Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1940-11-21
Il Might Be
| Wrong--BUT|
by p. G. Stromberg

changes in the world of today,
it will probably tell of the sue
cessful or unsuccessful challenge
of totalitarianism to all other
forms of government. It will
show the true causes of the rise
to power of the Hitlers, the
Mussolinis and the Stains.
Most interesting of all it will
show the causes of the steady
rise of such undisputed leaders.
Neither unfairly condemning
nor unduly praising the men, it
will measure them and the eco
nomic conditions of their time
and their countries so that an
adequate and clear picture Of
the troublous years just prior to
and following 1910 can be had.
In our contemporary viewpoints
we are too apt to overemphasize
the power of one man, and our
reports are far too colored for
propaganda purposes to permit
fair appraisal no matter how
distinctly neutral and unbiased
we try to be in an analysis.
Many people now give credit
to the dictators for being the
great men of their respective
countries. They are, so far as
being mdisputed bosses, but
rather than being truly great
men they are (and this is par
ticularly true of Hitler in Ger
many masters in gauging pub
lie opinion and Selling oppor-
tunities. Rather than a great
individual, Hitler is a symbol
of all the hates and desires of
a great majority of the German
people. In him they see in per-
son all the animosities of gener-
ations while, at the same time,
he gives world expression to
their fondest dreams. To secure
revenge, to satisfy their hatreds,
the German people have seen in
him their means of expression
as well as their hope for the
future. At the same time he
has succeeded in arousing
among his countrymen an ardent
patriotism based on the belief
that the Germans are a superior
race and destined to be the
number one power of the world.
Hitler and his aides are prob
ably the greatest psychologists
of all times. While Germany
struggled, PROSTATE democracy,
to regain part of her lost pres
tige, Hitler was writing and
shouting his belief in German
superiority and her right to lead
the world. Observers of his rise
to power tell of elaborate
arrangements for his sudden and
apparently unexpected appear
ance before throngs of his coun-
trymen who had already been
worked up to a high state of
hysteria by trained rabble-
rousers. His appearance would
start a demonstration defying
description. Bands play, lights
are thrown upon him while, with
well measured deliberation, he
works his way to the speakers
platform. His appearance there,
with cut-stretched hand in Nazi
salute, gives added impetus to
the ovation. Proper signals
quiet the crowd and der Fuhrer
standing under, over and be-
tween well arranged lights, ap-
pears more like realistic myth
than a human being. He is
reputed to possess an uncanny
ability to carry an audience. No
evangelist, one observer reports
was ever known to compare with
this man in his ability to all but
hyi hotize masses of humanity.
1t is thus that he appears
more as a symbol than as a
man. All this, coupled with a
complete and thorough under
standing of the German mind,
has built for him a mythical
alteration bordering on idolatry.
This is not true of Mussolini
who has ruled Italy for long
time. He is a strong man who
has maintained his leadership
through many years by methods
which, even though not always
completely admirable, have kept
him the hero of the masses.
Stain, on the other hand,