Evening star., 1941-10-26
Blueprint of Aggression
Txuo Hooxx RonkS Present Hflers Greed

L l. nation is spread out for all to see in
two heavy volumes of more than 1000
pages each, now published in English
by Reynald and Hitchcock. The first
is the uneXpurgated "Mein Kampf,"
written by Hitler in 1924 and 1926; the
second is MY New Order" compila-
ton of his speeches edited by the
French journalist Raoul de Roussy de
Sales. The last named, a sequel to
"Mein Kampf," brings the Hitlerian rec
ord up to the proclamation OF June %
announcing the invasion Of Soviet
Russia.
Valuable additions to this book are a
background chronology Of world events
affecting Germany from Hitler's first
important speech in Munich in April,
1922, to date: NJ. de Sales comments on
the principal phases of the National
Sofia ist program, and editorial observ-
atoms in London, Paris and New York.
on many Of the public addresses.
The Importance of these historical
documents to contemporary life can
hardly be exaggerated. They are basic
source material "Mein Kampf' is the
Bible OF the Third Reich, where millions
of copies have been sold. In this coun-
try, although hundreds of thousands Of
the books have been bought, it is doubt
full whether they have been read as
deeply as they deserve Had they been
studied by the. political and editorial
leaders of England, France, Russia and
the Balkans. the present war might have
been averted. It is not too late for
Americans to inform themselves about
Hitler's ambitions, in large part already
realized.
Reveals Effective Technique.
Study of these books is. not easy. De-
tails are often conflicting: Hitlers fair
promises mask unscrupulous deeds, but
throughout runs the definite theme that
the Germans are superior race, des-
tined to dominate the world if they will
submit to the visionary but relentless
leadership of the unknown corporal of
the World War.
In these books Hitler reveals himself
as the consummate politician, the arch
demagogue, the effective compromiser
who knows how to await his time.
Whatever one may think of his goals,
one must marvel at his effective DO
htical technique
Hitler worked out a formula which
appealed successfully to the despondent
German working classes and later gained
the support Of the industrialists, who
thought they could do business with
him, just as Huey Long was successfully
appealing to the underprivileged by
promising to make every man a king"
and at the same time was able to 20 far.
but not too far, in his shakedown Of
businessmen. Both men were given their
opportunity by the economic depression.
Believers in Carlyle's thesis of ma
tional heroes as well as believers in the
MARKHAM doctrine Of economic determine
ism will find support for their historical
concepts in Hitlers words. The man
who began as soap-box orator built
himself up into national hero, the per-
soniflcation of the Germanic soul When
he was calling for German unity he said ::
Il am the guarantor in Germany that
this community shall not result in the
favoring OF one section of our people.
You can look upon me as the man who
does not belong to any class, who belongs
to no rank, who stands above all that I
have nothing but the ties which bind me
to the German people. Here for me every
German Is on complete equality. What
interest have in the intellectuals. in the
bourgeoisie. in the proletariat? am in
terested only in the German people. To
the people alone I belong and for the
people I spend my energies"
Require Digestive Reading.
This would support the Carlylist view-
point. But the MARKHAM historians can
point to speech three years later, when
Hitler was scrapping the treaties, in
which he declared:
The opinion that European order can
be founded permanently on the defama-
ton of people numbering 67,000,O 600 is
lunatic and madness. They do not need
to think that the German nation has
rebelled simply because a certain man,
Adolf Hitler, stands at its head. No, If
I were not here another would have
come sooner or later"
The two books are too ponderous and
diffuse for adequate summary in re-
view of this type and they are not rec
commended to the casual reader who
hops, skips and jumps at hundred
pages an hour. The full stature of the
German leader and the devious working
Of his mind can be comprehended only
by q study Of the mans own words and
the background against which they
were uttered. Francis Hackett has at
tempted a condensation OF "Mein
Kampf" in his work What Mein Kampf
Means to America" but the American
citizen who wants to know why Germany
submitted to a seh-styled dictator and
ha