Evening star., 1941-01-10
By WALLACE r. DEUEL..

cago Daily Ne,Ds.
BY WALLACE r. DEUEL..
The strategy of terror used by
Adolf Hitler in the second World
War Is as incrediable and unreal
as q nightmare. Almost nothing,
1t would seem, is too fantastic or
bizarre to happen. And possibly the
most shocking and supplying things
of all the things that are happening
is this-that filthy pictures are being
used as weapons for the conduct of
hostilities.
1t is the Germans who are using
filthy pictures as military weapons.
They are using them as part of the
most gigantic, the most systematic
and the most skillful attempt the
world has ever seen to shatter the
nervous systems and the wills to
resist of whole armies and whole
peoples.
Much of Europe was tired and
confused and desparing even before
the war began, and any major war
would have shattered the peoples
nerves even more. But the night
mare condition in which the conti-
nent finds itself today is due to
Hitler's deliberate tactics, in which
the filthy pictures played a by no
means Insignificant part.
Pictures Beautifully Drawn.
Post card-size filthy pictures are
beautifully drawn and printed in
four colors At first sight they look
innocent enough. All they seem to
show is a picture of a wounded
Poilu lying amid the ruins of
town, sketched in the lower left
hand corner. The rest of the pic
ture is blank, except that across
the top there is printed the ques-
ton, where are the Tommies?"
But when you hold the picture
up so that light comes through from
the back a scene appears in the
blank space, the picture of tri-
umphant, well-fed Tommy making
love to a Frenchwoman-with a
picture of the Poilu hanging on the
wall behind the couple.
The whole conception of the card
Is diabolically clever. 1t is intend
ed to make the French troops sus-
pect, first, that the Tommies shirked
their share of the war, and, second,
that Frenchwomen were being Sc
duced by the Tommies at home
while the Poilus manned the front
The Nazis printed hundreds of
thousands of these cards, they pro-
duced a special type of trench NOR
tar, and they shot the cards over
the French lines for the Poilus to
find.
Poilus Keep Cards.
The French authorities made it a
court-martial offenSe for the PoiluS
to keep the cards. All of them we're
supposed to be turned in. But the
Nazis found cards, nevertheless, on |
tens of thousands of the prisoners :
they took in May and June. The
trick, in other words, worked, at +
least to some extent.
The use of filthy pictures as i'm I
plements of war is typical Of the /
tactics the Nazis are using to de- /
moraliZe their enemies by psyche /
logical means tactics which extend /
to almost every field of human life |
and thought and emotion, all
thought out years in advance, all /
based on a diabolic knowledge of /
the weaknesses of human nerves
and human character, all employed
for the purpose of destroying the
enemys will to fight before the first |
shot is ever fired.
The purpose of all war is to force
the enemy to capitulate by breaking
his will to resist. In the past wars
have been fought on the theory
that you have to destroy the enemy's
ships and guns and cities and man
power-or deprive him of them-by
military means, and that then,
when the enemy simply no longer
has the implements and the means
to go on fighting, he surrenders.
Adopt Different Theory.
The NaziS have adopted a different
theory. They are fighting this war
by trying to paralyze the will of
the enemy to resist by non-military
means before the actual fighting
even begins. so that when the mill
tary operations start the enemy
collapses as much from his own
weakness as from the superior power
Of the German armed forces.
And the principal military
weapon the Nazis are using is the
psychological weapon. The Ger
mans have set out to create night
mare state of mind among their
enemies, to cause nothing less than
a collective nervous breakdown on
an international scale, and to bring
about paralysis of will on the part
of all Western European civiliza-
ton, including the United States.
And they have succeeded, thus far,
to an amazing degree.
Hitler dosen't need to convert
majority in any given country to
his point of view. He needs only
a small minority. Often he dosen't
need anybody on his side at all. He
can accomplish his purpose even
If all the people are against him,
If enough of those people are suffi-
Ciently In disagreement among them
selves to be unable or unwilling to
take effective common action against
him.
There are countless variations in
the Nazi tactics and strategy of
decentralization. Generally speaking,
however, their essential purpose al
ways are the same-flrst, to en-
courage dissension among groups
opposed to him, beginning with the
groups of nations arrayed in an
alliance and extending down to the
smallest groups and elements within
each nation: and, second, to en-
coura"> personal misgivings and
ger":c,l unwillingness to fight in
each individual, apart from his
membership in any group.
(Copyright, 1941. Chicaso Daily News, Inc)
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