Evening star., 1934-07-14
Hitler Explains


Ean self glorification. Chancellor
Hitler's Reichstag speech must be ac-
counted an impressive performance.
As a justification Of the blood purge" 4"
which shocked the conscience Of man.
kind. the outside world will be more
skeptical. That Hitler convinced his
all-Naz Parliament" and his CO.
horts throughout Germany that his
killings we're required to save the
Reich from disaster on a wide scale
Is not TO be doubted. UnqueStionably
he emerges more strongly intrenched
than ever in the favor Of his idol
strous followers.
Der Fuehrer," In the course Of his
defiant address, discloseS that the cost
OF his ruthless action in terms of
human life was the death of seventy
seven persons, who either were shot
at his orders or committed suicide
The victims included traitors" exc
cuted and others who resisted ar
rest" II the purge death toll exceeds
the total mentioned, Hitler intimates
that it was swollen by killings ire
sponsibly caused.
Hitler's defense sets forth that he
became convinced last Spring that
Capt. Roehm was the ringleader of
@ group of disloyal Storm Troop
commanders bent upon seizing Nazi
power for themselves, dethroning
Hitler. amalgamating the Storm
Troops with the National army and
elevating Roehm to the chancellor
ship, with his co-conspirator. Gen. Won
Schleicher. as vice chancellor in the
place Of Col. Won Papen. 1t was only
after pleading in vain with Roehm
to abandon these mad" and "crimi-
nal" plans that Hitler decided to
strike like lightning" and put a
handful of "faithless men" to death
in order that tens of thousands" of
innocent Germans might be spared
and the Nazi state preserved.
There is no lack of names or de-
tails in Hitler's presentation. He
even fixes the exact hours on June 20
and 80 when the Roehm- -Schleicher
revolt was TO be staged in Berlin and
Munich. To avert it, Hitler contends,
he had to strike quickly and merci-
lessly, and he confesses his readiness
to take his place before the bar of
German history. confident that its
verdict will vindicate his action. The
chancellor refers to the Vaccinations
of Roehm and Won Schleicher with
'the representative of foreign
power" but does not reveal who this
was.
Despite the ample circumStantiality
OF his charges, they remain accuSa-
tions without proofs of any kind ex-
cept Hitler's own word. Nor does he
indicate that such proofs will be
forthcoming. 1t is all the easier for
him to launch his broad charges be-
cause the only witnesses who might
be able to refute them have been
done away with. Having declared that
he acted as the law and the supreme
court" Of Germany, he obviously eX-
poets his mere statements to be ac-
cepted unquestioningly as they no
doubt will be by the fanatical ele-
mentS which acknowledge his over
lordShip.
Not the least significant portion of
Hitler's speech is the admission of
Germany's desperate economic plight.
He seeks to alleviate anxieties on that
score by declaiming that despite the
world boycott on Germanys goods and
the consequent inability to import raw
materials, the genius of her inventors
and chemists will find ways Of Great
ing substitutes to make the Reich in
dependent Of foreign supplies.
For the rest, Hitler's speech is note
worthy for its deferential tone toward
President Won Hindenburg, its failure
TO cast any aSperSionS upon Col. Won
Papen and its forecast that the Storm
Troops will soon again be dominant
In German streets"
In its truculence and Self-confl-
dence it is an utterance that may
serve the immediate purpose Of justi
flying the blood purge, but which by
no means insures a placid or certain
future for NaI-ism. And it will un-
rnistaksbly fail to convince non
German peoples that all is now for the
best in the aatocracy Of Hitler, Goe-
ring and Goebhels. The Brown Shirt
dictatorship has been shaken to its
foundations and it needs more than
the chancellor's impaSSioned persua-
SivenesS TO restore its equilibrium.