Evening star., 1940-04-16
Nozi Propaganda

The attempt by German news
papers to distort two articles of opin-
ion, published in The Star last week
as speculative discussions of the pos
sible destination of an allied expedi-
tionary force, should give Americans
a revealing insight into the workings
Of the Reich's propaganda machine.
These articles, printed in The Star
on Friday and Saturday, stated
that British transport fleet carry
ing from $4,000 to 10000 allied SOL
diers was reported to be on the high
seas. After stating that their desti-
nation was unknown to him, the
writer Of the columns then engaged
in speculation, which was plainly
labeled as such, concerning two pos
sible landing points. First, he said,
the troops might be landed in Nor
way-their actual destination, as dis
closed by later developments. AS
second and more likely" possibility,
the writer expressed a belief that
they might be destined for Holland.
In support of the second theory, the
writer argued that, in view of the
German attack on Scandinavia, it
sis possible that the Netherlands
government, realizing the grave
danger it is running, will consent to
British troops being landed as pro-
lection against German onslaught"
Enormously presenting these COL
umns as having been written by the
London correspondent of The Star,
the Berlin press on Saturday pub
lished highly distorted versions of
their content. One scare" head
line said: America Reports: British
Invasion of Holland Imminent?" An
other asked: "Is 1t the Netherlands
Turn Now?"
The Voelkischer Beobachter, which
often expresses the views of Adolf
Hitler, said: "The report of The
Evening Star is based on the expert
ence that Britain, since the war be-
gan, has spared no efforts to draw
the small neutrals into the war"
The fact Is, OF course, that the report
of The Stars columnist was not
based on any such experience" but
represented logical speculation based
on the theory that should Germany
attempt another lightning stroke
through the low countries, the allies
would be prepared to meet force with
force-and not wait for a repetition
OF Finland or Norway. AS everybody
knows, an attack on Holland and
Belgium by Germany has been the
subject of speculation for months.
Another interesting German COM
ment was made by the Lokal-An-
zeiger. Stating incorrectly that The
Stars articles had been received
from Britain and had been passed
through the British censor, that pub
lication added: TN Washington no.
body entertains any doubts that the
report of British transports is true.
Obviously American circles have
long known of such plans"
The Misrepresentation and wide
exploitation of the original articles
by Germany's controlled press are
significant Here is an obvious at
tempt on the part of Berlin commen-
tators to misrepresent the import Of
the articles as they appeared in The
Star and studied failure to make it
clear that the possibility of landing
in Holland was frank speculation on
the part of the columnist. Clearly
the Berlin distortion of the original
stories were the work of propa-
ganda machine more interested in
effect than in fact, and this incident
should serve as a warning to take all
of its efforts with several grains Of
salt.