Evening star., 1942-03-17

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euphemistic' terms as possible the
terrific beating which the Nazi
armies have been taking at the
hands of the Bolshevists. 1t no
longer is safe or wise to evade the
truth.
The Fuehrer blames his troubles
on what he describes as the worst
Russian winter in 14o years. That's
long time to go back in weather
records, and gives rise to the suspi-
cion that it's calculated to ante
date the great Napoleon's disastrous
retreat from Moscow In 1912 and
thus minimize the present misfor-
tunes. Still, this thin sugar-coat-
ing to the pill cannot conceal the
evil taste Of the dose from the Ger
man public.
The Nazi chiefs speech is fair in
dication that he Is worried. Acting
Secretary Of State welles Is i'm
plicit in every word and every
phrase Hitler's own recognition Of
his impending downfall"
Unwelcome Writing on Wall.
Quite likely the Fuehrer's boasted
intuition" has indeed shown him
some very unwelcome writing on
the wall. In any event, he has called
on his people for greater efforts and
has warned that "the bolshevist
colossus is cruel menace"
However, while all this Is encour-
agement for Hitler's enemies, we
shall make a vast mistake to place
any dependence on the weakness
which his war scheme has devel-
oped, for he still is the greatest
threat which the Allies face. You
want to keep your fingers crossed
when you even let yourself think
that he may be on the way out, for
he Is likely to prove most dangerous
when he is cornered. The Nsd die
tator isn't beaten yet.
The moral Of Hitler's confession
Is that now is the time, when he Is
showing signs of weakness, to re-
double our efforts to finish him of
before he has a chance to recover.
AS Maxim Litvinoff, Soviet Ambas-
Sador to Washington, said last night
In urging greater Allied efforts:
Time is but q treacherous ally,
ready to fight on either side"
The way to beat Hitler is to jump
on him with both feet, hobnatls and
all, while he is part way down. That
isn't according to the Marquis of
Queensberrys rules for gentlemanly
f1ghting-but this isn't a Queens
berry type of scrap.
Efforts for Knockout Redoubled.
The Bolshevists have given US a
fine example of what is called for.
When the fierce Russian winter
caught the Hitlerites unprepared
deep in Soviet territory, the Reds
struck at them with all their might.
The Muscovites themselves had
taken fierce punishment and I'D to
that Juncture had been mainly on
the defensive, battling for every inch
Of ground they had to give up.
But they pulled themselves to-
! gether and OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
rushed green men through training
and flung them into their battered
ines-they worked day and night
to create new war factories to re-
place those destroyed.
All through the terrors of the
winter the Russians have hammered
Hitler until now he is showing weak
ness. Along the northern two
thirds of the long battle line the
winter still has month or six weeks
to run. And the Reds are re-
doubling their effort to try to de-
liver the knockout.
To do that they need military
equipment. That's Americas cue.
Every part that'd added to a tank
or airplane in our plants Is another
nail in the coffin of Hitler's hopes.
And since the Japs are riding on
Hitler's coattails, his finish means
theirs.
Production will play a large role
In Russia's swelling offensive. The
experts in our shops, whose tech
nical training is essential to the
production. of war machines, may
hold the balance of power between
victory and defeat. And time Is
racing to the crucial spring.