Evening star., 1940-04-28
Nozi White Book

1uOAlCdIlOH Oh Cne latest NaZl
white book" designed to charge
the French and the British with
primary responsibility for Germany's
invasion of Norway, is too trans
parent a deception to be taken seri-
ously by any unbiased witness to the
crime which has been committed in
Scandinavia.
These documents and the accom-
panying interpretations are handed
to the world by the representative of
a government whose reputation for
veracity has been notoriously bad.
There is no explanation of the fact
that the German invasion had been
long in the making, nor does Foreign
Minister Won Ribbentrop give any
reason for the assault on Denmark,
unless it be inferred that that was
a necessary military step in the
conquest of Norway. Finally, it is
claimed that the German troops beat
the allies into Norway by "a few
hours" There is nothing in the
white book" itself to indicate that
the allies had any intention of taking
the initiative in attacking Norway,
and this claim is refuted by the trag-
ically obvious fact that the allies
were not prepared to send troops to
Norway, even after the Germans had
attacked, and they are paying dearly
now for So scrupulously respecting
Norwegian neutrality in this respect.
There is no need to dispute the
authenticity of the documents them
selves. It is reasonable to suppose
that in the course of military opera
tions like those in Norway docu-
ments of many sorts should fall into
the invaders hands. And even II
those documents exist in substance
as presented by the German white
book" they do not support the case
Germany Is trying to establish, for
there are ample grounds on which
to dispute the construction the Reich
has placed upon them.
The Germans have published a
series of papers which they identify
as orders from the British general
staff to an expeditionary force des-
tined for Norway; correspondence
and espionage orders to the British
consul at Narvik; extracts from the
papers of the French naval attache
at Oslo, and certain Norwegian
state papers.
On this basis Foreign Minister Won
Ribbentrop has indicted the allies
and Norway on the counts that Brit
ain and France had planned occu-
patton of Norway long before the
Germans walked in nearly three
weeks ago, and that Norway knew
of the allied plan, acquiesced in it,
and prepared to cooperate with
them.
There is nothing in the documents
to bear out such allegations. AS the
British point out in reply, how could
the Germans have acted on the basis
of what these. documents contained
when, at the time of the attack on
Norway, they did not possess them?
That the allies had made plans
for possible campaign in Norway is
not unlikely. Nor would such plan
ming have been reprehensible, for
Britain and France had to think
about fighting in Norway as the re-
suit of just such German stroke as
occurred three weeks ago. Sound
military strategy demands that bel
ligerents explore every possibility and
prepare for every contingency, and a
German invasion of Scandinavia had
long been the subject of speculation,
which London and Paris could by no
means ignore. But there is no evi-
dence in the German disclosures"
as Won Ribbentrop contends, that
Britain and France we're on the point
of invading Norway when the Ger
mans marched in ahead of them.
Neutrals of all opinions are faced
with the indisputable fact that it was
Germany, and not the allies, who
struck the first blow in Norway. That
is a truth which cannot be obscured
by propaganda, however clever it
may be.
L