

"Yes, b ut we hit mil itary objec tives, whil e the B rit-

ish, they bomb our homes ." S he was a good advertise-

ment for the effec tiv eness of G oebb els's propaganda .

" M aybe you bom b their h omes too," I sai d .

" Our papers say no t," she argued . S he said the

German people wanted peace . " Why didn't the British

accept the Fdhrer's offer? " she wanted to know . This

woman comes fr om a worker's f amil y . Her husband i s

a worker, probabl y an ex -Communist o r Socialist . And

y e t s h e h a s f a l l e n a c o m p l e t e v i c t i m t o t h e o f f i c i a l p r op a -

ganda

The British gave us a good strafing last night and

even German offic ials adm itted that th e damage was

greater than e ver before . A German friend dropped in

to tell me the great Siemens wor ks had been hit . The

Borsen Zeitung headlines tonight : "BRITISH AIR P I-

RATES O VER BER LI N ."

I'v e turned down the P ropaganda M inistry's offer to

take me along with other corr espondents on a condu cted



1940 BERLIN, September 1

493

t o u r e a c h m o r n i n g a f t e r a r a i d t o s e e t h e d a m a g e. I

k n o w t h e G e r m a n m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s h a v e n o i n t e n ti o n

o f s h o w i n g u s a n y m i l i t a r y o b j e c t i v e s t h a t m a y b e h i t .

T o m a k e a n h o n e s t c h e c k - u p w o u ld t a k e s e v e r a l h o u r s o f

m o t o r i ng o v e r t h e v a s t a r e a o f B e r l i n .

BERLIN, Septe mber 1

I w a s i n m y b a t h a t m i d n i gh t l a s t n i g h t a n d

d i d n o t h e a r t h e s i r e n s s o u n d t h e a l a r m . F i r s t I k n e w

o f t h e r a i d w a s w h e n t h e g u n s s t a r t e d t o t h u nd e r . I

dozed o ff to s leep , st i l l hav ing the f lu wi th me, bu t was

a w a k e n e d d u r i n g t h e n i g h t b y t h e t h u d a n d s h o c k o f t w o

b o m b e x p l o s i o n s v e r y n e a r t h e h ot e l .

T o d a y t h e H i gh C o m m a n d a n n o u n c e s o f f i c i a l l y t h a t

t h e B r i t i s h f l i e r s l a s t n i g h t w e re " h i n d e r e d " from

d r o p p i n g t h e i r b om b s b y t h e s p l e n d i d w o r k o f t h e c a p i -

t a l ' s a n t i - a i r c r a f t g un s , a n d t h a t t h e o n l y b o m b s d r o p p e d

therefore fell outside the city limits .

T h is i s s t r a n g e b e c a u s e t h e T ie r g a r t en w a s r o p ed o f f

t o d a y a n d t h is e v e n i n g th e p re s s a d m i t s t h a t s e v e r a l

" b o m b c r a t e r s " w e r e d i s c o v e r e d i n t h e p a r k a f t e r l a s t

n i gh t ' s r a i d . I s t a g g e r ed o f f t o t h e Rumd fu nk t o n i g h t

t o d o a n a n n i v e r s a r y b r o a d c a s t . Th e m i l i t a ry c e n s o r,

a v e ry d e c e n t c h a p , w a s p u z z l e d a b o u t t h e c o n f l i c t i n g

G e r m a n r e p o r t s o f t h e b o m b i n g .

" M y i ns t r u c ti o ns a r e y ou c a n ' t c on t ra d i c t t he c o m -

m u n i q u e s o f t h e H ig h C o m m a n d , " h e s a i d .

" B u t t h e G e r m a n p re s s c o n t r a d i c ts t h e m , " I a r g u e d .

"I h e a r d t h e b o m b s f a l l i n t h e Ti er g a r t e n , a n d t h e B e r -

l i n p a pe r s a d m i t t h a t s o m e d i d . "

H e w a s a g o o d s p o r t a n d l e t m e r e a d t h e c o n t r a d i c t o r y

r e p o r t s .

Th e m a i n e f f e c t o f a w e e k o f c o n s t a n t B r i t i s h n i g h t

b o m b i n gs h a s b e e n t o s p r e a d g r ea t d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t



494


I learned today that the Germ ans you see re-

moving time b ombs are fo r the most part pr isoners from

concentration cam ps . If they liv e through the experi-

ence, they are pr omi sed release. As a matter of fact it

probab ly is an easy c hoice f or them . Ev en death is a

welcome rel ease from the tortures of the Gestap o . And

there's always the chanc e that the bom b won't go off,

Some of the b ombs that fell in the Tierg arten, it's now

revealed, were time bomb s .

For some time now our censor s have not all owed us

1940 B E R L I N, Septe mber 2

among the peo ple here and sow dou bt in their minds .

One said to m e today : " I'll never b elieve anoth er thing

they say . If th ey've l ied about the raids in the rest of

Germany as they have ab out the ones o n Berlin, then

it must hav e been pretty bad there ."

Actuall y, the B ritish bombings hav e not been v ery

deadly. The Bri tish ar e usin g too fe w planes - fifteen

or twenty a night -and they hav e to c ome too far to

carry really effec tive, heavy l oads o f bom bs . Main ef-

fect is a moral one, and if the Br itish are smart they'll

keep them up ev ery night . Tonight another attack be-

gan just b efore I broadcast, b ut it was not m uch of a

show

A ye ar a go t oday the gre at " counter-attack "

against P olan d began . I n this year G erman arm s have

achieved v icto ries ne ver equall ed even in the brill iant

mil itary histo ry of this aggres sive, mil itaristic nation .

And yet the war is not yet over, or won . And it was on

this aspect that people's m inds were conc entrated to-

day, if I am any jud ge. They l ong for peace . And they

want it b efore the winter c omes .



1940 BERLIN, September 4 -5

49 95

to use the word " Nazi " on the air . They say it has a

bad sound in America . O ne must say " National So-

c ia l is t " or avoid the term a lt ogether, as I do . The word

" invasion " in reference to what happened in Scan-

dinav ia and the wes t, and what is planned for England,

is also taboo .

Studying the German figures on air losses over Brit-

ain, which are manifestly untrue, I find that nearly

ev ery day they ru n 4 to 1 in fav our of the Luftwaffe .

This ratio must hav e a m agic attr action to someone in

the Air Ministry .

BERLIN, Sept emb er 4 -5 (3 a.m .)

Hitler m ade a surprise speech here this after-

noon, the occ asio n b eing th e open ing of the Winterhil f e

- inter relief - ampaign . Lik e the Volkswagen,

the cheap " people's car " on which German work ers

are pa ying mil lions of marks a month in instalm ents

though the fac tory whic h is supposed to mak e them is

actuall y manufactur ing only arm s, the Winterh il fe is

one of the sc andals of the N azi regim e, though not one

German in a mil lion realizes it . I t is obv ious that in a

country without unempl oyment not m uch " winter re-

lief " is necessary. Yet the Naz is go on wringing sev-

eral hundred mil lion mark s eac h winter ou t of the p eo-

ple for " winter charity " and actuall y use most of the

money for arm aments or party funds .

Hitler's appearance today was k ept a secret until

the last minute, the P ropaganda Ministry rushing off

the correspondents from the aft ernoon press confer-

ence to the Sportpal ast . What is H immler afraid of,

since B ritish bom bers cannot co me ov er during day-

light? Is he afraid of an " incident"?

The session was anothe r beautiful exampl e of how



496 1940 BERLIN, Septemb er 4- 5

H i tl e r t a k e s a d v a n t a g e o f t h e g u l l i b i l it y o f h i s p e o pl e.

H e t o l d t h e m , fo r i n s t a n c e , t h a t w h i l e t h e G e rm a n a i r

fo rc e a t t a c k e d B r i t a i n b y d a y, t h e c o w a rd l y R A F c o m e s

o v e r o n l y a t n i g h t . H e d i d n o t e x p l a i n why t hi s i s s o

- t h a t t h e G e r m a n s c a n g e t o v e r E n g l a n d b y d a y b e -

c a u s e i t i s o n l y t we n t y- f i v e m i l e s f r o m G e r m a n b a s e s

a n d t h e y c a n t h u s p r o t e c t t h e i r b o m b e r s w i t h f i g h t e r s ,

w h e re a s G e rm a n y i s t o o f a r f ro m B r i t a i n t o e n a b l e t h e

B r i t i s h t o p r o t e c t t h e i r b o m b e r s w i t h f i g h t e r s .

H i t l e r s a i d w i t h l o v e l y h yp o c r i s y : " I w a i t e d t h r e e

m o n t h s w i t h o ut a n s w e r i n g t h e B r i t is h n i g h t b o m b i n g s

i n t h e h op e t h e y wo u l d s t o p t h i s m i s c h i e f . But Herr

C h u rc h i l l s a w i n t h i s a s i g n o f we a k n e s s . Y o u w i l l u n -

d e r s t a n d t h a t w e a r e n o w a n s w e r i n g , n i g h t f o r n ig h t .

A n d w h e n t h e B r i t i s h a i r f o r c e d r o p s t w o o r t h r e e o r

fo u r t h o us a n d k i l o g ra m s o f b o m b s , t h e n w e w i l l i n o n e

n i g h t d ro p 1 5 0 - p 2 3 0 - 3 0 0 - o r 4 00 , 0 00 k i l o g ra m s . "

A t t h i s p o i n t h e h a d t o s t o p b e c a u s e o f t h e h y s t e r i c a l

a p p l a u s e o f t h e a u d i e nc e , w h i c h c o n s i s t e d m o s t l y o f

G e r m a n w o m e n nu r s e s ' a n d s o c i a l w o r k e r s .

" W he n th e y d e c la r e, " c on t in ue d Hi t le r , " t ha t t he y

will increase their attacks on our cities, then we will raze

their ci t ies to the g round . " H e r e t he y o u n g n u r s e s a n d

s o c i a l w o r k e rs w e re q u i t e b e s i d e t h e m s e l v e s a n d a p -

p l a u d e d p h r e n et i c a l l y . W h e n t h e y h a d r e c o v e r e d , h e

s a i d

" We w i ll s t o p t h e ha n d i w o r k o f t he s e a i r p i ra t e s , s o

h e l p us G o d . " A t t h i s t h e y o u n g G e r m a n w o m e n h o p p ed

t o t h e ir f e e t a n d , t h e ir b r e a s t s h e a v i n g , s c r e a m e d t h e i r

a p p ro v a l .

" T h e h o u r w i l l c o m e , " H i t l e r w e n t o n , " w h e n o n e o f

us wi l l b reak , and i t wi l l no t be Nat ional Social ist Ger-

many . " A t t h i s j u n c t u r e t he r a v i n g m a i d e n s k e p t t h ei r

heads s u ff icien t ly to b reak thei r wild s hou ts o f j oy wi th

a c h o r u s o f : " Never ! Never ! "



1940 BE R L I N,

Septe mber 5 497

Though grim and dripp ing with hate m ost of the

evening, H itler had his humorous , jaunty m oments .

H i s l i s t e n e r s f o u n d i t v e r y f u n n y wh e n h e s a i d : "I n

E n g l a n d t h e y ' r e f i l l e d w i t h c u r i o s i t y a n d k e e p a s k i n g

` W hy d o e s n ' t h e c o m e ? ' B e c a l m . B e c a lm . H e' s c o m -

in g !H e ' s c o m i n g ! " A n d t h e m a n s q u e e z e d e v e r y o u nc e

o f hu m o ur a n d s a r c a s m o u t o f h i s v o i c e . T h e s p e e c h

w a s n o t b r oa d c a s t d i r e c t , b u t r ec o r d e d a n d r e b r o a d c a s t

t w o h o ur s a f t e r h e h a d f i n i s h e d .

LA TER - h e B r i t i s h c a m e o v e r a g a i n t o -

n i g h t , a r r i v i n g p u n c t u a l l y a t f i f t e e n m i n u t e s b e f o r e

m i d n i g h t, w h i c h i s t h e i r u s u a l t i m e . T h e fa c t t h a t t h e

s e a r c h l i g h t s r a r e l y p i c k u p a p l a n e h a s g i v e n r i s e t o

w h i s p e r s a m o n g t h e p e o p l e o f B e r l in t h a t t h e B r i t i s h

p l a n e s a r e c o a t e d w i t h a n i n v i s i b l e p a i n t . To n i g h t t h e

bombers cru is ed over the ci ty at in tervals fo r two hours .

The flak g u n s t h u n d e r e d a w a y l i k e m a d , b u t w i t h o u t

e f f e c t. A n o t h e r b o m b d r o p p e d i n t h e T i e r g a r t e n a n d

k i l l e d a p o l i c e m a n .


Ve ry a n n o y e d s t i l l t h a t t h e G e r m a n r a d i o o f f i -

c i a l s r e f u s e t o l e t m e v i e w t h e n i g h t l y a i r -r a i d s . They

c o m e e a c h n i g h t w h e n I a m a t t h e Rundfunk . Nor c an

w e m e n t i o n t h e m i f t h e y o c c u r d u r i n g o u r t a l k . To -

n i g ht w h e n I a r r i v e d f o r m y b r o a d c a s t I f o u nd t h a t t h e

R RG h a d i n s t a l l e d a l i p m i c r o p ho n e f o r u s t o s p e a k

i n. I n o r d e r t o m a k e y o u r v o i c e h e a r d y o u h a v e t o h o l d

your lips to it . B u t t h e s o u n d s o f t h e a n t i - a i rc r a f t g u n s

f i r i n g o u ts i d e d o n o t re g i s t e r . T h a t i s w h y t h e y i n -

s t a l l e d i t. B u t t h e y h a v e p u t i t i n t h e s a m e b u i l d i n g , s o

t h a t w e n o l o n g e r h a v e t o r a c e t h r o u g h a h a i l o f f a l l i n g

s h r a p n e l t o g e t t o a m i c r o p h o ne .



4.98 1940 B E R L IN, Septe mber 7

The U nited States is to turn ov er fifty dest royer s to

the Britis h in return for naval and air b ases in Brit-

ish possessions off our easter n coast. The Germans say

i t i s a b r e a c h o f n e u t r a l i ty , a s i t i s , b u t t h e y 'r e n o t g o -

ing to do anything about it, not ev en protest. They're

hoping that our isolationist s and our L indberghs will

keep us out of the war and they intend to refrain from

doing anything to jeopardize their position .


Last ni ght we had the biggest and m ost effec -

tive b ombing of the war. The Germans have b rought

in several m ore batterie s of flakduring the past few

days, and last night they put up a terrific barrage, b ut

failed to hit a single plane .

The Britis h were aiming b etter last night . When I

returned from the Rundfwnk shortly after three a .m . ,

the sky ov er the north -central part of Berlin was l it up

by two great fires . The b iggest was in the freight house

of the Lehrt er railroa d statio n . Another railroad sta-

tion at the Schussendorfstrasse also was hit . A ru bber

fac tory, I 'm told, was set afire .

Despite this the H igh Com mand said in its comm u-

niq ue tod ay : " The enemy again attacked the German

capital l ast night, causing some damage to persons and

property as a result of his indiscriminate throwing of

bombs on non-mil itary targe ts in the middle of the cit y .

The German air force, as reprisal, has therefore be-

gun to attack L ondon with strong forces ."

Not a hint here - nd the German peopl e do not

know it - hat the Germans have b een dr opping bomb s

in the v ery c entre of London for the last two weeks

My censor s warned me today not to go into this m at-

t e r . I apparently hav e some German l isteners, who can



1940 B E n L i N, September 7 499

pick up my talk from the German transmitter that

short waves it to New York . Since it's a German trans-

mitt er, there is no penalty .

The statement of the High Command, obv iously

forced upon it by Hitler himsel f -he ofte n tak es a

hand in writing the offic ial arm y communiq ues -de-

lib erately perpetr ates the lie that Germany has only

decided to bom b London as a result of the British f i r s t

bombing Berlin . And the G erman peo ple will fall for

this, as they fall for alm ost everything the y're told

nowadays. Certainly nev er before in modern times -

s i n c e t h e p r e s s , a n d l a t e r t h e r a d i o , m a d e i t t h e o r e ti c a l l y

possibl e for th e mass of mank ind to learn what was go-

ing on in the world - have a great people b een so mis-

led, so unsc rupulously l ied to, as the Ger mans under

this regime .

And so toni ght the H igh Command, which all good

Germans bel ieve tel ls onl y the go spel truth, issue d a

special comm uniq ue saying that as reprisal for the

British raids on Berlin, L ondon was attacked with

strong forces for the f i r s t time today . As a result of

t h i s r e p r i s a l a t t a c k , i t s a y s , " one great c loud of sm oke

tonight stretc hes from the middl e of London to the

mouth of the Thames ."

To giv e American radio li steners an idea o f the kind

of propaganda (though I couldn't l abel it as such)

which the G erman peopl e are being sub jected to now,

I read in my b roadcast tonight the foll owing q uotation

from today's Berlin newspaper, the Borsen Zeitwng :

" While the attack of the German air force is made on

purely mil itary objectives -this fac t is rec ognized b y

both the British press and radio -the R AF knows

nothing better to do than continua y to attack non-

mil itary objecti ves in Germany . A p erfec t example of

this was the criminal a ttack on the middle of Ber



500 1940 BE R L I N,

Septe mber 7

night . In this attack onl y lodging -houses were hit ; n o t

a single m ilitary objec tive ."

The German people hav e no inkl ing -because the

Nazi press and rad io hav e care full y suppre ssed the

story -that in Augus t al one more than one thousand

English civil ians wer e kil led by the Luftwaffe's attacks

on British "milit ary objectiv es ."

Another type of lying here : The offic ial statem ent of

last night's b ombing of Ber lin says that the first two

waves of British planes were turned back by the cap i-

tal 's defenc es, and that onl y a few planes of the third

wave wer e able to slip t hrough . N ow, every Ber liner

knows that from the m inute the alarm was sounded last

night, British planes were heard ov erhead . There were

several waves and eac h time you heard the hum of the

motors . Yet I fear t he majority will bel ieve the offic ial

explanation .

The Borsen Zeitung even went so far last night as to

tell its innoc ent read ers tha t all mil itary objec tives in

Germany were so wel l protec ted by anti-airc raft guns

that it was quite im possible for the British p lanes to

bomb t he m . T herefore the Br itish went after unpro-

tected civil ian houses . How man y Ge rman s wil l ask

then, why, with an adm itted conc entration of guns in

and around Ber lin such as no other area in the worl d

has ever seen -why has not a single pl ane yet been

brought down?

And per sonall y I 'm getting a l ittle tired of the c en-

sorship res trictions on our tell ing even a m odicum of

truth ab out this air war to America . I shall not stand

for it much longer .




All Sunday morning papers car ry the s ame

h e a d l i n e : " B I G ATTACK ON LONDON AS RE-

PRIS AL . "

1940 BE R L I N , September 9 501


A typi cal N azi trick was pl ayed on me today .

The three cens ors fought with me so l ong ov er the scr ipt

of my two p .m . b roadcast, which they charged was un-

duly ironic about the " reprisal " bombings of Londo n,

whic h it was, that b y the time they had y okayed it,

there wa s no t ime for me to go on the a ir. My fiv e m in-

utes of air tim e was over .

There was no ob jectio n to this, since the c ensors have

a perfec t right to hold up a e, just

as I hav e the right not to talk if I think they've cen-

sored the tru e sens e out of my talk . But this evening

I learn from Paul White in N ew York , through chan-

nels which pe rmit m e to rec eive cabl es from him with-

out the Germans k nowing their contents, that

wave director of the German Broadcas ting Company

cabl ed him today an expl anation of why I did not broad-

cast at two p .m . The cabl e read : " Regret S hirer ar-

rived too l ate today to broadcast ."

The Britis h bom bers failed to come over l ast night or

the night before . O ffic ial explanatio n to the German

people : The Br itish p lanes tried to get thr ough both

nights to Berlin, b ut were turned back . Whenever the

British ch oose not to bom b Berl in henceforth, I hear,

Goebb els has ordered th e people to be tol d that they

tried to but were repu lsed by the c apital 's magnificent

defences .

Whenever the British c ome ov er Germany now, m ost



502 1940 BERLIN, Septe mber 1 0

of the German radio stations hurriedl y go off the air

so as not to serve as radio b eacons for the B ritish pil ots .

The German radio announced tonight that its b road-

casts, already greatly curtailed in the la st fortnight on

" mil itary gro unds," will be further c urtai led . " This

is no time," sa id the announcement, " to explain fur-

ther the reasons for this ."

BERLIN, Se ptember 1 0

A light raid l ast night, though a few houses

were demol ished. Comm enting on th e bomb ing, the Lo-

kal Anzeig er says : " The fl iers of H is Britannic Maj-

esty h ave giv en a he avy b low to the laws governing an

honourabl e and manl y conduct of war ."

At the Propaganda Ministry today we were show n

one of Britain's " secret we apons ," a new so rt of in-

cendiary weapon . I t looks l ike a l arge c all ing ca rd -

about two inche s square -and is made of a ce ll uloid

substance. T wo cellul oid sheet s are pasted togeth er

and between them is a tab let of phosphor us . The Brit-

ish drop them in a dam pened c ondition . When they dry,

after a few minutes of sun, or ten m inutes of dry, day-

time air, they ignite and c ause a s mal l fl ame that b urns

for two or three min utes . Ac tually, they we re f irst used

by the I rish R epubl icans, who dropped them in l etter-

boxes to burn the mail in England. The Germans ad-

mit they have set fire to fie lds of grain and hay as well

as a few forests . Pro bab ly the Britis h, who started

dropping them in August, hoped to burn up a consider-

able acreage of grain. U nfortunately, we had a very

wet August and few of them got dry enough to ignite .



1940 BE B, L I N, Septe mber 1 1 503


Last night the severest bomb ing yet . And the

German paper s are b esid e themselv es . The B o r s e n Z e i-

tungcalls our pilot v isito rs of last evening " barbari-

ans" and bannerl ines:

"CRIME O F BRITISH O N

BERLIN." Acc ording to the Naz is, onl y five persons

were kil led, b ut for the first time the British d ropped

a considerabl e numb er of fire bomb s and the re were

quite a few s mal l fires . Three incendiaries fell in the

yard of th e Adlon, fiv e in the garde n of the Emb assy

next door, and a hal f-dozen m ore in the garden of D r.

Goebbels just behind the Embassy. T he offic e of the

Minister of Munitions b etween the A dlon and the Em -

bassy al so was hit . Al l the incendiaries were put out

before they did any damage . Actuall y the British were

aiming at the P otsdamer Bahnhof, and they had bad

luck . They took alm ost a perfe ct run fo r it, their

first bom bs hitting the Re ichstag and then fall ing in

a direct line towards the Potsdam

denburger Tor, the Em bassy, and in the gardens be-

hind. But the last one was ab out three hundr ed yards

short of the station .

Today the BBC c laims that the P otsdamer station

was hit, b ut this is untru e and at least three Germans

today who he ard the B BC told m e they felt a littl e disil-

lusioned at the British radio's lack of v eracity . The

point is that it is b ad propaganda for the British to

broadcast in German to the people here that a main

station has been set on fire when it hasn't b een touc hed .

I alm ost met a q uick end last night . Rac ing hom e

from the Rundfunka f t e r t h e a l l - c l e a r a t f i f t y m i le s a n

hour in my car, I suddenly sk idded into some deb ris

and came to a stop twenty feet from a b crater

on the East-West Axis about a hundred and fifty yards



5041940 BERLIN,

September 1 2

from the Brandenburger Tor . I n the bl ack-out you

could not see it, and the air-wardens had not yet dis-

covered it. A splinter fro m the bomb that made this

crater hurtled two hundred yards through the air to the

American Emb assy and c rashed through the doubl e

window of the office of D onal d Heath, our First S ecre-

tary . It cu t a neat hole in the two windows, continued

direc tly over Don's desk, and penetrated four inc hes

into the wal l on the far side of the room. Don was sup-

posed to have had night duty last night and would hav e

been sitting at h is desk at the time, b ut for some reason

Charge d'Affaire s Kirk had told him to go home and

him self had done the night trick .

BERLIN, Septe mb er 12

Off to Genev a for a few days so that I can

talk some matters over with New York on the telepho ne

without being ov erheard by the Naz is . T he Ge r-

mans want Hartric h, m y assistant, to leav e, and I'm

against it .

The rumour is that the big inv asion hop against Eng-

land is planned for the night of Septemb er 15, when

there will b e a full m oon and the proper tide in the

Channel . I 'l l chance this trip anyway .

GE NE VA, Se pt emb er 16

The news co ming over the near-by b order o f

France is that the Germans hav e attempted a l anding

in Britain, but that it has been repulsed with heav y

German l osses . Must tak e this repo rt with a grain of

s a l t .

Lunch with John W inant, head of the I nternational

Lab our Offic e, who strives v aliantly to k eep hi s institu -



1940 B E L L I N , Septe mber 18 5 05

tion, and what it stands for, from going under after th e

bl ow the wa r has given it . M ore than any other A mer-

ican in publ ic life whom I know, he understands the

social forces and changes that have b een at work in the

last decade both at hom e and in Europe, and that are

now in new ferment as a result of the war . We talked

about the job to b e done after th e war if Britain wins

and if the mistak es of 19 19 are not to be repeated . He

spoke of his own idea s ab out reconstruc tion and how

war economy could be replaced by a peace economy

without the mal adjustment, the great u nemployment

and deflation and depress ion that foll owed the last war .

Personall y I c annot l ook t hat far ahead. I c annot s ee

beyond Hitler's defeat. To accompl ish that first is suc h

a gigantic task and so o verwhelm ingly im portant th at

all else seems secondar y, though undou btedl y it is a

good thing that some are taking a l onger view .

Winant is a lik abl e, gaunt, awkward, Lincolnes que

sort of man an d was a good enough politician and execu-

tiv e to b e re-elec ted Governor of New Hampshire a

couple of tim es . I think he woul d mak e a good pr esi-

dent to succeed Roosev el t in 1944 if the latter get s his

third term .


Somewhere near Fr ankfurt on the train from

Basel last night the porter shou ted : " Flieger-A larm! "

and there was a distant sound of gun-fire, b ut nothing

hit us . We arriv ed at the P otsdamer Bahnhof right

on tim e and I observed again that the station had not

been hit despite the c laims of the BB C . I noticed sev -

eral l ightly wounde d soldiers, mostly airm en, getting

off a special car which had b een attached to our train .

From their bandages, their wounds look ed lik e burns .



5061 9 4 0 BERLIN, Septemb er 18

I no ticed also the l ongest R ed Cross train I've ever

seen. It stre tched f rom the station for hal f a m ile to

beyond the bridge over the L andwehr Canal . O rderlies

were swabbing it out, the wounded having b een un-

loaded, probabl y, during the nig ht. T he Germans usu-

all y unload their hosp ital trains after dark so that the

populace w i l l not be unduly disturb ed by one of the

grimmer s ides o f glorious war . I wondered where so

many wounded c ould hav e co me from, as the armies in

the west stopped fighting three months ago . As there

were only a few porters I had to wait som e time on the

platform and pic ked up a conversation with a railway

workman . He said most of the men taken from the hos-

pital train were suff ering from b urns .

Can it b e that the tales I heard in Ge neva had som e

truth in them after all ? The stories th ere were that

either in attempted German raids with s izab le l anding-

parties on the English coast or in rehearsals with b oats

and b arges off the French c oast the British had giv en

the Germans a bad p ummell ing . The reports reaching

Swi tz erl and f ro m F ra nce were th at m any Ge rm an

barges and ships had b een destroye d and a consider able

number of German troops drowned ; a l s o t h a t t h e B r i t -

ish used a new type of wireless-directed torped o (a S wiss

inv ention, the Swiss said) which spread ignited oil on

the water and burned the barges . Those cases of burns

at the statio n this morning bear l ooking into .

Ribbentrop suddenly went off to Ro me tonight .

Many guesses as to why . Mine : to break the news to

Mussolini that there will be no attempt at inv ading

Britain this fall . This wil l put I l Duce in a hole, as-he

has already started an offensive on E gypt and advan ced

a hundred mil es over the desert to Sidi-el-Barrani . But

this I talian effort, it seems, was originall y planned only



1940 B E R . L I N, Septemb er 18 507

to distract attention from the German asion of Br it-

ain. I t b egins to look now (though I still think Hitler

may try to attac k England) as though the war will

shift to the Mediterranean this winter, with the Axis

powers try ing to deliv er the Britis h Empire a k nockout

bl ow by captu ring Egyp t, the Suez Canal , and P ales-

tine . N apoleon did this o nce, and the b low did not fell

the Britis h Empire . (Also, N apoleon planned to at-

tack Britain, gathered his ships and b arges just where

Hitler has gathered his, b ut never dared to l aunch th e

attack .) But th e Axis s eizure of Suez m ight knock out

the British Empire now . T he reason Franc o's handy-

man, Serrano Suner, is here in Be rlin is that Hitler

wants him either to take Gibral tar himself or to l et the

German arm y come in from France to do the job . Much

tal k here, I find, of Germany and I tal y dividin g up

Africa between t hemsel ves, giving S pain a larger slice

if Franc o plays b all .

Only one air-raid here sinc e I left, and the five m il-

lion peopl e in Be rlin hav e caught up on their sleep and

are full of breezy confidence again . They really think

the British planes can't get thr . Churc hill is mak-

ing a m istake in not sendin g m ore planes over Ber lin .

A mere half-dozen b ombers per night would do the job

- hat is, woul d forc e the people to their cellars in the

middl e of the nigh t and rob them of their sleep . Morale

tumbled noticea bl y in Ber lin when the B ritish visited

us almost every evening. I heard many complaints

about the drop in efficienc y of the armam ent workers

and even gov ernment em ployees because of the loss of

sleep and increased nervousness . The British h aven't

enough planes to dev astate Berlin, b ut they have

enough - iv e or six for Be rli n each night - o ruin

the moral e of the country 's m ost important centre of



5 0 8 1940 B E R L I N , Septemb er 19

population . Can it b e that the British hope to get the

Germans to sto p their terrible b ombing of London by

laying off B erlin? This wou ld b e a v ery s ill y ca lcu-

lation .

BERLIN, Septemb er 1 9

Having saved a littl e extr a gasoline from my

ration of thir ty-seven gal lons a m onth, I drove out to

Siemensstadt with J oe Harsch and Ed H artrich this

afternoo n to see if there h ad been any damage b y bom b-

ing to the Siem ens Electric al Works, one of the most

important war industr ial plants in Germ any . I was

also curious to see what mood the workers were in. We

drove sl owly around the plant, b ut c ould find no trac e

of any damage. The thousands of workers filing out

after the after noon shift see med wel l fed and quite con-

tented . Som e of them look ed downrigh t prospe rous and

lit up cigars as they c ame out. During the fortnight

that the B ritish came over practicall y every night, the

strain of working a ful l ten-hour shift after a night

without sleep had begun to affec t them, several Ger-

mans had to ld m e . But today they look ed disgus tingly

fit .

Returning to town som ewhat disheartened b y our

findings, we noticed a large crowd standing on a bridge

which s panned a railroad l ine . We thought there had

been an acc ident . But we found the people staring

silentl y at a long Red Cross train unloading wounded.

This is getting interesting . O nl y during th e fortnight

in Septem ber when the P oles were b eing crush ed and

a month this spring when the we st was being annihil ated

have we seen s o many hosp ital trains in B erlin . A dipl o-

mat tol d me this m orning his Legation had c hecked two

other big hospital trains unl oading wounded in the



1940 BERLIN, September 19 5 09

Charlottenb urg railroad yards yeste rday . This makes

four long train s of wounded in the last two days that

I know have arriv ed here .

Not since the war started has the German press b een

so indignant against t he British as today . Accordin g

to it, the British last night bed the Bodelsch wingh

hospital for mental ly deficient children at Beth el in

western G ermany, k ill ing nine you ngsters, woundi ng

twelv e .

Th e sa me n ews papers w hi ch h av e now begu n to

chronic le with glee the " reprisal " attacks on the cen-

tre of L ondon town and whi ch, to show the succ ess of

the " reprisals," publ ished B ritish fig ures telling of the

thousands of civil ians, including hundreds o hildren,

kil led by German bom bs, today are filled with righ t-

eous indignation agains h for all egedly doing

the same thing to Germans . Som e of the headlines to-

night : Nachtausgabe :"NIGH T CR IME O F BRI TISH

AGA IN ST 21 RMA N CH IL DRE N-THI S B LOODY

ACT C RI ES F OR R EVENGE ."Deutsche All gemeine

Zeitung : "MUR DER OF CH IL DRE N AT BE TH EL ;

RE VOLTI NG CRI ME ." B .Z . am M itta g : "ASSAS-

SINS' MURD ER IS NO LONGE R W AR, HER R

WIN STO N CHUR CHIL L! - THE BR ITISH

OF MUR DER ER S WI LL HAVE T E T HE CO N-

SEQUE NC ES OF IT S M ALICI OUS BO MBI NG S ."

Editorial comment is in a simil ar vein . The Borsen

Zeitung writes : " They wished, on the orders of Church-

ill , simply to murde r . . . Albion has shown her self

to be a m urder-h ungry beast which the Ge rman sword

will liq uidate in t he inter est not o nly of the Ger man

people b ut of the wh ole civiliz ed wor ld . . . . The sa-

distic threats o the British apos end in

the smok e of their c ities ."

This paper in the very same editorial points out how



5 1 0 1940 B E R L I N , September 2 0

stores in the wes t of London as wel l as a subway station

there have been hit by German bomb s .

The D i p l o , written and edited in the Foreign Office,

says pontific all y tonight : " It is a fact that Germ any

is waging war with clean weapons and in a chival -

rous manner ." (And London bomb ed indiscriminatel y

nearly ev ery night now, the British fighter defe nce hav-

ing stopped the Luftw affe's day-time attacks .)

One m ust keep in m ind that the newsp apers he re do

not reflect publ ic opinio n. This hysterical indignation

is artific iall y cre ated fro m abov e. N o doubt the re al

reason for it is to justify in the minds of the German

people what the L uftwaffe is do ing to L ondon .

Censorship of our broadcas ts is growing dail y more

impossible. I had a roy al scrap with one Naz i censor

tonight . He wouldn't l et me read the newspaper head -

lines quoted abov e . He said it gave Am erica a " wrong

impression." He said I was too ironic, ev en in m y se-

lection of headlines .


Another beautiful example today of Nazi

hypocrisy . I wrote in b oth my b roadcasts today that

the German press and radio wer e mak ing the most of

a N ew York report that the British c ensor had dec ided

to forbid foreign corresponde nts in London to m ention

air-raids while they were on. T he German Propaganda

Ministry jum ped on this dispatch and thro ugh its short-

wav e and fore ign-press services tried to tell the world

that henceforth A merica was going to be depriv ed of

trustworthy news from London . I pointed out, inci-

dentall y, that the Nazis had clamped the same kind of

censorship on us some tim e ago . My censors would not

hear of my saying any such thing .



1940 B E E L I N,Septe mber 20 5 11

I ask mysel f why I s tay on here . For the first eight

months of the war our ce nsorsh ip was fairl y reasonabl e

- more so than Sev areid and Grandin had to put up

with in Paris. But since the war became grim and

serious-since the invasion of S candinavia-it has

becom e inc reasingl y worse. For the last few months

I'v e been trying to get b y on my wits, such as they are ;

to indicate a truth or an offic ial lie by the tone and

inflexion of the voice, by a pause held longe

natural, b y the use of an Americ anism which most Ger-

mans, who'v e learned th eir English in Eng land, wil l

not full y grasp, and by drawing from a word, a phrase,

a sentenc e, a paragrap h, or their juxtaposit ion, al l the

benefit I c an. But the Nazis are on to me . For some

time now m y two chief c ensors from the Propaganda

Ministry have b een gentlemen who understand A mer-

ican as well a s I, Professor Lessing, who l ong held a

post in an American university, and Her r Krauss, for

twenty year s a partner in a W all Street bank . I can-

not fool them v ery ofte n . Personall y, b oth are dec ent,

intel ligent Germans, as is Captain Erich Kunsti, former

Program Director of the Austrian Broadcasting S ys-

tem and now my principal m ilitary c ensor . But the y

must do what they're told . And the For eign O ffice and

Propaganda Min istry keep receivi ng reports from the

United States- ot only from the Em bassy at Wash -

ington, but from their well -organized inte ll igenc e serv-

ice throughout our country - hat I 'm getting by with

murder (which I'm not) and must be sat upon. Dr .

Kurt Sel l, the Naz i m an in Was hington whose duty,

among other things, is to report to Berlin on what we

send, has se veral tim es rep orted u nfav ourabl y on the

nature of my broadcasts . I hav en't the slightest in-

terest in remai ning here unless I can c ontinue to giv e

a fairl y accur ate report. And each day my b roadcasts



5 1 2 1940 B E R L I N , Septe mber 21

a r e f o r c e d b y t he c e n s o r s h i p t o be l e s s a c c u r a t e . To -

n i g h t I n o t i c e d f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e t h a t o n e o f t h e y o u n g

Germans who do my m odulating (c all New York on

t h e t r a n s m i t t e r u n t i l t i m e f o r m e t o s p e a k ) a n d f o l l o w

m y s c r i p t t o s e e t h a t I r e a d i t a s w r i t te n a n d c e n s o r e d

was s c a n n i n g a c o p y o f m y b r o a d c a s t a s I s p o k e, m a k -

i n g f u nn y l i t t le l i n e s u n d e r t h e s y l l a b l e s a s w e u s e d t o

d o i n s c h o o l w h i l e l e a r n in g t o s c a n p o e t r y . H e w a s t ry -

i n g t o n ot e d o w n , I t a k e i t , w h i c h wo r d s I e m p h a s i z e d ,

w h ic h I s p o k e w i th u n d ue s a r c a s m , a n d s o o n . I w a s

s o f a s c i n a t e d b y t h i s d i s c o v e r y t h a t I s t o pp e d i n th e

m i d d l e o f m y t a l k t o w a t c h h i m .


X c a m e u p t o m y r o o m i n t h e A d l o n t o d a y ,

a n d a f t e r w e h a d d i s c o n n e c t e d m y t e l e ph o n e a n d m a d e

s u r e t h a t n o o n e w a s l i s t e n i n g th r o u g h th e c r a c k o f

t h e d o o r t o t h e n e x t r o o m , h e t o l d m e a w e i r d s t o r y . He

s a y s t h e G e s t a p o i s n o w s y s t e m a t i c a l ly b u m p in g o f f th e

m e n t a l l y d e f i c i e n t p e o p l e o f t h e R e i c h . T h e N a z i s c a l l

them " m e r c y d e a t h s . " H e r e l a t e s t h a t P a s t o r B o d e l -

s c h w i n gh , w h o r u n s a l a r g e h os p i ta l f o r v a r i o u s k i n d s

o f f e e b l e -m i n d e d c h i l d r e n a t B e t h e l , w a s o r d e r e d a r -

r e s t e d a f e w d a y s a g o b e c a u s e h e r e f us e d t o d e l i v e r up

s o m e o f h is m o r e s e r i o us m e n t a l c a s e s t o t h e s e c r e t

police . S h o r t l y a f t e r t h is , h i s h o s p i t a l is b o m b e d . By

the " B r i t i s h . " M u s t l o o k i nt o t h is s t o r y .


W e k n o w t h a t H i m m l e r h a s h a n g e d , w i t h o u t

t r i a l , a t l e a s t o n e P o l e f o r h a v i n g h a d s e x u a l r e l a t i o ns

with a Ger man wom an. W e k n o w t o o t h a t a t l e a s t h a l f

a d o z e n G e rm a n w o m e n h a v e b e e n g iv e n l o n g p r i s o n s e n -



1940 BE R L

I N, Septe mber 225 1 3

tences for hav ing b estowed favours upon P olish prison-

ers or f arm l abourers . Sev eral Ger mans have told me

of placards prominentl y displayed in the prov incial

towns warning Germans not to hav e anything to do

with P olish l abourers and to treat them rough . Last

week ev ery hou sehold in Berlin rec eived a l eaflet from

the local offic e of the " Bun d of Germa ns Abro ad "

warning the people not to fraternize with the Poles now

working as l abourers or priso ners in Germany . A few

choic e extracts from thi s document

"German people, never forget that the atroc ities of

the P oles compel led the Fiihrer to protec t our German

people b y armed force! . . . The servil ity of the P oles

to their Ge rman empl oyers merel y hides their cu nning ;

their friendly b ehaviour hides their deceit . . . . Re-

member, there is no c ommunity wha tever b etween Ger-

mans and Poles ! Be careful that no rel ationship shall

result b ecause of the c ommon religious faith! . . . .

Our farmers m ay think each P ole who greets them with

a ` Jesus Christ be praised ! ' is a dec ent fell ow and may

answer : F̀or ever and ever, amen! '

" Germa ns ! The Pole m ust never b e your c omrade !

He is inferior to each Germa n comrade on his farm or

in his factory . Be jus t, as Germans hav e always been,

but nev er forge t that you are a mem ber of the master

race ! "

I note that P oles work ing in Germa ny now hav e been

forced to wear an arm-band or an em bl em sewn on the

front of their co at m arked wit h a l arge " P " in purple

on a yellow b ackground . In German -occupied P oland,

Jews wea r a s imil ar embl em marked with a " J ."

LA TER . - Ribb entrop is back from Ro me,

and the press hints that the " final phase " of the war

has been decided upon . Rudolf Kircher, editor of the



1940 B E x L I N , Septe mber 23

Frank furter Zeitung, writes fro m Rome that the m il-

itary situation is so rosy for the Axis that Ribb entrop

and the D uce ac tual ly spent m ost of their time pl anning

the "new order" in Europe and Africa . This may

make the German people feel a little b etter, but most

Germans I sp eak to are beginning for the first time to

wonder why the invasion of Britain hasn't come off.

They're still confide nt the war will be ov er by Christ-

mas. But then, until a fortnight ago they were sure

it would be ov er before winter , which will b e on us within

a month. I h ave won all my b ets wit h Naz i offi cials and

newspapermen ab out the date of the Swastika appear-

ing in Trafalgar Sq uare an d shall -r should - e -

ceive from them enough ch ampagne to keep m e all win-

ter . T oday when I suggested to some of them another

littl e bet so they cou ld win b ack some of their c ham-

pagne, they did not think it was funny . N either wou ld

they bet .

Germa n correspondents in R ome today reported that

Ital y is displeased wit h Greece and that the British are

violating the neutrality of Greek waters as they onc e

did those of Norway . This so unds bad. I suppose

Greece will be next.


After a wee k' s absence the Br itish bom bers

came ov er last night and k ept the pop ulace in their

cellars for two hours and twenty minutes in the m id-

dle of th e nigh t . This was a l ittle shoc k for most peop le,

for the y had been told al l week that for s everal nights

the British had been trying to get through but had al -

ways been turned b ack b y the anti-aircr aft defenc es.

The l ocal papers again rage against the " British c rim -

i n a l s " for hav ing bom bed us last night . The Nacht-



1940 B E R L I N , Septe mber 23 5 15

ausgabe b a n n e r l i n e s : "NEW NI GHT ACT O F THE

PIRATES . " T h e s a m e p a p e r e d i t o r i a l i z e s : " Winston

Churchill again yesterday gav e British airmen the

o r d e r t o d r o p t h e i r b o m b s o n t h e G e r m a n c i v i l i a n p o p u -

l a t i o n a n d t h u s c o n t i n u e t he i r m u r d e r o f G e r m a n m e n ,

women, and c hildren ." The Borsen Zeitungh o l d s t h a t

" last night Churchill continued the series of his

criminal bl ows ag ainst th e Ge rman civil popu lation .

F r a n k l y , C h u r c h i l l b e l o n g s t o t h a t c a t e g o r y o f c r i m -

i n a l s w h o i n t h e i r s t u p i d b r u t a l i t y a r e u n t e a c h a b l e ."

W h i le t h i s l i n e o f n o n s e n s e i s o f c o u r s e d i c t a t e d t o

t h e G e r m a n pr e s s b y G o e b b el s , i t d o e s i n d i c a t e , I t h i n k ,

that the G ermans can't take night bom bing as the

B r i t i s h a r e t a k i n g i t . I f L o n d o n wa s o n l y m o r e o n i t s

t o e s i t w o u l d r e a l i z e t h i s . R A F s t r a t e g y , I g a t h e r , i s

t o c o n c e n tr a t e o n G e r m a n y 's w a r i n d u s t r i e s a n d s u p pl y -

d e p o t s . B u t w h i l e t h e y ' v e n o d o u b t h i t s o m e i n t e r es t i n g

t a r g et s , l i k e t h e L eu n a w o r k s , w h e re c o a l i s m a d e i n t o

o i l ( t h e y ' v e h i t L e u n a , b u t n o t k n o c k e d i t o u t ) , i t i s

c e r t a i n t h a t t h e y h a v e n o t s u c c e e d e d i n c r i p p l i n g G e r -

m a n y ' s w a r i n d u s t r i a l p r o d u c t i o n t o a n y a p p r e c i a b l e

exte nt, nor hav e they bl own up many stores . What

they must do is to k eep the Ge rman peop le in their

d a m p , c o l d c e l l a r s a t n i g h t , p r e v e n t t h e m f r o m s l e e p i n g ,

a n d w e a r d o w n t h e ir n e r v e s . Th o s e n e rv e s a l r e a d y a r e

v e r y t h i n a f t e r s e v e n y e a r s o f b e l t - t i g h t e n i n g N a z i

m o b i l i z a t i o n f o r T o t a l W a r .

Last night an old Germ an acquaintance dr opped in

on me . H e ' s i n t h e L u f t w a f f e n o w a n d f o r t h e l a s t t h r e e

w e e k s h a s b e e n a m e m b e r o f t h e c r e w o f a n i g h t b o m b e r

which has been work ing on L ondon . He had s ome in-

t e res t i ng det a i l s .

1 . H e w a s i m p re s s e d b y t h e s i z e o f Lo n do n . H e s a i d

t h e y ' v e b e e n p o u n d i n g a w a y o n i t f o r t h r e e w e e k s a n d

h e i s a m a z e d t h a t s o m u c h o f i t is l e f t ! H e s a i d t h e y



516 1940 B E R L I N, September 23

were often to ld before taki ng off that they wo uld find

their targe t b y a whole sq uare mil e of the c ity on fire .

When they got there they c ould find no sq uare mil e on

fire ; o n l y a f i r e h e r e a n d t h e r e .

2 . He relates that they approach London at a heig ht

of from 15 ,000 to 16 ,000 feet, div e to about 10,000 feet,

and release their bom bs at this height -too high f or

accurate night bombing . They don't dare to go below

7,000 fee t, he says, on acco unt of the barrage bal loons .

He descr ibes the anti-aircraft fire over L ondon as

" pretty hot ."

3 . German night b omber c rews, he says , are tired .

They are being overworked . T he L uftwaffe figured

that they woul d destroy the R AF during daylight op-

erations as , they had destroyed the P oli sh, Dutch, Bel-

gian, and French air forc es and negl ected to train

enough men for night work . Pres ent crews, he div ulged,

are flying four nights out of seven a week . U nlike Dr .

Goebb els, whose pr opaganda machine dr ums it into the

people that British airm en are cowards when they 're

not brutes, m y friend say s quite frank ly that the Ger-

man pilots hav e the highest admiration for their B rit-

ish adversaries - or the ir skill and the ir brav ery .

They're particularl y fond of one British fighter-pilot,

he relates, who roars into a fight with a cigarette stuc k

at a smart angle b etween h is lips . If th is man is ever

shot down o n the German side, the German airmen hav e

sworn to hide h im and not to hand him ov er as a prisone r

of war .

4 . He c onfirms that the British bom bers are pound-

ing hel l out of the Frenc h and Belgian coasts at night .

And often they swoop down in the night and m achine-

gun the German bomber bases just as th e German

planes are takin g off or alighting .

5 . Goring d i d f l y over L ondon, he asser ts . This news



1940 B E $ L I N , September 23 517

w a s g i v e n t h e f o r e i g n pr e s s h e r e , b u t w i t hh e l d f r o m

t h e G e rm a n p a p e rs , w h i c h m a d e u s s u s p i c i o us o f i t .

6 . H e r e l a t e s t h a t t h e B r i t i s h h a v e b u i l t a n u m b e r

of dumm y airfields and littered them wit

p l a n e s , b u t t h e G e r m a n s h a v e m o s t o f t h e m s p o t t e d b y

now .

7 . He c onfirms that the G erman b omb ers us uall y

re t u rn f ro m a f li g h t o v e r B r i t a i n t o d i f f e r en t b a s e s ,

r a r e l y t o t h e o n e t h e y h a v e t a k e n o f f f r o m . H e s a y s

the bombers s tar t from widely sc at tered f ields in France,

B e l g i um , a n d H o ll a n d , b u t a l w a y s o n a s t r i c t t i m e - ta b l e

s o a s t o a v o i d c o l l i s i o n s i n t h e d a r k n e s s . T h e e x a c t

c o u r s e b a c k f r o m L o n d o n i s a l w a y s p r e s c r i b e d i n a d -

v a n c e , s o t h a t p l a n e s e n t e r i n g o v e r t h e a r e a w i ll n o t

c r a s h i nt o t h os e l e a v i n g . H e h a s a n i n t e r e s t i n g e x p l a -

n a t i o n o f t h e b i g b e a t i ng t h e G e r m a n s t o o k i n a d a y l i g h t

a t t a c k o n L o n d o n a w e e k a g o S u n d a y w h e n , a c c o r d i n g

t o t h e B r i t i s h , 1 8 5 G e r m a n p l a n e s w e r e s h o t d o w n ,

m o s t l y b o m b er s . H e s a y s t h a t t h e G e r m a n t i m e s c h e d u l e

w e n t w r o n g , t h a t t h e G e r m a n f i g h t e r s w h i c h w e r e t o

p r o t e c t t h e b o m b e r s a r r i v e d a t a p r e a r r a n g e d r e n d e z -

v o u s o f f t h e E n gl i s h c o a s t , b u t f o u n d n o b om b e r s t h e r e .

A f t e r w a i t i n g t w e n t y - f i v e m i n u t e s t h e y h a d t o f l y h o m e

b e c a u s e t h e i r g a s w a s g e t t i ng l o w . T h e b o m b e rs e v e n t u -

a l l y a r r i v e d , c o m i n g o v e r t h e N o r t h S e a , b u t t h e r e w a s

n o f i g h t er e s c o r t f o r t h e m , a n d t h e B r i t i s h c h a s e r s

mowed th em down .

8 . He s aid the Ge rman night b omb ers go o ver in

s q u a d r o n s o f s e v e n . H e a l s o i ns i s t e d th a t ea c h Lu f t-

waffe base reports i t s co rrect lo ss es and that any docto r-

ing of figures is d one either at headqua rters or in Berlin .

H e c o n f i r m s t h a t t h e L u f t w a f f e h a s f a i l e d s o f a r t o

g a i n a i r s u p r e m a c y o v e r B r i t a i n , t h o ug h w h e n I w a s

o n t h e C ha n n e l f i v e w e e k s a g o t h e G e r m a n s s a i d t h i s

w o u l d b e a m a t t e r o f b u t a f o r t n i g h t .



5 1 8 1940 B E R L I N , September 24

It's a fact that since ab out a fortnight the Germ ans

hav e given up large-scale day attac ks on Engl and and

have gone o ver largely to ni ght bomb ing . T h i s i n i t s e l f

is an admi ssion of defe at.


The British reall y went to wor k on Berlin

last night . They bom bed heavil y and with ex cell ent

aim for exac tl y four hours . They hit some im portant

factor ies in the north of the city, one big gas works,

and the railroad yards north of the Stettiner and Lehr-

t e r s t a t i o n s .

But we couldn't tell the stor y . The authorities said

no damage of m ilitary im portance was done and the

Propaganda Ministry, sudde nly v ery nervous ov er last

night's destruc tion, warned al l of us corres pondents

that we cou ld onl y report what the military said . Goeb-

bel s's Ministry even cance lled its usual post-raid c on-

ducted tour of the c ity, gi ving as an excuse that there

w a s s o m u c h t o s e e a n d s o l i t t l e t i m e to s e e i t i n .

The German press a nd radio h ave never b een made

to lie q uite so c ompl etely about a raid as today . Even

the stolid Ber liners, judging by their talk , appe ar to b e

stir red at t he lies of th eir o wn newspapers . Said the

o f f i c i a l a c c o u n t : " In spite of viol ent anti-aircraft fire

a few British bom bers suc ceeded in reaching the north-

ern and eastern suburbs of Berlin l ast night and

dropped a nu mber of bomb s . The position of th e bom bs,

far away fr om al l mil itary or in dust rial ob jectives, pro-

vides fresh evidence of the fact that the British airmen

delib erately attac k residential q uarter s . There was no

damage of mil itary importance ."

Even the H igh Command, in whose veracity many

Germans still b eliev e, repeate d the lie l ater in its daily



1940BERLIN, September 24 . 5 1 9

war c ommunique . T h e e h un d r e d s o f t h o u s a n d s o f c o m -

m u t e r s f r o m t h e n o r t h e r n s u b u r b s w h o h a d t o g e t o f f

t h e i r t r a i n s t o d a y t h re e t i m e s a n d b e c o n v e y e d b y b u s

o v e r t h r e e s t r e t c h e s o f o n e m a i n r a i l w a y l i n e w h e r e

B r i t i s h b o m b s h a d b l o w n u p t h e t r a c k s w e r e s o m e w h a t

s u r p r is e d b y w h a t t h e y r e a d i n t h e i r p a p er s .

T h e B ri t i s h j u s t m i s s e d t w i c e b l o wi n g u p t he e l e v a t e d

S t a d t b a h n r a i l ro a d ru n n i n g e a s t -w e s t t h ro u g h t h e c e n -

tre of Berlin . I n b o th p l a c e s t h e b o m b m i s s e d t h e tr a c k s

b y a fe w y a r d s , d a m a g i n g a d j a c e n t h o us e s . T h i s l i n e

n o t o n l y c a r r i e s t h e b u l k o f t h e s u b u r b a n e l e c t ri c t r a f -

f i c , b u t a l a r g e n u m b e r o f p a s s e n g e r t r a i n s . It's the

m o s t i m p o r t a n t l i n e w i t h i n t h e c i t y l i m i t s . T h e d e b r i s

from bu i ld ings wh ich were h i t held up t raff ic last n igh t ,

b u t t o d a y t h e l i n e w a s r u n n i n g.

S e r r a n o S u n e r , F r a n c o ' s b r o t h e r - i n - l a w a n d M i n -

i s t e r o f I n t e r io r , r e t u r ne d f r o m a v i s i t t o t h e w es t e r n

f r o n t j u s t i n t i m e t o e x p e r ie n c e h i s f i r s t B r i t i s h b o m b -

i n g a t t a c k . T h i s m a y h a v e b e e n h e l pf u l . W e c or r e-

s p o n d e n t s k e p t i m a g i n i n g S u f l e r r e t u r n in g t o M a d r i d ,

a n d F r a n c o , w h o i s u n d e r t r e m e n d o u s p r e s s u r e f r o m

B e r l i n a n d R o m e n o w t o h o p o n t h e A x i s b a n d - w a g o n ,

a s k i n g h i m a b o ut t h o s e B r i t i s h a t t a c k s o n B e r l in , a n d

S u n e r r e p l y i n g : " W ha t a tt a c k s ? I s a w n o a tt a c k s . I

w a s i n B e r l i n t e n d a y s . T he B r i t is h c o u ld n ' t ge t o v e r

e v e n o n c e . T he B r i ti s h a r e f i ni s h e d , g e n er a l is s i m o , a n d

n o w i s t h e t i m e f o r S p a i n t o g e t i n on t h e A x i s s p o i l s. "

G o e b b e l s a n d m o s t o f t h e o t he r l u m i n a r i es o f t h e

N a z i P a r t y w e r e d i n i n g S un e r a t t h e A d l o n l a s t n i g h t

w h e n t h e b o m b i n g b e g a n . T he b a n q u et w a s b r o u gh t t o

a n a b r u p t c l os e b e f o re t h e d e s s e r t h a d b e e n s e r v e d a n d

al l p resen t made fo r the Ad lon 's spac ious ai r-raid cel lar

n e x t t o t h e b a r b e r - s h o p . W h e n I r e t u r n e d a t f o u r a.m

f r o m t h e r ad io , t h ey w e re j u s t l e av i n g .

I l e a r n C ia n o i s c o m i n g h e re T hu r s d a y . A d t i a l b



5 2 0 1940 BERLIN, Septe mber 24

on bet ween Berlin an d Rome to finish the war in Africa

this winter and divide up the Dark Continent . But they

must b e sure of Spain first and are insisting that Franc o

eithe r take Gibral tar or let the Ger mans tak e it .

Berlin pleased tonight that the Frenc h, who hav e

practicall y turned over I ndo-China to the Japs without

a bl ow and daily m ak e new co ncessions to the Axis with-

out a murm ur, today opened fir e on de Gaull e and the

British, who want to have Dakar

Last night's bomb ing reminds me that the best air -

raid shelter in Be rlin b elongs to Adolf H itler . Experts

doubt that he could ever b e kil led in it . I t i s d e e p , p r o-

tecte d b y iron girders and an enormous am ount of re-

inforce d conc rete, and is provi ded with its own ventil at-

ing and lighting plant, a priv ate mov ie and an o perating

room . Were Br itish bom bs to b low the Chancell ery to

smi thereens, cutting off al l apparent escape from the

cell ar, the Fiihrer and his assoc iates could emerge safel y

by sim ply wal king through one of th e tunnels that run

from his shelter to points sev eral hundred yards away.

Hitl er's ce lla r also is fitted out with spac ious sleeping-

quarters, an important consi deratio n, but one utterly

n e g le c t e d i n m o s t s h e l te r s , s i n c e t h e lo s s o f s l e e p i s h u r t -

ing the Ger man people far m ore than B ritish bomb s.

If Hitl er has the best air-raid cell ar in Berlin, the

Jews have the worst . I n many cases they hav e none at

al l . Whe re fac il ities permit, the J ews have their own

special L u f t s c h u t z k e l l e r , usually a small basement ro om

next to the main part of the cell ar, where the " Ary ans "

gather . But in many Berlin cell ars there is only one

room . It is for the "Aryans ." The Jews must ta ke

refu ge on the grou nd floor, usuall y in the hall leading

from the door of the fla t to the elev ator or stairs . This

is fairly safe if a b omb hits the roof, since the chanc es

are that it will not penetr ate to the ground f loor . But



1940 B E R L I N, Septe mber 25 521

experienc e so far has shown that it is the ost dangerous

place to be in the entir e buil ding if a bomb lands in

the street outside . Here where the Jews are hov ering,

t h e f o r c e o f t h e e x pl o s i o n i s f e l t m o s t ; h e r e i n t h e e n t r y -

way where th e Jews are, you get most of the b omb splin-

t e r s.


Dr . Boehmer, the P ropaganda Ministry for-

eign-pre ss chie f, who is a typical N azi except that he

is intelligent and has travel led widely, espec iall y in

America, is peeved from tim e to time ov er our "lack

of appreciation " of suc h Naz i favours as giv ing the

corresp ondents extra food . If the way to a correspond-

ent's heart is through his stomach, then Dr . Goebbels

certain ly trie s hard . I n the first place h e c lassifies u s

as " heavy l abourers," whi ch means we g et do uble ra-

tions of meat, b read, and butter . Ev ery othe r Thurs-

day, after our press conferenc e, we li ne up for a fort-

night's extra food cards . Moreov er, Dr. Goebbels not

only permits us, but actuall y enco urages us to import

each week, against a l iberal payment in doll ar exc hange,

a food pac ket from Denmark. T h i s l a t t e r is a l i f e -s a v e r .

It enabl es me to hav e bacon and eggs at break fast four

or five tim es a week . O rdinarily I do no t eat b acon and

eggs for breakfast, but on the short war ratio ns now

av ailab le, I find it fortifies one fo r the entire day. I

al so got in enough c offee from H oll and before the west-

ern c ampaign to provide m e for the next six months.

In a word, we corresp ondents are hardl y affected by the

war-time rationing . We have plenty to eat . And the

German s see to it that we do have enough, not b ecause

they like us, b ut because-

uite rightl y, I suppo se -they th ink we'l l b e more kindl y disp osed to them if we



5 22 1940


operate on full stomachs, we b eing human b eings afte r

al l .

Moreov er, the P ropaganda Mini stry and the Foreign

Office, whic h fight eac h other over many things, hav e

set up a fierc e riva lry to see which one can establish

the best dining club for the for eign press . Ribb entrop's

establ ishment, the Aus land Pres se Cl ub, off the Ku rfiir-

stend amm, is at the m oment m ore su mptuous tha n Goeb-

bel s's A usland Club on the Leipzigerp latz . But the

Doktor, I hear, has just appropriated se veral m ill ion

marks to m odernize his club and mak e it more gaud y

than Ribbentrop's . I used to eat a coupl e of nights a

week at the Aus land Cl ub, it being conveniently located

for me, an d the prosp ect of a real b eefsteak and real

coffee proving a great te mptation . Moreover, it was

a place to chew the rag with the Naz is and see what was

in their minds, if anything . S ince the wanton aggres-

sion against Holl and and Belgium I have not gone

there, being unabl e any more to stomach Nazi officials

with my dinner .

If we eat well , that is not to say that the Germ an

peopl e do . But rep orts abroad about the peop le here

starving are gre atly exaggera ted . They are not star v-

ing . After a year of the bl ockade they are getting

enough bread, potatoes, and cabbage to k eep them go-

ing for a long time . Adults get a pound of m eat a week

and a q uarter o f a pound o f butter . Americans c ould

hardly sub sist on this diet . But Germans, whose bodies

hav e become accus tomed for a century to large amount s

of potat oes, ca bbage, and bread, seem to do v ery well

on it . The meat and fat ration, though c onsiderabl y

'under what they are used to, is enough to k eep them

t o l e r a b l y f i t .

The shortage of fruit is acute and last winter's sev ere

cold has ruined the Germ an fruit crop . W e sa w no



5f 4 1940 B E R L I N, September 26

after dark -is that al l the theatre s today announc e

a new opening hour : s i x p .m . ,instead of seven thirty

or eight p .m . And the Mi nistry of Education sends out

word that in case of air-r aids lasting after midnight,

grade sc hools will remain closed the f oll owing morning

in order to all ow the children to catc h up on their sleep.

It burn s me up that I c annot m ention a raid that is

going on during my b roadcast. L ast night the ant i-

aircraft guns protecting theRun dfun k made such a

roar while I was broadcasting that I couldn't hear m y

own words. The l ip m icroph one we are now forced to

use at night prev ented the sound of the guns fro m a c-

companying my words to America, which is a pity.

Noticed last night too that instead of having someone

talk to New York from the studi o bel ow to keep ou r

transmitter modulated for the five m inutes before I be-

gan to talk , the RRG substituted loud ba nd music.

This was done to drown out the sound of the guns.

The B .Z . am Mittagb e g i n s i t s a c c o u n t o f l a s t n i g h t ' s

attack : " The greatest war -monger of all times, Win-

ston Churchill, dispatc hed his murderers to Ber lin

again last night . . . ."

As soon as I had finished m y b roadcast at one a.m . ,

the Naz i air-warden s forc ed me into the air-raid c ell ar.

I tried to read Carl C row's exc ell ent bookFour H un -

dred Mill ion Customers, but the l ight was poo r. I be-

came awfull y bored . Final ly Lord Haw-Haw and his

wife suggested we steal out . We dodged past the guards

and found an unfreq uented underground tunnel , where

we proceeded to dispose of a lit re of schnaps which

" Lady " Haw-Haw had bro ught . Haw-Haw can drink

as straight as any man, and if you c an get ov er your

initial revul sion at his being a traito r, you find him an

amusing and e ven intell igent fe ll ow . When th e b ottle

was finished we felt too free to go back to the cell ar.



1940 B E R L I N ,September 26 5 25

H a w - H a w f o u n d a s e c r e t s t a i r w a y a n d w e w e n t u p t o

h i s r o o m , o p e n e d t h e b l in d s , a n d w a t c h e d t h e f i r e w o rk s ,

T o t h e s o u t h o f t h e c i t y t h e g u ns w e r e h a m m e r i n g a w a y ,

l i g h t i n g u p t h e s k y.

S i t t i n g t h e r e i n t h e b l a c k o f t h e r o o m , I h a d a l o n g

t a l k w i t h t h e m a n . H a w - H a w , w h o s e r e a l n a m e i s W i l -

l i a m J o y c e , b u t w h o i n G e r m a n y g o e s b y t h e n a m e o f

Froehlich (which in German m eans " J o y f u l ") , d e-

n i e s t h a t h e i s a t r a i t o r. H e a r g u es t h a t h e h a s r e -

n o u n c e d h i s B r i t i s h n a t i o n a l i ty a n d b e c o m e a G e r m a n

c i t i z e n , a n d t h a t h e i s n o m o r e a t r a i t o r t h a n t h ou s a n d s

o f B r i t i s h a n d A m e r i c a n s w h o r e n o u nc e d t h e i r c i t i z e n -

s h i p t o b e c o m e c o m r a d e s i n t h e S o v i e t U n i o n, o r t h a n

t h o s e G e r m a n s w h o g a v e u p t h e i r na t i o n a l i t y a f t e r 1 8 4 8

a n d f l e d t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . T h is d o e s n ' t s a t i s f y m e ,

but it does him. H e k ep t ta l k in g a b ou t " w e " and " us "

a n d I a s k e d h i m w h i c h p e o pl e h e m e a n t.

" W e G e r m a n s , o f c o u r s e , " h e s n a p p e d .

He's a heav ily built man of about five feet nine inches,

w i t h I r i s h e y e s t h a t t w in k l e a n d a f a c e s c a r r e d n o t b y

d u e l li n g i n a G e r m a n u n i v e r s i t y b u t i n F a s c i s t b r a w l s

o n t h e p a v e m e n t s o f E n g l i s h t o w n s . H e s p e a k s a f a i r

German . I s h o u l d s a y h e h a s t w o c o m pl e x e s w h i c h h a v e

landed him inh i s p r e s e n t n o t o ri o u s p o s i t i o n . H e h a s

a t i t a n i c h a t r e d f o r J e w s a n d a n e q u a l l y t i t a n i c o n e

for capitalists. T h e s e t w o h a t r e d s h a v e b e e n t h e m a i n -

s p rings o f h is adu l t l i fe . H a d i t n o t be e n f o r h i s h y s -

t e r ia a b o u t J e ws , h e m i g h t e a s i l y h a v e b e c o m e a s u c -

c e s s f u l C o m m u n i s t a g i t a t o r . S t r a n ge a s i t m a y s e e m ,

h e t h i n k s t h e N a z i m o v e m e n t i s a p r o l e t a ri a n o n e w h i c h

w i l l f r e e t h e w o r l d f r o m t h e b o n d s o f t h e " p l u t o c r a t i c

capitalists. " H e s e e s h i m s e l f p r i m a r il y a s a l i b e r a t or

o f t h e w o r k i ng c l a s s .

(Haw-Haw's c oll eague , J ack Trev or, an English

a c t o r , w h o a l s o d o e s a n t i -B r i t is h b r o a d c a s t s f o r D r.



6 ,061940 B E R L I N, September 26

Goebbels, has no i nterest in th e proletariat . His one

burning passion is hatred of th e Jews . L ast winte r it

used to be a comm on sight to see him stand in the snow,

with a mighty bl izz ard blowing, and rave to an S .S .

guard outside the studio door about the urgent necessity

of liq uidating all Jews everywhe re . T he guard, who

undoubtedly had no speci al lov e for the Jews, but whose

only thought was how much longer he m ust stand guard

on an unholy wintry night, would stam p his free zing

feet in the snow, turn his he ad from the b iting wind,

and mutter : " Ja . Ja. Ja . Ja," probably wondering

what fre aks Englishmen are . )

Haw-Haw's story, a s I 'v e pieced it together from our

conversation s and from his littl e book let, Twilight over

England, just published in Berlin ( and whic h he gav e

me after I had presented him with an Engl ish book I

had smuggled in entitled The L ife and De ath of Lord

Haw-Haw), i s t h i s

He was b orn in N ew York in 1906 of I rish parents

who, he says, l ost what money they had in I reland " by

reason of their devotion to the British . crown ." He

studied literature, history, and psychology at the Uni-

versity o f L ondon and in 19 23, the year of H itler's il l-

fated Munich Putsch, joined the British Fascists . He

says he earned his liv ing thereafter as a tutor . In 1933

he enter ed Sir Oswal d Mosley's British Union of Fas-

cists and became one of its chief speakers and writers .

For three years he was Mosley's propaganda ch ief . He

claims he left Mosley's movement in 1937 " owing to

differenc es on matters pertaining to organiz ation ." He

teamed up with John Bec kett, a former Socialist M .P . ,

and starte d the National Socialist League, b ut within

a few months Beckett l eft it because he thought Joyc e's

methods " too ex trem e ."

Of these days Joyce writes : " We liv ed Nation al S o-



1940 B E R L I N , September 26 527

c i a l i s m . . . . We were all poor enough to know the

horrors of freedom in dem ocracy . O ne of our memb ers

was driven m ad by eighteen months o f unemployment

and star vation . I lived for months with r eal friends

who lov ed England and could not get enough to eat

from her ."

Twice during the year that prec eded the war he was

arrested on ch arges of assault and disturb ing the peace .

Then came the war clouds .

" For me," he writes, " the dec ision was easy to m ake,

To m e it was clear on the morning of Augu st 25 that

the greates t struggle in histor y was doomed to tak e

place . I t mi ght have b een a very worthy cou rse to stay

in Engl and and ince ssantly work for peac e . But I had

one traditional ly acq uired or inherited prejudic e . . . .

England was going to war . I felt that if, for perfec t

reasons of conscience, I could not fight for her, I must

giv e her up for ever ."

He did. O n Augus t 25 he and his wif e, "who had to

leav e witho ut even being ab le to say fare well to her p ar-

ents," set out for Ge rmany to tak e part in what he call s

the " sacr ed struggle to free the world ."

Any mind which se es H itl er's co ld-bl ooded tramping

down of the free peoples of E urope as a sacred struggle

to free the wo rld speak s for itself . Haw-Haw's book

is a hodge-podge of Nazi nonsense about Engl and,

studded with obv ious tru ths about its bl acker and

meaner side whic h the whole world k nows .

Haw-Haw's extremel y nasal v oice was at first c on-

sidered by P ropaganda Ministry offic ial s as wholl y un-

fit for b roadc asting . A N azi radio engineer who had

studied in England first saw its po ities and he was

given a trial . O n the radio this hard-fisted, scar-fac ed

young Fasc ist rabb le-rouser sou nds lik e a decade nt old

English b lue-bl ood aris tocrat of the typ e famil iar on



1940 B E R L I N, September 26 62 9

back each time . Most Naz is fi nd him a bit " too Ameri-

can" for their tas te, b ut Kaltenb ach would die for

Nazism

The second American speaker is one Edward L eo-

pold Delaney, who goes here by the nam e of E. D .

Ward . He's a disappointed actor who used to hav e oc-

casional em ployment with road companies in th e U nited

States . He has a diseased hatred for Jews, b ut other-

wise is a mil d fell ow and broadcasts the c ruder type o f

Nazi propaga nda without questioning .

The third person is Miss Constance D rexel, who

many years ago wrote for the P hiladel phia Publ ic

Ledger The N az is hire her, so far as I can find out,

princ ipall y because sh e's the only woman in town who

will sell her American acc ent to them . Bizarre : she

constantly pesters m e for a job . O ne America n network

hired her at the beginning of the war, b ut dropp ed her

alm ost at onc e .

For their other foreign-la nguage b roadcasts the

Naz is have a strange assor tment of hired B alk anites,

Dutch, Scandinav ians, Spani ards, Arabs, and Hindus .

Once in a great while one of these speakers turns out

to be "unreliabl e ." Such a one wa s t he Y ugo sl av

speaker who began his b roadcast the other night

"Ladies and ge ntlemen, what you are about to hear

from Berlin tonight is a l ot of nonsense , a pack of l ies,

and if you have any sense, you will turn your d ial s ."

He got no further, for there are "checkers " s i t t i n g l i s -

tening at the Propaganda Ministry at t he other end

of town. The l ast seen of the f ell ow was when the S .S .

guards carte d him off to jail .

The Norwegian peo ple were brusquel y infor med l ast

night in a broadcast by the Naz i Comm issar in Osl o,

Gauleiter Terbov en, of the hard row tha t l ies ahead



530 1940 B E R L I N , Septe mber 26

of them . Announced the G a u l e i t e r : (1) The N orwegian

Royal House has no more pol itical im portance and will

never return to Norway . (2) Th e sa me goe s for

the Nygaardsvold government which emigrated . (3)

Therefore any activit y in fav our of the R oyal House

or the governm ent which f led is prohibited . (4) In ac-

cordance with a decree of Hitler, a com missarial council

is named to take ov er the busines s of the government .

(5 ) The old political partie s are di ssolv ed immediately .

(6) Any c ombinations for the purpose of political a c-

tivity of any kind will not be tolerated .

Thus is Norway, a ll that is dec ent and democratic in

Norway, destroyed -or the time being

. And Ger-

many shows so plainl y how unfit s he is to ru le ov er any-

body else . There was a shor t time, when the R eich first

took over Norway - he same is true of H oll and -when Germany might hav e succeeded in winning over

the goodwill of the peop le there, who saw it was hope-

less to struggle agains t the overwhelming mil itary

power of H itl er . But the Germans did ev erything pos -

sibl e to forf eit goodwill , and in a few weeks the senti-

ment changed . N ow in al l t he occ upied cou ntries the

German rulers are bitterly hated . N o decent Norwe-

gian or D utchman will hav e anything to do with them .

The Gaulei ter ' s broadcast was a fine example of Ger-

man tactlessness . He told the Norwegian people that

he had tried in vain to negotiate with the old pol itical

parties, b ut they had held out for power and had not

"heeded" his warnings ; so he had had to liq uidate

them . In c onclusion, he tol d the N orwegians that it

had now become clear that the way of the Quisl ing

movement had always been the only poss ibl e one for

Norway, a nd that this p arty would be the only one tol-

erated by the Germans in the futur e . Thus, in effec t,

he told the Norwegians t hat a miserabl e littl e traitor ,



1940 B E R L I N , Septe mber 26 631

detested by ni nety-nine and a hal f per ce nt of the popu-

lation, was not only right, b ut henc eforth would have

the only say -- so far as any Norwegian will hav e any

say, which is littl e enough - bout the future of their

country .

You don't hav e to be profound to conc lude that the

rule of b rute forc e now exerc ised by the German s over

the occ upied territories c an nev er last v ery long . For

despite c ompl ete mil itary and police power , which the

Germans admitt edly hav e, you c annot for ever ru le over

foreign European peoples who hate and detest you .

The success of Hitler's " new order " in Europe is there-

fore doomed even befor e it is set u p . T he N azis, of

course, who hav e never troub led to study European

histor y but are guided by a prim itive Germanic tribal

urge of conquest with no thought for the possib le con-

seq uences , think that they are well on their way to in-

stalling a E uropean " new order " which will be domi-

nated b y Germany for the greater good of Ge rmany for

all time . Their long-term pl an is not only to keep the

subjected Europe an peoples permanentl y disarmed so

that they cannot r evolt against their German m asters,

but to m ake them so dependent on Ge rmany economi-

call y that they c annot exist withou t Berlin's benev olent

wil l . T hus those heavy and highl y technic al industrie s

which still function in the slave l ands will be conc en-

trated in Germany . The slav e peop les wil l produc e the

raw material s to feed them, and the food to feed the

German masters . They will b e largely agric ultural and

mining communities

-uch as the B alk an lands ful fil

that role for western Europe today . And th ey will b e

utterly dependent upon Germany .

The subjecte d peoples of Eu rope will be sav ed, of

course, if Britain holds out and ultim ately wins this

war . But even if Germany should win the war it will



532 1940 B E R L I N , Septe mber 27

l o s e i t s s t ru g g l e to o rg a n i z e Eu ro p e . T h e G e r m a n , I

am p r o f o u n d ly co n v in ced a f te r m in g l in g w ith h im n o w

f o r m a n y y e a r s , i s i n c a p a b l e o f o r ga n i z i n g E u r o pe .

H i s l a c k o f b a l a n c e , h i s b u l ly i n g s a d i s m w h e n h e i s o n

top, his constitutional inability to grasp even faintly

w h a t i s i n t h e m i n d s a n d h e a r t s o f o t h e r p e op l e s , h i s

ins tinctive feeling that re la tions between two peoples

c a n o n l y be o n t he b a s i s o f m a s t e r a n d s l a v e a n d n e v e r

on the basis of let-live equality -these characteristics

o f th e G er m an m a k e h im an d h i s n a t io n u n f i t fo r th e

l e a d e r s h i p i n E u r op e t h ey h a v e a l w a y s s o u g ht a n d m a k e

it certain that, howev er he may try, he will in the long

run fail .

C i a n o a r r i v e s h e r e t o m o r ro w f r o m R o m e . Mo s t p eo -

ple think it is for the announcement that Spain is en-

tering the war on the s ide of the Axis . Surer is here

for the ceremony, if it comes off .


H i t le r a n d M u s s o l i n i h a v e p u l l e d a n o t h e r

surprise .

A t on e p . m . t o d a y i n t h e C h a n c e l l e ry, J a p a n , G e r -

m a n y , a n d I t a l y s i g n e d a m i l i t a r y a l l ia n c e d i r e c t e d

a g a in s t t he Un i te d St a te s . I w a s c a u g h t w a y o ff b a s e

th in k in g th a t C ian o h ad co m e to p ip e S pa in in to th e

war. Super was not even pres ent at the theatrical per-

fo rm a n c e th e f a s c i s t s o f Eu ro p e a n d A s i a s t a g e d t o d a y .

I c a m e t o m y s e n s e s t h i s m o r n i ng w h e n I n o t ic e d t h e

s ch o o lch i ld r en w h o h ad b een m ar ch ed to th e Wi lh e lm -

s t r a s s e t o c h e e r - wa v i n g J a p a n es e f l a g s . A s I h a d a

b ro a d c a s t a t t w o p . m . and the correspondents were con-

vok ed at the Chancellery for " an im p o r tan t an n o u n ce -

ment " at one p . m . , I as ked Hartrich to cover the actual



1940 B E R L I N ,S e p t em b e r 2 7 5 3 3

ceremony . A t t h eRund f unk

I f ol lo wed i t by ra d i o .

Core o f the pact i s Art icle I II . I t reads : " Germany,

I t a l y , a n d J a p a n u n d e rt a k e t o a s s i s t o n e a n o t he r w i t h

a l l p o l i t ic a l , e c o n o m i c , a n d m i l i t a r y m e a n s w h e n o n e o f

t h e t h r e e c o n tr a c t i n g p a r ti e s i s a t t a c k e d b y a p o w e r a t

p r e s e n t n o t i n v o l v e d i n t h e E u r o p ea n w a r o r i n t h e

S i n o - J a p a n e s e c o n f l i c t . "

T h e r e a r e t w o g r e a t p o w e r s n o t y e t i n v o l v e d i n e i t h e r

o f t h o s e w a r s : R u s s i a a n d t h e U n i t e d S ta t e s . B u t A r -

t i c le I I I d o e s n o t r e fe r t o Ru s s i a; A r t i c l e V r e f e r s t o

R u s s i a . A r t i c l e V s a y s : " G e r m a n y , I t a l y , a n d J a p a n

a f f i r m t h a t t h e a f o r e s a i d t e r m s d o n o t i n a n y w a y a f f e c t

the po li t ical status wh ich ex ists at p resen t between each

o f t h e t h r e e c o n tr a c t i n g p a r t ie s a n d S o v i e t R u s s i a . "

T h e S o v i e t U n i o n is o u t . T h a t le a v e s t h e U .S .A . i n .

T he r e w a s n o a t t e m p t t o d is g u i s e t h i s o b v i o u s f a c t i n

N a z i c i r c l e s t o n ig h t , t h ou g h , a s e x p e c te d , m y c e n s o r s

t r i ed t o s t o p m e f r o m s a y i n g s o a n d I h a d t o u s e a l l

m y w i t s i n g e t ti n g t h e t hi n g a c r o s s i n m y b r o a d c a s t s .

T h ou g h i t w o u l d h a v e b e e n m o r e h o n e s t a n d a c c u r a t e

t o s a y b l u n t l y t ha t N a z i c i r c l e s d i d n o t d i s g u i s e t h e

f a c t t h a t t h e a l l i a n c e w a s d i r e c t e d a g a i n s t t h e U n i t e d

S t a t e s , I h a d t o w a t e r i t d o w n t o t h i s b e a u t i f u l o pe n i n g

s e n t e n c e : " T h er e i s n o a t t e m p t i n i n f o r m e d c i r c l e s h e r e

t o n i g ht t o d i s g u i s e t h e f a c t t h a t t h e m i l i t a r y a l l i a n c e

s i g n e d i n B e r l i n t o d a y . . . h a s o n e g r e a t c o u n t r y i n

mind . T h a t c o u n t r y i s t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ." T hen to

c l i n c h t h e a r g u m e n t I h a d t o r e s o r t t o a n e b u l ou s a n a l y -

s i s o f t h e t e x t o f t h e t re a t y a n d t h e G e r m a n i n t e r p r e -

t a t i o n t he r e o f, w h i c h t h e c e n s o r s , a f t e r s o m e s o u r r e -

m a r k s , f i n a l ly p a s s e d .

Now, why d id Hi t ler, in st igato r o f th is al l iance, hu r-

r i e d l y r i g i t up j u s t a t t h i s t i m e ? M y t h e o r y i s t h i s

R i b b e n t r o p j o u r n e y e d s u d d e n l y t o R o m e a f o r t n i g h t

a g o t o b r e a k t h e n e w s t o M u s s o l i n i t h a t t h e e x p e c t e d



53 .E19 40 B E R L I N, Septemb er 2 7

l a n d i n v a s i o n o f B r i t a i n, w h i c h H i t l er i n a s p e e c h o n l y

a f e w d a y s p r e v i o us l y a t t h e S p or t pa l a s t h a d p r o m i s e d

t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e w o u ld c e r t a i n l y t a k e p l a c e s o o n ,

c o u ld n o t b e c a r r ie d o u t a s p l a nn e d . M u s s o l in i h a d a l-

r e a d y s t a r t e d a n i n v a s i o n o f E g y pt t o c o i n c i d e w i th

t h e a t t a c k o n B r i t a i n a n d t o d i v i d e t h e E m p i r e ' s f o r c e s ,

but not to do m uch more than that this fa ll . We

k n o w t h a t R i b b e n t r o p s t a y e d l o n g e r i n R o m e t h a n h e

p l a n n e d . T h e D u c e , n o d o u b t , w a s d i s t u r b ed a t H i t l e r ' s

a b a n d o n i n g t h e a l l -o u t a t t a c k o n B r i t a i n w h i c h h e w a s

c o n f i d e n t w o u l d e n d t h e w a r - n d I t a l y h a d o n l y e n -

t e r e d t h e w a r w h e n s h e d i d b e c a u s e s h e t h o u g h t i t w a s

a l m o s t o v e r . W h a t w a s t h e A x i s t o d o ? T h e o b v i o u s

t h i n g s e e m e d t o d e v o t e t h e w i n te r t o a t t a c k i n g t h e

h e a r t o f t h e B r i t i s h E m p i r e i n E g y p t , c o n q u e r t h a t

c o u n t r y , t a k e t h e S u e z C a n a l , t h e n g r a b P a l e s t i n e ,

I r a q , w h e r e b a d l y n e e d e d o il w a s a t h a n d , a n d p o s s i b l y

c o n t i n u e d o w n t h e Eu p h ra t e s a n d t a k e , t h e P e r s i a n o i l

region, or at least its export base at the head of the Per-

s i a n G ul f . G e r m a n y c o u l d s u p p l y t ho u s a n d s o f a i r -

p l a n e s a n d t a n k s a n d s o m e c o m p l et e Panz er divis ions

w h i c h h a d b e e n a s s e m b l e d f o r t h e a t ta c k o n B r i t a i n . I f

n e c e s s a r y , Y u g o s l a v i a a n d G r e e c e c o u ld b e o c c u p ie d

( I t a l y t o g e t D a l m a t ia p e r m a n e n t l y) , a n d s o u t h er n

G r e e c e u s e d a s a s t a r t i n g- p l a c e f o r G e rm a n p l a n e s

a g a i n s t E g y p t a n d t h e B r i t i s h M e d i t e r r a n e a n f l e e t .

T o e ns u r e t h e c o m p le t e a n d t i m e l y s u c c e s s o f t h e

c a m p a i g n , S p a i n m u s t b e b r o u g ht i n a n d m a d e t o t a k e

G i b r a l t a r i m m e d i a t el y , t h u s d e s t r o y i n g B r i t a in ' s p o s i -

t i o n i n t h e w e s t e r n M e d i t e r r a n e a n . S e r r a n o S u n e r ,

F r a n c o ' s b r o t h e r - i n -l a w, M i n i s t e r o f I n t e r i or a n d l e a d e r

o f t h e F a l a n g i s t s , w a s i n B e r li n . H e p er s o n a l l y s e e m e d

f a v o u r a b l e . O n l y F r a n c o , t h a t i n g r a t e , h e s i t a t e d . The

British, Franco apparently thought, were not yet

b e a t e n , a n d . . .



1940 B E R L I N, September 27 5 3 5

There was that other factor, the Uni ted States .

Until recently, that factor had not been taken m uch

into ac count in Be rlin . L ast fall Goring had sc offed to

us of the possibil ity of A merican aid to the A ll ies play-

' ing a role in this war . All thro ugh the su mmer, as the

German army smashed through the west, Berlin was

confid ent that the war would b e over b y fall , and that

therefore American aid, which c ould onl y become real ly

effec tiv e next spring, was of no concer n to Germ any .

That v iew seems to have b een sinc erely held here until

very re cently . In the last two or thre e weeks something

has gone wrong with the p lan s to invade Britain . They

may or may not be of f, but pro babl y are . At any rate

it dawned on Berlin a few days ago that B ritain m ight

not be defe ated af ter all this f all , m ight st ill be fight-

ing next spring, and that then American aid to Britain,

especiall y in planes, would begin to mak e itse lf felt

rather seriously . Something must be done af ter all

about the U nited States . What? S omething to scare

her and to set the American isolationi sts loose again

with a new cry about the danger of war .

In Japan a few weeks ago a new gov ernment under

Prince Konoye c ame to power proclaim ing a " new

life " and a " new order " in eastern Asia . T he Princ e

was a man the Ger mans could deal with . Herr Stahm er,

a conf idential m an of R ibb entrop's who used to be em -

ployed in work ing on the British appease rs, was dis-

patched to look over the ground. There follows now a

mili tary all iance d esigned to threaten A merica and keep

her out of the war. If I am any judge of Am erican

charac ter, no one at hom e with the exception of the

Wheelers, N yes, and L indbergh s will be the least bit

fright ened b y this . The effe ct will b e ju st the opposite

from what H itl er and R ibb entrop, who never fail to

misjudge Anglo-Sa xon charac ter, expect .



5 3 6 1 9 4 0 BERLIN,September 27

Then too, this tripartite pact is a thing the Axis

powers and espec iall y Germany can bal lyhoo to the

skies, thus taking peopl e's minds off the fac t that the

promised inv asion of England isn't coming off and that

the war -hich every German confidently expected

since midsumm er would b e over in a m onth or t wo -isn't going to end before winter c omes, after all

.

The bal lyhoo today has already been terrific , push-

ing all other news completel y off th e front p age . The

German peopl e are told that the pact is of world-

shaking importance an d will shortly b ring final" world

peace ." T he ceremony of signing, as desc ribed b y

Hartric h, who was present, was carried through with

typical Axis tal ent for the theatrical . I n t h e f ir s t p l a c e ,

t h e s u r p r i s e o f t h e e v e n t i t s e l f . Then the showy setting .

When Ribbentrop, Ciano, and Japanese Amb assador

M Kurusu, a bewil dered littl e man, entere d the gala

hall of the Chan cell ery, Klieg l ights blaz ed away as

the scene was recorded for history . Brightly coloured

unifo rms all over the place . T he entire staffs of the

Italian and Japanese em bassies present . (No other

diplomats attended . The Ru ssian Amb assador was in-

vited, but repl ied he wou ld b e out of town thi s noon . )

The thr ee men sit the mselv es at a gilded table. R ib -

bentro p ri ses and moti ons one o f his slaves, Dr . S chmidt,

to read the text of the pa ct . Then they sign while the

cameras grind away. Then comes the climactic mo-

ment, or so the Naz is think . Three loud knocks on the

giant door are heard. T here is a tense hush in the great

h a l l . The J apanese hold their breath. The door swings

slowl y open, and in strides H itler . Ribb entrop bob s

up and formall y notifies hi m that the pac t has been

signed . The Great Khan no ds approvingly, but does

not deign to speak. Hitler majestically tak es a seat

in the middle of the tabl e, while the two for eign min-



1940 B E R L I N , Septemb er 3 0 537

isters and the Japanese A mbassador sc ramb le for chairs .

When they hav e got adjusted, they pop up, one after

another, and del iv er prepared addre sses which the r adio

broadcasts round the world .

To addArticle I of the pac t states that Japan rec-

ognizes the l eadership of G ermany and Italy in the

creation of a new order in Europe . Arti cle II says

" Germany and I taly rec ognize the leader ship o f Japan

in the creation of a new order

territory ."

Neither of the two sides can lend the sl ightest ec o-

nomic or mil itary help to the other so long as they are

separated by the Britis h nav y. What Japan gets out

of it is not clear, since if we

neither Ge rmany nor Italy could harm us until they had

conquered the Br itish nav y. And should we get in-

vol ved in war wit h Berlin and Ro me, Japan is bound to

declare war on us, though her own interests might dic-

tate not doing so. However, she could no doubt find

an excuse for forgetting the treaty i n that case .

One thing is clear : Hitler would not hav e pro mul -

gated the_ tripartite pact if he thought the wa was

coming to an end before winter. There wou ld hav e been

n o n e e d o f i t .

BERLIN,Se pt emb er 3 0

A two-hour alarm last night, but we heard

nothing . Apparently the British were attacking Bran-

denburg, to the west of the c apital . Thou gh dama ge

from Bri tish bomb ing is sti ll negligibl e, the auth orities ,

I learn, hav e ordere d the evacuation of all children

under fourteen from Berlin . Agricultural Minister

Darre today c laim ed that food supplies for the winter

have now been secured . He estim ates the potato crop



538 1940 BERLIN,October 3

at sixty mill ion tons . The grain cro p is two mil lion

tons less than last year, but wil l b e suff icie nt . Ration s

for meat, fats, and bread will remain the same throu gh-

out the winter .

BERLIN, October 3

Tipped off that H itl er and Mussolin i are to

pull a surprise meeting at the B renner tomorrow . Hit-

ler has al ready quit Berlin am idst the usual sec recy .

We are not allowed to report it, as H itler's m ovem ents

are considered military secrets . (Himmler keeps the

Fiihre r's standar d flying abov e the Chancellery nowa-

days even when the great man is ab sent, so that no one

will know .) I did manage to sl ip in a concluding sen-

tence in my broa dcast to night a bout a " news develop-

ment of spec ial interest " bein g scheduled for tomorrow .

BERLIN, October 4

The meeting in the Brenner took place shortly

before noon tod ay . The offi cial communique gave no

informat ion on the tal k except that K eitel was present .

The Foreign O ffice warned us not to spe culate .

It would b e reasonabl e to c onclude, I think, that there

must hav e b een differe nces between the two Axis power s

so fund amental that H itler deemed it adv isabl e to see

the Duc e personall y . For in the last m onth Ribb entrop

has been to Rome, and C iano has been here, so that there

has been no l ack of conta ct between the nominal di-

rectors of foreign policy. The b est guess he re is that

Mussolini is sore b ecause the Germans appare ntly have

abandoned the i dea of invading B ritain this f all , l eav-

ing him hol ding the bag with his offens ive in the Egyp -

tian desert, where his army, now seventy-fiv e or a hun-

dred mil es within the d esert, must transport all its own



1940 B E R L I N, October 5 5 3 9

water overland . Obviously Ribb entrop failed to ap-

pease the I tal ians, so it was necessary for H itl er to do

it . I t would b e wishful think ing, though, to conclude

that today 's meeting was only negativ e. Ob viously fu -

ture war plans were gone ov er and perhaps a dec ision

made to tackl e the Britis h Empire seriously at its

waistline, b y a dr ive on Egy pt and th e Suez Canal .

It may b e that Ger many agreed to establish m ilitary

bases in the Balkans to help this drive . One German

plan m uch talk ed about here is an of fensive through

Turkey to the Near East .

BERLIN, October 5

The German newspaper s m ake amusing read-

ing today with their reports of the Brenner m eeting .

They rave for c olum ns about its world-shaking im por-

tance, but offer not the s lightest information to their

readers as to why . They giv e no information whats o-

ever . But in the present totalitarian atm osphere, where

words have lost al l meaning, anything beco mes true

merel y b ecause the contr oll ed press say s so . I receiv ed

one trustworthy report today that the Brenner m eet-

ing was rather sto rmy, with Mussolini doing some real

lusty shouting . T he I talians here put out a story, prob-

abl y apoc ryphal, b ut indic ativ e of I talo-German am ity .

They say the Duce asked the Fuhrer yesterday why he

had given up his plan to inv ade B ritain . Hitler swal-

lowed and then dodged an answer by posing a q uestion

of his own

" Why haven't you, D uce, b een abl e to take a littl e

place like M alta? I am v ery d isapp ointe d about that ."

The Italians here say Mussol ini screwed up his fac e

and said: "

Fuhrer, don't forget that Malta is an island

too ."



5 40 1940 BERLIN, October 7

T h e f i f t h w e e k o f G e r m a n y ' s g r e a t a i r o f f e n s i v e

a g a i n s t B r i t a i n b e g a n t o d a y . And the Germans are

i n a g r e a t s t a t e o f m i n d b e c a u s e t h e B r i ti s h w o n ' t a d -

m i t t h e y ' r e l i c k e d . T hey cannot repress their rage

a g a i n s t C h u r c h il l f o r s t i l l h o l d i n g o ut h o p e s o f v i c t o r y

t o h i s p e o p l e , i n s t e a d o f l y i n g d o w n a n d s u r r e n d e r i n g ,

a s h a v e a l l o f H i t l er ' s o p p o n e n ts u p t o d a t e . T h e G e r -

m a n s c a n n o t u n d e r s t a n d a p e o p l e w i t h c h a r a c t e r a n d

g u t s .

BERLIN, October 7

A c h a r a c t e r i s t i c N a z i j o u r n a l i s t i c f a k e . T h e

p re s s q u ot es K n ic k er bo c ke r, w ho m it d ub s " t h e A m e r i -

c a n w o r l d l i a r , " a s h a v i n g t o l d P o r t u gu e s e j o u r n a li s t s

i n L i s b o n t h a t h e f l e d L on d o n b e c a u s e i t w a s n o l o n g e r

poss ib le to l ive there . K n o w i n g K n i c k , I k n o w t h i s i s

p u r e i n v e n t i o n .

BERLIN, October 8

Lunch with the G reek M inister and Mme

Rangab e . T h e i r d a u g h t e r , E l m i n a , w h o m w e u s e d t o

s e e a l o t w i th M a r t ha D o d d a n d w h o h a s a d a r k , B a l k a n

b e a u t y, w a s p r e s e n t . T h e M i ni s t e r v e r y g l u m , h i s v a l u -

a b l e s p a c k e d , a n d f e a r i n g I t a l i a n i n v a s i o n a n y d a y . He

c l i n g s t o a s l i m h o p e t ha t H i t le r w i l l s a v e G r e e c e b e -

c a us e o f w ha t he c al ls t h e Fi ih re r' s " a d m i r a t i o n f o r

the g lo ries o f Athens . "

T ho u g h I d o n o t b r o a d c a s t t o A m e r i c a u n t i l a q u a r t e r

t o t w o i n t h e m o r n in g , I h a v e t o b e a t t h e Run d funk at

t e n p .m , s ince it is theoretically poss ible for the Britis h

b o m b e r s t o b e o v e r t h e c i t y b y t h e n . When they do

c o m e , t h e G e r m a n s h a l t a l l t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , n o t e v e n

p e r m i t t i n g y o u t o w a l k i n t h e s t r e e t s . That means

t h a t i f I a m c a u g h t e l s e w h e r e b y a n a l a r m , t h er e i s n o



1940 B E R L I N , October 8 541

broadc ast .Last night I was helping cel ebrat e the de-

parture for home of " Butch " L everich, S econd Sec-

retary o f Emb assy, at a party given b y the H eaths

when ten o'c lock cam e . It was a great temptation to

stay on . All present were c ertain the British would not

come ov er . I left, however, got hopelessly l ost in the

bl ack-out somewhere south of the Wi ttenbergplatz,

but ev entuall y got m y bearings and ste ered my Ford

through the inky night to the Run d f unk . As I turned

off the motor, the sirens screamed, and b efore I could

reac h the buil ding, the anti-airc raft shrap nel was fal l-

ing all aro und like hail. The British attack l asted until

four a .m., and was the most intensive yet . O nce a gain

the railroad tracks north of the L ehrter and Stettiner

statio ns were to rn up by bombs. One young German

woman I know owes her life to the fact that she missed

her su burb an train by ab out twenty f eet. She caught

a seco nd one fifteen minutes later, but it did not run

very fa r . T he first ha d b een hit square on by a Britis h

bomb and bl own to piec es, fifteen passe ngers perishing !

The German press harps so much on the Luftwaffe

attack s on B ritain b eing reprisals for the sort of thing

we rec eiv ed last night that the publ ic is already nau-

seated by the term - nd Germans take a l ot of naus e-

ating. The story around town is that the av erage Ber-

liner when he b uys his ten-p fennig evening paper now

says to the newsboy: "Give me ten pfennigs' wo rth

of reprisals." It's interesting, by the way, how few

people b uy the evening newspapers. Get on a subway

or a b us during the evening rush hour . N ot one German

in ten is reading a newspaper. Sl ow-thinking and long-

suffering though they are, they are beginn ing to be

aware, I think, that their newspape rs give them l ittle

news, and that l ittle so doctored by propaganda that

i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o r e c o g n iz e. Radio news is no b etter and



5 4 21940 B E R L I N , October 1 5

of late I hav e noticed more than one German shut off

a news b roadcast after the fir st couple of mi nutes with

that expre ssiv e Berlin exclam ation : " Oh, Quatsch ! "

which is stronger than " Oh, nonsense ! " " Rubbish "

is pr obab ly a b etter translation .

BERLIN, O c t o b e r 1 5

I have pretty well made up my m ind about

some persona l matters . For some tim e I 've been getting

information fro m mil itary c ircles that Hitler is mak -

ing ready to go into Spain in order to ge t Gibral tar -

whether Franc o, who is helpl ess, l ikes it or not . That

will cut off the last av enue of es cape for my famil y in

Gen eva . The onl y way you can get to America now

from Europe is thro ugh Switz erland, unoccupied

France , Spain, and Portugal to L isbon, the one r emain-

ing port on the Continent from which you c an get a b oat

or a plane to New York . If things come to the worst,

I can always get out b y way of R ussia and Sib eria, b ut

that is no adventure for a c hild of two . T his wi nter t he

Germans, to show their power to discipline the sturdy,

democratic Swiss, are re fusing to s end Switz erland ev en

the smal l am ount of c oal necessary for the Swiss people

to heat their homes . The Ger mans are also all owing

very l ittle food int o Switzerland, for the same shabby

reason . L ife in Switzerland this wi nter will b e har d .

Though Tess woul d rather stay, she has agreed to go

home at the end of the month .

I shall follow in December . I thi nk my usefulness he re

is about over . U ntil recently, despite the c ensorsh ip, I

think I' ve been ab le to do an honest job of reportin g

from Ge rma ny . But it has b ecome increas ingl y diffi-

cult and at present it has beco me al most im possible

The new instructions of bot h the mil itary and the po-



1940 Z i i n i c H, October 18543

lit ical censors are that they c annot all ow me to say any-

thing which might creat e an unfav ourable impression

for Nazi Germany in the U nited State s . Moreover, the

new restrictions about reporting ai r attacks force you

either to give a compl etely fal se pic ture of the m or to

omit m entio n of them al together . I u s u a l l y d o t h e l a t t e r,

but it is al most as dishonest as th e former. In short, y ou

can no longer report the war or conditions in Germany

as they are . You cannot call the Naz is " Nazis " or an

invasion an " inv asion ." Y ou are reduc ed to re-broad-

casting the offic ial communiques, which are lies, and

which any automaton can do . Even the more in tell igent

and decent of my censors ask me, in confidenc e, why I

stay . I have not the slightest interest in remaining un-

der these circumstances. With my deep, b urning hatred

of all that Nazism stands for, it has ne ver been pleasant

working and liv ing here. But that was secondary as

long as there was a job to do. N o one's p erso nal l ife in

Europe counts any more, and I have had none since

the war began . But now there is not even a job to do-

not from here

ZURICH,O c t o b e r 1 8

A wonder ful thing, that relief you always feel

the minute you get out of Germany. Fl ew down from

Berlin this afternoon. From Munich to Zuric h we had

a Dou glas pl ane flown b y Swiss pilots, and off to the left

the whole tim e the gorgeo us panor ama of the Alps, the

peaks and high ranges al ready deep in snow. When the

sun started to set, the snow turned p ink , a m agnificent

shade . A half-hour out of Munich two German fighter

pl anes pursued us, the rooky pil ots using us to prac tise

diving on . Three or four times, swooping down on us,

they nearly touched our wings . I began to perspire,



5 4 4 1940 G E N E V A, October 23

but there was nothing to do ab out it . They had para-

chutes ; we didn't

Soon a thic k cloud bel t began to bl anket the c oun-

try under us, and I wor ried a b it ab out getting down

through it to the Zuric h airport, surrounded as it is b y

high h ill s . Final ly we pl unged into the clouds . We

soon appeared to be lost, for the pilot, after circling

about for five minutes, climb ed above the c louds again

an d tu rn ed bac k tow ard s M unich . Th en another

plunge, this time a deep one, and suddenly it was dark

and the tho ught that we we re pro bab ly going to m ake

an em ergency l anding in Germany depresse d m e, for

a few mi nutes b efore, I had felt free of the R eich at last .

Now we were divi ng at a steep angl e . The pilot sig-

n a l l e d t o a d j u s t t h e s a f e t y b e lt . I gripped the seat hard .

And then out of th e darkness the red fog light of a l and-

ing-field, and the famil iar roof -tops, and the c ity lights

sparkl ing -this c ould b e no c ity of bl acked-out Ge r-

many, this c ould onl y be Zurich - nd in a minute we

were on hard ground . The pil ot had made a perfec t

bl ind landing in the fog .

I sit here in the Bahnhof waiting for my Genev a train,

the Do le red wine good, the free pe ople of S witzerl and

bustl ing through th e hall a sight worth seeing, feeling a

release and yet sad at th e farewell that m ust be said in

Geneva next week, and the realiz ation that still another

home we tri ed to make will be b roken up .

GEN EVA , October 23

Tess and Eileen got off at dawn this morning

on a Swiss bus that w i l l tak e them in two days and nights

of hard driv ing across unoccupied Franc e to Barcelona,

from where they c an get a train to Madrid and Li sbon,

and fro m L isbon a boat for home . T here are no trains



19 40 B E R N, October 24545

across F rance yet. By b us is the only way, and I sup-

pose we were lucky, b ecause there are more than a thou-

sand refugees here waiting to get on the uses that

ply once a week to Spain . They cou ld carry little l ug-

gage, and we m ust store o ur bel ongings her e for the

duration . The Am erican Expres s would not dispatch

its b us today because of word that flood he P yrenees

had washed out the roads b etween France and Spain,

but our co mpany said it hoped to get through , a hope I

share . Tess carried food and water for h erself and chil d,

as there are no prov isions to b e had en route in France .

The child was happy with exc itement as the b us pull ed

away and I was gl ad she was too young to n otice or feel

the traged y in that car-load of human b eings, m ost of

whom were German J ews, who were nervous and jittery

al most to a point of hysteria, for they we afraid that

the Frenc h might tak e them off and turn them ov er to

Himmler's tortures, or that the Spaniards wo uld not

let them through .' If they c ould get to Lisbon they

would be safe, but L isbon was far

Betty Sargent tells m e Robert Dell has died in Amer-

ica - that grand old m an of lib eral Engl ish jou rnalism

whose lov e of justic e, decenc y, peace, democracy, life,

good talk , good food , good wine, and beautiful wom en

was scarcely eq uall ed by that of any man I know . I

shall m iss h im .

BERN,October 24

A sad, gl oomy trip with J oe [Harsch] up

from Geneva this after noon . I gazed heav y-hearted

through th e window of the train at the Swiss, L ake Ge-

nev a, the mountains, Mont Blanc, the gr een hills and

the marb le pal ace of the League that pe rished .

1 Most of them were turned back at the Spanish frontier.



5 46 1940 M u N i c H, October 25

MUN ICH , October 25

Blind-landed in a thick fog and the authori-

ties would not let us continue our fli ght to B erlin b e-

cause of the lack of visibil ity . Am tak ing the nig ht

train . All the restaur ants, cafes, and beer-hall s here

packed tonight with lusty B avarians . N otice they' ve

completel y stopped say ing : " H e i l H i t l e r . "

BERLIN, October 27

Ed Hartrich of f in a couple of days for hom e

and I shall leav e early in D ecember. Harry Flannery is

arriving fro m S t. L ouis t o take over .

BERLIN,October 28

Today we'v e had a c lassic exampl e of how a

Fascist dic tatorship suppresses news it feels m ight too

easily shock its people . This m orning the I talian arm y

marche d into Greec e . This m orning, too, Hitler poppe d

up in Florence and saw Mussolini ab out this latest act

of Fascist aggression . The Berlin newspapers have

great headlines about the meeting in Fl orence . But

they do not carry a single l ine about the I tal ian inv a-

sion of Greece . M y spies re port that Go ebb els has asked

for a coup le of days to prepare German pub li c opinion

for the news .

No word from T ess sinc e she left Geneva . With the

present chaos in unoccupied France and Spa in, a ny-

thing can happen.

BERLIN, October 29

Twenty-four hours after I tal y's wanton ag-

gression against Greec e, the Germ an people are stil l



19 40 B E R L I N , October 29 547

deprived of the news by their rul ers . N ot a line in the

morning papers or the noon papers . But G oebb els is

care full y preparing his publ ic for the news . This morn-

ing he had the press publ ish the text of the outrageous

Italian ul timatum to the Greek governm ent . It was al-

most an exact c opy of the ultim atum s which the Ger-

mans sent to Denmark and N orway, and later to H ol-

land and Belgium . But the German public may have

wondered what happ ened after the ultim atum, since it

expired yesterday morning .

LA TER-The news was finally serv ed the

German people in the p .m . editions in the form of the

text of to day's I tal ian war c ommuniq ue. That was all .

But there wer e nauseating editorials in the l ocal press

condemning Greece for not having understood the "new

order" and for having pl otted with the British against

Ital y . The m oral cesspool in which G erman editors

now splash was fairly well ill ustr ated by their offe rings

today . A f t e r s e v e r a l y e a r s o f i t I s t i l l f i n d i t e x a s p e r a t -

ing . Also today, the usual Goebb els fakes. For exam-

ple, one saying that the Gre eks disdained even to answer

the ultim atum , though the truth is that they did . They

rejected it

There is cer tainly no enthusias m among the people

here for the lat est gangster step of the Axis. German

mil itary peop le, always contemptuou s of the Ita lians,

tell me Greec e will be no walk -away f or Musso lini's le-

gions . The mountainous terrain is diffic ult for motor-

ized units to operate in and moreov er, they say, the

Greeks have the b est mountain artill ery in Eur ope .

General Metaxas, the P remier, and q uite a few Greek

officer s have b een trained at P otsdam, the Germans tel l

me



5 48 1940 BE R L I N, O c t o b e r 3 1

BERLIN, Octo ber 3 1

T h e s t o r y i s t h a t H i t l e r r u s h e d f r o m F r a n c e ,

where he had seen Franco and Petain (t he Fiihrer

g r e a t l y i m pr e s s e d b y t h e Fr e n c h m a r s h a l , b u t n o t b y

F r a n c o , s a y t h e p a r t y b o y s ) , t o F l o r e n c e to s t o p M us s o -

l i n i f r o m g o i n g i n t o G r e e c e . H e a r r i v e d f o u r h o u r s t o o

l a t e , a n d b y t h e t i m e h e s a w M u s s o l i n i t h er e w a s n o

t u r n i n g b a c k . T h e f a c t i s t h a t H i t l e r t h i n k s h e c a n

t a k e t h e B a l k a ns w i t h ou t a fi g ht . H e d o e s n o t w a n t a

w a r t h e r e f o r t w o r e a s o n s : first, it dis rupts the already

i n a d e q u a t e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s w h i c h a r e n e e d e d

n o w t o b r i ng f o o d a n d r a w m a t e r i a l s f r o m t h e B a l k a n s

to Ger many; s econdly, it forces him to s pread s till fur-

t h e r h i s f o r c e s , w h i c h n o w m u s t h o l d a l i n e s t r e t c h i ng

f o r m o r e th a n a t h o u s a n d m i l e s f r o m N a r v i k t o H e n -

d a y e i n t h e w e s t , a n d o n t h e e a s t t h e l o n g f r o n ti e r w i t h

R u s s i a , w h e r e h e k e e ps a m i n i m u m o f t h i r ty - f i v e d i v i -

s ions a nd one whole air fleet . Hi t ler i s reported fu rious

a t h i s j u n i or A x i s p a r t ne r f o r j u m p i n g t h e gu n .

W i t h w i nt e r u p o n us , i t i s n o w o b v i o u s t h a t t h e r e

w i l l b e n o G e r m a n a t t e m p t t o i n v a d e B r i t a i n t h i s f a l l .

W h y h a s t h e i n v a s i o n n o t b e e n a t t e m p t e d ? W h a t h a s

h a p p e n e d t o t h e gra n d l i n e s o f H i t l e r' s s t r a t e g y ? W h y

n o f i n a l v i c t o r y , n o t r i u m p h a n t p e a c e , b y n o w ? W e

k n o w t h a t a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f l a s t J u n e h e f e l t c e r t a i n

of th em b y su mmer's end . H i s c e r t a i n t y i n s p i r e d t h e

a r m e d f o r c e s a n d t h e e n t i r e G e r m a n p e o p l e w i t h t h e

s a m e s u r e f e e l i n g . H e a n d t h e y h a d n o d o u b t s a b o u t i t .

W e r e n ot t h e s t a n d s e r e c t ed a n d p a i n te d , a n d d e c o r a t e d

w i t h s h i n i n g S w a s t i k a e a g l e s a n d b l a c k - a n d - s i l v e r i r o n

c r o s s e s f o r t h e g r e a t Vi c t o r y P a r a d e t h r o ug h t h e B r a n -

d e n b u r g e r To r ? E a r l y l a s t A u g u s t t h e y w e r e r e a d y .

W h a t , i n t r u t h , w e n t w r o n g ?



1940 BERLIN, O c t o b e r 3 1 5 49

We do not yet kn ow the entire answer . Som e thin gs

we can piece together .

In the first pl ace, Hitler hesitated and his hesitation

may wel l prov e to have been a bl under as c olossal as the

indecision of the Germ an High Com mand before Par is

in 1914 , m arking a turning-point in the war that none

of us can ye t grasp, though it is m anifestly too early

yet to say so . T he French army was l iquidated by

June 18 , when Pet ain asked for an arm istice . Many

who foll owed the German arm y into France ex pected

Hitler to turn imm ediately and strike at Britai n while

the iron was hot, while the m agic s pell of invincibil ity

was still woven round him and his magnific ent mil itary

machine . The British, H itler k new, were reeling from

the titanic bl ows just struc k them . They had lost the ir

all y, Franc e . They were just rec eiv ing home the de-

moral ized remnants of the ir Continental expeditionary

forc e, whose costly, irreplaceabl e arms and equipm ent

had been abandoned on the beach of Dunkirk . They

had no longer a great o rganized, eq uipped land arm y .

Their shore defences were pitiful. Their al l-powerfu l

nav y cou ld not fight in great force in the narrow waters

of the English Channe l, over which Go ring's bomb ers

and Messersc hmitts, operati ng from bases in sight of

the sea, now had contro l .

This was the situation when Hitler strode into the

littl e clearing of Compiegne Forest on June 21 to dic-

tate a harsh arm istice to France . I r e c a l l n o w-

hough

the fact . did not m ake any im pression on me at the time

- hat at Com piegne there se emed to b e no hurry o n

the part of the German m ili tary to finish with B ritain .

Piecing together today - ong after the e vent - tray

bits of conv ersation picked up here and the re in Com -

piegne and Paris , I th ink the word had come down from

Hitl er that an invasion of Britain, though it mu e



550 1940 B E R L I N , October 3 1

quickl y and thor oughly prepared, would never b e nec es-

sary . Churchill would accept the kind of peace wh ich

the little Austr ian was mull ing over in his m ind . I t

would b e a Naz i peac e, it would b ar Great B ritain from

the contine nt of Europe at l ong l ast ; it might be merely

an armistice, a b reathing-sp ell during whic h Germany

could consolidate such overwhelm ing strength on the

mainl and that Br itain in the end wou ld hav e to bow to

the Naz i conqueror without a fight- ut it wou ld b e

a face-saving peac e for Churchill . And he woul d acce pt

i t . I believ e Hitler reall y though t he would . And his

certainty de layed and sl ackened the work which was

nece ssary to prepare a deva stating inv asion forc e - he

construc tion and concentration of ba rges, pontoons,

shipping , and a thousan d kinds of eq uipment .

[LATE R 1941 . - he breathi ng-spell might also b e

used to s ettle ac counts with Russia . S ome ob serv ers in

Berlin were convinced at the end of June that Hitler

was sincerel y anxious to conc lude peace with Britain

(on his own term s, of course) so that he co uld turn on

the Soviet Union-always his long-term objective .

Hitler, they bel iev ed, felt sure the B ritish would under-

stand this . Had not Chamb erlain's policy been to en-

courage the German m ilitary m achine to tur n east

against Russ ia? The fact that during the last days of

June and throughout the first three week s of July one

German div ision after another was rec all ed from France

and hurriedly transported to what the Germans usuall y

referred to as the " Russian front " would seem to bear

this out . But it is by no m eans cer tain . Russ ia, Hitl er

bel ieved, was w eak. Russia c ould w ait . What was im-

portant was getti ng Great Britain out of the way . Yet

his mind seemed full of puzzl ing co ntradic tions . He



554 19 40 BE R L I N , October 31

pended the whole setting-in-action of the plans for ac-

tual invasion . Goring promised its speedy acc ompl ish-

ment. But like m any a Ge rman b efore him, he m ade a

grav e miscal culation ab out British c haracter and there-

fore British strategy. Goring, I think it is now clear,

based his confide nce on a very sim ple calculation . He

had four times as many pl anes as the B ritish . No mat-

ter how good English planes and pil ots were - and he

had a healthy respect for both -e had only to at tack

in supe rior nu mbers, and even if he lost as many pl anes

as the ene my, in the end h e would still have a substantial

air fleet, and the British wou ld hav e none . And there

was littl e lik elihood of losing as many as your op ponent

if you always attacked with m ore planes than he had.

What Goring and al l the other Germans were inca-

pabl e of grasping was that the British were prepared to

see their c ities bom bed and destroye d before they would

risk all of their planes in a few great air bat tles to de-

fend them . To the British this was mere comm on sense

and the only tactic that c ould sav e them. To the Ger-

man m ilitary mind it was inc omprehensible. I t i s p r i -

marily due to this err or of jud gment, so typicall y Ger-

man, I'm conv inced , that the plan to inv ade Br itain this

year had to be ab andoned.

To destroy the British air force Goring had to get it

off the grou nd . But tr y as he did - nd when I was

on the Channel in the m iddle of August he was sending

as m any as a thousand planes a day across the Channel

to l ure the British into the air -he nev er succ eeded.

The Britis h kept m ost of their p lanes in reserve. Their

cities, for a while, suffered as a result. B ut t he RAF

remained intact. And as long as it did, the German land

army m assed o n the c oast would not mov e.

Why, m any Germans here have asked, could not the

Luftwaffe destroy the RAF on the ground? The air



566 1940 B E R L I N, October 31

grandiose day light attac ks . And this contradic tion has

bothered most of the neutral air attaches he re, who, l ike

the rest of us, hav e acc ess to only the Germ an side of

the picture

Probab ly it is no contradic tion at al l . F rom w hat

German airmen themselves have tol d me, I think the

truth is that while the British never risked more than a

small portio n of their availab le fighters on any one da y,

they did se nd up enou gh to destro y more German b omb-

ers per day than Goring cou ld afford to lose. For he

was using them in large m ass formations, more as a

snare to get the British fighters off the g round so that

his Messerschmitts could wipe out Britain's fighter de-

fence than for mere bom bing . And here British air tac-

tics p la yed an important role . The Germans tell me

that the British fighter sq uadrons had strict orders to

avoid combat with Ge rman fighters whe never possibl e.

Instead they were instruc ted to dart in on the b omb ers,

knock off as many of the cumbersome m achines as they

could, and then steal away before the German fighters

could engage them . These tactics led many a German

Messerschmitt pilot to compl ain that the B ritish Spit-

fire and Hur ricane pilots were cowards, that they fl ed

whenever they saw a Germa n fighter. I suspec t now the

German pil ots understand that the British were not be-

ing co wardly b ut merely sm art . Knowing they were out-

numb ered, that the Ge rman aim was to des troy their en-

tire fighter forc e and that Britain was l ost when her

last fighters were destro yed, the British adopted the

only strateg y which would save them . They went after

the German b ombers, which are set- ups for a pursuit

ship, and av oided the Messers chmitts. Afte r all , the

Messerschmi tts carried no bombs which could destroy

Engla nd . O n at l east three sep arate days, during the

latter part of A ugust and the first d ays of Septemb er,



19 40 B E R L I N, No vembe r 9 5 6 3

cently adv ised the people to go to bed early

snatch two or three ho urs of sleep before the bom bing s

s t a r t . Som e take the advice, most do not . T he Ber liners

say that those who take the adv ice arr iv e in the c ell ar

after an alarm and greet their neigh bours with a " Good

morning ." This m eans the y have been to sleep. O thers

arriv e and s ay : " Good e vening ! " This m eans the y

haven't yet been to sleep . A few arrive and say : " Heil

Hi tl er ! " This means they have always b een asleep .

Another : An airplane carrying H itler, Goring, and

Goebb els crashe s . A l l t h r e e a r e k i l l e d . Who is saved?

An swer : The German people .

A man from Col ogne te ll s me what he claims is a true

story. He says ther e are so m any different uniforms to

be seen in the streets an't k eep track

of them . T hus it was that a British flying -offic er who

had to bail out near Cologne walk ed into the c ity on a

Sunday afternoo n to giv e himself up. He expected that

the police or some of t diers on the street wou

rest him im mediately. Instead they click ed their heels

and saluted him. He had a te n-mark note with him, as,

my friends say, all British pilots flyi er Ger many

do, and dec ided to try h is luck at a mov ie . He asked for

a . two-mark seat . The cas hier gave him back nine mark s

in ch ange, explaining politel y that men in uniform got

in for half-price . Finally, the movie over, he walk ed th e

streets of Col ogne until m idnight before he c ould find

a police station and giv e himself up . He told the police

how diffic ult it was for a British flyer l uniform

to get himsel f arrested in the he art of a German city .

The police would not bel ieve him . But they summoned

the cashier of the mov ie house just to see .

" Did yo u sell this man a ticket to a performance this

evening? " they asked her.

" Certainly," she pipe d b ack ; "for h alf-price, lik e



664 1940 BERLIN, N o v e m b e r 1 1

all men in uniform ." Then pro udly, espy ing the i nitia ls

RAF on his uniform : " It isn't ev ery day I can welcom e

a Reichs Arbeits Fuhrer .Me, I know what RAF stands

for ."

Molotov is co ming to Berlin . For more than a year

-ver since R ibb entrop flew to Moscow in August 19 39

and signed the pact which brought the two arch-enemies

of this earth together - e'v e had rumours that the

number-two Bolshevik would repay t he visit. O nce du r-

ing the summ er I know for a fac t that a lot of ol d Sov iet

red flags were dusted off and asse mbled in the Chance l-

lery for a Molotov visit that failed to c ome off because,

for one thing, Moscow insisted on sending a regiment of

GPU plain-clothes men, and H immler would agree to

only a company of them. Then Hitler and R ibbentrop

exerted all the pressur e they co uld to force Stal in to

send Molotov here just before the American elections.

For some reason they thought that if bal lyhooed pro p-

erly, it would scare the A merican people and result in

the defeat of Ro osevel t. Stal in apparently under stood

the reason and declined . B u t t o n i g h t i t ' s o f f i c i a l . Molo-

tov is co ming next week. T h e t im i n g o f t h e v i s i t i s s t i l l

good . It will help m ake up for the slap of R oosevel t's

election, whic h the German people faintly realize was

not good news for H itl er, and al so for the waning pres-

tige of the Axis caus ed by the failure of the Italians to

make any progress in Greece.

BERLIN, November 11

Armistice D ay, which in a way now seems lik e

a great irony . There was no mention of it in the Ger-

man press. In B elgium and Franc e the Ger man mil i-

tary authorities for ebade its celebration. Roosevel t's



1940 B E R, L I N, November 12 565

Armistice Day speec h was compl etely suppress ed here .

We broadcast from coast to coast eve nce of

Hitler, but the German people are not permitted to

know a word of what R oosevel t speaks. This is one of

the weaknesses of demo think, though some peo-

p l e t h i n k i t i s o n e o f i t s s t r e n g t h s.

This ev ening I went to see H aral d Kreuzb erg dance .

H e ' s g e t t i n g a l i t t l e ol d n o w a n d i s n o t q u i t e s o n i m b l e

or grac eful, though s till very goo d . The hall was

packed

BER LIN , Nov embe r 12

A dar k, drizz ling day, and Molotov arrived,

h i s r e c e p t i o n b e i n g e x t r em e l y s t i f f a n d f o r m a l . Driving

up the Linden to the Soviet Emb assy, he look ed to me

lik e a plugging, provinc hoolmaster . But to hav e

surviv ed in the cu t-throat c ompetition of the Kre ml in

he must have something . The Ge rmans talk gl ibl y of

let ting Moscow hav e that old R ussian dream, the Bos -

p o r u s a n d t h e D a r d a n e l l e s , w h i l e t h e y w i l l t a k e t h e re s t

of the Balkans, Rumania, Y ugoslav ia, and Bulgaria.

If the I tal ians can tak e Greec e, which is b eginning to

l o o k d o u b t f u l, t h e y c a n h a v e i t .

When I went to our Em bassy today to get a tin of

c o f f e e f r om m y s t o r e s , w h i c h I k e e p t h e re , t h e b o x , c o n -

taining a hal f-yea r's supply, was gone. ' I t h a d j u s t d i s -

appeared . If I were not leav ing shortly, this woul d be

a blow . Coffee, ever since i t became im poss ibl e to buy

it in Germany, has ed a weird importance ne's

l i fe . The sam e with tobacco . Som e times t he Embassy

tak es pity o n me, b ut for the most part I smok e German

pipe tob acco. O f late it h as made fo ul smok ing .



566

t

19 40 BE R L I N, No vembe r 14

BERLIN, November 14

We thought the Br itish would come ov er last

night when R ib bent rop and Go ring were feting Molo-

tov at a formal state banq uet . The Wilhelm strasse was

very nervous at the prospec t, for they did not l ike the

idea of adjourning to the cell ar with their honoured

Russian guest s . I nstead, the British c ame over this ev e-

ning - shortly before nine p .m . , the earliest yet -while Mol otov was host to th e Ger mans at the Sov iet

Embassy . M olotov, we hear , declined to go to th e ce l-

lar and watch ed the fire works from a darkened window .

The British were c areful not to drop anything near b y .

According to the Germ an radio a nd the Warsaw Zei-

tung, Mr . Hoover's American representative here has

offered his congratulations to Dr . F r a n k , t h e t o u g h l i t t l e

Nazi Gov ernor of Poland, on the anniversary of his y ear

in of f ice . He c ongratul ates him for what he has done

for the P ol es !

My information is that there will be no Polish rac e

left when Dr . Frank and his N azi thugs get through

with them . They c an't kil l them al l, of c ourse , b ut the y

can enslave them al l .

BERLIN, November (und ated)

A pleasant dinner and evening at X's in Dah-

lem . Two well -known German figures present, one a

high Naz i offic ial, and they spent the evening tel li ng

jokes on the regi me, especiall y on Goebbel s, whom they

both appeared to loathe . About ten p .m . the British

came and we went up on the b al cony to watc h the fire-

works, wh ich were considerable . O nce there came t he

familiar whistle of a b omb just before it lands near y ou .

Automaticall y we al l dived through the ope n door into



1 9 4 0 BE R L I N , November 23 5 6 7

a p i t c h -d a rk b e d ro o m , l a n d i n g i n a h e a p o n t h e f l o o r .

T h e b o m b s h o o k t h e h o u s e , b u t w e g o t n o s p l i n t e r s .

P i t i f u l h o w fe w p l a n e s t h e B r i t i s h c a n s p a r e - f o r t h is

B e r l i n j o b . T h e r e w e r e n o t m o r e t h a n a d o z e n o f t h e m

t o n i g h t . T h e y h a v e d o n e c o m p a r a t i v e l y l i t t l e d a m a g e

h e r e s o f a r .

BERLIN, November 20

Today was B u s s t a g , some sort of German

P r o t e s t a n t h o l i d a y . F e e l i n g l o w , I w e n t t o a c a n d l e -

l i g h t c o n c e r t i n t h e C h a r l o t t e nb u r g c a s t l e a n d h e a r d

a s t r i n g q u a r t e t p l a y B a c h n o b l y. I am defin i tely get-

t i n g a w a y f r o m h e r e b y p l a n e t o L i s b o n o n D e c e m b e r 5

i f I can get al l the necess ary papers in t ime . T h e F o r -

eign Office, the police, the s ecret police, and so on mus t

a p pr o v e m y ex i t v i s a b ef o re I c a n l ea v e . A n d g e t t i n g

S p a ni s h a n d P o r t u g ue s e v i s a s i s p r o v i n g n o ea s y j o b .

Harry Flannery has St . L o u is t o t a k e

o v e r .

BERLIN, November 23

W a s h a v i n g a m o s t e x c e l l e n t d i n ne r a n d s o m e

f i n e t a b l e - t a l k a t D i p l o m a t G .'s about eight forty-five

t h i s e v e n i n g w h en t h e b u t l e r c a l l e d m e a w a y t o t h e

phone . I t was one of the girls at the Rundfn ink s a y i ng

t h a t t h e B r i t i s h b o m b e r s w e r e a b o u t t e n m i nu t e s a w a y

a n d t h a t I h a d b e t t e r h u r r y i f I w a n t e d t o b r o a d c a s t

t h i s e v e n i n g . I d a s h e d o u t t o m y c a r . A n a i d - w a r d e n

w h o a l s o h a d t h e a d v a n c e n o t i c e t r i e d t o s t o p m e f rom

d r i v i n g a w a y , b u t I b r u s h e d p a s t h i m . I w a s n o t f a -

m i l i a r w i t h t h e b l a c k e d - o u t s t r e e t s i n t h i s n e i g h b o u r -

h o o d a n d t w i c e a l m o s t d r o v e a t g r e a t s p e e d i n t o t h e

Landwehr Canal . I r e a c h e d t h e K n i e , a b o u t t w o m i l e s



668 1940 B E R L I N , November 2 3

f r o m t h e Rundfwnk , w h e n th e s i r e n s s o u n d ed . T o s t o p ,

o b e y t h e l a w, p ut m y l i g h t s o u t , p a r k , a n d g o t o a s h e l -

t e r, a s t h e la w i ns i s t e d ? T ha t m e a nt n o br o a d c a s t . B e t -

t e r t o h a v e r e m a i n e d a t t h e d i n n e r a n d e n j o y e d a n e v e -

ning for a change . I had nev er missed a b roadcast

b e c a u s e o f a i r - r a i d s. I d e c i d e d t o d i s o b e y t he l a w . I l e f t

m y h o o d e d l i g h t s o n a n d s t e p p e d o n t h e g a s . O n e p o -

liceman after another al ong the Kaiserdamm popped

o u t w a v i n g a l i t t l e r e d l a m p . I r a c e d b y t h em , a t fi f ty

m i l e s a n h o u r . I t w a s a s t u pi d t h i ng t o d o, b e c a u s e s e v -

e r a l t im e s I j u s t b r u s h e d o t h e r c a r s w h i c h h a d s t o p pe d

i n t h e d a r k n e s s a n d p u t o u t t h ei r l i g ht s , a s t h e l a w p r e-

s c r i b e s . Y ou c ould not s ee th em . By a mirac le I d id

n o t s m a s h i n t o a n y o f t h e m , b u t a b o u t th r e e b l oc k s f r o m

t h e Rundfwnk I d e c i d e d m y l u c k h a d b e e n g o o d e n o u g h ,

p u l l e d u p m y c a r , a n d s p r i n t e d t o t h e r a d i o b e f o r e t h e

p o l i c e c o u l d s n a t c h m e i n t o a p u b li c s h e l t e r .

I h e a r f r o m p a r t y c i r c le s t h a t J u l iu s S t r ei c h e r , t h e

s a d i s t i c , J e w - b a i t i n g c z a r o f F r a n c o n i a a n d n o t o r i o u s

e d it o r o f t he a n ti -S em i ti c w ee k ly S t i r m e r , h a s b e en a r-

r e s t e d o n o r d e r s o f H it l e r . N o t e a r s w i l l b e s h e d w i t h i n

o r w i t h o u t t h e pa r t y , f o r h e w a s l o a t h e d b y n e a r l y a l l .

I shall always remem ber him swaggering thr ough the

s t r e e t s o f N u r e m b e rg , w h e r e h e w a s a b s o l u t e bo s s , b r a n -

d i s h i n g t h e r i d i n g w hi p w h i c h h e a l w a y s c a r r i e d . He

h a s b e e n a r r e s t e d , s a y p a r t y p e op l e , p e nd i n g i n v e s t i g a -

t i o n o f c e r t a i n f i n a n c i a l m a t t e r s . I f H it l e r c a r e d m u c h ,

h e c o u l d m a k e s o m e a d d i t i o n a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s . H e c o u l d

l o o k i n t o t h e l i tt l e m a t t e r o f h o w i t c a m e a b o u t t h a t s o

m a n y p a r t y l e a d e r s a c q u i r e d g r e a t c o u n t r y e s t a t e s a n d

cas tles .



1940 B E It L I N, November 25 56 9

BERLIN, November 25

I h a v e a t l a s t g o t t o t h e b o tt o m o f t h es e

" m e r c y k i l l i n g s . " 1 I t ' s a n e v i l t a l e .

T h e G e s t a p o , w i t h t h e k n o w l e d g e a n d a p p r o v a l o f

t h e G e r m a n g ov e r n m e n t , i s s y s t e m a t i c a l l y p u tt i n g t o

d e a t h t h e m e n t a l l y d e f i c i e n t p o p u la t i o n o f t h e R e i c h .

H o w m a n y h a v e b e e n e x e c u t e d p r o b a b l y o n l y H i m m l e r

a n d a h a n d f u l o f N a z i c h i e ft a i n s k n o w. A c o n s e r v a ti v e

a n d t r u s t w o r t hy G e r m a n t e l l s m e h e e s t i m a t e s t h e n u m -

b e r a t a h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d . I t h i n k t ha t f i g u r e is t o o

h i g h . B u t c e r t a i n i t i s t h a t t h e f i g u r e r u n s i n t o t h e

t h o us a n d s a n d i s g o i ng u p e v e r y d a y .

T h e o ri g i n o f t h i s p e c u l i a r N a z i p r a c t i c e g o e s b a c k

t o l a s t s u m m e r a f t e r t h e f a l l of F ra n c e , w h e n c e r t a i n

r a d i c a l N a z i s p u t t h e i d e a u p t o H i t l e r . At first it was

p l a n n e d t o h a v e t h e F i i h re r i s s u e a d e c re e o f l a w a u -

t h o r i z i n g t h e p u t ti n g t o d e a t h o f c e r t a i n p e r s o n s f o u n d

m e n t a l l y d e f i c i e n t . B u t i t w a s d e c i d e d t h a t t h i s m i g h t

b e m i s u n d e r s t o o d i f i t l ea k e d o u t a n d b e p e r s o n a l l y

e m b a r ra s s i n g to Hi t l e r .In t h e e n d H i t l e r s i m p l y w r o t e

a letter to the s ecret-police administra tion and the health

a u t h o r i t ie s a u t h o r i z i n g t h e Gnadenstoss (coup de

g r a c e ) i n c e r t a in i n s t a n c e s w h e re p e r s o n s w e r e p ro v e d

t o b e s u f f e r i n g f ro m in c u ra b l e m e n t a l o r n e rv o u s d i s -

eases . P h i l i p p B o u h l er , s t a t e s e c r e t a r y i n t h e C h a n c e l -

lery, is s aid to have acted a s intermediary between Hitler

a n d t h e N a z i e x t r e m i s t s i n w o r k i ng o u t t h is s o l u t i on .

At this point Bethel, already mentioned in these notes ,

creeps into the story . Dr . F r i e d r i c h v o n B o d e l s c h w i n g h

i s a P r o t e s t a n t p a s t o r , b e l o v e d b y C a t h o li c s a n d P r o t -

e s t a n t s a l i k e i n w es t e r n G e rm a n y . A t B e th e l, a s I h a v e

n o t e d d o w n p re v i o u s l y , i s h i s a s y l u m f o r m e n ta l l y d e f i -

cien t ch i ld ren . Germans tel l me i t i s a m odel in st i tu t ion

1 S e e e n t r y f o r S e p t em b e r 2 1 .



570 1940 B E R L I N, November 2 5

of its kind , known all ov er t he c ivil ized wo rld . L ate last

summer, it seems, Pastor von Bod elschwingh was asked

t o d e l i v e r u p c e r t a i n o f h i s w o r s t c a s e s t o t h e a u t h o r i t i e s.

Appare ntl y he got wind of what was in store for them .

He refuse d . The authorities insisted . Pastor von Bo-

delschwingh hurried to Berlin to protest . He got in

touc h with a fam ous Ber lin surgeon, a personal friend of

Hitl er's . T he surge on, refusing to bel ieve the story,

rushed to the Chance ll ery . The Fiihrer said noth ing

could b e done . The two m en then went to F ranz Giirt-

ner, Mi nister of Justice . Gurtner s eemed more troubl ed

at the fact that the kil lings were b eing carr ied out with-

out benefit of a written law than that they were being

carried out . However, he did agree to complain to Hit-

ler ab out the matter .

Pastor v on Bodelschwingh returned to Bethel . The

l o c a l Gauleiter ordered him to tur n over some of h is

inmates . Again he refused . Berlin then ordere d his ar-

r e s t . This time the Gauleiter protested . T he pasto r

was the most popul ar man i n his province . To arrest

him in the m iddle of war would stir up a whole world

of unnec essary troubl e . He himsel f declined to arrest

the man . L et the Ges tapo take the respo nsibil ity ; he

wouldn't . This was just before the nigh t of Septem-

ber 18 . The b ombing of the B ethel asylum followed .

Now understand why a few people wondered as to

who dropped the bomb s .

Of l ate some of my spies in the pr ovinces have call ed

my attention to some rather peculiar death notices in

the provincial newspapers . ( In German y the custom

among all classe s is to ins ert a small paid ad vertis ement

in the newspapers when a death occ urs, giv ing the date

and cause of d eath, age of the deceased, and tim e and

place of burial.) But these notic es have a strange ring



1 9 4 0 BERLIN, November 25 5 7 1

t o t h em , a n d t h e p l a c e o f d e a th i s a l w a y s g i v e n a s o n e

o f t h r e e s p o t s :( 1 ) G r a f e n e c k , a , l o n e l y c a s t l e s i t u a t e d

n e a r M u n z i n g e n , s i x t y m i l e s s o u t h e a s t o f S t u t t g a r t ;

(2 ) Ha rtheim, near L inz on the D anube ; ( 3 ) t h e S o n -

n e n s t e i n P u b l ic M e d i c a l a n d N u r s i n g I n s t i t u t e a t P i r n a ,

near Dresden .

N o w , t h e s e a r e t h e v e r y t h r e e p l a c e s n a m e d t o m e b y

Germans as the chief h uarters for the " mercy

killings . "

I a m a l s o i n f o r m e d t h a t t he r e l a t i v e s o f t h e u n f or t u -

n a t e v i c t i m s , w h e n t h ey g e t t he a s h e s b a c k - t h e y a r e

n e v e r g i v e n t h e b o d i e s - e c e i v e a s t e r n w a r n i ng f r o m

t h e s e c r e t p o l i c e n o t t o d e m a n d e x p l a n a t i o n s a n d n o t t o

" sprea d fal se rumours . " T he s e p r o v i n c i a l d e a t h n o -

t i c e s t h e r e fo r e t a k e o n m o r e m e a n i n g t h a n t h e y m i g h t

o t h e rw i s e . I will note down he re some typica l ones,

c h a n g i n g th e n a m e s , d a t e s , a n d p l a c e s , f o r o b v i o u s r e a -

s o n s .

Leipziger N eues te N ach ric hten, October 26 : "JO-

HANN DIETTRICH, FRONT SO LDIER 1914-

19 18, HO LD ER OF SEVER AL W AR D EC ORATI ONS,

BORN JU NE 1, 188 I , DEC EASED SEP TE MBER 23,

1940. AF TE R W EE KS O F UN CE RT AINTY, I RE -

CE IVED THE UN BE LI EVA BL E N EW S O F HI S SUD -

DEN DEATH AND CR EMA TI ON AT G RAF EN EC K

IN WO RTT EMBER G."

F r o m t h e s a m e p a p e r i n O c t o b e r : "AF TE R W EEKS

OF UN CE RT AINT Y, THE IN TE RMENT OF MY

BE LOV ED SO N, HANS , WH O DIE D SU DDEN LY

ON S EPTE MBER 17 A T P IRN A, W ILL TAK E

PLAC E ON OCT OBE R 10 ."

Again : "WE H AVE R ECE IVED THE UN BEL IEVA -

BL E NE WS T HAT M Y M OST B EL OVED SON, TH E

EN GI NE ER RU DOLF MOLL ER , D IE D SUD DEN LY



5793 19 40 B E E L I N ,No vember 2 5

AND UNEXPECTEDLY NEAR LI NZ-ON-TH E-

DANU BE THE CR EMA TI ON TOOK PLAC E

THERE ."

Another : "AF TE R TH E CR EMA TI ON HAD TAK EN

PLACE WE RE CE IVE D FROM GR AFEN EC K TH E

SAD NEWS OF TH E SU DDEN DEATH OF OUR

BEL OVED SO N AN D BR OTH ER , OSK AR RI ED

IN TE RMEN T O F TH E U RN WI LL TAK E P LACE

PRIVATELY AT X CEMETERY UPON ITS RECEIPT."

And : "AF TE R WE EKS O F ANX IOUS U NC ER -

TAINT Y WE RE CE IVED THE SHO CKIN G NE WS O N

SEP TE MBE R 18 T HAT OUR BE LOV ED M ARIANN E

DIED OF GRIPPE ON SEPTEMBER I S AT, PIRNA

TH E C REMA TI ON T OOK PLACE T HE RE . N OW

THAT THE UR N HAS BEEN R ECE IVED , THE

BUR IAL WI LL TAK E P LAC E P RI VA TE LY O N H OME

SOIL ."

T h is l a s t n o t i c e i s s i g n e d O c t o be r 5 , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t

t h e a u t h o r i t i es d e l a y e d t h re e w e e k s i n d e l i v e r i n g t h e

a s h e s . Tw e nt y - f ou r s u c h a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , I ' m i n f o rm e d ,

a p p e a re d i n t h e Le i p z i g p a p er s t h e f i r s t f o r t n i g h t o f

l a s t m o n t h .

I a m s t r u c k i n th e s e c o n d f r o m t h e la s t o f t he s e n o -

t i c e s b y t h e e x p r es s i o n :" After the c rem ation had

t a k e n p l a c e , w e r ec e i v e d t h e s a d n e w s o f t h e s u d d e n

d e a t h . . . . " S t r u c k t o o b y t he e x p r e s s i o n u s e d i n t h e

first two : " a f t e r w e e k s o f u n c e r t a i n t y " came " sudden

d e a t h " ; a n d b y t h e u s e o f t h e w o r d s : " u n b e l i e v a b l e

news . "

N o w o n d e r t h a t t o G e r m a n s u s e d t o r e a d i n g b e t w e en

t h e l i ne s o f t h e ir h e a v i l y c e n s o r e d n e w s p a p e r s , t h e s e

n o t ic e s h a v e s o u n d ed h i g h l y s u s p i c io u s . Does sudden

d e a t h c o m e n a t u r a l l y a f t e r "w ee ks o f un c er ta i nt y "?

A n d w h y a r e t h e b o d i es c r e m a t e d f i r s t a n d t h e r e l a t i v e s

t o l d o f t h e d e a t h s l a t e r ? W h y a r e t h e y c r e m a t e d a t a l l ?



1940 B E $ L I N , November 25 57 3

W h y a r e n' t t h e bo d i e s s h i p pe d h o m e , a s i s u s u a l l y d o n e ?

A f e w d a y s a g o I s a w t h e f o r m l et t e r w hi c h t h e f a m -

ilies of the victims receive . I t r ea d s

" W e r e g r e t t o i n f o r m y o u t h a t y o u r , who was

r e c e n t l y t r a n s f e r r e d t o o u r i n s t i t u t i o n b y m i n i s t e r i a l

o r d e r , u n e x p e c t e d l y d i e d o n f A l l o u r m e d -

i c a l e f f o r t s w e r e u n f o r t u n a t e l y w i t h o u t a v a i l .

" I n v iew o f the natu re o f h is s erious, incu rab le ai l -

men t , h is death , wh ich s aved h im from a l i felong inst i tu -

t i o n a l s o j o u r n , i s t o b e re g a r d e d m e r e l y a s a r e l e a s e .

" B e c a u s e o f t h e d a n g e r o f c o n t a g i o n e x i s t i n g h e re ,

w e w e re fo rc e d b y o rd e r o f t h e p o l i c e t o h a v e t h e d e -

c e a s e d c r e m a t e d a t o n c e . "

T h is i s h a r d l y a r e a s s u r i n g le t t e r, e v e n f o r t h e m o s t

g u l l i b le o f G e r m a n s , a n d s o m e o f t h e m , u p o n i t s r e c e i p t ,

h a v e j o u r n e y e d d o w n t o t h e l o n e l y c a s t l e a t G r a f e n e c k ,

i t seems , to make a few inqu ir ies . T h e y h a v e f o u n d t h e

c a s t l e g u a r d e d b y b l a c k - c o a t e d S .S . m e n w h o d e n i e d

t h e m e n t r a n c e . N e w l y p a i nt e d s i g n s o n a l l r oa d s a n d

p a t h s l e a d i n g i n t o t h e d e s o l a t e g r o un d s w a r n e d : "Seu-

cheng fa h r ! " ( " Keep away ! Danger o f Pest i lence ! " )

F r i g ht e n e d p e a s a n t s n e a r b y h a v e t o l d t h e m h o w t h e

S .S . s u d d e n l y t o ok o v e r a n d t h r e w a c o r d o n a r o u n d

the es tate . T h e y t o l d o f s e e i n g t r u c k s t h u n d e r i n g i n t o

t h e c a s t l e g r o u n d s - b u t o n l y a t n i g h t . G r a f e n e c k ,

t h e y s a i d , h a d n e v e r b e e n u s e d a s a h o s p i t a l b e f or e .

O t h e r r e l a t i v e s , I ' m t o l d , h a v e d e m a n d e d d e t a i l s f r o m

t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t a t H a r t h e i m , n e a r Li n z . They ha ve

been told to desis t, and that if they talk, severe punish-

m e n t w i l l b e m e t e d o u t . S o m e o f t h e m o b v i o u s l y h a v e

taken thei r courage in thei r hands to pub l is h these death

n o t i c e s , n o d o u b t h o p i n g t o a t t r a c t p u b l i c a t t e n t i o n t o

t h e m u r d e ro u s b u s i n e s s . T h e G e s t a p o , I h e a r , h a s n o w

f o r b id d e n p u b l ic a t i o n o f s u c h n o t i c e s , j u s t a s H it l e r ,

a f t e r t he h e a v y n a v a l l o s s e s i n N o r w a y , f o r b a d e t he



57419 40 B E R L I N , November 25

relativ es of drowned sai lors to pub lish notices .

X, a German, tol d me yesterd ay that re lativ es are

rushing to get the ir kin out of private asyl ums and out

of the clutches of the authorities. He says the Gestapo

is doing to death perso ns who are merel y suffering tem-

porary derange ment or just plain nerv ous breakdown .

What is still unclear to me is the motiv e for the se

murders . Germans themselv es ad vance three

1. T hat they are being carried out to save food .

2. That they are done for the purp ose of experiment-

ing with new poison gases and death rays .

3. That they are simpl y the res ult of the extreme

Naz is deciding to carr y out their eugenic and socio logi-

c a l i d e a s .

The first motive is ob viously absurd, since the death

of 100 ,000 persons will not sav e much food for a nation

of 8 0,000,000 . Besides, there is no acute food shortage

in Germany . The second motive is possibl e, though I

doubt it. Po ison gases may hav e been used in putting

these unfortunates out of the way, b ut if so, the experi-

mentation was onl y incidental . M any Germans I have

talk ed to think that som e new gas whic h disfigures the

body has b een used, and that this is the reason wh y the

remains of the victims have b een c remated . But I c an

get no real ev idenc e of this .

The thi rd motive seems most likel y to me . For years

a group of radical N azi soc iol ogists who were instru-

mental in putting through the R eich 's steriliz ation laws

have pressed fo r a national policy of eliminating the

mental ly unfi t . T hey say the y hav e disc iples am ong

many sociologists in other lands, and perhap s they have .

Paragraph two of the for m letter sent the relativ es

plainl y bears the s tam p of this soc iological think ing

" In v iew of the nature of his seriou s, incurable ailm ent,

his death, whic h saved him from a l ifelong institutional



1940 BE R L I N, November 27 5

75

soj ourn, is to be regarded merely as a release . "

S o m e s u g ge s t a f o u r t h m o t iv e . T h e y s a y t h e N a z i s

calculate that for every three or four institutional cas es ,

t h e r e m u s t b e o n e h e a l t h y G e r m a n t o l o o k a f t e r t h e m .

T hi s t a k e s s e v e r a l t ho u s a n d g o o d G e r m a n s a w a y f r om

m o r e p r o f i t a b l e e m p l o y m e n t . I f the insane are killed

o f f , i t i s fu r t h e r a rg u e d b y t h e N a z i s , t h e re w i l l b e

plenty of hos pital spac e for the war wounded s hould the

w a r b e p ro l o n g e d a n d la rg e c a s u a l t i e s o c c u r.

It 's a Nazi, mess y bus iness . '

BERLIN, No vember 2 7

F l a n ne r y , t ho u g h he h a s j u s t a r r i v e d , m u s t

leave for Paris . T h e N a z i s p l ed g e u s t o s e c r e c y a b o u t

a b i g s t o ry t h e y c l a i m w i l l b r e a k t h e re n e x t w e e k . I n

radio, we mus t be there beforehand, if poss ible, to make

o u r t ec h n ic a l a rr a ng e me n ts . B u t I s h a l l d e pa r t f r om

t h i s c i t y o n D e c e m b er 5 , a n y w a y . M a n y s t o r ie s a b o u t

i n c re a s i n g s a b o t a g e i n H o ll a n d . Th e G e rm a n s a r e fu r i -

o u s a t t h e n u m b e r o f t h e i r m e n , i n b o t h th e a r m y a n d

p o l i c e , w h o a r e b e i n g s h o v e d i n t o t h e n u m e r o u s D u t c h

c a n a l s o n t h e s e d a r k n i g h t s a n d d r o w n e d . X te lls me a

f u n n y o n e . He s ays the British intelligence in Holland

is working fine . Bo th sides in th is war have bu i l t a num-

b e r o f d u m m y a i r d r o m e s a n d s t r e w n th e m w i t h wo o d e n

planes . X s a y s t h e G e r m a n s r e c e n t l y c o m p l et e d a v e r y

l a r g e o n e n e a r A m s t e r d a m . T h ey l in ed u p m o r e th an

i On Dec emb er 6 , 1940 the Vatican c ondemned the "m ercy kil l-

i n g s ." Responding to the ques tion whether it is illicit for authorities to

o r d e r t h e k i l l i n g o f th o s e w h o , a l t h o u g h t h e y h a v e c o m m i t t e d n o c r i m e

w o r t h y o f d e a t h, n e v e r t h e l e s s a r e c o n s i d e r e d n o l o n g e r u s e f u l t o s o -

c ie ty o r the s ta te because o f ph ys ica l o r men ta l de f ic ienc ies , the S ac red

C o n g r e g a t i o n o f t h e H o l y O f f ic e h e l d t h a t "s u c h k i l l i n g s a r e c o n t r a r y

t o b o t h n a t u r a l a n d d i v i n e l a w. " I t i s d o u b t f ul i f t h e m a s s o f G e r m a n

C a t h o l i c s , e v e n i f t h e y l ea r n e d o f t h i s s t a t e m e n t f r o m R o m e , w h i c h i s

i m p r o b a b l e , u n d e r s t o o d w h a t i t r e f e r r e d t o. O n l y a m i n o r i t y i n G e r -

many k now of the " mercy deaths . "



5 7 6 1940 B E It L I N, December 1

a hundred dummy planes m ade of woo d on the fie ld and

waited for th e Britis h to co me ov er and bom b them .

Next m orning the British did come . They let l oose with

a lot of bombs . The bom bs were made of woo d .

BERLIN, December 1

This being S unday, with no noon broadc ast,

a word or two summing up some things before I leav e .

A year and a half of the bl ockade has pinch ed Ger-

many, but it has neither brought the Ge rman peopl e

to the verge of starvation nor seriously hampered the

Nazi war machine . The people in this country stil l eat

fairly well . The diet is not fancy and Americans could

hardly subsist on it, b ut Germans, whose bodies in the

last century became accu stomed to l arge amounts of po-

tatoes , cabb age, and bread, are still doing pr etty well

- n potatoe s, cabb age, and bread. What they lack

are enough meats, fats, b utter, and fruit . The present

ration of a pound of meat and a q uarter of a pound of

butter or m argarine a week is not so much as they were

used to in peac e-time, b ut it will probabl y keep them

fairly fit for some time to come. The shortage of fruit,

rich in vitam ins, is acute . L ast winter's s evere cold

ruined the German fruit crop. At the moment apples

are the only fruit on the mark et and they are being

reserved for the yo ung, the sick, and pregnant wom en .

Last winter we ne ver saw an or ange or banana, nor hav e

any appeared this winter . In the meantime v itamin

pill s of po or qual ity are being rationed to tr oops and

children . It is true the Ge rman people hav e no coffe e,

t e a , c h o c o l a t e , f r u i t . T hey get one egg a week and too

littl e meat and fat . But the y have al most ev erythin g

else and they are not going to sta rve in any measurabl e

future .



1 9 4 0 BE R L I N,

December 15 7 7

I f i t i s t o b e a l o n g w a r , t h e c l o t h i n g p r o b l e m w i l l

b e c o m e s e r i o us . G e rm a n y m u s t i m p o r t a l l o f i t s c o t t o n

a n d a l m o s t a l l o f i ts w o o l, a n d t h e p r e s e n t s y s t e m o f

clo th ing rat ions is bas ed on the theory that on the who le

t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e m u s t g e t a l o n g w i t h w h a t t h e y n o w

p o s s e s s o n t h ei r b a c k s a n d i n t h e i r c l os e t s u n t il t h e w a r

i s o v e r a n d t h e b l o c k a d e l i f t e d . T h e s h o r t a g e o f t e x -

t i les i s fel t no t on ly by civ i l ians bu t als o in the army,

w h i c h i s h a r d p u t t o i t t o fi n d e n o u g h o v e r c o a t s f o r a l l

i t s t r o o p s t h i s w i n t e r . H i t l e r ha s a l r e a d y h a d t o p u t

h i s L a b o ur S e r v i c e m e n i n t o s t o l e n C z ec h u n i f o r m s .

T h e s o - c a l l e d Organisatio n Todt, c o m p r is i n g s e v e r a l

h u n d r e d t h ou s a n d m e n w h o p e r f o r m t h e j o b s u s u a l l y

d o n e b y o u r a r m y l a b o u r b a tt a l i o ns , h a s n o u n i f or m s a t

all for its men . W h e n I s a w t h e m a t t h e f r o n t l a s t s u m -

m e r , t h e y w e r e w e a r i n g t a t t e r e d c i v i l i a n c l o t h e s . The

G e rm a n s a r e s t r i v i n g d e s p e ra t e l y t o m a k e u p fo r t h e ir

s h o r ta g e o f r a w m a t e r i a ls b y d e v e l o p i ng e r s a t z t e x t i l e s ,

e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e m a d e o f c e l l u l o s e . B u t I d o n ' t t h i nk

y o u c a n c l o t h e e i g h t y m i l l i o n p e o pl e w i t h w o o d p r o d -

u c t s y e t .

A s t o t h e r a w m a t e r i a l s n e c e s s a r y f o r t he p r os e c u t i o n

of the war, the s ituation is this : G e r m a n y h a s p l e n ty o f

i r o n . A n d f r o m Y u g o s l a v i a a n d F r a n c e s h e g e t s e n o ug h

b a u x i t e t o p r o v i d e h e r w i t h a l l t h e a l u m i n u m s h e n e e d s

f o r h e r v a s t a i r c r a f t p r od u c t i o n . T h e re i s a s e r i ou s

s h o r t a g e o f c o p p e r a n d t i n , b u t s h e i s p r o b a b l y g e t t i n g

e n o u g h f ro m th e B a l k a n s a n d R u s s i a t o k e e p h e r o u t o f

d e s p e r a t e s t r a i t s .

As to oil, General Schell, the czar of the oil bus iness ,

sa ys he is no t worried . I f he were, o f course, he wou ldn 't

a d m i t i t . B u t c e r t a i n f a c t s m u s t b e k e p t i n m i n d :

1 . T h e G e r m a n a i r f o r c e i s a b s o l u t e l y i nd e p e n d e n t

o f i m p o r te d s t o c k s o f o i l . A l l G e r m a n a i r p l a n e e n g i n e s

a re d e s i g n e d a n d m a n u fa c t u re d t o o p e ra t e o n s y n t h e t i c



5 7 8 1940 B E R L I N, Decemb er1

gasoline which Germany m anufac tures hers elf from her

own coal . Her prese nt supply of this - ome four mil -

lion tons a year - s m ore than adequate for the needs

of the Luftwaffe . The British co uld endanger this sup-

ply b y bom bing the oil refi nerie s wher e coa l is made

into gaso li ne . This they are try ing to do . They've hit

the great Leuna works near L eipzig and another re-

finery at Stettin . But their attac ks hav e been too weak

to put the refineries out of action or even seriousl y

affect their output .

2 . Germany is now obtaining practicall y the com-

plete output of the R umanian oil fields and, on paper at

least, is getting one mill ion tons a ye ar from R ussia,

though I doubt if the Sov iets have actually del ivered

that much since the war began .

3 . When the war started, Germany had l arge stoc ks

of oil on hand, and she obtained quite a windfall in Nor-

way, Holl and, and Be lgium .

4. Civ ilian consu mption of oil has b een red uced to

almost nothing . N o private cars and p ractic all y no

deliv ery tru cks are all owed to ope rate . An d oi l is pr o-

hibited for heating purpos es .

My guess is that Germany has enou gh oil or wil l get

enough to s atisfy her mil itary requirements for at least

two more years .

As to B ritish air attacks on Germany, their v alue so

far has been princ ipall y psyc hological, bringing the war

home to the weary ci vilian population, wearing their al=

ready f rayed ne rves still thinner an d robb ing them of

s l e e p . The actu al physical damage wrought by b ombs

after six months of night attacks has on the whol e not

been v ery gre at . Its exact extent, of course, we do n ot

know. Probab ly onl y Hitl er, Goring, and the H igh

Command know, and they do not tell . But I think we

h a v e a f a i r i d e a. In gene ral, the damage has b een great-



1940 B E R L I N, Dece mber 1 5 79

est in the Ruhr, where German heav y industry is conce n-

trated . Were th is region to be reall y devastated by air

attacks, Germ any could not continue . t h e w a r . But so

far it ha s re ceived only pi n-pric ks . I'm afraid t he truth

is that German y's actual war production has not yet

been seriously curtailed b y the R AF attac ks. Probabl y

the most serious result in the R uhr has not been the

actual physic al dam age to plant or transportatio n, b ut

something else . Two things : First, mil lions of working

hours h ave been l ost by the workers' b eing forc ed to

spend part of their evenings in shelters . S econd, the

efficienc y of the workers has b een reduc ed by l oss of

sleep

Next to the Ru hr, the Germ an ports of H amburg

and Br emen and the naval bases at W ilhel mshav en and

Kiel have rece ived the severest bomb ing . But they h av e

not yet been put out of b usiness . U ndoubtedly the most

savage British bom bing has been reserved for the Ger -

man-occupied Channel ports . There the RAF has a

short h aul and can car ry bigger b ombs and more of

them . There is littl e left of the doc ks at O stend, Dun-

kirk, Calais, and Bou logne .

Berlin itself has suffer ed c omparativ ely l ittle dam age

from the night raids . I suppos e a stranger ar riving here

for the first time could wal k for hour s through the

business and reside ntial sections without seeing a dam-

aged building . Probab ly not more than five hundred

dwell ings have b een hit and, sinc e the B ritish use smal l

bombs, most of them hav e been repaired a nd reoc cupied

within a month. Most of the British at tacks have b een

on the factories which skirt . Som e of th em of

cours e hav e been hit, but, with the exc eption of two or

thre e smal l plants, none of th em hav e been serio usly

crippled, so far a s we know . T he great Siemens electr i-

cal work s on the northwester n fringe of Be rli n has been



5 80

1940 BERLIN , December 1

h i t , a m a c h i n e s h o p h e r e , a s t o r a g e r oo m t h e r e , d a m a g e d .

B u t i t i s e x t r e m e l y d o u bt f u l i f i t s a r m a m e n t p r o d u c t i o n

h a s b e e n l o w e r e d b y m o r e t h a n f i v e p e r c e n t o n a n y o n e

day . W h e n I d r o v e a r o u n d i t r e c e n t l y , i t s g r e a t m a -

c h i n es w e r e h um m i n g a n d n o d a m a g e a t a l l w a s v i s i b l e

f r o m t h e o u t s i d e .

F o r s o m e r e a s o n t h e B r i t is h h a v e g r e a t l y r e d u c e d

t h e ir a i r a t t a c k s o n B e r l in d u r i n g t h e l a s t s i x w e e k s.

T h is i s a g r e a t m i s t a k e . For when they came ov er

nearly every n igh t , the morale o f th is nerve cen tre wh ich

k e e p s G e r m a n y t o g e t he r s l u m p e d n o t i c e a b l y . T h e G e r -

m a n s , I ' m c o n v i n c e d , s i m p l y c a n n ot t a k e t h e k i n d o f

p o u n d i n g w h i c h t h e L u f t w a f f e i s m e t i n g o u t t o t h e B r i t -

i s h i n L o n d o n . A d m i t t e d l y t he B r i t i s h c a n ' t g i v e i t t o

t h e m , y e t ; b u t t h e y c a n c e r t a i n l y s e n d o v e r a h a n d f u l

o f p lanes f ive o r s ix n igh ts a week to keep the Berl iners

in their cellars . T h e e f f e c t o f t h i s o n m o r a l e w o u l d b e

g r e a t .

Why hasn't there been m ore damage done to Ger-

m a n y b y t h e RA F ? B e c a u s e t h e B r i t i s h h a v e a t t a c k e d

w i t h t o o f ew p l a n e s a n d t h e i r b o m b l o a d s h a v e b e e n t o o

light . N e u t r a l a i r a t t a c h e s d i f f e r i n t h e i r e s t i m a t e s o f

t h e n u m b e r o f B r i t i s h p l a n e s e m p l o y e d i n t h e b o m b i n g

o f B e r l i n , b u t t h e be s t o p i n i on i s t h a t t h e m a x i m u m

n u m b e r o n a n y o n e n i g h t i s t h i r t y p l a n e s , w i t h t h e a v -

e ra g e n u m b e r b e i n g a b o u t fi f t e e n . Th e t o t a l n u m b e r o f

B r i t i s h p l a n e s o v e r G e r m a n y o n a g o o d n i g h t v a r i e s

f r o m s i x t y t o e ig h t y .

T h e B r it i s h b o m b l o a d s a r e t o o l i g ht b e c a u s e t h e

R A F pl a n e s h a v e t o f ly a d i s t a n c e t h a t n ec e s s i t a t e s

m o s t o f t h e l o a d b e i n g m a d e u p o f g a s o l i n e a n d o i l . For

t h e B e r l i n r u n t h e y m u s t m a k e a r o u n d t r i p o f 1 , 10 0

miles . T he Americ an-buil t Fl ying For tress es co uld

c a r r y t h e b i g d e s t r u c t i v e b o m b s t o B e r l i n a n d g e t s a f e l y

b a c k t o E n g l a n d . B u t s o f a r w e h a v e n ' t h e a rd o r s e e n



1 9 4 0 BERLIN, December 1 58 1

a n y o f t h e m . A s i t i s , t h e B r i t i s h f l y e r s - c e r t a i n l y t h e

w o r l d ' s b r a v e s t m e n - h a v e a v e r y n a r r o w m a r g i n of

t i m e t o f i n d t h e i r o b j e c t i v e s i n B e r l i n . P r o b a b l y n o t

m o r e t h a n f i f t e e n m i n u t e s . T h e L u f t w a f f e p e o pl e s a y

t h a t s o m e o f t h e i r p l a n e s n e v e r g e t b a c k , b e i n g f o r c e d

d o w n b y l a c k o f f u e l i n t h e N o r t h S e a .

How m any airplanes has Ger many? I don't know,

I d o u b t i f t w e n t y pe r s o n s i n t h e w o r l d k n o w . B u t I d o

know something ab out German airplane produc tion.

A t t h e m o m e n t i t v a r i e s b e t w e e n 1 , 5 0 0 a n d 1 , 6 0 0 p l a n e s

a month . M axim um Germ an produc tion capac ity is

3 , 0 0 0 pl a n e s a m o n t h . T h a t i s , G o r i n g c o u l d f o r c e p ro -

d u c t i o n u p t o t h a t f i g u r e i f h e h a d a l l t h e s u p p l i e s h e

needed and o rdered al l avai lab le p lan ts to be run at fu ll

c a p a c i t y t w e n t y -f o u r h ou r s a d a y , s e v e n d a y s a w e e k .

I n c i d e n t a l l y, G e r m a n y h a s n o t a d d e d a s q u a r e f o o t o f

a v i a t i o n p l a n t s i n c e t h e w a r b e g a n . At the moment

G o r i n g , M i l c h , a n d U d e t a r e s e a rc h i n g d e s p e ra t e l y fo r

a n e w t y p e o f f i g h t e r p l a n e - o m e t h i n g t h a t w i l l b e

d e f i n i t e ly s u p e r io r t o t h e n e w S p i t f i r e s a n d t h e A i r a c o -

b ra s w h i c h B r i t a i n i s o rd e r i n g f ro m A m e r i c a .

A f t e r a y e a r a n d a h a l f o f a c t u a l t o t a l w a r G e r m a n

m o r a l e i s s t i l l g oo d . L e t u s a d m i t t h e f a c t . There is

n o p op u la r e n t hu s i a s m f o r t h e wa r . T h e r e n e v e r w a s .

A n d a f t e r e i g ht y e a r s o f d e p r i v a t i o n c a u s e d b y N a z i

p r e p a r a t i o n f o r w a r , t h e p e o p l e a r e w e a r y a n d f a t i g u e d .

T h e y c r a v e p e a c e . T h ey a r e d i s a p p o i n t e d , d e p r e s s e d ,

d is i l lu sioned that peace d id no t come th is fal l , as p rom-

i s e d . Y e t a s t h e w a r g o e s i n t o i ts s e c o n d l o n g , d a r k

w i n t e r, p u b l i c m o r a l e i s f a i r l y h i g h . H o w e x p l a i n t h e

c o n t r a d i c t i o n ? K e e p i n m i n d t h re e t h i n g s

F i r s t , t h a t t h e m i l l e nn i u m - o l d l o n g in g o f G e r m a n s f o r

political unification has been fulfilled . H i t l e r a c h i e v e d



5 8 2 1 9 4 0 BERLIN, December 1

i t , w h e r e a l l o t he r s i n t h e p a s t - t h e Ha b s b u r g s , t h e

H o h e nz o l l e r n s , B i s m a r c k - ailed . F e w p e o p l e o ut s i d e

th is coun try real ize how th is un if icat ion has kn i t ted the

G e r m a n n a t i o n t o g e t h e r , g i v e n t h e p e o p le s e l f - c o n f i -

d e n c e a n d a s e n s e o f h i s t o r i c a l m i s s i o n , a n d m a d e th e m

fo rg e t t h e ir p e r s o n a l d i s l i k e o f t h e N a z i r e g i m e , i t s

l e a d e r s , a n d t h e b a r b a r i c t h in g s i t h a s d o n e . A l s o -c o u p l e d w i t h t h e r e b i r t h o f t h e a r m y a n d a i r f o r c e a n d

t h e t o t a l i t a r ia n r e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f i n d u s t r y , t r a d e , a n d

agriculture on a sca le never before realized in this world

- i t m a k e s t h e G e r m a n f e e l s t r o n g . F o r m o s t G e r m a n s

this is an end in itself, for to be s trong in their scheme

o f l i f e i s t o b e a l l. I t i s the emergence o f the p rimit ive,

t r i b a l i ns t i n c t o f t h e e a r ly G e r m a n p a g a n s o f t h e v a s t

f o r e s t s o f t h e N o r t h t o w h o m b r u t e s t r e n g t h wa s n o t

o n l y t h e m e a n s b u t t h e e n d o f l i f e . It is this primitive

racial instinct of " b lood and s o i l " w h i c h th e N a z i s h a v e

r e a w a k e ne d i n t h e G e r m a n s o u l m o r e s u c c e s s f u l l y t h a n

a n y o f t h ei r m o d e r n pr e d e c es s o r s a n d w h i c h h a s s h o w n

t h a t t h e i n f l u en c e o f C h r i s t i a n i t y a n d w e s t e r n c i v i l i z a -

t i o n o n G e r m a n l i f e a n d c u l t u r e w a s o n l y a t h i n v e n e e r .

S e c o n d , m o r a l e i s g o o d b e c a u s e t h e G e r m a n p e op l e

f e e l t h ey h a v e t h i s s u m m e r r e v e n g e d t h e t e r ri b l e d e f e a t

o f 1 91 8 a n d h a v e a c h i e v e d a s t r i n g o f m i l it a r y v i c t o r i e s

which has at las t ensured their place in the s un - o m i -

n a t i o n t o d a y o f E u r o p e , t o m o r r o w p e r h a p s o f t h e w o r l d .

A n d G e r m a n c h a r a c t e r i s s u c h t h a t t h e G e r m a n m u s t

e i t he r d o m i n a te or be d om i n a t ed . H e u n d e r s t a n d s n o

o t h e r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n h um a n b e i n g s o n t h i s e a r t h . The

g o l d e n m e a n o f t h e G re e k s w h i c h t h e We s t e rn w o r l d h a s

a c h i e v e d t o s o m e e x t e n t is a c o n c e p t b e y o nd h i s c o m p r e -

h e n s i o n . M o r eo v e r, t h e gr e a t m a s s o f w or k e r s , p e a s a n t s ,

a n d p e t t y t r a d e s m e n - s well as the big industrialists

- a r e c o n s c i o u s t h a t i f H i t le r s u c c e e d s w i t h h is N e w



19 40 B E $ L I N , December 1 58 3

Order, as they ar e co nfide nt now he will, it will mean

more of the mil k and honey of this world for them . That

it wil l of necessity be obt ained at the expense of othe r

peoples - Czechs , P ol es, Sca ndi nav ia ns, Fren ch

does not bother t he Ge rman in the least . O n this he h as

no moral scruples whatsoe ver.

Third, one of the prim e springs which push the Ger-

man peopl e along in ful l support of a war for which th ey

have no enthusias m, and whic h they would end tom orrow

if they could, is their growing fear of the consequences

of defeat . Sl owly but sure ly they ar e beginning to real-

ize the frightful magnitude of the seeds o f wrath which

their high-booted troo ps and Gestapo men hav e sown

in Europe since the conquest of Austria . They are be-

ginning to see that a victory with the Nazi regim e, how-

ever m uch many of them m ay dislike it, is b etter th an

another German defeat, which this time, if it ev er co mes

about, will make Versailles seem lik e a pe ace of sweet

reason and destro y not only the nation b ut the Germans

as a people . M ore than one German of l ate has co nfided

to me h is f ears . If Germany l oses, they see the emb it-

tered peoples of Europe whom they have b rutally en-

slav ed, whose cities they have ruthlessl y destroye d, whose

women and children, m any of them, in such p laces as

Wars aw, Rott erdam, an d Lo ndon , th ey ha ve cold-

bl oodedly sl ain, storming in angry, revengeful hordes

over their beautiful, orderly land, dynamiting it to de-

struction, and l eaving those who m they do not butcher

to starve and die in an utter wasteland .

No, these people, ground down and cheated though

they may b e by the most unscrupulous gang of rulers

modern Europe h as yet se en, wil l go a l ong, l ong way

in this war . O nly a dawning realization some day that

they can't win c oupled wit h All ied assurances that to



58 4 1940 B E R L I N, December 1

giv e up th e struggle will not mean their destruc tion will

mak e them fal ter before one side or the other is de-

stroyed .

We who have b een so close to this German scene , who

have seen with our own ey es the tramping Naz i boots

over Europe and heard with our own ears H itler's

h y s t e r i c a l t i r a d e s o f h a t e , h a v e f o u n d i t d i f f i c u l t t o k e e p

a sense of historic al perspec tiv e . I suppose the reason s

why Germany has em barked on a car eer of u nbridl ed

conquest do go de eper than the mere fact, al l-important

though it is, that . a smal l b and of u nprinc ipled, tough

gangsters have seiz ed co ntrol of this l and, corrupted its

whole peopl e, and driv en it on its present c ourse . The

roots go deepe r, I admit, though whether the plant

would hav e flowered as it has without H itl er, I seri-

ously doubt.

One root is the strange, contradic tory charac ter of the

German people . It is not cor rect to say, as m any of

,our liberals at home have said, that Nazism is a fo rm of

rule and l ife unnatural to the German people and forced

upon them against their wish b y a few fanatic d erelicts

of the last war. It is true that the Naz i Party nev er

poll ed a majority v ote in Germany in a free elec tion,

though it came v ery c lose . But for the last three or four

years the Nazi regime has expres sed something very

deep in the German nature and in that respec t it has

been representative of the people it rul es . The Germans

as a peop le l ack the bal ance ach ieved, say, by the Greeks,

the R omans, the French, the British, and the Americans .

They are continuall y torn b y inner contradic tions which

make them uncertain, unsatisfied, frustrated, and which

forc e them from one extreme to the other . The Weimar

Republ ic was so extreme in its lib eral dem ocracy that

the Germans couldn' t work it . And now they have



1940 B E R L I N, December 1 585

t u r n e d t o t he e x t r e m e s o f t y r a n n y b e c a u s e d e m o c r a c y

a n d l i b e ra l i s m f o r c e d t h e m t o l i v e a s i n d i v i d u a l s , t o

t h i n k a n d m a k e d e c i s i o n s a s f r e e m e n, a n d i n t h e c h a o s

o f t h e t w e nt i e t h c e n t u r y t h i s w a s t o o m u c h o f a s t r a i n

fo r t h e m . A l m o s t j o y f u l l y , a l m o s t m a s o c h i s t i c a l l y , th e y

h a v e t u r n e d t o a n a u t h o r i ta r i a n i s m w h i c h r e l e a s e s t h e m

f r o m t h e s t r a i n o f i n d i v i d u a l d e c i s i o n a n d c h o i c e a n d

t h o u g h t a n d a l l o w s t h e m w h a t t o a G e r m a n i s a l u x u r y

- e t t i n g s o m e o n e el s e m a k e t h e d e c i s i o n s a n d t a k e t h e

r i s k s , i n r e t u rn fo r wh i c h t h e y g l a d l y g i v e t h e i r o w n

o b e d i e n c e . T h e a v e r a g e G e r m a n c r a v e s s e c u r i t y . He

likes to live in a groove . A n d h e w i l l - g i v e u p h i s i n d e -

p e n d e n c e a n d f r e ed o m - a t l e a s t a t t h i s s t a g e o f h i s

d e v e l o p m e n t - f his rulers provide this .

T h e G e r m a n h a s t w o c h a r a c t e r s . A s a n i n d i v i d u a l h e

wil l g ive h is rat ioned b read to feed the squ irrels in the

T i e r g a r t e n o n a S u n d a y m o r n i n g . H e c a n b e a k i n d a n d

c o n s i d e r a t e p e r s o n . B u t a s a u n it i n t he G e r m a ni c m a s s

h e c a n p e r s e c u t e J e w s , t o r t u r e a n d m u r d e r h i s f e l l o w

m e n i n a c o n c e n t r a ti o n c a m p , m a s s a c r e w o m e n a n d c h i l -

dren by bomb ing and bom bardm ent, overrun wit hout

the slightest j ustification the lands of other peoples, cut

t h e m d o w n i f t h e y p r o t e s t , a n d e n s l a v e t h e m.

I t m u s t a l s o b e n o t e d d o w n t h a t Hi t l er ' s f r e n zy f o r

b l o o d y c o nq u e s t i s b y n o m e a n s e x c l u s i v e t o h i m i n G e r -

many. T h e u r g e t o ex p a n s i o n , t h e h u n g e r f o r l a n d a n d

s p a c e , f o r w h a t t h e G e rm a n s c a l l Leben sr aum, h a s l a i n

long in the s oul of the people . S o m e o f G e r m a n y ' s b e s t

m i n d s h a v e e x p r e s s e d i t i n t h e i r w ri t i n gs . F i c h t e , H e -

g e l , N i e t z s c h e , a n d T r e i t s c h k e f i r e d t he G e r m a n p e o p l e

w i t h i t i n t h e l a s t c e n t u r y . B u t o u r c e n t u r y h a s n o t

l a c k e d f o r s u c c e s s o r s , t h o u g h t h e y a r e l it t l e k n ow n o u t -

s i d e t h i s c o u n t ry . Karl Haushofer has poured book s

f ro m t h e pre s s e s d i n n i n g i n t o t h e e a r s o f t h e G e rm a n s

the maxim that if their nation is to be great and las ting,



5 8 6 1940 B E E L I N, December 1

i t m u s t h a v e m o r e Lebensraum . B o o k s o f h is s u c h a s

Macht and Erde ( Power and Earth) and Weltpolitik

von Heu te (World Politics of Today) h a v e p r o f ou n d l y

i n f l u e n c e d n o t on l y t h e N a z i l e a d e r s b u t a g re a t m a s s

o f p e o p l e . S o has Hans Grimm 's Vo l k oh ne Raum

(People without S pace), a n o v e l w h i c h ha s s o l d n e a r ly

a h a l f - m i l l i o n c o pi e s i n t h i s c o u n t r y d e s p i t e i t s l e n g t h

o f s o m e t ho u s a n d p a ge s . A n d s o h a s M o e l le r v a n d e n

B r u c k ' s The T hird R eich, w r i t t e n e l e v e n y e a r s b e f o r e

H i t l e r fo u n d e d t h e Th i rd R e i c h .

A l l t h e s e w r i t i ng s e m p ha s i z e d t h a t G e r m a n y w a s e n -

t i t l e d b y t h e la w s o f h i s t o r y a n d n a t u r e t o a s p a c e m o r e

a d e q u a t e t o i t s m i s s i o n i n l i f e . T h a t t hi s s p a c e w o u l d

h a v e t o b e t a k e n f r om o t h e r s , m o s t l y f r om S l a v s w h o

h a d s e t t l e d o n i t w h e n t h e G e r m a n s t h e m s e l v e s w e r e

l i t t l e m o re t h a n ro u gh t r i b e s m e n , m a d e n o d i f f e r e n c e .

I t i s t h i s b a s i c f e e li n g i n a l m o s t a l l G e r m a n s t h a t t h e

" l e s s e r b r ee d " o f E u r o p e a n s a r e n o t e n t i t l e d t o a b s o -

lute rights of their own, to a piece of land to till and live

o n , t o t h e v e r y t o w n s a n d c i t i e s t h e y h a v e b u i l t u p w i t h

t h e i r o wn s w e a t a n d t o i l , i f a G e r m a n c o v e t s t h e m , w h i c h

is in part res ponsib le fo r the presen t s tate o f Europe .

I t i s the ev i l gen ius o f Ado lf Hi t ler that has a roused

this bas ic feeling and given it tangible express ion . I t i s

d u e t o t h i s r e m a r k a b l e a n d t e r r i f y i n g m a n a l o n e t h a t

t h e G e r m a n d r e a m n o w s t a n d s s u c h a f a i r c h a n c e o f

c o m i n g t r u e . F i r s t G e r m a n s a n d t h e n th e w o r ld g r o s s l y

u n d e r e s t i m a t e d h i m . I t was a n appal l ing error, as f i rst

t h e G e r m a n s a n d n o w t h e w o r l d a r e f i n d i n g o u t . T o d a y ,

s o f a r a s t h e v a s t m a j o r i t y of h i s f e l l o w c o un t r y m e n a r e

c o n c e r n e d , h e h a s r e a c h e d a p i n n a c l e n e v e r b e f o r e

achieved b y a Ger man ruler . He has become -ev en

b e f o r e hi s d e a t h- m y t h , a l e g e n d , a l m o s t a g o d , w i t h

t h a t q u a l i t y o f d i v i n i t y w h i c h t h e J a p a n es e p e o p l e



1940B E R L I I d , December 1 58?

ascr ibe to their Em peror. To m any Germans he is a

figure r emote, unreal, hardly human . For them he has

become infallibl e . They say, as m any peoples down

through history have said of their respective g ods

" He is al ways right ."

Notwithstanding many reports to the contrar y which

float abroad, he is the sole and absol ute boss of Ger many

today, b rooking no interferenc e from anyoneand

rarely asking and al most nev er hee ding suggestio ns

from his intim idated lieutenants. The m en around him

a r e a l l l o y a l , a l l a f r a i d , a n d n o n e o f t h e m a r e h i s f r i e n d s.

He has no friends, and sin ce the murder of Rohm in the

1934 purge there has not been a singl e one of his foll ow-

ers who addre ssed him with the famil iarDu Goring,

Goebb els, Hess, and all the others ad dress him in only

one way : "Mein Fi hrer ."

He l eads a lonely, close ly

guarded life, and since the beginning of the war his

very whe reabouts are c arefully k ept fro m the publ ic

and the outs ide world by Himmler .

Nowadays he rarely dines with his chief aides, pre-

ferring the easier com pany of his party cronies of the

early " fighting "days, men lik e Wilhel m Bruckner, his

adjutant, Hess, his first private secretary -the o nl y

man in the world he full y trust s - nd Max Am ann ,

his top sergeant during the Wor ld War, whom he has

made czar of the highly remuner ative N azi publishing

house, the Eher Verl ag . 1 The really b ig shots in the

Nazi world, Gorin g, Goebb els, Ri bbentro p, Ley, and the

heads of the arm ed services, see Hitler either at app

ments during the day, or after dinner in the evening,

when he often invites them to see a priv ate showing of a

f i l m . Hitler has a pass ion for mov ies -including the

1 Amann is al so president of the Reich Press Chamb er, in which

capacity he rules the newspapers of Germany. Through the Eher

Verl ag and subsidiary holding co mpanies, Amann has also gained

financial control of most of the large newspapers in the country.



5 8 8 1940 B E R L I N, Decemb er 1

p r o d u c t s o f H o l l y wo o d . ( Tw o o f h is f a v o u r i t e s w e r e

It Happened O ne N ight and Gone with the Wind . )

H e r m a n n G o r i n g i s v e r y d e f i n i t el y t h e N u m b e r T w o

m a n i n G e r m a n y a n d t h e o n l y N a z i w h o c o u l d c a r r y o n

t h e p r e s e n t r e g i m e w e r e Hi t l e r t o p a s s o n. T h e f a t ,

b e m e d a l l e d R ei c h s m a r s c h a l l e n j o y s a p o p u l a r i t y a m o n g

t h e m a s s e s s e c o n d o n ly t o Hi t l e r' s - b u t f o r o p p o s i t e

r e a s o n s . W h e r e H i tl e r i s d i s t a n t , l e g e nd a r y , n e b u l o u s ,

a n e n i g m a a s a h u m a n b e i n g , G o r in g i s a s a l t y , e a r t hy ,

l u s t y m a n o f f l e s h a n d b l o o d . T h e G e r m a n s l i k e h i m b e -

c a u s e t h e y u n d e r s t a n d h i m . H e h a s t h e f a u l t s a n d v i r -

t u e s o f t h e a v e r a g e m a n , a n d t h e p e o p l e a d m i r e h i m f o r

b o t h . H e h a s a c h i l d ' s l o v e f o r u n i fo r m s a n d m e d a l s .

S o h a v e t h e y . H e h a s a p a s s i o n f or g o o d f o o d a n d d r i n k

i n G a r ga n t u a n q u a n t i ti e s . T h e y t o o . H e l o v e s d i s p l a y

- a l a c e s , m a r b l e h a l ls , g r e a t b a n q u e t in g r o o m s , g a y

c o s t u m e s , s e r v a n t s i n l iv e r y . T h e y l o v e t h e m t o o . And

des p i te the effo rts o f G oebbels to s t i r up popu lar cr i t i -

c i s m o f h i s r i v a l , t h e y d i s p l a y n o e n v y , n o r e s e n t m e n t

o f t h e f a nt a s t i c , m e d i a e v a l - nd very expens iv e -personal l i fe he leads . I t is the s ort of life they would

l e a d t h e m s e l v e s , p e r h a p s , i f t h e y h a d t h e c h a nc e .

N o o t h e r h e n c h m a n o f H i t l e r h a s t h e p o p u la r i f ; or

t h e s t r e n g t h o r t h e a b i l i t y t o k e e p t h e N a z i r e g i m e ! ' n

power .

H i t l e r a l w a y s h o p e d t h a t h i s p r o t e g e H es s m i g h t k s

h i s s u c c e s s o r a n d i n h is w i ll h a s n a m e d h im t o t a k e o v e

a f t e r G o r i n g . B u t H e s s l a c k s t h e s t r e n gt h , t h e a m b i

t i o n , t h e d r i v i n g f o r c e a n d i m a g i n a t i o n f o r t h e j o b o

top man . G o e b b e l s , w h o u s e d t o b e N u m b e r T hr e e , h a s

l o s t g r o u n d s i n c e t h e w a r , p a r t l y b ec a u s e h e h a s b e e n

s wep t aside by the mil i tary and the secret po l ice, part ly

b e c a u s e h e h a s b u n gl e d h i s p r o p a g a nd a j o b a t c r u c i a l

m o m e n t s , a s w h e n h e o r d e r e d t h e p r e s s a n d r a d i o t o



1 9 4 0 B E R L I N ,D e c e m b e r 1 5 8 '

c e l e b r a t e t h e v i c t o r y o f t h e G r a f S p e e t h e d a y b e f o r e

it was s cuttled .

G o e b b e l s ' s p l a c e a s t h e t h i r d m a n i n G e r m a n y ha s

b e e n t a k e n b y H e i n r i c h H i m m l e r , t h e m i l d - m a n n e r e d

l i t t l e f el l o w w h o l oo k s l i k e a h a r m l e s s c o u n t r y s c h o o l -

t e a c h e r , b ut w h o s e r u t h l e s s n e s s , b r u t a l i ty , a n d o r g a n -

i z i n g t a l e n t s h a v e l a n d e d h i m i n a k e y p o s i t i o n i n t h e

Thi rd R eich . H e ' s i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e h e h a s w h i p pe d

t h e G e s t a p o i n t o a n o r g a n i z a t i o n w h i c h n o w w a t c h e s

o v e r a l m o s t e v e r y d e p a r t m e n t o f l i f e i n t h e c o u n t r y a n d

w h i c h k e e p s fo r H i t l e r a n d t h e p o l i ti c i a n s a w a t c h fu l

e y e o n t h e a r m y i t s e l f . H i m m l e r , a l o n e a m o n g H i t l e r ' s

lieutenants, has power of life and death over all citizens

o f G e r m a n y a n d t h e o c c u p i e d l a n d s , a n d i t i s a r a r e d a y

w h e n h e d o e s n o t t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f i t . Th e e v i d e n c e y o u

f i n d b u r i e d d a i l y i n t h e b a c k p a g e s o f t h e n e w s p a p e r s

in the l i t t le no t ices wh ich read : " S .S. C h i e f H i m m l e r

a n n o u n c e s t h a t H a n s S c h m i d t , a G e r m a n ( o r L a d i s l a v

K o t o w s k i , a P o l e ) , h a s b e e n s h o t w h i l e o ff e r i n g re s i s t -

ance to the po l ice . "

There are two other "b ig m en" around H itl er,

J o a c h i m v o n R i b b e n t r o p a n d D r . Ro b e rt Le y . R i b b e n -

t r o p , a v a i n a n d p o m p o u s m a n , t h o r o u g h l y d i s l i k e d i n

t h e p a r t y a n d b y t h e p u b l i c , i s s t i l l in favour wi th the

F i i h re r b e c a u s e h e g u e s s e d r i g h t a b o u t E n gl a n d a n d

F r a n c e ( G o r i ng g u e s s e d w r o n g a nd a s a r e s u l t s u f f e re d

a tem porar y eclipse) at Munich . T h e f a c t t h a t h e

guessed wrong in Septem ber 193 9, when he assured

H i t le r t h e B r i t i s h w o u l d n ' t f i g h t , h a s n o t a f f e c t e d , f o r

s o m e r e a s o n , h i s s t a n d i n g a t t h e Ch a n c e l l e r y. H i t l e r

r e c e n t l y h a s t a k e n t o c a l l i n g h i m a " s e c o n d B i s m a r c k , "

t h o u gh m e n l i k e G o r i n g, w h o d e s p i s e s h i m , c a n ' t u n d e r -

s t a n d w h y .

Dr . R o b e r t Le y i s b o s s o f t h e N a z i p a r t y m a c h i n e a n d



69 0 1 9 4 0 BERLIN,

Decemb er 1

of German Labour, a tough, brawling, hard-drink-

ing, ab le administrator, fanatic all y loyal to his c hief .

Th ese men - oring, Himml er, Hess , Ribb entrop,

and L ey - omprise the " Big Five " around Hitl er .

They are call ed in for cons ultation . All but Goring

give their advice very car efully and with some tim idity.

In ev ery case the dec ision is al ways Hitler's .

There are lesser men in the hie rarchy, some Nazi

chiefs wh o have b een given big job s, some m en who ho ld

their posts because H itl er thinks t hey are c ompetent

technicians . The m ost important ar e:

Walther Darre,

an ab le and enterprising Minister of Agric ulture, Bern-

hard Rust, who as Mi nister of Education has revol u-

tionized and degraded the scho ols of Germany, Wilhel m

Prick, a l ifelong civi l serv ant who owes his p resent po-

sition as Min ister of I nterior to his betrayal of the

Bavarian government, of which he was a pe

offic ial, Dr . Walther Funk , who ousted Dr . Schacht to

become president of the R eichsbank and Minister of

Eco nomi cs, an d D r . Todt, a b rilliant and imaginat ive

engineer who built Hitler's great network of super-

highways and the fortifications of the Westwall .

Alfred Rosenberg, Hitler's m entor in early party

days and formerl y one of the ch ief men i n the party,

has entirely l ost out and today has no importance in the

party or the country . He was too much of a dreamer

to be practical, and in the jungle struggl e with the

more ruthless men who make up the Nazi firmam ent he

failed miser abl y . S ince the Naz i all iance with Mosc ow

in August 193 9, which he al one opposed, he has b een

littl e heard of . To assuage his feelings Hitler has given

him a magnificent title : Beau f tragter des Fiihrers zur

Uberwachung der Nationalsozialistischen B

(Com missioner of the Leader for the Superv ision of the



1940 B E R L I N ,December 1

5 9 1

National Socialist Movement) . He has also m anaged

to hold on as editor of Hitler's dail y newspaper, Vol-

kische Beobachter , though he has littl e to say about its

policy

Jul ius Streicher, once a sinister power in the c ountry,

the man who terro rized his Gam of Franconia with a

horsewh ip, has al so, as prev iously noted, passed out

of the picture because he couldn' t keep his finan ces

straight .

If Hitler m akes the pol itical decisions , b e it noted

that he also call s the tune in the army . Gener al v on

Brauchitsch, the abl e but not b rill iant co mmander-in-

chief of the army, occasionall y speaks up, though not

often . Keite l is l ittle m ore th an liaison man b etween

Hitl er and the General S taff . Gene ral H alder, c hief

of *the Gene ral S taff, is pro bab ly the m ost brainy man

in the army, b ut is all owed no c redit by Hitler, who en-

cour ages talk that he h imself personall y direc ts both the

tactics and the strategy of the great c ampaigns . Gen-

eral v on Reiche nau has told m e personall y that this is

true, b ut I doubt it . O n the other hand H itler no doub t

makes the major dec isions o f where th e next bl ow will

fall and whe n . O ne of h is c hief mil itary advisers, v ery

powerful in the army - though completely unknown,

to the Ge rman publ ic - s General Alfred Jodl, chief

of H itler's own m ilitary staff .

There is one f inal q uesti on to be . tackl ed in the se

rambling conc lusions:

does H itler contempl ate war with

the U nited States ? I have argued this question many

hours with many Germ ans and not a few Am eric ans here

and have pondered it long and care full y . I am firml y

convinced that he does c ontempl ate it and that if he

wins in Europe and Af rica he wil l in the end l aunch it



692

1940 BE R

L I N, Dece mber 1

unl ess we are prepared to giv e up our way of life and

adapt ours elv es to a subservient pl ace in his to talitarian

scheme of things .

For to H itler there will not be room in this small

world for two gr eat syste ms of life, gov ernment, and

trade .' For this reason I think he al so will attack R us-

sia, probab ly b efor e he tackles the Americ as .

It is not only a q uestion of c onfl ict between the to-

talitarian and dem ocratic ways of life, b ut also b etween

Pan-German imperial ism, whose aim is world domina-

tion, and the fundamental urge of most of the othe r

nations on the earth to liv e as they please-that is,

free and independent .

And just as Hitl er's Germany can never domi nate

the continent of Europe as long as Britain holds out,

neithe r can it master the wor ld as l ong as the U nited

States stands unafraid in its path . It is a long-term,

fundamental confli ct of dynamic forc es . The clash is as

inevitab le as that of two planets h urtling inexor abl y

through the heav ens towards each other .

As a matter of fac t, it m ay co me sooner than alm ost

all Americans at home imagine . An officer of the High

Command somewhat sho cked me the other day while

we were disc ussing the matter . He said : " You think

Roosevel t can pick the moment m ost advantageous to

America and Britain for coming into the war . Did you

ever stop to th ink that Hit ler, a m aster at timing, may

choose the mom ent for war with America - a m om ent

which he thinks will give him the advantage? "

I must admit I nev er did .

As far as I can learn, Hitler and the High Comm and

1 He publicly adm itted it in a speech on D ecember 10, 1940 .

Contrasting the totalitarian and democratic worlds, he said : " We can

never b e reconc iled with this world. . .

One of these worlds must

break asunder . . . : These are two worlds, and I believ e one of these

worlds must crack up ."



1940 B E E L I N , Decemb er 1 5 93

do not conte mpl ate any suc h mov e within the next few

months . They still hold that they can bring Britain to

her knees before American aid becomes real ly effective

They talk now of winning th e war by the middle of next

summer, at the l atest . But there are a few in high

pl aces who argue that if H itl er actuall y declares war

(he hasn't declared any wars yet) against America, he

can reap dec ided adv antages . F i r s t , i t w o u l d b e t h e s i g -

nal for widespread s abotage b y thousands of Naz i

agents from coast to coast, which would not onl y de-

moraliz e the U nited States but greatly reduc e its ship-

ments to B ritain . Second, in case of an actual declara-

tion of war, they argue, our army and especially our

navy, al armed at what Japan might do (acc ording to

the tripartite pac t it woul d hav e to go to war against

us), would hold al l war supplies at home, supplies that

otherwise would go to Britain . Third, they believe that

there would b e a great increase in American internal

strife , with the isolationists b lam ing R oosevelt for the

state of things, as they bl amed him for the Three-P ower

pact . The third po int obv iously is false thinking, as a

war declaration by Germ any would destroy American

isol ationist sentim ent in A meri ca in ten sec onds .

The L indberghs and their friends laugh at the idea

of Ger many ev er being abl e to attac k the U nited State s .

The Germans welcome. their laughter and hope more

Americans will laugh, just as they encou raged the Br it-

ish friends o f the Lindb erghs to laugh off the very idea

that Germany woul d ever turn on Britain .

How would Germany ever attack the U nited States?

I have no authoritative information of German m ilitary

plans . But I h ave heard Ger mans suggest the foll owing

p o s s i b i li t i es

If they got all or part of the B ritish nav y or have

tim e to buil d in Europe 's shipyards (whose total capac-



59. E

ity is far beyond our s) a fairl y strong navy, they would

attem pt to destroy in the A tl antic that part of our

fleet which was not engaging the J apanese in the Pa-

cific . This done, they could m ove an arm y and air forc e

in stages across the North Atlan tic, b asing first on Ic e-

land, then Gre enland, then L abrador, then Newfound-

land and thence do wn the Atlantic seab oard . As the

bases were mov ed westwar d, the air arm ada would pene-

trate farther, first towards and then into the United

States . This sounds fantastic , perhaps, but at the pres-

ent tim e we hav e no great air force to oppos e such a

move

Most Germans talk more convincingly of a mov e

across the South Atl antic . They assume that Germany

w i l l hav e the Frenc h port of Dakar from which to jump

off for South America . They assume too that the main

United States fleet will be engaged in the P acif ic . From

Dakar to Brazil is a m uch sh orter distanc e than from

Hampton Roads to Br azil . A German nav al force'

based on the A frican port c ould feasib ly operate in

Brazilian waters, b ut these water s are alm ost too far

for an American fleet to be effective in . T ranspo rts

could get there from Dakar b efore transports f rom

America arriv ed . Fifth-colum n action by the hundreds

of thousands of German s in Brazil an d Argentina would

paral yse any defence which those c ountries m ight try

to put up . S outh Americ a could thus, think these Ger -

mans, b e taken fair ly easily . And once in South Amer-

ica, they argu e, the b attle is won .

BERLIN, Decemb er 2

Only three more days !

1940 B E It L i N, Decemb er 2



1940 BERLIN, December 4595

BERLIN, December 3

A r o u n d o f f a r e w e l l p a r t ie s w h i c h I w o u l d

j u s t a s s o o n a v o i d , b u t c a n ' t . A n a m u s i n g i nc i d e n t a t

o n e o f t h e m w h e n a F o r e i g n O f f i c e o f f i c i a l , m o r e d e c e n t

t h a n m o s t , g o t r a t h e r i n h i s c u p s a n d s a i d h e h a d l o n g

w a n t e d t o s h o w m e s o m e t h i n g . W h e r e u p o n h e t o o k o u t

a c a r d s h o w i n g he w a s a m e m b e r o f th e s e c r e t p o l i c e!

I m u s t s a y I h a d n ' t s u s p e c t e d h i m , th o u gh I k n e w s o m e

o f h i s c o l l e a g u es w e r e m e m b e r s .

Th e Fo re i g n O f f i c e s t i l l h o l d i n g u p m y p a s s p o r t a n d

ex i t v isa, wh ich worries me. D i d m y l a s t b r o a d c a s t f r o m

B e r l i n t o n i g h t a n d f e a r I s w a l l o w e d a c o u p l e o f t i m e s.

B e f o r e I w e n t o n t h e a i r F l a n n e r y c a l l e d f r o m P a r i s .

H e w a s q u i t e e x c i t e d a b o u t a b i g s t o r y h e s a i d w o u l d

b r e a k d a y a f t e r t o m o rr o w t h er e . H e e v i d e n t l y h a d a

G e r m a n o f f i c i a l a t h i s b a c k , f o r I c o u l d n o t g e t o u t o f

h i m a h i n t a s t o w h a t w a s u p . Th e ru m o u r h e re i s t h a t

H i tl e r i s t o o f f e r Fr a n c e s o m e s o r t o f a s e m i - p er m a n e n t

p e a c e s e t t l em e n t , i n s t a l l L a v a l i n p o w e r i n Vi c h y , m a k -

i n g P e t a i n a m e r e f i g u r e h e a d , i n r e t u r n f o r F r a n c e ' s

j o i n in g the A x i s a n d e n te r in g t h e fight a g a in s t B r i t a i n .

BERLIN, December 4

G o t m y pa s s p o r t a n d o f f i c i a l p e r m i s s i o n t o

l e a v e . N othing to do now but pack . W a l l y [ D e u e l ] ,

w h o is a s a n x i o u s t o g et a w a y a s I a m , l e f t t od a y. He

w a s t o g o b y p l a n e , b u t t he w e a t h e r w a s b a d a n d t h e

G e r m a n s , w h o ' v e l o s t t h r e e b ig p a s s e n g e r pl a n e s i n t h e

l a s t t h r e e w e ek s - a g o o d f r i e n d o f m i n e w a s k i l l e d o n

o n e o f t h e m - e n t h i m a s f a r a s S t u t t g a r t b y t r a i n.

H o p e I h a v e b e t t e r l u c k . I m u s t l e a v e a l l m y b o o ks a n d

m o s t o f m y c l o t he s h e r e, a s b a g g a g e a c c o m m od a t i o n o n



5 96 1940 BERLI N-STUTTGART,Dece mber 5

the p lane is l imi ted . Ed Murrow promises to meet me

a t L i s b o n . M y l a s t n i g h t i n a b l a c k - o ut . A f t e r t o n i g h t

the lights . . . and civ i l izat ion !

IN A P LANE, BER LIN -STUTTG ART, December 5

I t w a s s t i l l d a r k a n d a b l i z z a r d w a s b l o w i n g

w h e n I l e f t t h e A d l o n f o r t h e a i r p o r t a t Te m p e l h o f t h i s

morning . T h e r e w a s s o m e q u e s t i o n w h et h e r w e w o ul d

take off, but at nine thirty a .m , a f e w m i n u t e s a g o , w e

finally did . I don't like this weather to fly in . . . .

DRE SD EN AIR PORT . LATER -We'v e just

h a d a r a t h e r c l o s e c a l l . W e w e r e a b o u t t w o t h i rd s o f

t h e w a y t o S t u t t g a r t w h e n o u r b i g J u n k e r s t h i r t y - t w o -

p a s s e n g e r pl a n e s u d d e n l y b e g a n t o ic e u p . Through

t h e w i n d o w I c o u l d s e e i c e f o r m i n g o n t h e w i n g a n d t h e

t w o s t a rb o a rd m o t o r s . T h e s t e w a r d e s s , t h o u g h s h e t r i ed

t o h i d e i t b r a v e l y , g o t f r i g h te n e d , a n d w h e n a s t e w a r d -

e s s o n a p l a n e ge t s f r i g h t en e d , s o d o I . P e r s p i r a ti o n

b e g a n t o p o u r d o w n t h e f o r e h e a d o f a L u f t h a n s a o f f i c i a l

s i t t i ng o p p o s i t e m e . H e l o o k e d v e r y w o r r i ed . Clumps

o f i c e b r e a k i n g o f f f ro m t h e m o t o r s h u r l e d a g a i n s t t h e

s i d e o f t h e c a b i n w i t h a t e r r i fyi n g c r a c k . T h e p i l o t ,

h a rd l y a b l e t o c o n t ro l t h e p l a n e , t r i e d t o c l i m b , b u t

t h e i c e w a s t o o h e a v y . F i n a l l y h e t u r n e d b a c k a n d

d i v e d a n d s l i p p e d f ro m 2 , 5 0 0 m e t r e s t o 1 , 0 0 0 m e t r e s

( r o u g h l y , f r o m 8 , 2 0 0 t o 3 , 2 0 0 f e e t ) .

" C a n ' t g o l o w e r o r w e ' l l h i t a m o u n t a i n , " t h e L u f t -

h a n s a m a n e x p l a i n e d t o m e .

" S o , s o . . ." I s a i d .

" C a n ' t u s e t h e r a d i o b e c a u s e t h e b l iz z a r d b l o t s i t

o u t , " h e c o n t i n u e d .

" P e r h a ps w e c o u ld l a n d s o m e p la c e , " I s u g g es t e d .



1940 STU TTG ART-BA RC EL ONA, Dec . 6 5 9 7

" Not around here," he said. " Ground visibil ity is

zero ."

" So, so . . ." I said

The pl ane tossed and dipped . Pr etty soon, b y the

dial, I s aw we were dropping bel ow 1,000 metres . The

weight of the ice was getting too mu . The next fifteen

minutes were an age. And then out of the mist and snow

we div ed towards a road . It was a two-lane Autobahn .

We flew al ong fift y feet above it, b ut sometimes when

we hit a flurry of snow or a fog spot , the pil ot, m omen-

tarily b li nded, zoom ed up, afraid of grazing the trees or

a h i l l . And then at e lev en thirty we were skimm ing into

an airport . I t turned out to be Dresden, which is as

far from S tuttgart as Ber lin, if not farther. It was

nice to feel one's feet on the ground. The two pilots,

when they st epped ou t of their c abin, look ed very shaky .

Over lunch here I overheard one tel lin g the airport

superintendent that h e had had to fight lik e hell to keep

his machine in the air . Weird : we had no m ore stepped

into the l unchroom here than the noon news b roadc ast

was switched on and the first item of news tol d of an

American pl ane crac ki ng up near the Chicago airport

with several fatal casualties . It's just an unlucky day,

I guess .

IN A PLAN E, STU TT GART -LYO N-M ARS FTT -LE-BAR-

CELONA, December 6

A slight Katzenjamm er . . . last night the

excitement at l eaving Germany, the c lose shave i nthe

plane, the nic e b ars in Stuttgart . . . . Hall et Johnson,

counsell or of our Legation in Stockholm , shows up in

the p lane . He s ays I 'v e been sl eeping for an hour -ever since we left Stuttgart - n d t h a t th i s i s h i s f i r s t



5 98 1940 STUTTGART-BARCELONA,Dec

. 6

f l i g h t a n d t h a t w e ' v e b e e n f l y i n g b l i n d t h r o u g h t h e

c l o u d s a n d . . . W e r e f u e l a t L y o n . T h e G e r m a n a i r

force is in control of the field, though this is in unoccu-

p i e d F r a n c e . On one sid e of the field -a large number of

d i s m a n t l e d F r e n c h w a r pl a n e s p i l e d u p ; o n t h e o t h e r

s i d e a h u n d r e d F r e n c h p l a n e s l i n e d u p , i n p e r f e c t c o n -

dition - o m e o f t h o s e p l a n e s t h e F r e n c h n e v e r u s e d

t o f i g h t w i t h . . . . A G e r m a n F o r e i g n O f f i c e o f f i c i a l

w i t h t he f a c e o f a c r o w l o o k s a t t h e j u n k e d p l a ne s a n d

s n e e r s : " La Bell e France !And how we've destroyed

he r ! F o r t h re e h u n d re d y ea r s , a t l e a s t! " . . . Near-

i n g B a r c e lo n a w e s k i r t t h e c o a s t , a n d s u d d e n l y o ff t h e

s tarboard sid e I s ee our little Spanish v illage, Lloret de

M a r , t h e h o u s e s w h i te i n t h e a f t e r no o n s u n a g a i n s t t h e

green hills . A l o n g t i m e . . . .

LATER . BARCEL ONA - a s c i s m h a s b r o u gh t

c h a o s a n d s t a r v a t i o n h er e . T h i s i s n o t t h e h a pp y , c a r e -

f r e e B a r c e l o n a I u s e d t o k n o w . O n t h e P a s e o , o n th e

R a m b l a s , o n t h e P l a z a d e C a t a l u n a , g a u n t , h u n g r y , b i t -

t e r f a c e s m o v i n g s i l e n t l y a b o u t . A t t h e R i t z H o t e l ,

w h i c h w e r e a c h o n a r i c k e t y f a r m w a g o n f r o m t h e a i r

s t a t i o n , b ec a u s e t h e r e i s n o o i l f o r c a r s , I r u n i n to a

c o u p l e o f f r i e n d s .

" G o d , w h a t h a s h a p p e n e d h e r e ? " I a s k . " I know

t h e c i v i l w a r l e ft t h in g s i n b a d s h a p e . B u t t h i s . . . "

" T h e r e i s n o f o o d , " t h e y r e p l y . " T h e r e i s n o o r -

g a ni z a ti on . T h e j a i l s a r e j a m m e d a n d o v e r f l o w in g . I f

w e t o l d y o u a b o u t t h e f i l t h , t h e o v e r c r o w d i n g , t h e l a c k

o f f o o d i n t h e m , y o u w o u l d n o t b e l i e v e u s . B u t n o o n e

r e a l l y e a ts a n y m o r e . W e m e r e l y k e e p a l i v e . "

A t t h e a i r p o r t t h e S p a n i s h o f f i c i a l s k e e p u s c o o p e d

u p i n a t i n y ro o m a l l a f t e rn o o n , t h o u g h w e a re o n l y a

f e w . T h e y , t o o, s e e m p a r a l y s e d - ncapable of the leas t

b i t o f o rg a n i z i n g . T h e c h i e f o f f i c e r o f p o l i c e h a s n o t



1940E

S To

B I L,December 7 5 99

washed his hands for a week . His m ain preoccu pation

is our money . We count o ver and over for him our silv er,

our pape r m oney, our travel cheques . Finally, as dark-

n e s s f a l l s , h e l e t s u s g o .

Wall y comes in on a Germ an plane from S tuttgart

about an hour after we have arriv ed. He has a tale to

tell of leaving Ger many . His plane had not gone from

Berlin to Stuttgart and he had made the journey by

train, thus losing a day. That m ade his exit visa run

out before he c ould l eav e German soil. No official in

Stuttgart at first would take the respon ity of is su-

ing a new one . He must return to Berlin for that. To

return to Berlin m eant that he would hav e to begin all

over again - ait for a new exit visa, wait for new

visas for Spain and P ortugal , wait m onths for a place

in the plane fro m Berlin to L isbon and more months

for a place on the plane or boat from Lisb on to Americ a .

He saw his return to America postponed indefinitel y,

perhaps until the end of the war. At the last m inute the

secret police finally al lowed him to depart .

ESTO RU, , NEAR LISB ON, December 7

Lisbon and l ight and fre edom and sanity at

l a s t !We flew from Barcelona to M adrid against a hun-

dred-kil ometre-an-hour gale . The pilot of the slow old

Junk ers-5 2 thought for a while he would have to turn

back b ecause o f lack of fue l, but he finally m ade it . We

bumped the whole way over the mountains, m ost of

which we c leared by onl y a few feet . Air pockets so

bad that two passengers hit the c eiling, one of them

being knocked out by the bl ow .

The chaos at the Madrid airport was ev en worse than

at Barce lona . Franco's officer s ran m adl y round in

c i r c l e s. T he authorities de cide d that b ecau se of the gale



6 0 0 1 9 4 0 ES T o R I L , Decem ber 8

no planes could take off . T h e n t h e y d e c i d e d o n e o f t h r e e

s c h e d u l ed f l i g h ts c o u l d b e m a d e t o L i s b o n . T h e y t o l d

m e I c o u l d g o , t h e n th a t I c o u l d n ' t g o , t he n t h a t I m u s t

c a t c h t h e f o u r p .m . train, then that the train had left .

A l l t h e w h i le s h o u t in g o f f i c i a ls a n d p a s s e n g e r s m i l l i n g

a b o u t t he p l a c e . T h e re w a s a r e s t a u r a n t , b u t i t h a d n o

fo o d . I n the end they cal led the pass engers fo r the Lis-

b o n p l a n e . O n l y a g r o u p o f S p a n i s h o f f i c i a l s a n d t h e

G e r m a n d i p l o m a t w o u l d b e a l l o w e d t o g o . I a s k e d fo r

my b aggage . N o o n e k n e w w h e r e i t w a s. Then an offi-

c i a l c a m e t e a r i n g u p t o m e a n d t u g g e d m e t o w a r d s a

p l a n e . N o o p p o rt u n i t y t o a s k a b o u t b a g g a g e o r w h er e

t h e p l a n e w a s g o i n g . I n a m i n u t e w e w e re o f f, f l y i n g

o v e r t h e r u i n s o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y C i t e , a n d t h e n d o w n t h e

Ta g u s V a l l e y u n t i l d u s k , w h e n L i s b o n c a m e i n t o v i e w .

A t t h e a i r p o r t t h e P o r t u g ue s e a u t h o r i t i e s h e l d m e u p

a c o u p l e o f h o u r s b e c a u s e I c o u l d n o t s h o w a t i c k e t f o r

N e w Y o r k , b u t f i n a l l y th e y l e t m e g o . I n L is b o n t h e

h o t e ls w e r e f u l l, n o ro o m s t o b e h a d - t h e c i t y f ul l o f

r e fu g e e s - u t h e r e I h a v e f o u n d o n e . A g o o d d i n n e r

t o n i gh t w i t h s o m e l o c a l w i n e s a n d a s t r o l l t hr o u g h t o wn

t o s t a r e a t t h e l i gh t s a n d n o w t o b e d , f e e l i n g a g r e a t

load s lipping off . E d [ M u rr o w ] a r r i v e s t o m o r r ow f r o m

L o n d o n a n d w e s h a l l h a v e a m i g h t y r e u n i o n .

ESTORIL, December 8

U n a b l e t o s l e e p - a s u d d e n t o o t h a c h e , t h e

f i r s t i n m y l i f e , a n d n o w I s h a l l p a y fo r m y n e g l e c t

t h o u g h i t w a s i m p o s s i b l e t o d o a n y t h i n g in G e r m a n y ,

w h e r e t he s h o r t a g e o f g o l d a n d o t h e r m e t a l s h a s r e d u c e d

d e n t i s t s t o p l u g g i n g t e e t h w i t h a t i n a l l o y . B u t t h e r e

w a s a g l o r i o us s o u t h e r n s u n a n d I s p e n t th e m o r n i ng

t r a m p i n g t h ro u g h t h e m u n i c i p a l g a rd e n , d e l i g h t e d t h a t

s o m a n y f l o w e r s w e r e s t i l l i n b l oo m , a n d t h e n a l o n g t he



1940 ES T o E x L,

Decemb er 9 6 01

b e a c h , w h e r e g r e a t b l u e r o l l e r s w e r e c o m i n g i n f r o m t h e

s e a , b r e a k i n g f u r i o us l y i n t o fo a m o n t h e s u n - s t r e w n

s a n d s . T he t ra n q u i l l i t y , t he p ea c e f u l n e s s , t h e s o f t

rhythm of the sea were tremendous . They were too

much, they demanded an adjus tment that co uld not

b e m a d e i n a m o r n i n g . I f l e d , h a i l e d a t a x i , a n d w e nt

in to Lis bon to wai t fo r Ed 's p lane . T h e s u s p i c i o u s B r i t -

i s h e r s a t t h e a i r - l i n e wo u l d n o t s a y w h e n t h e L o n d o n

p l a n e w a s c o m i n g i n o r w h e t h e r i t w a s c o m i n g , a p p a r -

e n t l y fo r f ea r t h e i n fo rm a t i o n i n s o m e m i ra c u l o u s w a y

w o u l d g e t t o th e G e r m a n s , w h o w o u l d s h o o t i t d o w n . I

w a i t e d u n t i l d a r k a n d t h e n r e t u r n e d t o E s t o r i l .

LA TER - d finall y arrived and it was

grand . S i n c e t e n p .m . w e h a v e b e e n t a l k i n g a y e a r o f

t h e w a r o ut o f o u r s y s t e m s a n d n o w a t f i v e a .m . to bed,

p l ea s a n t l y e x h a us t e d . C o n s i d e r i n g t h e b om b i n g s h e h a s

t a k e n a n d t h e k i l l i n g pa c e o f h i s j o b , E d l o o k e d b e t t e r

t h a n I h a d e x p e c t e d - in fact, right fit .

ESTORIL, December 9

We l o l l e d i n t h e s u n o n t h e b e a c h . E d s a y s

t h e b o m b i n g o f B r i t a i n h a s b e e n s e v e r e , b u t n o t s o b a d

a s t h e G er m a n s h a v e b o a s t e d . B e s i d e s L o n d on - ov-

entry, B ristol, S outhampton, and B irmingham have

t a k e n t e r r i b l e p o u n d i n g s , b u t i t h a s b e e n t h e c e n t r e o f

t h es e c i t ie s - t h e c hu r c he s , t h e p u bl i c b ui l d in g s , t h e

p r i v a t e d w e l l i n g s - hat has been hardest h i t . Th e c u r -

t a i l m e n t o f w a r i nd u s t r i a l o u t p u t, E d t h i nk s , h a s b e e n

d u e n o t s o m u c h t o p hy s i c a l d a m a g e o f a c t u a l f a c t o r y

p lan t , bu t to the d is o rgan izat ion o f the ci t ies where the

w o rk e r s l i v e a n d w h e re e l ec t r i c p o w e r, w a t e r, a n d g a s

f a c il i ti e s a re c on c en t ra t e d . T h e B r i t i s h a r g u e , h e s a y s ,

t h a t t h e Lu f t w a f fe i n i t s n i g h t a t t a c k s d o e s n o t a i m a t



60 2 1940 E S T d R I L , D e c e m b e r 1 0

f a c t o r ie s , b u t h a s t w o o t h e r m a i n o b j e c t i v e s : f i r s t , t o

s trike terror in the civilian population ; s e c o n d , t o k no c k

o u t e s s e n t ia l p u b li c s e r v i c e s a n d t h u s p a r a ly s e t h e g r e a t

c i t i e s . I think this is correct .

E d h a s g o o d t i d i n gs a b o u t B r i t is h m o r a l e , a b o u t

w h i c h w e in B e r l i n w e r e a l it t l e d o u bt f u l . H e s a y s i t 's

s u p e rb .

ESTORIL, December 10

P a t K e l l y , t h e g e n i a l a n d a b l e l o c a l m a n a g e r

o f P a n A m e r ic a n A i r w a ys , c o n fi d e s t h a t I h a v e s m a l l

c h a n c e o f g e t t i n g h om e f o r C h r i s t m a s i f I w a i t f o r a

C l i p p e r . T h e s e r v i c e i s s t a l le d b e c a u s e o f g r o u nd s w e l ls

a t H o r t a , w h i c h p r e v e n t t h e b i g s h i p s f r o m t a k i n g o f f .

H e a d v i s e s t a k i n g t he b o a t . Since this will be my first

C h r i s t m a s a t h o m e i n s i x t e e n y e a r s , i f I m a k e i t , I w e n t

i n t h i s a f t e r n o o n t o t h e o f f i c e s o f t h e E x p o r t L i n e s t o

b o o k o n t h e E x c a m b i o n , l e a v i n g F r i d a y . The o ff ice was

j a m m e d w i t h a m o b o f r e f ug e e s - j i t t e r y, d e s p e r a t e ,

t r a g i c v i c t i m s o f H i t le r ' s f u r y - b e g g i n g f o r a p l a c e

-a n y p l a c e - n t he n e x t s h i p . B u t a s o n e o f t h e

c o m p a n y o f f i c i a l s e x p l a i n e d t o m e , t h e r e a r e t h r e e t h o u -

s a n d o f t h e m i n L i s b o n a n d t h e b o a t s o n l y c a r r y o n e

h u n d r e d a n d f i f t y pa s s e n g e r s a n d t h e r e i s o n l y o n e b o a t

a week . H e p r o m i s e d m e a p l a c e o n t h e E x c a m b i o n ,

s a i l i n g F r i d a y t h e 13 t h , t h o u g h i t m a y o n l y b e a m a t -

t r e s s i n t h e w r i ti n g r o o m .

Ton i g ht E d a n d I d i d t h e C a s i n o . T h e g a m i n g r o o m s

w e re fu l l o f a w e i rd a s s o r t m e n t o f hu m a n b e i n g s , G e r -

m a n a n d B r i t i s h s p i es , m a l e a n d f e m a l e , w e a lt h y r e fu -

g e e s w h o h a d m y s t e r i o u s l y m a n a g e d t o g e t a l o t o f

m o n e y o u t a n d w e r e t h r o w i n g i t a b o u t f r e e l y , o t h e r

r e f u g e e s w h o w e r e o b v i o u s l y b r o k e a n d w e r e t r y i n g t o



1 9 4 0 E s T o R I L , Dece mber 12 603

w i n t h e ir p a s s a g e m o n e y i n a f e w d e s p e r a t e g a m b l e s

with the fickle roulette wheel, and the us ual international

s h a r p s t e r s y o u f i n d a t s u c h p l a c e s . N e i t h e r E d n o r I

h a d a n y l u c k a t r o u l e t t e a n d w e a d j o u r n e d t o t h e ba l l -

r o o m , w h e r e t h e s a m e k i n d o f p e o p l e w e r e t r y i n g t o

d r o w n w h a t ev e r f e e l i n gs t h e y h a d i n d r i n k a n d j a z z.


A vis it to a Lisbon dentists . . H e g a v e m e s o m e

h e r b s t o b o i l f o r m y u l c e r a t e d t o o t h , w h ic h h a s m a d e

s l e e p i m po s s i b l e s i n c e I a r r i v e d .

E d d e p r e s s e d a t a w i r e f r om L o n d o n t hi s a f t e r n o o n

t e l l i n g hi m t h a t h i s n e w o f f i c e w a s b o m b e d a n d d e m o l -

i s h e d b y t h e G e r m a n s l a s t n i g h t . F o r t u n a t e l y n o o n e

w a s k i l l e d . H i s o l d o f f i c e w a s d e s t r o y e d b y a G e r m a n

b o m b a c o u p l e o f m o n t h s a g o .


W e s a t u p u n t i l f o ur o ' c l o c k t h i s m o r n i n g

b a t t i n g o ut a j o i n t b r oa d c a s t s c h e d u l e d f o r t on i g h t .

We f e e l r a t h e r pl e a s e d w i t h i t .

LA TER-No broadcas t . T h e t a l k w a s s e t

for two a .m . this night and we s ent the script over to the

l o c a l r a d i o a t e i g h t p .m . s o t h e P o r t u g u e s e c e n s o r s

w o u l d h a v e p l e n t y o f t i m e . A t m i d n i g h t t h e c e n s o r t e l e -

p h o n ed a n d s a i d v e r y p o l it e l y t h a t h e h a d o n l y b e e n

ab le to t ranslate two o f the ten pages, bu t that he found

i t v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g a n d n o d o u b t w o u l d b e a b l e t o f i n i s h

i t b y n ex t w e e k , a n d w e c o u l d b ro a d c a s t t h e n . W e a r -

g u e d u n t i l a lm o s t a i r - t i m e , b u t it w a s o b v i o u s t h a t t h e

P o r t u g u e s e h a d n o i n t e n t i on o f r i s k i n g w o u n d i n g t h e



604 1940 S . S. Excambion, December 13

f e e l i n g s o f e i t h e r t h e B r i t i s h o r t h e G e r m a n s . We got

N e w Y o r k t o p os t p o ne th e s h o w un t il fo u r a . m . , b u t b y

t h r e e t hi r t y w e h a d m a d e n o p r o g r e s s w h a t s o e v e r , a n d

f i n a l l y , d e f e a t e d , w e w e n t t o b e d .

ABOA RD THEExcambion, Dec ember 13 (mid-

n ig h t )

A l l d a y b o t h o f u s d e p r e s s e d a t l e a v i n g , f o r

w e h a v e w o r k e d t o g e th e r v e r y c l o s e l y , E d a n d I , d u r i n g

t h e l a s t t h r e e t u r b ul e n t y e a r s o v e r h e r e a n d a b o n d g r e w

t h a t w a s v e r y r e a l , a k i n d y o u m a k e o n l y a f e w t im e s i n

y o u r l i fe , a n d s o m e h o w , a b s u r d l y n o d o u b t , s e n t i m e n -

t a l l y p e r h a p s , w e h a d a p r e s e n t i m e n t t h a t t h e f o rt u n e s

o f w a r , m a y b e j u s t a l i t t l e b o m b , w o ul d m a k e t h i s r e -

u n i o n t he l a s t .

We paced up and down the dock in the dark ening

l i g h t o f d u s k , w a i t i n g f o r t h e s h i p t o g o . T h e r e w a s a

l i t t le o p e n - a i r b a r f o r t h e s t e v e d o r e s o n t h e d o c k w i t h

a t o u g h , f ro w z y P o r t u g u e s e b l o n d e b e h i n d i t . S h e k e p t

c h a t t er i n g a n d p ou r i ng t he d r in k s . S o o n i t w a s d a r k

and they began pull ing the gangway in . I c l i m b ed

a b o a rd a n d Ed d i s a p p e a re d i n t o t h e n i g h t .

A f u l l m o o n w a s o u t o v e r t h e Ta g u s , a n d a l l t h e m i l -

l i o n l ig h t s o f L i s b o n a n d m o r e a c r o s s t h e b r oa d r i v e r

o n t h e h il l s s p a r k l e d b r ig h t l y a s t h e s h i p s l i d d o w n t o

s ea . F o r h o w l o n g ? B e yo n d L i s b o n o v e r a l m o s t a l l o f

E u r o p e t h e l i g h t s w e r e o u t . T h i s l i t t l e f r i n g e o n t h e

s o u t h w e s t c o r n e r o f t h e C o n t i n e n t k e p t t h e m b u r n i n g .

C i v i l i z a t io n , s u c h a s i t w a s , h a d n o t y e t be e n s t a m p e d

o u t h e r e b y a N a z i b o o t . B u t n e x t w e e k ? N e x t m o n t h ?

T h e m o n t h a f t e r ? Wo ul d n o t H i t l e r ' s h o r d e s t a k e t h i s

t o o a n d e x t i n gu i s h t h e l a s t l i g h t s ?

F i v e o t h e r A m e r i c a n c o r r e s p o n d e n t s g o i n g h o m e f r o m

t h e w a r , f r o m E n g l a n d , f r o m G e r m a n y , f r o m F r a n c e ,



1940 S . S . Excambion, December 13 605

s a t in th e s hip's l i t t l e b a r o v er "o l d -f a s hi o n e d s . "

I t w a s a v e r y g o od w a y o f c u s h i o ni n g y o ur f a r e w e ll . I

j o i n e d t h e m . I had one . B u t a l c o h o l i s n o t a l w a y s

enough . I f e l t r e s t l e s s , e x c i t e d . I w e n t u p o n d e c k . F o r

a t i m e I s tood agains t the rail watching the lights recede

o n a E u r o p e i n w h ic h I h a d s p e n t a l l f if t e e n o f m y a d u l t

y e a r s , w h i c h h a d g i v e n m e a l l o f m y e x p e r ie n c e a n d w h a t

l i t t le knowledge I had . I t had been a long t ime, bu t they

h a d b e e n h a p p y y e a r s , p e r s o n a l l y , a n d f o r a l l p e o p l e

i n E u r o p e t h e y h a d h a d m e a n i n g a n d b o r n e h o p e u n t i l

t h e w a r c a m e a n d t h e N a z i b l i g h t a n d t h e h a t r e d a n d t h e

f r a u d a n d t h e p o l i ti c a l g a n g s t e r i s m a n d t h e m u r d e r a n d

t h e m a s s a c r e a n d t h e i n c r e d i b l e in t o l er a n c e a n d a l l t h e

s u f f e r i n g a n d t h e s t a rv i n g a n d c o l d a n d t h e t h u d o f a

b o m b b l o w i n g t h e p e o p l e i n a h o u s e t o p i e c e s , t h e t h u d

o f a l l t h e b o m bs b l a s t i n g m a n ' s h o p e a n d d e c e n c y .



Aachen, 347-78 ; bombed, 350,

377

A a n d al s n e s , 3 2 1 , 3 2 5

A b b e v i l l e , 3 8 0 , 3 9 5

Abetz, O tto, 44 9

A b y s s i n i a , 4 3 , 61

Addis Abab a, 61

Adinkerke, 392

Admiral Hipper, 2 6 5 , 3 1 5

Adventure in China, 240

A f r i c a , 2 9 1, 5 0 7 , 5 1 4 , 5 2 0 , 5 9 1 ,

594

Ahrens, Commodore, 25 7

A i r a c ob r a s , 5 8 1

A i s n e R i v e r , 3 9 1

A i x - l a - C h a p e l l e , see Aachen

A l b a n ia , 1 6 5 , 3 0 5

A l b e rt Ca n a l , 3 3 5 , 3 3 7 , 3 3 8 , 3 5 2 ,

371

A l b r e c h t , 2 4 0

A l e x a n d er I o f Y u g o s l a v i a , 2 3

A l f i e r i , D i n o , 3 8 8 , 3 9 9

A l l e n , J a y , 7 7

Allies, s ee England ; F r a n c e

Almeria , 7 4

A l s a c e , 4 6 0

A l s a c e - L o r r a i ne , 4 2 0

Amann, Max, 243, 58 7

A m r i t s a r , 2 9 9

Amsterdam,103-4, 27 7, 341 ,

575-6

Anderson, Sherwood, 67

Anglo-German naval accord, 37,

3 8 , 4 0 , 1 4 6 , 1 6 6

A n g r i f f , 4 4 , 1 4 0 , 182, 313

A n s c h l u s s , 37 ; and see A u s t r i a

Anti-Comintern pact , 69-70, 2 42

Anti-Semitism : i n V i e n n a , 9 0

Antwerp, 341 , 344, 347 , 468

Appeasement, 119, 16 1, 17 0

A r b e i t s d i e n s t , 20, 3 57 ; and see

Lab our Service

INKEX

Argonne, 397

Ark Royal, 228

Armament, l imitation of, 3 8

"Armenius," 466

Armentier es, 38 4

A r m i s t i c e , F r a n c o - G e r m a n , b r o a d.

c a s t o f , 44 4

Arms embargo, U . S ., 168

A r t i l l e r y , 3 7 5 , 4 3 5

A r t o is , 3 8 1 , 3 8 4 , 3 8 7 , 3 9 4

Aschmann, Dr . , 49 , 74

A s p e r n , 10 2 , 1 0 3

A s t o r , L a d y , 5 0 , 1 2 1

Ath, 3 72

A t h e n i a , 203, 238

Athens , 5 40

Atkinson, Major Charles F. , 1 1 9

August Wilhel m, Princ e, 25 0-1

Ausland P resse Cl ub, 5 22

A u s t r i a , 4 3 , 7 0 , 7 6 , 9 3 , 9 4 , 1 0 7 ,

1 13 , 2 2 1 , 2 9 3 , 5 8 3 ; a n d t h e a n -

n e x a t i o n , 3 7 , 9 5 - 1 0 2 , 1 0 6 , 1 07 ,

108; and Communism, ii ; and

t h e D o l l f us s g o v e r n m e n t , 9 - 1 0 ;

and D oll fuss's death, 12 ; and

t h e e l e c t i o n i n 1 9 3 8 , 1 1 2 ; and

f a s c i s m , 4 , 11 ; and February 6

riots, 9-10 ; a n d t h e G e r m a n u l -

timatu m, 98 ; an d Nazis m, 90,

91, 92 ; a n d t h e p l e b i s c i t e , 9 6 ;

and political and economic

conditions (Decemb er 19 37),

89-90 ; a n d t h e S o c i a l i s t P a r t y ,

12,90

A v e n o l , J o s e p h , 4 4 8

A x i s , 1 6 8 , 1 98 ; s e e a l s o Germany

Italy

Azad, Mohamed Singh, 298

B a d e , W i l f r e d , 4 4 - 5

Bagdad , 322



11

B a i l l e u l, 3 8 4

B a l d w i n , S t a n l ey , 3 3 , 4 0 , 6 9

B a l k a n s , 7 0, 2 1 0 , 3 2 7 , 3 2 9 , 3 3 2 ,

5 3 9 , 5 4 8 , 5 65 , 5 7 7

B a l ti c s t a t es , 2 3 1 , 2 3 2 , 2 4 1 , 2 8 5

Bapti sm o f Fire, 330

B a r b i z o n p a i n t i ng s , 3 4 3

B a r b o u r , B i l l , 6 1

B a r c e l o n a , 6 3 , 6 4, 1 5 7 , 5 4 4 , 5 9 8 - 9

B a r n e s , E s t h e r , 7 0, 7 1 , 8 4

B a r n e s , J o e , 17 2 , 1 8 0 , 18 2 , 1 8 7 ,

204, 215

B a r n e s , R a l p h , 6 5 , 7 0 , 7 1 , 8 4 , 12 3 ,

136, 329, 45 0

B a r t h ou , L o u is , 2 4

B a r t l e t t , V e r n o n , 8 9

B a s e l e r N a c h r i c h t e n, 44

B a t e , S i r P e r c y , 1 6 7

Baue r, O tto, 10

Beam, Jake, 8 4

B e a t t i e, E d , 2 9 , 4 1, 1 2 9 , 1 3 2

Beaverbrook, L ord, 3 4

B e c k , J b z e f , 1 6 3 , 1 7 7

B e c k e t t , Jo h n , 5 2 6

Beerhouse P u t s c h , 561

B e e t h o v e n ' s Funeral March, 82

B e l g i um , 5 1 , 1 47 , 1 8 9 , 2 4 5 , 2 4 8 ,

mistice Day celebration, 5 64 ;

a n d B e l g ia n p r is o n e r s , 4 8 1 ; a n d

p u b l i c o p i n i o n o n B r i t i s h b o m b -

i n g , 4 7 1, 4 7 7 , 5 1 6 ; a n d B r i t i s h

t r o op s , 3 7 1; a n d p u b l i c o p i n i o n

o n a B r i t i s h v i c t o r y , 4 8 1 ; and

c a p i t u l a ti o n , 3 8 1 , 3 8 2 - 3 ; and

food scarcity 390, 396 ; and

G e r m a n y ' s i n v a s i o n , 3 2 9 , 3 3 1 - 2 ,

334-6, 337 , 338, 340-1 , 342,

344- 7, 35 2-3, 35 8, 36 0, 36 3,

3 6 4 -5 , 3 7 8 - 9 , 3 8 9 ; a n d l o o t i n g

with German mark s, 36 4 ; and

German news-reel of destruc-

t i o n , 3 8 3 - 4 ; under German oc-

c u p a t i o n , 4 6 9 ; and ac ts o f sa bo -

t a g e , 4 8 3 - 4

Belgrad e, 15 4

BERLIN DIARY

B e l i e f i n t h e N o r d i c S t a t e , T h e ,

291

Benes, Eduar d, 113 , 125 , 127 ,

137, 141, 149 , 15 9

Berc htesgaden, 131, 141, 18 1

Berge n, 310, 315, 326

Bergeret, General Jean Marie,

423

Bergu es, 38 4

Berkson, Seymour, 7 7

B e r l i n , 1 62 , 1 6 5 , 1 7 0 - 3 , 1 7 4 , 17 8 ,

27 1, 34 9, 428, 445, 446, 463 ;

a n d a i r - ra i d a l a r m s , 1 9 8 , 2 0 2 ,

206, 3 93, 46 3, 46 8, 48 4, 5 07 ,

537, 540, 56 7-8; a n d a i r - r a i d

s h e l t e r s , 5 2 0 ; a n d a n ti - a i r c ra f t

defence s, 48 6, 491 , 493, 497 ,

4 9 8 , 5 0 0 , 5 0 1 ; a n d f a l s e r e p o rt

o f a n a r m i s t i c e, 2 3 6 ; arrival in ,

14 ; bomb ed, 486- 7, 490 , 492,

493, 497, 498 -9, 502, 503-4,

514-15, 5 18-19, 5 23-4, 541,

5 6 6 , 5 6 7 , 5 7 9 ; a n d p u b l i c o p i n -

ion on Brit ish bom bing, 486,

4 8 9 - 9 0, 4 9 2 , 4 9 3 - 4 , 4 96 , 5 0 7 - 8 ,

562-3 ; a n d e v a c u a t i o n o f c h i l -

dren, 5 37 ; an d fa rewell par-

t ies , 5 95 ; ce leb ra t ion o f Heroes '

Memorial Day (193 4), 31 ; be-

fore the Munich pac t, 135 ,

141, 142 ; after the Munich

pact, 149 ; chang es sinc e N azi

r e v o l u t i o n , 1 5 ; a n d s e c r e t ex -

p l o s i o n s , 2 1 8 ; a n d t h e t h ea t r e ,

413

B e s s a r a b ia , 2 7 5 , 4 43

B e s t , B o b , 1 00 , 2 5 2

B e t h el , 5 0 9 , 5 1 3 , 5 6 9 - 7 0

Bevan, Aneurin, 6 8

Beyond Sing the Woods,239

Biddle, Antho ny, 152 , 16 4, 177 ,

209, 308

B i n d e r , C a r r o l l , 7 "

277, 291, 3 47 , 3 4 9, 370, 3 7 1 ,

381, 382, 4 3 2 , 4 3 4 , 435, 436,

440, 442, 4 43 , 4 4 7 , 465, 476,

484, 5 1 7 , 547, 5 5 2 , 578 ; and

the a ir fo rce , 516 ; and Ar-

207 ; a n d v i c t o ry p a r a d e , 4 5 1 ,

467, 5 48-9 ; p r e - w a r c o n d i t i o n s

i n , 1 8 1 , 1 9 2 , 1 9 3 ; and pu bl ic

opinion on the war, 19 9, 201,

207, 33 2, 3 36, 338, 3 4 6 , 3 93 ,

404

Bern, 5 45

Bess, Demaree, 146, 2 3 4 , 4 11 ,



INDEX

B i r c h a l l , F r e d e r i c k , 4 7 , 8 2 , 1 3 8

Birmingham , 161, 6 01

B i s c h o f s b e r g , 1 7 4

B i s m a r c k , 266

Bismarc k, O tto von, 58 2

B litzk r iegi n t h e we s t , 3 7 8 , 3 8 4 ,

389, 390

B l o c k a d e , a n t i- G e r m a n , 1 7 3 , 2 0 5 ,

2 1 0, 2 2 0 , 2 7 8 , 3 02 , 5 2 2 , 5 7 6 - 7

Blohm and Voss shipyard, 464-5

B l o i s , 4 1 7

Blomb erg, W erner von : a n d G e r -

m a n y ' s a i r f or c e , 2 8 , 3 0 , 3 2 , 5 1 ,

5 4 , 5 5 - 6 , 5 7 - 8 , 9 1

" B l o od a n d s o i l , " 5 8 2

B l u c h e r , 315, 319

Blum, Leon, 66 , 69 , 7 6

Bochum, 45 9

Bodelschwingh, Friedrich von,

512, 569 -70

B o d e l s c h w i n g h h os p i t a l , 5 0 9

Boehmer, Carl, 147 , 213, 237,

25 1, 260, 443 -4, 446 , 449-5 0,

521

Bohemia and M orav ia, 160, 16 3,

208, 231, 27 6, 299, 30 0

Bohlan, Chip, 8 9

B o i a n o , P h i l i p p o , 1 3 6

Bolshevism, 5 2, 67, 182 ; i n t h e

B a l t ic s t a t e s , 2 3 1 ; in Germany,

1 8 2 , 2 4 2 , 2 8 9 ; a n d P o l a n d, 1 6 4 ;

and the Russian-German pact,

180

Bonnet, Geo rges , 15 5, 15 7, 16 0,

199,2 02

Borah , William E . , 1 68 , 2 1 1, 2 2 0

Bordeaux, 339 , 342, 345 , 417 ,

425-6

B o r s e n Ze i t u n g , 44, 1 3 5 , 2 1 1, 3 1 4 ,

3 1 6 , 3 4 7 , 4 9 2 , 4 9 9

B o s e , F r i t z v o n , 1 2

Bosporus, 565

B o u h l e r , P h i l i p p, 5 6 9

Boulogn e, 43 7, 477 -8, 479, 5 53,

5 5 7 , 5 5 8 , 5 7 9

Boyer, R ichard, 471, 47 6, 481,

482

Brandenbur~, 5 37

B r a n d t , C a r l , 2 9 8

Brauchitsch , Walther von, 91,

2 1 9 , 42 1 , 4 66 , 5 5 2 , 5 5 3 , 5 9 1

111

B r a z i l , 5 9 4

B r e c k i n r i d g e , Mary Marvin, 27 7,

278, 28 6, 291

Bremen, 5 52, 5 53 ; b o m b e 1 , 4 5 9 ,

579

Bremen, 204, 257 , 46 5

Brenn er meeting, 5 38-9

B r es t , 5 5 3

B r e s t - L i t ov s k , 2 1 0

B ris to l , 601

B r i t i s h U ni o n of F a c i s t s , 5 2 6

B r i t t a n y , 3 9 1

Broadcasting Union, I n t e r n a -

tional, 118

Bromberg, 248

Browning, 226

B r i i c k ne r , W i lh e l m , 2 1 7 , 2 4 3 , 5 8 7

Bruges, 384, 47 0

B r i i s s e l e r Z e it u n g , 483

B r u s s e l s , 8 9 , 15 3 , 3 4 0 , 3 4 1, 3 4 2 ,

346, 361, 36 2, 363, 367 , 369,

377 , 382, 406, 4 31, 444, 4 79-

83 ; bomb ed by R AF, 480, 483

B u e n o - Va r i l la , 4 1 3

B u e r c k e l , J o s e f , 1 00

Bukov ina, 4 43

B u l g a r i a , 5 6 5 ; see a l s o Balkans

B u l l i t t , Wi l l i a m C ., 308, 411, 417,

418

"Bund of Ge rmans Abroad," 5 13

B i i r g e r b r a u K e l l e r , M u n i c h , 2 4 6 ,

251

B u r k h a r d t , K a r l , 1 7 7

B u r n e t t , W h i t , 8 3

B u r r ow s , A r t h ur , 1 5 1

B . Z. am Mitta g,

1 72 , 1 8 5 , 2 2 0 ,

3 9 0, 4 0 3 , 5 0 0, 5 0 3 , 5 0 9- 1 0, 5 1 5 ,

524

C a l a i s , 3 8 0 , 4 3 7 , 4 7 1- 6 , 4 7 8 , 4 8 2 ,

5 5 3 , 5 5 7 , 5 5 8 , 5 7 9

Camelots du R oi, 6

Camouflage, 46 9, 47 4, 47 7

Campbell, Miss, 1 54

Cap B lanc-Nez, 47 8

Cap Gr is-Nez, 47 3, 474-5

Carignan, 345

C a t h o l i c A c t i o n , 1 2

C a t h ol i c c h u r c h, 5 8 , 2 9 6

C h i i l o n s - s u r - M a r n e , 4 0 3



g a d e n , 1 3 1 , 1 4 1 ; s peech at Bir-

mingham , 16 1 ; and Czecho-

s l o v a k i a , 1 2 1 , 1 3 3 , 1 6 0 ; p o p u -

larity in Germany, 135 ; v i s i t t o

G o d e s b e r g , 1 3 4, 1 3 7; a n d t h e

Hitler-Chamberlain communi-

que, 146 ; a n d t h e Mu n i c h p a c t ,

14 3 ; a n d Po l a n d , 1 8 1 , 1 9 9 ; v i s i t

to R ome, 15 6

C h a n n e l p o r t s , 3 4 7 ; bombed by

RAF, 5 79

Chapman, J ohn, 30 1

Ch a r l e r o i , 4 0 6

C h a u t e m p s , C a m i l l e , 9

C h e k o v , A n t o n , 6 1

C h e m i c a l w a r f a r e , 3 8 , 2 9 8

C h i c a g o , 45 7

C h i n a , 8 9 , 4 1 8

C h r i s t i a n s e n , G e n e r a l , 48 5

C h u r c h i l l , R a n d o l p h , 8 8

Churchill, Wins ton, 108, 147, 169,

1 8 7 , 2 2 6 , 2 2 9 , 2 3 7 , 2 3 8 , 2 5 9 ,

3 0 7 , 3 16 , 3 2 5 , 3 2 6 , 3 8 1 , 3 8 2 ,

4 5 4 , 4 5 9 , 4 6 6, 4 9 1 , 4 96 , 5 0 7 ,

509, 515, 5 24,540, 55 0-2,

5 6 0- 1

C h v a l k o v s k y , F r a n t is e k , 1 5 9

C i a no , G a l e a z z o, 1 5 4 , 1 5 6 , 2 2 8 ,

4 5 6 , 5 1 9, 5 3 2 , 5 3 6 , 5 3 8

C i t a d e l , 239

City o f Flint, 242

C l a r k , B e n n e tt C h a m p , 2 2 0

C o c k b u r n , C l a u d e , 1 1

C o l og n e , 5 4 , 5 8 , 3 2 1 , 3 4 8 , 3 4 9 ,

3 5 1 , 3 6 7 , 4 44 , 5 6 3 - 4

Cologne, 267

Coloured Front, The, 2 3 9 - 4 0

Coming War, The, 362

Communism, 328; in A us tr ia , i i ;

in B er l in , 60 ; in F rance , 8 , 43 6 ,

438, 466 ; Hitler's attitude to,

5 2; and the Russian-German

p a c t , 1 8 0

C o m p i e gn e , 4 1 4, 4 1 9, 4 2 5 , 4 3 2 ,

4 4 1, 4 4 3 - 4 , 44 5 , 4 4 6 , 4 62 , 5 2 8 ,

549

C o n c e n t r a t i on c a m p s , 8 7

BERLINDIARY

Condor Legion, 28 9

C o n g e r , B ea c h , 2 4 9

Contra-Komintern, 242

C o o p e r , D u f f , 1 4 7

C o p e nh a g e n , 3 1 0 , 3 1 1 - 12 , 3 1 8 - 1 9

C o r p e n i ng , C a p t a i n , 4 6 1

Co r t es i , 1 5 7

Co t y, Fr a n g oi s , 6

C o u g h l in , F a t h e r C h a r l e s , 2 1 3 ,

220

C o u l o n d r e , R o b e r t , 1 9 2

C o v e n t r y , 6 0 1

C o x , J e f f, 1 2 1 , 1 2 6 , 1 3 0

Cracow, 204

C r o n in , J o s e p h , 2 3 9

C r ow , C a r l, 5 2 4

C u d a h y , J o h n , 3 6 6 , 3 9 6

Cuxhaven, 203

C z e c ho s l o v a k i a , 113, 116, 119,

1 2 1 , 12 3 , 1 2 4 , 1 2 5 , 1 2 7 , 1 2 8 ,

1 3 0 , 14 0, 1 5 9 , 1 7 2 , 2 0 8 , 2 6 0 ,

293, 298, 300; a n d B e r c h t e s -

a d e n , 1 3 1 , 1 4 1 ; a n d C h a m b e r -

' s s u p p o r t of H i t l e r, 1 3 3;

d i s i n t e g r a t io n o f , 1 5 9 - 6 0; a n d

E n g l a n d a n d F r a n c e , 1 2 1 , 1 2 4 ,

1 2 6 , 1 3 3 , 1 3 4 , 1 5 9 , 1 6 0, 1 6 1;

and Godesberg, 134, 140 ; a n d

H i t l e r' s s p e e c h a t N u r e m b e r g ,

127; a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l g u a r a n -

t e e , 1 3 4 , 1 3 8 , 1 4 2 , 1 5 9 , 1 6 0 ;

a n d t h e M u n i c h p a c t , 1 4 4; a n d

P o l a n d , 15 1; a n d L o r d R u n c i -

m a n , 1 2 0 - 1 ; a n d S u d e t e n - G e r -

m a n r e v o l t , 1 3 0 ; and L ondon

Timese d i t o r ia l , 11 9,1 2 4

C z ec h s , 2 8 2 , 3 0 0, 5 8 3; a n d a n t i -

G e r m a n d e m o n s t r a ti o n s , 2 4 9

C z e j a , 1 0 1

Daily News, C h i c a g o , 6 8

D a k a r, 5 2 0 , 5 9 4

D a l a d i e r , E d o u a r d , 6 - 8 , 9 , 1 2 6 ,

1 49 , 15 5 , 5 6 0; a n d t h e M u n i c h

p a c t , 1 4 3; a n d P o l a n d , 1 8 8

D a l m a ti a , 5 3 4

Danube, 5 52

D a n z i g , 1 6 4 , 1 6 7 , 1 6 8 , 1 7 0 , 1 7 1 ,

1 7 2 , 1 7 4 - 7 , 1 8 5 , 1 8 8 , 1 9 1 , 19 3 ,

2 1 3 - 17 , 2 1 9, 2 3 9 ; H i t l e r ' s v i s i t

iv

C h a m b e r l a i n ,Neville, 107 , 12 1,

13 5 , 141,147 , 149, 160, 163 ,

184, 2 4 7 ,2 9 4 , 3 04, 3 2 4, 3 2 6 ,

5 5 0 , 560vis it to B e r c h t e s -



IN DEX

t o , 2 1 6 ; p r e -w a r c o n d i t i on s i n ,

174

D a r d a n el l e s , 5 6 5

Darre, W alther, 5 37, 5 90

Daught er of the Cathedral, The,

240

D a v i s , E l m e r , 4 8 8

Davis, Norman, 8 9

D .A.Z , see Deutsc he All gemeine

Zeitung

Dechanel, L ouis P aul, 2 19

Decline of the West, Th e, 119

D e f i a n ts , 4 8 2

Delaney, Edward Leopold, 5 29

Delaney , Father, 1 54, 158

D e l l, R o b e r t , 1 2 0 , 5 4 5

Democracies : a n d l e a d e r s h i p , 5 6 0

Denmark , 2 60, 303, 3 10, 318,

319, 3 26, 4 62, 5 47, 552; and

food su pply to Germany, 5 21,

523

D e s s i e , 61

D e u el , W a l l y , 4 1, 8 4 , 5 9 5 , 5 9 9

D e u t s c h , J u l i u s , 1 0

Deutsc he All gem eine Zeitung,

1 8 3 , 2 0 0, 2 0 8 , 2 2 0 , 3 45 , 5 0 9

Deutsche Wehr, 86

Deutsc hland, 73 , 267

D i e c k h of f , H a n s H e i nr i c h , 5 0

D i et t r ic h , H a r a l d , 13 5 , 2 3 7 , 2 4 3 ,

2 5 5 , 2 5 6 , 2 8 6 , 44 5

Dimont, Charles, 116

D ip lo , 510

D i s r a e l i , B e n j a m i n , 1 4 7

Dive-bom bers, s ee Stukas

Dixmude, 38 4

Documents on the Ori ginsof

the

War, 257

Dodd, Martha, 42, 66 , 5 40

Dodd, William E . , 15 , 2 4 , 25 , 33 ,

39 , 43 , 51 , 60 , 69 , 74 -5 , 82 , 84 ,

274

D o l l fu s s , E n g e l b e r t , 9 - 1 0, 1 1 , 1 2 ,

1 6 , 9 4 , 1 0 1 , 1 0 8

Dombas, 321

D o s c h - F l e u r o t , 13 , 3 1 , 3 6 , 4 3 , 5 8

Douai, 385

Doumergue, Gaston, 9

Dover, 474, 47 5

D r e i s e r , T h e o d o r e , 6 7

Dresden, 5 96-7

V

Drexel, Constance, 52 9

D r i s c o l l , J o s e p h , 1 2 1

Duis burg, 348, 434

D u nk i r k , 3 8 4 , 3 8 5 , 3 8 7 , 3 8 9 , 3 9 1,

392, 394 , 437, 442, 47 2, 5 49,

558, 579

D u r a n ty , W a l t e r , 8 9 , 9 0 , 1 5 2 - 3

D d s s e l d o r f, 5 5

Dyer, General R eginald, 2 99

D y l e L i n e, 3 4 4 , 3 7 1

E a s t A f r i c a , 4 5 1 ; and see A f r i c a

Eben-Emael, 33 5, 352

Ebb utt, Norman, 29, 3 4, 41 , 7 8,

84

Eckener, Hugo, 60

Eden, An thony , 35 , 8 9, 93

E d e r l e , G e r t r u d e , 4 7 4

Edwar d V III, 68 ; s e e a l s o Wind-

sor, Duke of

Eger, 128

E g y p t, 5 0 6 - 7 , 5 3 4 , 5 3 8 - 9

Eher Verlag, 243 , 5 87

Eintop f ,238

Elb ogen, 128

E l i o t , G e o r g e F i e l d i n g , 1 7 1 , 1 7 8

E l l i o tt , J o h n , 42 , 5 3 , 8 9 , 1 2 0 , 1 7 0

E l s e r , G eo r g, 2 5 1 , 2 5 2

Encirc lem ent pol icy, 166 , 183,

242

E n d e r i s , G u i d o , 4 1 , 7 4

Enghien , 37 0

England, 51, 7 1, 1 72, 201, 20 7,

a ir a t tacks , 467 -8 , 601 ; a n d t h e

a i r f o r c e , 17 1 , 3 7 6 , 3 7 8 , 3 7 9 ,

4 3 7 , 4 6 6, 4 7 3 , 4 7 5 , 4 7 6 - 7 , 4 8 2 ,

483, 49 5, 497, 5 15-17, 5 51-7,

575-6 ; a n d b a n o n a i r - r a i d r e -

p o rt s , 5 1 0 ; a n d t h e A n g l o - G e r -

man naval accord, 37, 38, 40,

1 4 6 , 1 6 6; a n d t h e A n g l o - P o l i s h

communique, 16 3; and anti-air-

c r a f t , d e f e n c e s , 4 7 5 ; and the

2 1 6 , 217, 218, 2 30 , 2 46 , 247,

2 4 8 , 2 5 2 , 258, 265, 2 70 , 2 75 ,

2 8 3 , 293, 302, 3 0 3 , 3 05 , 306,

3 1 2 , 339 3 4 0 , 3 4 1,347, 3 5 4 ,

3 5 8 , 362, 365, 3 8 3 , 3 8 9 , 399,

4 03 , 419 , 425, 46 9 , 5 05 , 5 3 1 ,

5 40 , 5 8 4 , 589, 592 ; a nd heavy



vi

army, 439 ; a n d B. E . F

. in Bel-

gium, 37 1 ; and B .E.F .

in

France, 400 ; and B . E . F . in

Norway, 3 25 , 326 ; and bomb-

ing of civilians, 45 9, 500, 5 09-

5 1 0 , 5 1 5 ; a n d b o m b in g o f G e r-

m a n y , 3 4 8 , 3 4 9 , 3 7 1 , 3 8 6 , 4 0 6 ,

4 3 4, 4 5 5 , 4 5 9 , 4 6 3 - 5 , 4 7 1 , 4 7 7 ,

486-7, 490, 4 92, 496, 498,

5 0 1 - 2 , 5 0 3 , 5 0 7 , 5 0 9- 1 0, 5 1 4 -

5 1 5 , 5 1 6, 5 5 9 , 5 7 8 - 8 1 ; and a

c o a l i t i o n w i t h F r a n c e , P o l a n d ,

and Russia, 164, 16 9 ; and

d e mo c r a t i c l e a d e rs h i p , 5 6 0 ; and

f a s c i s m , 5 2 6 ; and blam e for

predicament of France, 413 ;

a n d a t t i t u d e t ow a r d s N a z i G e r -

many, 8 4 ; a n d G e r m a n y ' s r e p l y

t o p r o p os a l s r e g a r d i n g P o l a n d ,

1 8 9, 1 92 ; a n d a G e r m a n in v a -

s i o n , 2 7 6 , 3 8 5 , 3 8 6 , 3 9 0 , 45 1 , ,

4 6 2 , 4 6 5 - 6 , 4 6 8 , 4 7 1 - 3 , 4 7 9 ,

495 , 497, 504, 506-7, 514, 534-6

5 3 8 , 5 4 8 - 5 9 ; a n d a t t e m p t e d i n -

v a s i o n b y G e r m a n y , 5 0 4 , 5 0 6 ,

5 5 8 - 9 ; u l t i m a t u m s t o G e r m a n y ,

1 98 , 2 0 0 ; a n d a n e w i n c e n d i -

ary wea pon, 5 02 ; Intelligence

S er v i c e, 2 5 1 , 5 7 5 ; and Italy's

o f fe n s i v e i n Eg yp t , 5 0 6 - 7 ; Lor d

Haw-Haw'sr a d i o a u d i e n c e ,

528 ; and the Medite rran ean,

325 ; a n d p u b l i c m o r a l e , 6 0 2 ;

a n d h e r n a v y , 5 3 7 , 5 4 9 , 5 5 1 ,

5 5 3 , 5 93 ; a n d m i n i n g o f N o r -

wegian waters, 310 ; l o s s e s o f

p r i s o n e r s , 3 9 4 - 5 ; a n d Ru s s i a ,

227 , 40 0 ; a n d t h e R u s s o - G e r -

m a n p a c ts , 1 8 0 , 2 2 7 ; s h i p l o s s e s ,

2 3 7 , 3 0 0, 3 9 2 , 3 9 7 ; and a wire-

less -directed torpedo, 5 06 ; a n d

T u r k ey , 2 3 8 ; and the des troyer

d e a l w i t h t h e U . S ., 498 ; a n d

sinking o f U . S . s h i p s , 3 9 3 ;

d e c l a r a t i o n o f w a r , 2 0 0 , 2 0 3 ;

a n d " s p r e a d i n g t h e w a r , " 3 2 7 ,

3 3 1; p h y s i c a l c a r e o f y o u t h ,

368 ; s e e a l s o Au s t r i a ; B e l g i u m ;

Chamberlain ; C z e c h os l o v a k i a ;

F r a n c e ; Germany : and Hitler's

p e a c e o v e r t u r e s ; G r e ec e ; N o r -

BERLIN DIARY

way ; P o l a nd ; S p a in : an d Ci v i l

War; U . S .

: aid to Britain

E n g li s h C h a n n el , 3 7 8 , 3 8 5 , 3 8 9 ,

3 9 0 , 4 0 4, 4 6 8 , 4 7 3 , 4 7 5 , 4 8 1 ,

504,517,5 49,55 2,55 3,'554

E n t e n t e C o r d i a l e , 4 4 8

E r kk o , 2 5 4

E s s e n , 3 2 4 , 3 4 8

E s t o n i a , 2 3 1

Es t o r i l , 5 9 9 - 60 4

Ethiopia, see A b y s s i n i a

E u p hr a t es , 5 3 4

Europa, 465

Europe : a n d r a w ma t e r i a l s , 4 6 1

, E u r o p e D a n c e s , " 18 4 , 1 8 5

v i a n - l e s - Ba i n s , 11 9 - 2 0

Excambion, 602

Failure o f a Missio n,139

F a l a n g i s t P a r t y , 5 3 4

F a l k e na u , 1 2 8

Fa l k e n h o r s t , Ge n e r a l v o n , 3 1 7

F a s c i s m , 3 2 8 , 5 4 6 ; in A u s tr ia , 4 ,

11 ; i n E ng l a n d , 5 2 6 ; in France,

8 , 1 5 0 , 4 3 6 ; i n I t a l y, 3 0 2 ; in

S p a i n , 5 9 8 ; and the tripartite

p a c t , 5 3 2

Fatty (German newspape rman) ,

182

F a u p e l , G e n e r a l , 6 9

Federation des A nciens Comb at

tants, 7

Feuertaufe, 380

Fe y, Emi l , 9 , 1 2 , 1 3 , 1 0 1 , 1 08

F i c h t e , J o h a n G. , 5 8 5

Fifty Years of Germany, 240

F i nl a n d , 2 7 3 , 2 7 6 ; a n d b ro a d c a s t

t o t h e U . S . , 2 5 5 ; a n d R u s s i a n

i nv a s i o n , 2 5 3 , 2 6 2 , 2 7 5 , 2 8 1 ,

295,2 97

F i s h , H a m i l t o n , 1 68 , 1 8 7 , 3 0 9

Flanders, Battle of, 380, 381, 382 ,

3 8 6 , 3 8 7 , 3 9 0 , 3 9 1, 3 9 2 , 3 9 4 ,

395

Fl a n d i n , Pi e r r e , 2 6 , 1 6 9

F l 5 n n er y , H a rr y , 5 4 6 , 5 6 7 , 5 7 5 ,

F l e m i n g , A r t h u r H e n r y , 4 1 4

F l o r e n c e , 1 1 5 , 5 4 6 , 5 4 8

F l y in g F o rt r es s e s , 5 8 0



IN DEX

Foch, M arshal, 414, 419, 423

Fodor, Martha, 8 9, 90, 91, 96,

1 0 1, 1 0 3 , 1 1 1, 1 2 9 , 1 6 4 , 1 7 0

F o r s t e r , A l b e r t , 1 7 4

Four H undred Mill ion Customers,

524

Four-Year P lan, 85

F r a n c e , 5 1 , 5 9 , 7 1 , 1 6 3 , 1 66 , 1 7 1 ,

598 ; a n d A l s a c e - L o r r a i n e , 4 2 0 ,

460 ; and Armistice Day cele-

bration, 564; armi stice with

Germany, 412, 414, 41 9, 425 ,

427, 549 ; a r m i s t i c e w i t h I t a l y ,

425 ; a n d c o l l a p s e o f a r m y , 4 15 ,

437, 549, 55 1 ; and weakness

of army, 405 , 432, 434 , 435,

437, 43 9, 450 ; a n d t h e B .E.F ,

400 ; and bomb ing of G ermany,

348, 37 1 ; a n d a c o a l i t i o n w i t h

England, Poland, and R ussia,

164, 169 ; and c a m o u f l a g e ,

474 ; c e ns o r s h i p, 5 1 1 ; a n d c o a l

mines, 466 ; and Communism,

436, 438 , 466 ; a n d d e f e a t i s m ,

1 5 0 , 1 5 5 , 1 61; and democratic

leadersh ip, 5 60; and public

opinion r e g a r d i n g England,

3 0 6 , 4 7 7 , 4 8 1 , 5 1 6; a n d s e v e r -

a n c e o f r e l a t i o n s w i t h E n g l a n d ,

448 ; and fa scism, 15 0, 43 6 ;

and the Franco-G erman " good

nei hbour" declarati on, 15 5 ;

a n d t r e a t m e n t o f G e r m a n f l y e r s ,

383, 388; a n d l a b o u r f o r G e r -

many, 474 ; and looting with

German marks, 433 , 47 9 ; and

German m echanized troop s,

37 9; and German news -reel of

d e s t r u c ti o n, 3 8 3 ; a t t i tu d e t o-

wards Nazi Germany, 8 4 ; a n d

s u p p l i e s t o G e r m a n y , 5 2 3 , 5 7 7 ;

ultim atum to Ge rmany, 198,

V i i

202 ; and the government's

flight, 399 ; a n d c o l l a p s e o f t h e

government , 412 ; and quot a-

tions from Hitler's Mein Kamp ,

86 ; and Hitler's plan of France's

d i s i n t e g r a t io n , 45 9 - 6 0 ; a n d I n -

do-Chin a, 52 0 ; a n d a n t i - F r e n c h

demonstrations in I taly, 15 5;

a n d I t a l y ' s d e c l a r a t i o n o f w a r ,

397 ; m o b i l i s a t i o n(September

1938) , 143 and Moroccan

t r o op s , 3 7 1 ; and the M unich

pact, 14 5 ; and pac ifis m, 150 ;

abol ition of P arliam ent, 449 ;

a n d l o s s e s o f p r i s o n e r s , 3 9 4 - 5 ;

and French refugees, 418 ; a n d

R us s i a , 48 , 5 0 , 5 2 , 5 6 , 5 7 , 2 2 7 ,

400; and Soc ialism, 15 0 ; and

a c c u s a t i o ns o f t r e a c h e ry , 4 3 4 ,

438 ; s e e a l s o A u s t r i a , B e l g i um ;

Czechoslovak ia; Franco-Soviet

pact ; Germany : and H itler's

peace overt ures ; N orwa}' ; Po-

land; Saar ; Spain : and Civil

War ; U . S . : a n d t h e n e u t r a l i t y

law

Franc o, Franc isco, 69, 7 0, 15 7,

162, 5 07, 5 19, 5 34, 542, 5 99,

and meeting with H itler, 5 48 ;

s e e a l s o Spain

F r a nc o - S ov i e t p a c t, 4 8 , 5 0 , 5 2 , 5 6

F r a n c - t i r e ur s , 2 0 6

Frank, H ans, 25 0, 5 66

F r a n k f u r t, 5 0 5

Frankfurter Zeitung, 148, 21 7,

458

Freiburg, 334, 336 , 342

Frick, Wilhelm, 191, 5 90

F r i e d r i c h s h a f e n , 60

F r it s c h , W e rn e r v o n, 2 7 , 5 5 - 6 , 5 7 ,

91, 220,22 2

Froeh lich, 52 5 ;and see Haw

Haw, L ord

F r o e l i c h , D r . (of Germ an P ropa-

ganda Minis try), 47 0

"Front of R eason," 2 20

Frot, Eugene, 8

F i i h r e r , D e r , K a r l s r u h e , 1 7 3

F u n k , W a l t h e r , 9 1 , 1 9 1, 4 6 0 , 4 6 7 ,

590

172, 201, 203, 207, 209, 210,

217, 2 3 0 , 246, 260, 275, 283,

285,303, 312, 334, 339, 340,

3 41 , 3 4 5 , 346, 347 , 3 4 9 , 3 5 4 ,

3 5 5 , 3 6 5 , 370, 3 89, 403, 4 40,

4 42 , 4 4 3 , 447, 4 65, 476, 484,

5 06 , 5 17 , 5 4 2 , 5 4 4 - 5 , 5 4 6 , 5 5 2 ,

5 5 8 , 583, 584, 589, 595 ; and

t h e a i r f o r c e , 3 7 6 , 378, 516,



V ill

Fumes, 392

F u r h w a n g l er , W i l h e lm , 8 4 , 5 5 9

G a b l e , C l a r k , 2 4 0

Ga l l ic o , Pa u l , 4 7 , 65 , 6 8 , 7 7 , 1 5 1

G a l l up Po l l , 5 6 0

G a m e l i n , M a u r i c e , 1 2 6

G a n d h i , M a h a t m a , 6 3 , 1 7 0 , 2 9 8

Garden, Mary, 91

G a r m i s c h - P a r t e nk i r c h e n , 4 4 , 46 - 7 ,

2 8 7 - 8

G a r v i n , J a m e s L o ui s , 3 4 , 5 8

G a s o l i ne , s y n t h e ti c , 5 7 7 - 8

G a u l l e , C ha r l e s d e , 4 6 7 , 5 2 0

v a y d a , V i r g i n i o , 1 6 9

- 3 d y n ia , 1 7 4 , 1 7 5 , 1 7 6 , 1 93 , 2 1 2 ,

213, 369

G e d y e , E r i c , 1 0 , 9 7 , 1 2 9

Geist, Raymond H . , 179

Gembloux, 3 71

G e n e v a , 8 8 , 1 1 6 -1 8 , 1 2 4 , 1 5 1 - 2 ,

1 5 7 , 15 9, 16 2,1 7 0, 2 3 4 - 5 ,

2 5 3 - 4 , 3 42 , 4 47 - 8 , 5 0 4 - 5 , 5 0 6,

544 ; bomb ed, 40 2

G e r m a n is m , 2 8 1 , 3 2 8

G e r m a n y , 8 4 , 1 6 7 , 1 6 9, 1 7 1 , 2 0 7 ,

2 8 4 , 3 0 2 , 3 2 8 , 4 0 3 , 4 18 , 4 3 4 ,

4 47 , 4 9 6, 5 2 0 , 5 4 3 - 4 ; a n d t h e

a i r fo r ce , 2 7 , 3 5 , 9 5 , 2 1 8 , 2 2 9 ,

2 4 6 , 2 7 0 , 3 01 , 3 2 1 , 3 2 3 , 3 2 5 ,

3 2 6 , 3 3 0 , 3 3 2 , 3 3 4 , 3 3 8 , 3 4 0,

3 4 5 , 3 4 7 , 3 7 8 , 3 7 9 , 4 16 , 4 3 7 ,

4 4 2 , 4 6 6, 4 6 8 , 4 7 2 - 3 , 4 7 4 , 4 7 5 ,

495, 5 15-18, 5 3 4 , 5 4 9 -5 8 ,

575-6, 5 77-82 ; and airplane

p r o d u c t i o n , 5 8 1 ; a n d l os s e s i n

a i r w a rf a r e, 4 7 6 , 5 1 7 , 5 5 5 - 7 ;

and accusa tion of Allies as "ag-

g r es s o r s , " 3 2 9 , 3 3 1; d e f e n s i v e

me a s u r e s a g a i n s t a n En g l is h a t -

tack on the French coast, 471-2 ;

election (1936), 49, 53 , 5 9 ; p r e -

w a r e c o n o m i c c o n d i t i o n s , 1 6 5 ;

and the Anglo-German nav al

a c c o r d , 3 8 , 4 0 , 1 4 6 , 16 6 ; a n d

t h e A n g l o - U. S . destroyer deal,

498; and an t i-a irc ra f t de fences ,

3 4 9 , 4 6 8; and an t i-B r i t ish p rop -

aganda, 218, 275 , 27 7,• 4 5 7 ,

5 0 9 - 1 0 ; andp r e - w a r anti-

BERL IN D IARY

Sov iet pro paganda,67, 240 ;

a n d a r m in g , 2 5 , 2 7 , 3 3 , 3 4 , 7 1 ,

123; a n d A r m i s t i c e D a y c e l e-

b r a t i o n , 5 6 4 - 5; a n d t h e a r m y ,

2 2 , 5 7 , 7 1 , 2 2 0 , 3 4 8 , 4 3 9, 4 40 ,

441, 446; a n d a r t i l le r y , 3 7 5 ,

3 8 0 , 3 8 2; and authoritarianism ,

585; a n d b o m b i ng o f c i v i l i a n s ,

3 3 5 , 3 3 9 , 4 1 7 , 4 9 1, 4 9 8 , 5 0 0,

5 0 9 - 10 , 602 ; andBritish

d e c l a r a t i o n o f w a r , 2 0 0; a n d

B r i t i s h p r o pa g a n d a b r o a d c a s t s ,

503; answering B r i t i s h p r o -

p o s a l s r e g a r d i n g P o la n d , 1 8 9 ,

192; and British and French

u l t im a t u m s , 1 9 8 , 2 0 0 ; and con-

s e q u e n c e s o f a B r i t i s h - F r e n c h

victory, 260 ; broadcast from the

f r o n t, 2 0 4 ; ban on foreign

b r oa d c a s t s , 1 9 8 , 2 0 2 , 2 6 2 , 2 8 8 ,

453 ; f o r e i g n -l a n g u a g eb r o a d -

casts , 5 29 i n t e r r u p t io n o f

b r o a d c a s t sd u r i n g a i r r a i d s ,

5 0 1 - 2; a n d c a p i t a l p u n i s h me n t ,

262, 299; a n d c a s u a l t i es , 3 8 7 ,

3 9 4 - 5; censorship, 5 11-12, 542 -

543; e v a c u a t i o n o f c h i l d r e n ,

486; g u a r d i a n s h i p o f c h i l d r e n ,

291 ; a n d Ch r is t i a n it y, 5 8 2 ; a nd

c o a l s h or ta g e, 2 7 5 , 2 7 6 , 2 8 2 ,

292, 441 ; and the Defence

C o u n c i l , 1 9 2 ; a n d d e m o c r a c y ,

585 ; D o c u m e n t s o n t h e O r i gi n s

o f t h e W a r , 2 5 7 , 2 8 3 ; a n d t h e

E n g li s h c a m p a i g n , 4 5 2 - 6; f o o d

supply, 46 2, 485 , 5 37-8; ar-

m i s t i c e w i t h F r a n c e , 4 19 , 4 2 5 ,

427 ; a n d b r o a d c a s t o f t h e a r -

m i s t i c e , 4 4 3 - 6 ; p r e - w a r r e l a -

t i o n s w i t h F r a n c e , 4 8 , 5 6 - 7 ,

155 ; a n d t h e F r e n c h a r m y , 3 0 3 ;

and treatment of French flyers,

383 ; a n d G e r m a n c h a r a c t e r i s -

t i c s , 1 8 6, 2 8 2 , 3 2 4 , 3 8 8 , 3 9 8 ,

5 3 2 , 5 4 0, 5 8 2 - 5; and Germans

living abroad, 93, 12 1 ; German

women, 17 3, 30 6 ; a n d H e r o e s '

M e m o r i a l D a y c e l e b r a t i o n , 5 5 ,

295 ; a n d H i t l e r ' s p e a c e o v e r -

t ur es , 3 2 , 3 4 , 3 7 , 5 1 , 5 3 , 2 0 5 ,

2 1 7 , 2 2 3 , 2 2 7 . 2 2 8 , 2 3 1 - 2 . 451 ,



IN DEX

452 -6 , 45 7 , 458-9 , 461 ; a r r i v a l

o f h o s p i t a l t r a i n s i n , 5 0 6 , 5 0 8 - 9 ,

5 5 8 -9; isolation of, 172, 5 65 ;

and the Jewish population, 242 ,

25 0, 263 , 275 , 292; and Labour

Day celebration, 36; and labour

unions, 88 ; a n d l i t e r a t u r e , 2 3 9 ;

and reprisal attacks on London,

499, 5 01, 509-10, 541; and the

m a s t e r r a c e , 8 6 , 5 1 3; and

mechanized and motoriz ed

troops, 379, 416, 435 , 439, 53 4 ;

a n d " m e r c y k i l l i n g s , " 5 6 9 - 7 5;

and militarism, 2 2, 30, 31, 53;

a n d r e s t o r a t i o n o f m i l i t a r y s e r v -

ice, 29-34, 5 82; and mobi l iza -

t i o n , 1 8 6 , 1 9 1; and motion pic-

t u r es , 2 4 0 ; and the Munich

pac t , 143; h e r n a v y , 2 6 4, 2 6 5 ,

314, 440; and the term "Nazi,"

495; n e u t r a l i t y d e c l a r a t i o n s ,

18 9; and news-reel of des truc-

t i o n i n B e l g i u m a n d F r a n c e ,

3 8 3; a n d f o o d s h o r t a g e in o c -

cupied countries, 467; and pub-

l i c o p i n i o n i n o c c u p i e d c o u n -

t r i e s , 3 8 8 , 4 8 1 , 5 3 0 - 1; and Po-

l i s h d o c u m e n t s , 3 0 8; and press

propaganda, 185 , 186, 32 9, 336,

3 3 8 , 3 8 2 , 3 9 0 , 4 5 9 , 4 8 1 , 4 8 9 - 9 1 ,

492 , 499-500, 5 09-10, 5 15, 5 18,

5 4 0 , 5 4 1; and prisoners taken,

37 3 9 d b l r f d e -; a p

c ea

r a w m a t e r i a ls , 2 1 0, 2 9 9, 3 0 7 ,

3 0 9 , 3 4 8 , 5 7 7 - 8 , 6 0 0; and

Roosev elt's nom ination in 1940,

4 5 7 - 8; pacts with Russ ia, 180,

1 8 1, 1 9 0, 1 9 2 , 1 9 8 , 2 2 7 , 2 8 9 ,

5 90 ; r e l a t i o n s w i t h R u s s i a , 2 5 4 ,

2 81, 45 0, 564, 565 ; an d German

forces on the Russ ian frontier,

5 4 8 , 5 5 0; and Russ ian supplies,

2 1 0 , 2 7 3 , 2 7 6; and se l f - suf -

ficiency, 67; ship loss es, 317,

3 1 9, 3 9 5 , 5 5 9; s u m m a r y o f h e r

strategic position, 548-5 9; a n d

i n c r e a s e d t a x e s , 2 0 3; s h o r t a g e o f

t e x t i l e s , 5 7 7; and the theatre,

2 40; transportation system of,

2 8 0; and the t r ipar t i t e pac t ,

5 3 2 - 7; un i f ica t ion by Hi t le r,

5 8 1 - 2; and format ion of a War

Cabinet, 191; p r e - w a r c o n d i -

tions, 165; a n d a w a r o f a t -

t r i t i o n , 2 0 8 , 2 5 0 , 2 7 8 , 3 3 1 , 5 2 3 ,

5 7 6; and the Weimar Republ ic ,

5 8 4; and workers ' employment ,

2 05; and World War guilt, 25 8 ;

p h y s i c a l c a r e o f y o u t h , 3 6 8;

cons cription of youth, 297 ; a n d

s e e A u s t r i a; B elg ium

: and

G e r m a n y 's i n v a s i o n; Blockade ,

an ti-German; Czech oslo v ak ia ;

Czechs ; Danzig ; England ;

F ran ce; Germanism ; Hi t le r,

A d o l f

; L e b e n s r a u m ; N a z i P a r -

t y; N a z i s m ; Nether lands

: and

G e r m a n y 's i n v a s i o n ; " N e w o r -

der" ; N o r w a : a n d G e r m a n y ' s

invas ion; Poland ; P o l i s h C o r r i -

do r ; R e i c h s t a g ; R h i n e l a n d ;

Spain; Stukas ; T o t a l Wa r ; U .

S . : and aid to Britain; U

. S .:

an d a p o ssib le German attack;

Western f ron t; We s t w a l l

.

Gervas i, Frank, 88, 105-7

G e s t a po , 7 5 , 7 8 , 2 5 1 , 2 7 5 , 2 7 9 ,

2 9 0 , 3 1 9 , 4 9 4 , 5 1 2 , 5 6 9 - 7 5 , 5 8 3 ,

5 8 9

Gh en t, 4 6 8 -7 0 ,4 7 8

G h e tt o , 2 5 0

Gh y v eld e, 3 9 2

G i b r a l t a r , 2 9 3 , 5 0 7 , 5 3 4 , 5 4 2

G i l b e r t , P r e n t i s s , 8 2

Gil l ie (Morning Pos t cor respond,

ent), 15 , ill

Giroud, General, 387

Givet, 340

Glaise-Ho rsten au , E d mu n d , 1 02 ,

416

Glorious, 397

G l o w - w o r m , 3 1 5

Gneisenau, 2 67 , 397

f e a t , 5 8 3 ; a n dpublic

o p i n i o n r e -

gard ing

the w a r, 2 08 , 5 10, 5 7 8,

5 8 1 ; an d p u rg e of 1934, 11-12 ,

104, 2 2 3 , 5 8 7;

and rationing,

185 , 187, 188, 189, 2 2 1, 2 2 4 ,

2 3 9 , 2 41, 2 48, 2 5 2 , 2 5 9, 2 82 ,

288 ,290,

300, 3 05 , 32 3, 485 ,

5 0 8 , 5 2 1 -2 , 5 3 8 , 5 6 5 ,5 7 6

; a n d



m a n y 's a i r f o rc e , 2 8 , 9 5 , 2 7 0 ;

and Lindb ergh, 6 3; his flight

o v e r L o nd o n , 5 1 6- 1 7 ; a n d v o n

Pa p e n , 2 1 ; h is p o p ul a r it y, 5 8 8 ;

and the purge of 1934, ii;

c r e a t e d a Re i c h s m a r s h a l , 4 5 5;

and U . S. c o r r e s p o n d e n t s , 6 5 ;

and U . S. plane production, 245

Graf Spee, 2 5 9 , 2 6 1

G r a fe ne c k , 5 7 1 , 5 7 3 , 5 8 9

G r a n d i n , T o m , 1 5 8 , 1 6 9 , 5 1 1

G r a u d e n z , 2 0 4

Great Britain, see England

Greco, El, 5, 63, 115

G r e e c e, 4 0 1, 5 1 4, 5 3 4 , 5 8 4 ; a n d

I t a l i a n i n v a s i o n ,5 4 0 , 5 4 6- 7 ,

5 4 8 , 5 6 4, 5 6 5

Greenland, 5 94

Gr e i s e r, Ar t h u r, 1 7 4

Grimm, H ans, 586

G s t a a d , 1 5 6

G u d b r a nd s d a l V a l le y , 3 2 5

C u l br a n s s e n , T ry g v e , 2 3 9

G u n t h e r , J o h n , 1 0, 6 8 , 8 3 , 1 7 0 ,

1 7 5 , 1 7 8 , 2 1 2

Giirtner, Franz, 57 0

BERLIN DIARY

H a a k o n V I I o f N o r w a y , 3 1 6 , 3 1 9 ,

331 ; and see Norway : a n d t h e

Royal House

H a b e r s b i r k , 12 8 , 1 3 0

Habsb urg Empire, 2 60

H a b s b u r g f a m i l y , 3 6 2 , 5 8 2

H a c h a , E m i l , 1 5 9 , 2 9 9

Hadamowsky, Eugen, 139,445

H a g e l b e r g , 1 7 4

H a g e n , 45 9

Hag u e , T h e, 3 3 6 , 3 3 8

H a l d e r, G e n e ra l , 4 5 6 , 5 5 2 , 5 9 1

Ha l f e l d , Ad o l f Fr i e d r i c h Wi l h e l m,

147,180

H a l i fa x , Vi s c o u n t, 1 5 7 , 2 0 2 , 4 5 8 ,

459

Hambro, C . J., 316, 324

H a mb u rg , 69 , 2 6 4, 2 6 5 , 5 5 2 , 5 5 3;

b o m b e d , 3 9 0, 4 5 9 , 4 63 - 5 , 5 7 9

Hamburg Zeitung,135

Hampton Roads, 5 94

H a n f s s t a n g l , E r n s t F r a n z , 1 4 , 1 7 ,

24

H a n no v e r , 2 3 9; b o m b e d , 3 4 8 , 3 4 9

H a r r i s o n , L a n d r e t h , 1 6 4 , 1 7 8

H a rs c h , J o e , 2 8 2 , 3 1 8 , 3 4 2 , 4 2 9 ,

4 5 5 , 5 0 8 , 5 45

H a r th e i m , 5 7 1 , 5 7 3

H a r t r ic h , E d w i n , 3 2 9 , 5 0 4 , 5 0 8 ,

5 3 2 , 5 3 6, 5 4 6

H a u p t m a n n , G e r h a r t , 2 4 0

H a u s h o f e r, K a r l , 5 8 5 - 6

Haw-Haw, Lady, 337

Haw-Haw, L ord, 2 64, 2 94, 491,

5 2 4 -8

H a w k i n s , E r i c , 6

H e a r s t , M r s . W . R . , 6 5

H e a t h , Do n a l d , 3 9 3 , 5 0 4 , 5 4 1

H e d i n , S v e n , 2 4 0

He g el , Fr i e d r i c h , 5 8 5

Heimwehr, 9

H e i n e n, J o h a n n , 2 0 6

H e i n e s , E d m u n d , 1 2

Heldengedenktag, 31

H e l go l a n d , 2 6 0

H e l i u m , 6 0

H el s i n k i, 2 7 5 , 2 9 7; b o m be d , 2 5 3 ,

255

Hendaye, 5 48

H e n d e r s o n , S i r N e v i l e , 7 6 , 8 3 ,

1 3 8 , 1 3 9 , 1 8 1 . 184 186. 1 8 8 .

x

G o d e s b e r g , 1 3 4 , 1 3 5 - 9 , 140, 16 1

Godesberg Memorandum, 141

G o eb be ls , P a u l J os e f , 14 , 17 , 18 ,

2 5 , 2 9-3 0, 3 6, 44, 5 8, 5 9, 60,

103, 1 1 2 , 13 9, 142 , 145 , 17 7 ,

18 2 , 191, 2 2 1 , 2 2 2 , 2 3 2 ,2 3 8 ,

2 5 5 , 2 5 9, 2 60, 2 8 9 ,2 9 9 , 3 0 3 ,

3 1 2 , 3 17 , 3 2 0,3 3 3 , 3 3 6 , 3 4 3 ,

4 1 8 , 4 4 5 , 446, 4 4 9 ,4 5 2 , 4 5 7 ,

4 5 8 ,4 5 9 , 46 2 , 4 8 1, 4 8 9- 90 , 4 92 ,

5 0 1 ,5 0 3 , 5 1 5 , 5 16 , 5 18 , 5 1 9,

5 2 1 ,5 2 2 , 5 2 6 , 5 2 8 , 5 46-7 , 5 60,

5 63 , 5 6 6, 5 8 7 , 5 8 8 -9

Goethe, J . W . von, 2 40,

G o l d s c h m i d t , M a j o r , 1 01

Gone with the Wind, 2 3 9 ,

G o r i n g , H e r m a n n , 1 8 ,

5 7 , 7 2 , 7 6 , 91 , 12 5 ,

327

588

3 5 , 40, 5 5 ,

139,1 45 ,

1 91 , 2 0 6 , 2 3 0 , 2 4 3 ,'246, 2 5 9 ,

2 6 2 , 2 7 3 , 2 7 4 , 2 7 6, 2 8 9 ,2 9 3 ,

2 9 9 , 3 2 1 , 3 2 6 , 3 8 3 ,391, 3 9 2 ,

4 2 1 , 4 4 2 , 4 6 2 , 4 6 6,486, 4 9 1 ,

5 3 5 , 5 4 9, 5 5 2 - 6 , 5 63 ,5 6 6 , 5 7 8 ,

5 8 1 , 5 8 7 , 5 8 9 , 5 9 0; a n d G e r -



IN DEX

1 9 0, 2 0 0 ; and Germany's reply

t o B r i t i s h p r o p o s a l s r e g a r d i ng

P o l a n d , 1 8 9 , 1 92

H e n i e, S o n j a , 4 6

H e n le i n , K o n r a d , 1 2 1 , 1 2 8 , 1 3 1

Henry-H aye, Gasto n, 418

Herald Trib une, New York, 121,

344

H e r r io t , E d o u a r d , 9

Hess R udolf, 19, 91, 100, 145 ,

243, 247, 324 , 421 , 5 87 , 5 88,

590

H i l l, G a r i b a l d i , 3 8 9

H i ll , Ru s s e l l , 2 3 6 , 2 3 7 , 2 7 2 , 3 3 7 ,

450

H i l l m a n , W i l l ia m , 7 2

H i l l s , L a u r e n c e , 1 3

Hilversu m, 27 8

H i m m l e r, H e i nr i c h , 1 8 , 2 0 5 , 2 1 7 ,

222, 241 , 25 1, 252, 262, 27 0,

27 2, 28 9, 291 , 452 , 46 1, 49 5,

513, 5 38, 545, 5 61, 564 , 5 69,

5 8 7 , 5 8 9 , 5 90

Hindenburg, Paul v on, 13

Hindenburg, 6 0 , 7 2 - 3

Hindus, Mauri ce, 126, 130, 131 ,

1 3 4 , 1 4 0, 1 7 2 , 1 7 8

Hirsc h, Helmut, 7 4

H i s t o r y o f t h e R u s s i a n R e v o l u t i o n,

11

H i t le r , A d o l f , 4 , 8 , 3 0 - 3 , 4 3 , 4 7 ,

53-4, 5 5, 6 5, 69, 70, 71, 7 2,

73-4, 75 , 7 6, 83, 85 , 90 , 91 ,

1 1 6, 1 1 9, 1 2 0 , 1 2 3 - 6 , 1 2 8 , 1 3 0 ,

133, 143, 147 , 148 , 149, 161,

170, 174, 184, 186, 190, 19 1,

192, 19 3, 200 , 205 , 209, 217 ,

228, 230, 235, 240, 247, 25 3,

2 5 8 , 2 6 0- 2 , 2 7 2 , 2 7 3 , 2 7 5 , 2 7 8 ,

283, 286, 287 , 289, 296 , 297,

299, 30 5, 306 , 8 15, 316, 317,

320, 3 21, 323 , 325 , 327 , 328,

331, 33 5, 336, 33 9, 341, 342 ,

344, 34 6, 357 , 381, 383, 385 ,

386, 388 , 392, 39 5, 399 , 418,

4 3 3 , 4 4 1 , 4 4 3 , 4 4 8 , 4 5 7 - 6 1 , 4 6 3 ,

468, 467, 46 8, 481, 499 , 5 05,

513, 523 , 5 26, 5 27, 5 40, 5 48-

5 9 , 5 6 3 , 5 6 4 , 5 6 5 , 5 6 8 , 5 7 7 - 94 ,

602, 604 ; h is a ir - ra id s he l te r,

520 ; a n d t h e A n g l o - S a x o n c h a r -

a c t e r , 5 3 5 ; d i r e c t in g th e a r m y ,

371 ; a n d th e be e r- ho us e P u ts c h ,

12, 223, 5 61 ; and the "Big

Five," 590 ; and bombing of

open towns, 199 ; defied in Brit-

ish leaflets, 490 ; a t t h e B u r g e r -

b r a u K e l le r , M u ni c h , 2 4 6 , 2 5 1 ;

a n d c a s u a l t i e s i n N o r wa y , 5 7 3 -

4 ; and Chamberlain, 131, 13 4,

137, 140-1 , 146; as conqueror

of Europe, 207 ; a n d h i s d a i l y

habits, 242 ; correspondence

w i t h D a l a d i e r , 1 8 8 ; i n D a n z i g ,

2 1 6 , 2 2 0 ; and the fall of France,

414-16 ; q u o t a t i o n s f r o m Mein

Kam p about Franc e, 86 ; and

the Franco-German armistice,

419-25 ; a n d m e e t i n g w i t h G e n -

e r a l F r a n c o , 5 4 8 ; lack of friend-

ship, 58 7 ; and Gener al v on

F ri t s c h, 2 2 0 , 2 2 2 ; a n d th e Ge r -

man peop le, 5 86-7 ; and unifica-

tion o f Germany, 58 1-2 ; and

Genera l Halder, 45 7; and Hin-

denburg's death, 13; and the

Hohenzollem family, 25 0; a n d

the industrialists, 2 76; i n K a r l s -

ruhe, 5 9 ; and Captain Langs-

d o r f f , 2 6 1; a n d h i s l a s t t e r r i-

t o r i a l d e m a n d s , 1 4 1 ; and P ie rre

Laval , 44 9 ; a n d a m a s t e r r a c e,

86 ; his mov ements a military

s e c r e t, 5 3 8 ; and broadcast of

his speec h in Munich (Nov em-

b e r 1 9 4 0 ), 5 6 1 - 2; a n d m e e t i n g s

with Benito Mussolini at the

Brenner P ass, 301, 5 38-9; and

the "ne w ord er," 5 31, 5 82-3 ;

N e w Ye a r ' s p r o c l a m a t i o n , 1 9 4 0 ,

270; in Nuremb erg, 16 -23, 6 7,

1 2 5 , 1 2 6 , 1 31; a n d t h e m e e t i n g

with Marshal Pe tain, 5 48; in

Prague, 160 ; a n d t h e p u r g e o f

1 9 3 4 , 11 - 12 , 1 0 4, 2 2 3 ; a n d h i s

v i s i t t o R o m e , 1 14 ; a n d R o o s e -

v e l t ' s p l e a , 1 6 5 ; and Roose-

v e l t ' s n o m i n a t i o n ( 1 9 3 9 ) , 458 ;

and R o o s e v e l t ' s re-election,

560-1 ; and R ussia, 220, 302,

550, 5 92 ; and Sc huschnigg's

Xi



X11

visit, 92 ; a n d S i r J o h n S i m o n ' s

visit, 35 ; a n d h i s s p e e c h a t th e

S p o r t p a l a s t, 141 , 1 4 4 ; and

St a li n , 2 2 0 , 2 6 1, 5 6 0 ; a n d Se r -

ran o S u iie r ' s v is i t , 5 07 ; and his

t h i r t e e n - p o i n t p r o g r a m , 3 7 - 9 ;

a n d t h e t r i pa r t i te p a c t , 5 3 2 - 7 ;

a n d t h e U . S ., 591-3 ; in Vienna,

1 0 7 , 1 0 8 ; a n d W a g n e r 's i n f l u -

e n c e , 5 7 ; p r o c l a m a t i o n a t t h e

o u t br e a k o f t he w a r , 2 0 1 ; a n d

S u m ne r W e ll e s ' s v i s i t , 2 9 2 - 3 ;

a t t h e w e s t e r n f r o n t , 2 6 3 ; his

s p e e c h a t W i l h e l m s h a v e n , 1 6 2 ;

h i s s p e e c h a t t h e o p e n i ng o f

the winter-relief c a m p a i g n ,

4 9 5 - 7 ; a n d s e e Germany ; N a z i

P a r t y ; N a z i s m ; Reichstag

H i t l e r Yo u th , 2 9 7

H o d z a , M i l o , 1 3 3

Hoernum, 304

H o f fm a n n , H e i n r i c h , 2 4 7

H o h en z o l l e rn f a m i l y , 2 5 1 , 5 8 2

H o l b ur n , J i m m y , 7 8 , 8 3

H o l l a n d , see N e t h e r l a n d s

H o l m e s , C h r i s t o p h e r , 2 1 , 4 1

H o l t, R u s h , 3 0 9

H o o v e r , He r b e rt , 4 6 7 , 5 2 3 , 5 6 6

Horthy de N a g y b a n y a , N i c h o la s ,

12 3

Howard, Roy, 48

H u l l , C o r d e l l , 3 0 9

Hungary, 136 , 17 3

H u n tz i g e r , C h a rl e s , 4 2 3 , 4 2 7

H u r r i c a n e p l a n e s , 4 8 2

Hu s s , Pi e r r e , 2 9 , 4 1, 5 0 , 6 5 , 1 0 5 ,

1 0 6 , 1 1 1 , 1 3 6 , 1 6 6 , 1 92 , 4 4 6

Huxley Aldous, 35 8

I c e l a n d , 5 9 4

I n d i a , 6 3 , 1 7 0

I n d o - C h i na , 5 2 0

I n s i d e As i a , 170

Interg overnmental Committee :

m e e t i n gat Ev i a n - l es - Ba i n s ,

119

I n t e r n a t i o n a l Br o a d c a s t i n g Un i o n ,

BERLIN DIARY

Ironside, Sir Edmund, 438

I r w i n , W a r r e n , 3 0 4 , 3 0 5

I t H a p p e ne d O n e N i g h t , 2 4 4 , 5 8 8

I t a l y, 5 1 , 7 0 , 15 4 , 3 2 5 , 3 4 1 , 3 8 8 ,

5 1 3 -1 4, 5 1 9 , 5 2 0; and Abys-

s i n i a n c a m p a i g n , 4 3 , 6 1; a n d

A l b a n i a , 1 6 5 , 3 0 5 ; and Cham-

b er la in ' s v is i t , 15 6 ; a n d E g y p -

t i a n c a m pa i g n, 5 0 6, 5 3 4 , 5 3 8 ;

and -Fascism, 302 ; and the

F r a n c o - I t a l i a n a r m i s t i c e , 42 5 ;

a n d t h e " n e w o r d e r , " 5 1 4 ; a n d

t h e t r ip a r t i te p a c t , 5 3 2 - 7 ; a n d

t h e o u t b r e a k o f t h e w a r , 1 9 8 ;

a n d d e c l a r a t i o n o f wa r, 3 9 7 ; s ee

a l s o C z e c h os l o v a k i a ; Germany

G r e e c e : a n d I t a l i a n i nv a s i o n ;

S p a i n: a n d C i v i l W a r ; Switzer-

l a n d

Andrew, 47 0

J a c o b i, Pa s t o r, 7 6

J a p a n, 6 9- 7 0 , 8 9, 2 5 3 , 5 2 0 , 5 3 2 - 7 ,

5 9 3 - 4

J a r r e t t , E l e a n o r H o l m , 6 5

J e n a , 3 2 7

Jeuness e Patriotes, 6

Jews : i n G e r m a n y , 3 6, 2 5 0 , 2 6 3 ,

520-1, 5 85 ; and emigration

f r o m G e r m a n y , 2 9 2 ; i n Ge r ma n -

o c c u pi e d P o la n d , 2 5 0 , 2 7 6 , 5 1 3 ,

a n d m i g r a t i o n t o U . S . , 5 4 5

Jibouti, 61

J o d l , Al f re d , 4 6 6, 5 5 3 , 5 9 1

J o h n s o n , H a l l e t , 5 9 7

J o h n s o n , H i r a m , 1 6 8

J o h n s o n , H u g h , 2 4 1

J o h n s o n , Ph i l l i p, 2 1 3

J o r d a n , M a x , 9 5 , 1 3 9 , 1 4 5 , 1 9 7 ,

257

J

Journal de Charleroi, 406

o u v e ( o f H a v a s ) , 1 3 6

J o y c e , Wi l l ia m , 2 6 4, 5 2 5 ; a n d s e e

Haw-Haw, Lord

J u n g , E d g a r , 1 2

J u t l a n d , Ba t t l e o f , 3 1 5

321

I r a q , 5 3 4

I r e l a x id , 5 5 3

K a h r , G u s t a v v o n , 1 2 ,

K a l l io , K y o s t i , 2 5 4

223



INDEX

K a l t e nb a c h , F r e d , 5 2 8 - 9

K a l t e n b o r n , H a n s , 1 6 8 , 1 7 8 - 9 1

K a l t e n b o r n , M r s. , 181

K a r i n H a l l , 45 5

K a r l s b a d , 1 2 7

K a r l s r u h e , 5 9 , 3 1 5

K a s s e l , 3 8 5

K a t t e g a t, 3 1 0 , 3 1 6 , 3 2 6

K e i t e l , W i l h e l m , 9 1 , 1 3 9 , 1 4 5 ,

1 91 , 2 1 7 , 4 2 1 , 4 2 5 - 7 , 4 66 , 5 3 8 ,

553,591

Kelly, Pat, 602

Kemmel, 385

Kemp, Wilhelm, 5 59

K e n n e d y , J o s e p h P . , 308

K e r i l li s , H e n ri d e , 1 5 0

K e r k e r , W i l li a m , 4 2 0 , 4 2 7 , 4 3 4 ,

444,446

K e r r , Wa l t e r, 1 2 1 , 1 2 6 , 1 2 9 , 4 1 1 ,

428

K i d d , G e or g e, 8 3 , 2 2 4

Kiel, 264, 2 66-8, 4 4 0 , .552 ;

bombed, 579

K i e l c e , 2 0 4

K i r c h e r , R u d o l f, 1 4 8 , 3 0 1 , 4 5 8 ,

5 1 3 - 1 4

K i r k, A l e x a nd e r , 2 5 2 , 4 5 7 , 5 0 4

K i r k w a l l , 3 0 1

K l a u b e r, E d , 2 0 6 , 2 5 5

K l a u s n e r , E r i c h , 1 2

K n i c k e r b o c k e r , H u b e r t R . , 1 4 , 1 8 ,

2 1 , 4 0, 6 1 , 7 7 , 1 1 1 , 1 2 9 , 1 5 7 ,

221, 540

K n o p f , B l a n c h e , 8 7

K n o x , W i l l i a m F ., 77

Koehl, Hermann, 39

K o n o y e, P r i n c e , 5 3 5

K o o , W e l l i n gt o n , 8 9 , 2 8 9

K r a u s s ( G e r m a n c e ns o r ) , 5 1 1

K r a u s z , G e n e r a l v o n, 5 7

K r e u z b e r g , Ha r a l d , 5 6 5

K r i e g k , O t t o , 1 4 7 , 1 8 0

K r i s t i a n s a n d , 3 1 0

Krumau, 149

K r u p p m u n i t i o n w or k s , 3 2 4

Kuhn, Ferdinand, 8 0

K u n d t , E r n s t , 1 3 1

Kunsti, Erich, 101-2, 5 11

Kurusu, M . , 5 3 6

K u t n o , 2 1 0 , 2 1 7

Kuykendahl, 17 5

X111

L a b o u r S e r v i c e , 5 7 7 ; and see Ar-

b e i ts d i e n s t

Labrador, 594

L a k e h u r s t , 7 2

Lam mers, Hans, 1 91

L a n gs d o r f f , H a n s , 2 6 1

L a tv i a , 2 3 1

L a u s a n n e, 1 1 8 - 19 , 2 8 8 , 3 2 1

La v a l , Pi e r r e , 2 6 , 4 4 9 , 5 9 5

Le a gu e o f Na ti o n s , 3 7 , 4 3 , 5 1 , 5 5 ,

61, 86, 124, 157 , 166, 177, 342 ,

4 4 8 , 5 4 5

Lebensraum, 2 3 1 , 2 9 3 , 5 8 5

L e B o u r g e t , 4 1 0

L e e , J e n n i e , 6 8

Lehm ann, Captain, 60

L e h m a n , W i l l y , 4 0

L e ip z i g , 5 7 2 , 5 7 8

L e i p z i g , 2 6 6- 9

Leipz iger Neueste Nachrichte n

571

L e Lu c , A d m i r a l , 4 2 3 , 4 2 7

Leningr ad, 27 5

Le o p o l d I l l o f Be l g i u m, 2 4 4 , 3 8 1 ,

3 8 2 , 3 8 4

L e r ro u x , A l e x a n d e r , 4

L e s s i n g , P r o fe s s o r , 5 1 1

L eu n a w or k s , 5 1 5 , 5 7 8

Leuze, 3 73

L e v e r i c h ( o f U . S . E m b a s s y , B e r-

l i n ) , 8 4 , 5 4 1

L e w i s , W i l l i a m , 1 6 8

Le wis , Si n c l a i r, 6 7

L e y, R o be r t, 8 8 , 2 4 3 , 2 7 0 , 2 8 2 ,

5 8 7 , 5 8 9 , 5 9 0

L i eg e , 3 3 4 , 3 3 5 , 3 3 8 , 3 4 0 , 3 5 2 ,

4 0 6 , 4 3 3

Lif e and Death o f Lord Haw-

Haw, T he, 526

L i ll e , 3 8 4 , 3 8 5 , 4 7 9

L i ll e ha m m e r , 3 2 0 , 3 2 1

L i m b u r g , 3 5 1 , 3 6 7 , 4 0 6

L i n c o ln , A b r a h a m , 1 6 8

L i nd b e r g h, C h a r l e s , 6 3 , 2 1 1 , 2 2 0 ,

2 4 1 , 41 0 , 46 7 , 4 98 , 5 3 5 , 5 9 3

Lion Has Wings, The, 398

L i p s k i , M ., 192

L i s b o n , 5 4 2 , 5 4 4 , 5 9 9 , 60 0 -4

L i t h ua n i a , 2 3 1

Litvinov, Maxim M . , 8 9

L j u b l j a n a , 9 5



xiv

L l o r et d e M a r , 3 - 5 , 5 9 8

L oc a r n o, T r ea t y o f, 3 8 , 4 8 , 5 2 , 5 5 ,

56

L o c h n e r , L ou i s , 2 9 , 4 2 , 7 4 , 4 4 6

L o k a l A n z e i g e r , 295, 502

London, 6 7-8, 8 7, 103 -8, 16 5,

1 6 7 , 1 69 - 7 0 , 2 9 8 , 3 4 2 , 3 8 7 , 3 9 0 ,

3 9 3 , 4 8 2 , 4 9 1, 4 9 2 , 4 9 8 - 9 , 5 0 8 ,

515-17, 5 83 ; a n d b a r r a g e b a l -

l o o ns , 5 1 6 ; bombed, 487 , 49 9,

5 0 1 , 5 0 9 - 1 0, 5 4 1 , 5 8 0 , 6 0 1 , 6 0 3

L o n d o n d e r r y , Lo r d , 4 8 , 5 0

Look Homeward, Angel, 67

L o o k U p t h e S u bj e c t o f E n g l a n d ,

240

Lothian, Marquess of, 51, 7 2

L o uv a i n , 3 4 1 , 3 46 , 3 5 0 , 3 5 5 , 3 5 6 ,

357 , 35 8-60, 36 8, 369, 432

Low Countrie s, 331, 334, 33 6,

3 3 8 , 3 4 2 , 3 4 5 , 3 8 8 - 9, 4 3 9, 5 5 1 ;

and see Belgium ; N e t h e r la n d s

Ludendor ff, Er ich, 57 , 85 , 240,

334

Lueger, Karl, 90

L u f t s c h u t z k e l l e r ,520

Lu f twa f f e, see Germany : and

th e a ir fo rce

L u t z e , V i k t o r , 2 2

Luxemb urg, 189, 2 10, 33 1, 33 4

Lyon, 33 4, 3 95, 597-8

Maas, s ee Meuse River

Maass, Emil, 101

Maastri cht, 334 , 35 1, 36 7, 37 7,

433

MacDonald, Ra msay, 27 ,40

Macht and Erde, 586

Mackensen, A ugust von, 32, 5 7,

386

M a d r i d , 6 3 , 6 4, 6 9 , 1 62 , 5 4 4 , 5 9 9

Magdeburg, 40 5-6

Magic Mountain, The, 61

Maginot Line, 5 1, 5 9, 245, 2 64,

27 6, 302, 303, 33 0, 340, 34 5,

3 4 7 , 3 8 9 , 4 0 4, 4 0 5 , 4 4 0

Malta, 293 , 5 39

Manchuria, 43

Manhattan, 393

Mann, Thomas, 61

Marriot . R i c h a r d . 119

BERLIN DIARY

M a s a r y k , A l i c e , 1 13

Masaryk, Thomas, 144 , 15 9

Masdyc k, Harry, 157 , 336

M a s t e r r a c e , 8 6

Mastny, Dr ., 144

Matin Le, P a r i s , 4 1 3

Maub euge, 345, 347 , 406 -9, 437

Mauretania, 167

Mayer, Fre d, 5 0

McCormick, Col onel, R . R . , 1 2 9 ,

461

Medit err anean, 5 07, 534

Mein Kamp f, 2 4 , 8 5 , 86, 2 00, 2 5 8 ,

285

Men, 291

Menjou, Adolphe, 65

" M e rc y k i l l i ng s , " 5 1 2 , 5 6 9 -7 5

Mesopotamia, 322

Messersc hmitts, 48 2

M e s t r o v i c h , I v a n , 6 3

M e t a x a s , G e n e r a l , 5 4 7

M e u s e R iv e r , 3 3 4 , 3 3 5 , 3 4 0 , 3 4 1 ,

3 4 4 , 3 5 1 , 3 7 1 , 4 0 6, 4 3 5

Meuse Vall ey, 34 0

M i k l a s , W i l h e lm , 1 2 , 9 2 , 9 9

M i lc h , E r h a r d , 2 7 4 , 3 2 1 , 46 2 , 5 8 1

M i l l er , D o u g l a s , 4 7 , 8 4

Mill er, We bb , 8 2, 136, 329, 33 0

M i t t l e r , W ol f , 2 6 8

Moel ler v an den Bruck, Arthur,

586

Molotov, V . M . , 1 98 , 2 2 7 , 2 4 1,

253; v i s i t t o B e r l in , 5 6 4 , 5 6 5 ,

566

Monet, Cl aude, 34 3

Mons, 432

M o nt e v i d e o , b a t t le o f f , 2 5 9

Montmedy, 389, 404

Morocc o, 7 0, 210, 3 71

M o r r el l , W i l l i a m , 1 2 6 , 1 3 0

Moscow, 297

M o s i es k i , I g n a c y, 1 5 2

M o s l e y , S ir O s w a l d , 5 2 6

Mowrer , Edga r, 89, 105-7 , 157

M o w r e r , P a u l S c o t t , 1 7 8

Mowrer, Ric hard, 17 8

M u n i c h , 8 8 , 1 4 4- 8 , 2 4 7 , 2 8 8 , 4 1 4 ,

5 4 3 - 4 , 5 4 6; a n d t h e b e e r - h o u s e

P u t s c h , 561; bomb ed, 5 61-2 ;

a n d t h e o u t r a g e o f B i i r g e r b r a u

K e ll e r, 2 4 6, 2 5 1



IN DEX

M u n i c h p a c t , 1 4 4 , 1 45 ,

15 9, 16 0, 16 1, 298 ,

589

Miinzin gen, 5 71

Murmansk, 2 04, 25 7

Murphy, Pat, 21, 29

Murrow, Edward R . , 77 , 7 9 , 80 ,

8 2 , 8 7 , 9 7 , 9 9 , 10 2 , 1 0 4 , 1 07 ,

1 0 8 , 1 12 , 1 1 8 - 1 9, 1 3 2 , 1 3 4 , 1 4 6 ,

149, 15 0, 16 0, 16 9, 181, 182,

184, 1 85 , 188, 206, 25 4, 256,

2 7 7 , 2 7 8 , 4 91 , 5 2 8 , 5 9 5 , 6 0 0 -4

M u s s o l i n i , B e n i t o , 8 , 1 7 , 4 4 , 7 4 ,

9 0, 1 45 , 2 5 3 , 2 9 6, 3 0 2 , 3 0 5 , 3 2 5 ,

398, 399 , 458 , 5 06; and Abys-

sinian campaign, 43, 6 1; and

C h a m b er l a i n' s v i s i t , 1 5 6; and

f a l l o f F r a n c e , 4 1 4; and Italy's

i n v a s i o n o f G r e e c e , 5 4 6 - 7 , 5 4 8;

and the Munich pact, 143 ; a n d

the t r ipa r t i te pac t , 5 3 2 -7

M y t h u s o f t h e Tw e n t i e t h C e n t u r y ,

24

Nachtausgabe, 230,299,509,5 14-

15

N a m s o s , 3 2 0 , 32 1 , 3 2 5 , 3 2 7

N a m u r , 3 4 0 , 3 4 1 , 3 4 4 , 3 4 5 , 4 0 6

N a p o le o n I , 3 2 7 , 5 0 7

N a r v i k , 3 0 7 , 3 1 0 , 3 1 4, 3 1 7 , 3 2 3 ,

3 2 5 , 3 9 7, 4 65 , 5 4 9

N a t i o n a l S oc i a l i s t L e a g u e , 5 2 6

N a t i o n a l u n i o n , g o v e r n m e n t o f : i n

F r a n c e , 9

N a z i B r i d e s ' S c h o o l , 2 9 1

N a z i P a r t y, 5 8 4; a n d t h e a r m y , 3 3 ,

57 ; c o n g r e s s e s , ( 1 9 3 4 ), 1 6 - 2 3 ;

(1936), 66 , 67 ; (193 8) , 125 ;

(1939), 18 6 ; and purge of

1934, 12

N a z is m , 2 3 3 , 2 5 6 , 5 2 5 , 5 4 3, 5 8 2 ,

583-4 ; i n A u s t r i a , 9 0 , 9 1 , 9 2 ;

a n d e u g en i c s , 5 7 4 - 5 ; a n d S p e n -

g l e r , 8 4 ; see alsoGermany

H itle r, A do lf; N a z i P a r t y

Nelson, 391

N e t he r la n d s , 1 8 9, 2 4 8 , 2 5 2 , 2 5 4 ,

277, 327, 46 2, 46 5, 5 17, 5 30,

5 4 7 , 5 5 2 , 5 7 8 ; and the air force,

516; l anding of anti-German

3 5 3 , 3 7 8 , 3 8 3 , 3 8 8 , 3 8 9 ; u nd e r

German oc cupatio n, 458 , 5 75 ;

prisoners taken by Germany,

371 ; a c t s o f s a b o t a ge , 4 8 5 , 5 7 5 ;

and sup plies to Ger many, 485 ,

521,523

N e u r a t h, K o n s t a n t i n v o n , 2 5 , 2 7 ,

3 5 , 4 9, 5 0 , 91 , 2 3 2 , 3 0 0

New Deal, 42

"New Europe," 447

" N e w o r d e r , " 4 6 0, 4 6 1 , 5 1 4 , 5 3 1 ,

5 3 7 , 5 4 7 , 5 8 2 - 3 ; in eastern Asia,

535,537

New Orleans, 4 70

New York, 16 8, 445, 5 10 ; and

p u b l i c o p i n i o n r e g a r d i n g E u r o -

p e a n a f f a i r s , 4 2

Newfoundland, 594

Nietz sche, Friedric h W . , 5 8 5

Nieuport, 392

Nine-Power Conferenc e, 8 9

Noel, M ., 423

N o n - a g gr e s s i o n p a c t s , 5 1 , 1 6 7

Normandy, 39 1, 478 -9

N o r w a y , 2 1 0 , 2 9 7 , 3 0 7 , 3 0 9 , 3 2 4 ,

3 2 8 , 3 2 9 , 3 3 4 , 4 65 , 5 1 4 , 5 2 9 -3 1 ,

5 5 2 , 5 5 3 , 5 4 7 , 5 7 8 ; a n d A n g l o -

Frenc h tro ops, 3 20, 322 ; and

British mining of territorial

waters, 310-11 ; and the City

o f F l i n t , 242 ; f i f t h c o l u m n i n ,

316; and Germany's inv asion,

3 1 0 , 3 1 4, 3 1 6 , 3 1 9 , 3 2 0 - 1 , 3 2 3 ,

3 2 5 , 3 2 6 , 3 3 1 , 3 8 7 , 3 97 , 5 7 3 - 4 ;

a n d t h e R oy a l H o us e , 5 3 0

Noyon, 432

Nurem berg, 16-23, 6 6, 67, 8 2-3,

125, 186, 5 68

Nye, Gerald P . , 5 3 5

O b s e r v e r , London, 3 4, 5 8

O ' D w y e r , S i r M ic h a e l , 2 9 8

Oechsn er, Dor othy , 41, 8 4, 25 2,

263-4

$v

149 , 15 5 , flyers, 485; a n d t h e B r i t i s h I n -

3 00 , 400 , telligence Service, 57 5; and

Germany's invasion, 245, 27 6,

27 8, 292, 317, 329, 3 31, 33 2,

3 3 5 - 9 , 3 41 , 3 4 2 , 3 4 5 , 3 4 6 , 3 5 1 ,



Olympic G ames : at Garmisch, 45 ,

46 ; at Berlin, 64, 65

Orama, 397

Oran, 447

Or g a n i s a t i o n T o dt , 3 5 6 , 3 5 7 , 5 7 7

O r l e a n s , 4 1 7

O r s e n i go , C e s a r e , 2 9 6

O s l o, 3 1 0, 3 1 7 , 3 2 0 , 3 2 3 , 3 2 4 , 3 2 6

O s t e n d , 3 8 4, 4 7 0 -1 , 5 5 8 , 5 7 9

O s t e r d a l Va l l e y, 3 2 5

O t t o v o n H a b s b u r g , 9 7 , 3 6 1

Ot t we i l e r, 2 1 9

O u m a n s k y , C o n s t a n t i n e, 1 6 8

P a c e l l i , E u g e n i o , 15 8 ; s ee a ls o

P i u s X I I

P a c k a r d , P h o eb e , 1 2 2 , 1 2 9 , 1 3 2

P a d e r b o rn , 4 5 9

Palestine, 166, 507, 5 34

P a n - G e r m a n i m p e ri a l i s m , 5 9 2; see

a l s o Germanism; Germany : and

G e r m a n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

Pa n t o n , Se l k i r k , 1 8 3

Pa n z e r t r oo p s , s e e Germany : a n d

mechanized and m o t o r i z e d

troops

P a p e n , F ra n z v o n , 1 2 , 2 1 , 9 1, 2 3 8

P a r a c hu t is t s , 3 3 4 , 3 3 6 , 3 3 9 , 3 5 2 ,

3 8 3 , 3 8 8 , 4 3 8 , 4 3 9, 5 5 3

Paris, 6-13, 87, 90, 150-1, 15 4-6,

1 6 0- 1 , 1 7 0, 3 4 1 , 3 4 2 , 3 4 5 , 3 4 7 ,

3 8 7 , 3 9 0 , 3 9 1 , 3 9 7 , 4 0 0 , 40 3 ,

409-31, 435 , 441, 442, 443, 463,

549 ; a n d A m e r i c a n i n f l u e n c e ,

161; bomb ed, 393 , 395 ; and

G e r m a n o c c u p a t i o n , 4 04 , 4 05 ,

409; r i o t a t P l a c e d e l a C o n -

c o r d e , 6 - 7

P a r s o n s , G e o f fr e y , 1 8 7

Paul, Elliot, 11

P e c k h a m , C o n s t a n c e , 8 3

P e g l e r , W e s t b r o o k , 4 6 - 7

P e l l , R o b e rt , 8 9 , 1 2 0

P e o p l e w i t h o u t S p a c e ,586

meeting with Hitler, 548

Phillips, Joe, 170

Phillips, William, 43

Phipps, Sir Eric, 2 5

Pietzsc h, Alfred, 461

P i l s u d s k i , M a r s h a l , 3 1

Pima, 57 1

P i us X I , 8 8 , 1 5 4 , 1 5 7

P i us X I I , 1 5 8 , 1 5 9 , 2 9 6

Place de la Concorde, riot at, 6-7

A n l o - P o l i s h c o m m u n i q u e , 1 6 3 ;

a n d a r t i l l e r y , 2 1 5 ; and Bol-

s h e v i s m , 1 64 ; a n d a c o a l i t i o n

w i t h B r i t a i n, F r a n c e , a n d R u s -

s i a , 1 6 4, 1 6 9 ; a n d B r i t i s h a n d

F r e n c h g u a r a n t e e s , 1 63 , 1 6 4,

199 ; and Germany's r eply to

B rit ish p ro posa ls be fo re s ta r t o f

the war, 189, 192 ; and the Brit-

ish and Frenc h ultim atum to

Germany, 198; an d c iv i l ian re -

sis tance, 209 ; collapse of, 205,

2 0 8 , 2 1 0 , 2 1 2 , 2 1 8 , 2 1 9, 2 2 1 ;

a n d t h e g o v e r n me n t o f c o l o n e l s ,

1 6 4 ; a n d C z ec h o s l o v a k i a , 1 3 6 ,

15 1; a n d t h e D a l a d i e r - H i t l er

c o r r es p o n d e n c e, 1 8 8 ; a n d D a n -

z i g , 1 6 4, 1 6 7 , 1 7 2 , 1 7 4; a n d

German annex ation, 28 5; a n d

Germany's"counter-attack,"

1 9 7 , 2 0 1 , 2 0 7 , 2 0 8 , 2 0 9 , 2 1 0 ,

2 1 2 , 2 1 3 , 2 1 9, 2 2 1 , 2 2 9 , 3 3 0 ,

3 8 7 , 4 3 9 , 4 5 6 - 7 , 4 6 6 , 4 94 , 5 0 8 ;

a n d Ge r ma n c o u r t s ma r t i a l , 2 0 6 ,

248 ; and migrati on of Ger-

mans, 2 85 ; unde r Ger man oc-

cupation, 276, 28 5, 304, 512 -13,

566 ; and pre-war relations with

G e r m a n y , 5 4 , 1 6 7 ; and the Ger-

xvi BERLIN DIARY

O e c h s n e r , F r e d , 4 1, 4 8 , 8 2 , 84,Pe o p l e 's Co u r t , 7 4 , 2 6 2

2 5 2 , 2 6 3 , 3 2 9 , 4 18 , 44 6 , 4 7 1 , P e rs i a , 5 3 4

482P e r t i n a x (Andre Geraud ) , 161,

O e r t z e n, v o n , 2 4 0 232

Ois e dis trict, 3 96 Petain, H e n r i Philippe, 3 0 2 ,

Oliphant, Sir Lancelot, 463 4 1 2 , 4 1 8 , 4 4 9 , 549, 5 95; a n d

P o l a n d , 3 1 , 15 2 , 1 5 3 ,165 , 17 1,

17 5 , 18 1, 2 05 -7 , 2 16,2 17 , 2 30,

2 3 1 , 2 40 , 2 5 0 , 2 60 , 2 7 5 , 2 8 1 ,

2 8 3 , 2 93 , 2 9 6 , 2 99 , 3 0 5 , 3 2 3 ,

3 4 4 , 3 8 1 , 583 ; and the air force,

163, 201, 516 , 5 52 ; and t he



3 7 1 , 3 8 0 , 4 3 8 , 5 9 1590-1

IN DEX xvii

man White Book, 308 ; and

o r d e r o f m o b i l i z a t i o n , 1 8 6 , 1 9 1;

and the Russo-German pact,

180, 191 ; a n d R u s s i a n o c c u pa -

t i o n, 2 1 0 , 2 1 1 , 2 2 9 ; and pre-

w a r r e l a t i o n s w i t h Ru s s i a , 1 7 8;

Reichenberg,

Reichsbank ,

Reichstag :

Reichstag

127

460

bombed, 503

meetings : M ay 1935,

37 ; M arch 1936 , 48 ; F e b r u a r y

1 9 3 8 , 9 1 , 9 2 ; A p r i l 1 9 3 9, 1 6 5 ;

a n d h e r s t r a t e g i c p o s i t i o n , 1 6 3 ,

164, 17 8 ; and see P o l i s h C o r -

r i d o r

meeting at the Chancellery in

August 193 9, 18 6; September

1939, 197; O c t o b e r 1 93 9 , 2 3 0 ,

Polish Corridor, 164, 16 7, 17 3, 231-2; J u l y 1 94 0 , 45 2 - 7 , 5 5 1

1 8 5 , 1 8 8 , 1 91 , 1 93 , 2 0 4 , 2 1 2 Reichswehr, seeGermany : and

Polsk ie Radio, 164

Pomerania, 2 12 Reims,

the army

345, 397

P o nc e t, F r a ng o is , 2 5 , 5 5 , 5 6 , 8 3

Pope, s e e P i u s X I; P i u s X I I

Popular Front : gov ernment i n

R e n a i x ,

R e the l ,

Reynaud,

374

345

P a u l , 3 3 9 , 3 8 1 , 3 8 2 , 4 12

Franc e, 7 6

P o r t u ga l , 5 4 2 , 5 6 7 , 5 9 9 , 6 0 3

R h i n e l a n d , 2 0 7 , 2 3 1 ; u n d e r A l l i e d

occupation, 248 , 405 ; and oc-

P o s e n , 1 7 3 , 18 5 , 2 1 8 , 3 0 4cupati on of the demilitariz ed

Power and Earth, 586

P r a g u e, 1 1 3 , 1 2 0 - 3 , 1 2 5 - 3 4 , 2 4 9 ,

zone by the German army, 38,

49, 50, 52, 55 , 57 -8, 59 ;

300 bombed, 346

P r a g u e , U n i v e r s i t y o f , 2 4 9 , 3 0 0 R i b b e n t r o p ,Joachi m v on, 40, 69,

P r e s i d e n t R o o s e v e l t , 393 72 , 91, 13 8-9, 14 5, 155 ,1 8 7 ,

Preventive war : a g a i n s t G e r m a n y , 190 , 201, 222, 225, 227 ,232,

31 2 3 9 , 243, 25 7, 261 , 292, 2 9 6,

P r i c e , Wa r d , 2 8 3 0 8 , 311, 324, 332, 333, 3 9 8 ,

P r i e n , C a pt a i n , 2 3 7 4 0 2 , 4 18 , 4 2 1 , 4 49 - 5 0 , 5 0 6 , 513-

P r i e u x , G e n e r a l , 3 8 71 4, 5 2 2 , 5 3 3 -7 , 5 3 8 - 9, 5 6 0, 564,

P r o t es t a n t C h u r c h, 2 0 , 2 4 5 6 6 , 5 8 7 , 5 8 9, 590

P u c c i , M o n s i g n o r , 8 8R in te len , 13

R i s i n g T i d e o f C o l o r , The, 257

R i s t o r a n t e Italian in Berlin,40

Queen Mary, 168

Q u i s l i n g , V id k u n , 3 1 6, 4 5 7 , 5 3 0 - 1

R o b l e s ,

Robeson,

G il , 4

P a u l , 1 6 8

Robsons,

R o g e r s ,

t h e , 8 4

Newell, 68

R a e d e r, E r i c h , 5 7 , 2 3 2 , 4 2 1 , 4 6 6,Rohm, E r n s t , 1 1 - 12 , 587

553Rome, 88 , 11 4-15, 1 5 4 , 15 6-9 ;

RAF, seeEngland : and the air Hitler's v i s i t t o , 114

fo rceR o o s e v e l t , Franklin Delano, 4, 42 ,

R a g us a , 6 1- 2 , 6 3 60 , 67 , 119 , 16 5 , 168 , 199 , 2 1 1,

Rangabe, Alexander Rizo, 540 230, 292, 308, 343, 345, 3 9 9 ,

Ratk e, Dr. , 1 6 2 418, 4 5 7 , 5 0 5 , 5 60 - 1, 5 9 2 , 593

Red Cross, 442-3

Reed, Douglas, 92

and A r m i s t i c e Day

d e n u n c i a t i o n

speech .

1940, 5 64-5 ; an d

R e f u g e e s , 6 0 2 ; a n d s e e E v i a n s - l es -

B a i n s , 1 1 9

Regensburg, 148-9

Reichenau , Walter von, 25 , 37 0,

R o o s e v e l t ,

Rosenberg,

o f d i c t a t o r s h i p s , 4 4 ; and the

U . S . n e u t ra l i t y l a w, 2 1 9, 2 2 0

N i c h o l a s , 4 2

A l f r e d , 1 7 , 2 4 , 4 4 9,



x v l l l

R o s s , A l b i o n , 4 1 , 10 8

R o t h e rm e r e , L or d , 2 8 , 5 1 , 5 8

R o t h s c h i l d p a l a c e , 1 0 8 - 9

Rotterdam , 334, 336 , 338 , 339,

438, 46 5, 5 83 ; bomb ed, 34 1,

383

Royal Oak, 236, 237

Royal S ceptre, 226

R u h r d i s t r i c t , 3 4 7 , 3 4 8 , 3 4 9 , 4 0 5 ,

406; bombed, 3 46, 5 78-9

Rumania, 17 3, 231, 5 65; a n d o i l

s u p p l i e s t o G e rm a n y , 2 1 0 , 5 7 8 ;

a n d R u s s i a n o c c u p a t i o n of B e s s -

arabia and Bu kov ina, 443

Runciman, L ord, 120-1, 123, 133

Rundste dt, General v on, 2 96

Russia, 71, 127, 178 , 225 , 232,

241, 25 4, 27 4, 283, 30 1, 3 02,

400, 542, 548, 55 0, 592 ; an d

the anti-Cominter n pact, 7 0,

and the army, 164 ; and bases

i n B a l ti c s t a t e s , 2 3 1 ; and the

B a t t l e o f Ta n n e n b e r g , 2 1 7 ; a n d

occupation of Bessarabia and

Bukovina, 443; a n d t h e A n g l o -

French bl ockade, 220 ; and a

c o a l i t i o n w i t h B r i t a i n , F r a n c e ,

and Poland, 164, 16 9 ; a n d t h e

Finnish campaign , 2 53, 262,

275, 281, 295, 297 ; and the

F r a n c o - S o v i e t p a c t , 4 8 ; and re -

lations w ith G ermany, 227 -8,

4 5 0 , 5 6 4 , 5 6 5 ; a n d t h e G e r m a n -

I t a l i a n - J a pa n e s e p a c t , 5 3 3 - 3 7 ;

and R usso-German pacts, 18 0,

181, 190 , 192, 198, 2 27; and

s u p p l i e s t o G e rm a n y , 2 1 0 , 2 7 3 ,

2 7 6 , 5 7 7 ; and Naz i propaganda

a t t a c k s , 6 7 ; and occupation of

Poland, 2 10, 211

"Russian front," 55 0

R u s t , B er n ha r d , 2 5 , 3 2 8 , 5 9 0

S aar d is tr ic t , 26 -7 , 34

Saint-Omer, 4 79

St . T r on d , 3 5 3 - 4

Salcomb e, 6 8

San Ri ver, 208

S a n d l e r , R i c k a r d J ., 298

S a r g e r _ t , B e t t y, 5 4 5

BERLIN DIARY

Savanthem, 48 3

S c a n d i n a v i a , 2 1 0 , 2 7 3 , 2 9 1 , 2 9 7 ,

302, 307, 310, 311, 329, 449,

495, 511, 583; and food su -

p l i es t o G e r m a n y , 5 2 3; s e e a l s o

Norway ; Sweden

S c a p a F l o w, 2 3 7 , 3 0 0 , 3 0 3

S c h a c h t , H j a l m a r , 4 9 , 9 1 , 4 6 0 - 1,

590

Scharnhorst, 397

S c h e l d t R iv e r , 3 6 9 , 3 7 4 , 3 8 0

S c h e l l , G e ne r a l v o n , 2 9 7 , 5 7 7

Schiller, F . v o n , 2 4 0

S c h l e i c h e r , K u r t v o n , 1 2

Schleswig-Holstein,213, 215

S c h m i d t ( o f f i c i a l o f G e r m a n P r o p -

a g a n d a M i ni s t r y ) , 2 5 1 , 3 1 1, 5 3 6

S c h u l t e, C a r d i n a l , 5 8

S c h u l t z , S i g r i d , 4 1 , 8 4 , 1 3 6 , 1 9 3 ,

27 2, 46 1, 489

S c h u l t z e , He r b e r t , 2 2 5

Schumann-Heink, Ernestine, 2 64

Schuschnigg, Kurt von, 90, 94 .

103, 416; and annexation of

A u s t r i a , 9 5 - 1 02 ; u n d e r a r r e s t ,

111 ; v i s i t t o B e r c h t es g a d e n , 9 2;

and Dollfuss's death, 12; h is

f a r e we l l a d d r e s s , 9 8 ; and the

p l e b i s c i t e , 9 5 - 1 02

Schwaderb ach, 13 1

Schwarzbauer , 150

S c o tl a n d, 5 5 3

Sedan, 340, 341 , 344, 34 5, 347 ,

437,440

Seekt, Ha ns von, 5 7

Seine River, 397

, S e l l , K u r t , 511

S e n l i s , 4 1 5

S e r b i a , 1 4 7

S e v a r e i d , E r i c , 4 0 3 , 5 1 1

S e y s s - I n q u a r t , A r t h u r , 9 2 , 9 9 , 1 01 ,

102, 104

Shakespeare, W ill iam, 240

Shaw, G . B . , 2 4 0

Sheean, Dinah, 120

S h e e a n , V i n c e n t , 1 2 0

Sherwoo d, Ro bert, 2 56

S i b er i a , 5 4 2

S i d i - e l- B a r a n i , 5 0 6

Siem ens Electric al Works, 492,

508, 57 9-80



IN DEX

S i l es i a , 1 8 5 , 1 8 6 ; and see Upper

Si l e s i a

S ilex , K ar l , 18 0 , 18 2

S i m o n , S i r J o h n , 2 6 , 2 8 , 3 4 , 3 5

Simpson, E . A ., 68

Simpson, Wallis W ., 68, 88

S i n g a p o r e , 2 9 3

S i n o - Ja p a n e s e c o n f l i c t , 5 3 3

S k a g e r r a k , 3 1 0, 3 1 5 , 3 1 6 , 3 2 6

S l av s , 5 8 6

S l o v a k i a , 9 5 , 1 5 9 , 1 6 3 , 2 7 6 , 3 0 0

S m a l l , A l e x , 12 , 1 2 9

Smigl y-Rydz, Edward, 17 7

S o T hi s i s P o l a n d , 240

S o c i a l is m : i n F r a nc e , 1 5 0

S o c i a l i s m B e t r a y e d , 240

S o l i d a r i t e F ra n c a i s e , 6

Somerhause n, Mark, 8 9

Somm e R iver, 391, 396

Sonnemann, Emmy, 35

Sonnenstein P ubl ic Medica l and

N u r s i n g I n s t i t u t e , P i m a , 5 7 1

South America, 46 0, 5 94

Southampton, 601

S o v i e t R us s i a , see R u s s i a

S p a i n, 4 , 15 7 , 4 43 , 5 3 2 , 5 4 5 , 5 4 6 ,

567, 5 98-600 ; and Axis pres-

s u r e , 5 1 9 -2 0 ; and C iv i l War, 63 ,

64,66,69,7 0,7 4,7 6,162,2 89 ;

and Fas cism, 598 ; and recog-

nition of General Franco by

Germany, 69 ; a n d a n a t t a c k o n

G i b r a lt a r , 5 0 7 , 5 2 0 , 5 3 4 , 5 4 2 ;

and see Almeria ; Condor Le-

gion

S p e n g l e r , O s w a l d , 8 4 , 1 1 9

S p it f ir e s , 4 8 2 , 5 8 1

S . S . , 8 7 , 4 5 1 , 5 7 3 ; a n d g u a r d i a n -

s h i p o f c h i l d r e n , 2 9 1

Stahmer, Max, 535

S t a l in , J o s e p h , 8 , 1 8 0 , 1 92 , 2 2 0 ,

2 3 2 , 2 5 3 , 2 6 1, 2 7 4 , 5 6 0

Starhemb erg, Pri nce, 9

S t a v a n g er , 3 1 0 , 3 2 6

S t a v i s k y s c a n d a l , 8

S t e e n o c k e r z e e l , 3 6 1 , 3 6 2

S t e i n k o p f, A l v i n , 1 2 9

S t e tt i n , 5 7 8

S t e v e n s , C a p t a in , 2 5 2

S t e wa r t , B a i l l i e, 5 2 8

Stim son, Henr y L ., 462

xi

Stockholm, 5 51

Stoddard, Lothrop, 25 7

S t o n e m a n , W i l l i a m , 6 8 , 1 8 8

S t r a b o l g i , L o r d , 1 6 5

S t r a s s e r , G r e g o r, 1 2

S t ra s s e r , Ot t o , 7 5 , 2 5 1

S t r e ic h e r , J u l iu s , 1 8 , 5 4 , 7 4 , 5 6 8 ,

591

Stromness, 301

S t uk a s , 2 1 6, 3 5 3 , 3 5 4 - 5 , 3 5 8 , 3 6 1 ,

368, 37 5, 378 , 382, 383 , 40 7,

408 . 4 1 6 , 4 3 9 , 4 4 3 , 4 6 5

Stumm, Baron von, 251, 297

Stilrmer, 568

S t u t t ga r t , 5 9 6 - 8

S u d e t e n l a n d , 9 3 , 1 1 9, 1 2 0 - 1, 1 2 8 ,

130, 134, 14 4, 15 0, 17 4, 249 ;

s e e a l s o Czechos lov akia ; Hen-

l e i n , K o n r a d

S u ez C a n a l, 5 0 7 , 5 3 4 , 5 3 9

S u l z b er g e r , C y r us , 1 5 4

Sunday Dispatch, London, 5 8

Sunday Express, London, 34

S u re r , S er r a no , 5 0 7 , 5 1 9, 5 3 2 , 5 3 4

Sv oboda (Cz ech radio offici al) ,

113, 122

Sweden, 210 , 27 6, 297 , 30 7, 31 4

449,461

Swing, R aymond Gram, 8 0

S w i tz e r l a nd , 1 8 9 , 2 3 5 , 2 4 8 , 2 9 3 ,

330, 339, 342, 416 , 447 , 5 06,

542, 544

S y lt , 303 , 304 , 30 5

S yria , 166

S y r o v y , J a n , 1 3 8

Tabouis, Mm e ., 157

Ta it t inge r, P ie rre , 6

Tanks, 35 5, 36 8, 372, 380, 40 6,

416, 436, 439

Tannenberg , 184-5 , 217

T a y l or , E d , 9 2 , 9 3 , 9 6 , 9 7

Taylor, M yron C ., 119

Tempelhof, 490

T e rb o v e n , J os e p h , 3 2 1 , 5 2 9 - 3 1

Thalm ann, Ernst , 36

Thames, 49 9

T h e r e S h a l l B e N o N i g h t , 256

T h i r d R e i c h , T h e , 586

Thomas. C o l o n e l , 42 4



xx

T h o m ps o n , D o r o t h y, 1 4

T h r e e -P o w e r p a c t , 5 9 3

T h ys s e n , F ri t z , 3 2 1

Times, London, 3 5, 41, 4 4, 7 8 ;

editorial on C z e c h os l o v a k i a ,

1 1 9, 1 2 4

Times, New York, 47

Ti p p el s k i r c h , G e n e r a l , 4 2 4

T i r l em o n t , 3 5 4

T is o , J o s e p h , 1 5 9

To d t, F r i t z , 2 4 4 , 5 9 0

To li s c h u s , Ot t o , 4 2

T on g re s , 3 5 3

T ot a l Wa r , 8 5 , 8 6 , 2 4 0, 5 1 5 , 5 8 1

Totale Krieg, Der, 240

To u r na i , 3 6 9 , 4 7 9

Trask, Claire, 72 -3, 81

1 r e i ts c h k e , H e in r i c h v o n , 5 8 5

Tr ev o r , J a c k , 2 6 4 , 5 2 5 - 6

Tribune, C h i c a g o , 6 1

Tri p a r ti t e p a c t, 5 3 2 , 5 9 3 ; s e e a l s o

"New order "

T r o nd h e i m , 3 1 0 , 3 15 , 3 2 0 , 3 2 1 ,

3 2 3 , 3 2 4 , 32 5 , 3 2 6

U - b o a t s : a n d A n g l o - G e r m a n n a v a l

a c c o r d , 4 0 , 1 4 6 , 1 6 6

U d e t, E r n s t , 2 7 4 , 5 8 1

U k r a i ne , 2 3 1

U n i o n N a t i o na l e d e s C o m b a t t a n t s ,

8 -9

United States, 119, 168, 2 30, 342 ,

3 4 3 , 3 9 4 , 4 41 , 4 6 2 , 4 6 7 , 4 8 1 ,

542, 543 , 5 64, 584 ; a i d t o

B r i ta i n , 3 99 , 5 3 5 , 5 5 8 , 5 6 0 , 5 9 3;

a n d b a s e s i n B r i t i s h p os s e s s i o n s ,

498 ; and news from Britain,

510 ; Emb a s s y s t a f f in Br us s e l s ,

3 6 5 - 6 ; a n d e v a c u a t i o n o f Eu r o -

p e a n c h i ld r e n , 4 8 6 ; a n d go l das

currency medium , 460 ; a n d a

p o s s i b l e G e r m a n a t t a c k , 5 9 1 - 4 ;

BERLIN DIARY

a n d G e r m a n i m m i g r a t i o n q u o t a ,

292 ; a n d G e r m a n y ' s t r a d e w i t h

South Am erica, 46 0 ; a n d b a n -

i s h m e n t o f U . S . c o r r e s p o n d e n ts

from Germany, 43 ; i s o l a t i o n i s t s

i n , 2 1 1 , 3 08 , 4 9 8 , 5 3 5 , 5 9 3 ; r e -

a c t i o n t o t h e Mu n i c h p a c t , 1 4 9;

a n d t h e n e u t r a l i t y l a w , 2 1 9 ,

220, 245 ; a n d t h e T r i p a r t i t e

p a ct , 5 3 2 - 7 ; a n d th e Washing-

ton, 401

Untertan, 284

U n t e r w a l d a u , 15 0

Upper Silesia, 173 ; and see S i l e s i a

U t r e c h t , 3 4 1

Va d n a i , E m i l , 9 0 , 12 9

Va l e nc i e n n e s , 4 3 2

V a ti c a n , 5 7 5

Va y o, A l v a r e z d e l , 1 5 7

V B ., see VS lk ische Beobacht er

V e r d u n , 40 5 , 4 5 0

Versailles, Treaty of, 31, 33, 37-8,

Vi ll a r s - s u r - Oll o n , 2 8 9 - 9 0

V is t u l a R i v e r, 2 1 8 , 2 2 1 , 4 3 8

Volk ohne Raum, 586

VSlk ische Beobacht er, 47 , 104,

1 8 6, 2 2 8 , 2 3 2 , 2 4 3 , 2 4 7 , 2 5 2 ,

2 6 0 , 2 9 6 , 3 0 9 , 3 1 4, 3 8 8 , 4 0 4,

466

Volkswagen, 495

Vom Winde Verweht, 239

W a g n e r , G a u l e i te r o f B a v a r i a , 1 9

W a g n e r , R i c h a r d , 5 7 , 2 4 4

W a l l i s c h , K o l o m a n , 1 1

Ward, E . D . , 5 2 9

W a r s a w , 1 5 2 - 3 , 1 6 3 -4 , 1 7 5 , 1 7 6 -

8, 205 ,206,208, 210,211 ,212,

2 1 6 , 2 1 7 -1 8 , 2 1 9, 2 2 3 , 2 2 4 , 2 2 9 ,

230,250,5 83

Tr o t s k y , L e o n , 1 1 5 1 , 2 5 8 , 4 43 , 5 8 3

T r o u t , B o b , 1 0 7

True Love Stories, 240

T u b i z e , 3 6 9

V i c h y , 5 9 5

V i c t o i r e , L a , Paris , 413

V i e n n a , . 83 , 89-103, 108-13, 116,

T ur k ey , 1 48 , 2 3 8 , 3 2 2 , 5 3 9 362 ; and the annexation of Aus-

Twilight over England, 526

T y r n a u e r , A l f r e d , 1 1 1

t r i a , 97 , 1 0 3 , 1 08 ; p e r s e c u t io n

o f J e w s , 1 1 0