Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-27
Dorothy
Thompson
Declares:
Hitler Move ThroUs NeuO
Light on Hess Affair
BY DOROTHY THOMPSON

III BELIEVE h a [ the turning
Il point of the war occurred las
weekend when Hitler made the
most colossal political blunder oI
his life. Furthermore, / suspect
that he knows it, since ,Churchills
speech Sunday afternoon and the
reactions in Washington.
Again. he has totally misread
British psychology. And il is pos
lSible that he has been encouraged
to misread it. and that he, who
set so many traps for others, has
fallen into one himself.
THE immediate effect is 10 dis
l. Sipate terrific nightmare.
THAT nightmare was the union of
the Nazi and Communist revolu-
Itions, which in every country was
producing the most dangerous
situation.
The Communist revolution has
not been a real menace anywhere
in all the years that had passed
since its inception But a Com
muniSt -Nazi combination - h @
Russian revolutions appeal 10
masses and the German revolu-
tons appeal 10 claSSes-RuSSian
revolutionary technique plus Ger
man military efficiency-this was
something.
That il was SenselesS made ii
none the less dangerous; nothing
is more dangerous than armed
NihiliSm. than the Gestapo plus
the OGPU. Communist cells plus
tNazi secret agents, the Red army
plus the Brown one.
Such combination looked Sus-
Ipiciously like the wave OF the
future" 10 A great many people.
Now the combination is split
tirrevoeably.
4 T THIS date We can have, per-
"A haps, a little hindsight on the
| Rudolph Hess affair. The dra-
matte descent of Hess on the
estate Of the Duke of Hamilton
Icertainlyehas something to do with
what happened last weekend.
Bear in mind that Hitler wants
England to negotiate peace. He
finds himself in control of the
continent, and this is the point
where he wishes 10 stop the war
total victory without further sacri-
flee.
He cannot win the war without
Invading the British Isles. and that
venture is hazardous in the eX-
treme. 1t is an all-or-nothing
venture.
Hitler also has. his eyes on the
United States. Perhaps we do not
think we are very powerful, but
Hitler entertainS no such illusions
The American conduct has
baffled him.
First Of all. he was certain that
America was a nation of money
grubberS who would do nothing
except for gold-he has such pat
terms in his paranoic mind-and
the lend-lease bill. the spectacle
of great have" nation ruled by
money lords" giving things away
shook all his preconceived notions.
Politically, the lend-leaSe bill
was the most brilliant move the
President has made in the war of
nerves.
THE early German comments on
Il the Hess flight said that Hess
had had several letters from the
Duke Of Hamilton.
The British denied this. but
Rudolph Hess is an experienced
politician and it seems highly I'M
likely 10 me that he would have
gone TO Scotland unless he had
+bpCu offered some sort or bait.
The proposition that he had 10
make was. | think, the old one OF
asking for peace while dangling
the DOGGY of Russia.
Hess was known to be bitterly
lanti-RusSian.
/ think he told the British that
"a If Britain would call off the
war. Germany would a tai X
Russia. and that (2) otherwise
Germany would make a hard and
fast alliance with Russia and 60
out with her against the British
empire in the Middle East, Iran
and India.
THE mediator between Churchill
l. and Hess was Sir Frederick
kirkpatrick. former counselor of
the British embassy in Berlin, who
was acquainted with Hess and who
speaks German.
A small item in the press an
nounced that Churchill, while these
negotiations were going on. called
conference Of the dominion gov
|ernments and the governments in
exile and that this conference is
sued a more or less meaningless
report TO the effect that no peace
would be made with Germany
until the European continent was
liberated
Immediately, however, another
small item announced that Sir
Frederick Kirkpatrick had flown
10 Ireland.
Now. why Ireland? And why Sir
Frederick?
Could it he. perhaps, because
there is German embassy IN
Ireland?
Whom did Sir Frederick see in
Ireland?
And if he got in touch with the