Evening star., 1942-06-20
Young Nazi Prisoners
Show No Remorse
For Executions
Writer Gets Impression
Their Sense Of Morality
Hos Long Since Deported
BY LELAND STOWE,
War Correspondent of The Star
and Ghicaan nailx KAUx

and Chicaso Daily News.
AT A GERMAN PRISON CAMP,
SOMEWHERE IN RUSSIA, June
20.-From the nearly 600 new Ger
r1an prisoners in this camp I have
had the most revealing sampiing cf
the present morale of Nazi armies
with which Hitler hopes to win the
war this year. Most of these men
are young. The overwhelming ma
jority Of them are tough minded and
either religiously patriotic or super
Nazified.
Psychologically, these young Ger
mans are about as near to being
knocked out as Joe Louis In the
third round Of a prize fght-cer-
tainly no nearer. We in America
and Britain, especially our armed
forces, had better face this fact
we have got to face it. Any illusions
about an early collapse inside
Hitlers fighting forces will only
invite disaster.
These German soldiers. mostly in
their 20s, left Central Europe or
France in March and April. They
have been Roman legions policing
Europe and conqueror's heady
wine has convinced them that Hitler
has been right in most of his judg-
ments and successful in his
methods, so why shouldn't he steer
them to victory?
Iron Bodies and Steel Wills.
II their attitude is at all indica-
tive OF the majority In the German
armies-as it would be reasonable
and prudent to experimenting but
successive and terrific blows to the
German armys solar pleXus will
break its morale. In other words,
the American and British armed
forces must urgently produce the
same iron bodies and steel wills
which Russian soldiers for one year
have demonstrated they possess IN
such magnificent universally.
You cannot talk with these young
Germans. conditioned by nine years
OF Naziism. without knowing in
disputabiy that nothing less than
these will sufflce-iron bodies and
steel wills - millions of soldiers
completely opened to what Hitler
ism means by incessant instruction
and moral leadership-a capacity for
national unity-tremendous physical
and spiritual endurance-dedicatio ton
to personal sacrifice. however enor-
nous and protracted.
After conversations with scores
and observation OF hundreds OF
these Young Germans sent by Hitler
to the Russian front this spring,
can only report that their spirits are
unbroken. their wills stubborn and
hard. The few exceptions seem in
consequential Only when Hitler
has expended half or two-thirds of
his millions Of Aforementioned, un-
informed unanalyzing and blindly
following youth will doubts and lack
of enthusiasm among many of his
older soldiers become an important
psychological factor paving the way
to morale collapse in his armed
forces. Only that-or smashing Al
lied victories and coincident Ger
man military disasters.
Grip Of Propaganda.
1t is true that the German troops
who had to endure Furnishing, re-
lentleSs cOuIterblows of the Red
Army all winter long, and endure
30-40-dcgrees-below-zero tempera-
lures along with it, have had their
confidence shaken considerably, Sc
riously 50 in many cases. But dozens
of fresh, rested German divisions
must still oe reckoned with. and the
viselike grip of Nazi propaganda on
the minds of these troops, most of
all.
1t is highly significant that scores.
even hundreds of young German
prisoners today still display not the
slightest shame or regret for Nazi
brutalities and executions in occu-
pied countries Thousands on thou
sands Of Czech. Polish, Yugoslav,
French, Greek and Norwegian civil
ians have been shot or hanged. or
Systematically condemned to star
vation. Yet these young Germans,
despite the fine looks of many of
them, betray no inkling of remorse
or of possession of consciences.
Talking with them, it seems that
their sense of morality has long
since been killed. They have been
told that Germans can only live
and prosper through the enslave-
ment of all inferior subject peo-
pies" Their attitude seems to be:
Anything. that will make us win
is all right Mass executions? You
just conveniently don't think about
them
These young German also have
been told that the American and
British people are decadent: Too
soft and fat ever to produce real,
fighting soldiers. They have been
told that even if the Americans and
British could create fighting armies
they haven't got time to do it. They
have been told we cannot and will
not try to invade Western Europe
until Germany has crushed the
Russian armies-and they still be-
lieve all this and lots more.
More than tanks, more than
planes, more than battleships or
any kind of armament, Americas
soldiers and Britain's soldiers can
only combat successfully this Ger
man inner wall of steel as the Rus
sian soldiers combat it-with moral
armament-with steel wills, inside
bodies of iron.
Talk with Young German prison.