Evening star., 1942-01-31
HitIer's Grim Pep Talk

versary Of Adolf Hitler's assumption
of power as Chancellor of the Ger
man Reich. So momentous date
in the Nazi calendar required a
speech by the Fuehrer. He made 1t
in the huge auditorium of the Sports
palast, Berlin's Madison Square Gar
den, before hand-picked audience
of party members and delegates from
his Axis allies. A notable feature Of
the occasion was the presence Of
wounded soldiers from the front-so
numerous that Hitler took verbal
note of their presence, referring to
them as my dear wounded COM
radeS."
Those living proofs Of Germany's
mounting losses perhaps account in
part for the Fuehrer's mood, which
was defiantly grim. Gone were the
confident promises Of speedy and
final triumph which marked his pro-
nouncements in the wars earlier
stages. This time, he told his hear
ers frankly: II do not know whether
the war will end this year" Neither
did he paint glowing pictures Of
postwar victory fruits, as he has
done on previous occasions. Instead,
he impliedly suggested new trials to
come, for which, he asserted, I'VE are
armed against everything from the
north to the south"
England was castigated at length
as the jealous and envious war
monger, framer of worldwide coali-
tions against prosecuted Germany,
with Churchill as its mouthpiece, yet
he was discreetly silent about Brit
aims possible downfall by in
vasion, or otherwise. The nearest
approach to it was his statement
that Americas war with Japan
made US free to act" and now we
shall see what our U-boats may
achieve" But, from the context, this
threat may have been addressed as
much to the United States as to
Great Britain, possibly indicating in
tensified submarine activity OF our
Atlantic coasts.
This being Hitler's first public ad-
dress since his declaration of war
against us, it is not surprising that
America came in for its due share of
his wrath, with special rap at Presi-
dent Roosevelt, who was bracketed
with Churchill as an arch warmon-
ger since the previous World War,
when Mr.. Roosevelt was depicted as
the right hand of President WILSON,
"the man who caused the greatest
harm to the German people"
Hitler made the most of japanese
progress in the Far East and of the
current success In Libya gained by
General Rommel, who has Just been
made a field marshal. An alibi for
events in Russia was found in the
weather, which was described as the
chief opponent on the Eastern front.
Hitler promised that things would
change when, with spring, "the ice
will melt and the hour will come
when the ground will be hard and
Arm again-and when our armies
will storm ahead again" This pre-
diction of a major spring offensive
in Russia was especially emphatic.
Those are the high lights of a
speech running almost two hours and
delivered with Hitler's accustomed
raucous oratory. The bulk of the
address was q rehashing Of familiar
themes-a prosecuted German peo-
pie assailed by implacable enemies,
defending themselves gloriously in a
struggle which had become world
wide and from which Germany and
its Axis partners eventually would
emerge triumphant-date unspeci-
fed.
OF course, his regimented listeners
applauded loudly at the right cues,
but as they left the auditorium and
emerged into the midwinter cold of
wartime Berlin, they took with them
little of concrete comfort from their