Evening star., 1942-04-15
ny HELEN LOMBARD.

There was n time In washing
ton when an Arnv officer who men.
| toned Nazi weapons with oper
admiration was apt to be booed fol
being pro-Naz.
Today military men are studying
Nazi methods In detail. not for ini-
tation but for information. Officers
Of the psychological warfare section
| OF the military intelligence depart
ment are observing the psycholog
/ ical trends Of the people at war and
/ analyztng conditions under which
fifth column activity fiourishes best
A good many information leak,
and gossip and defeatism are traced
to social gatherings in the Capital
from which 1t fans out in letters
back home and in verbal accounts
from home-going visitors. A picture
OF social life In Berlin today, COM
piled from official information. shows
why salon" variety OF the fifth COL
umnist who has been one of Hitler s
effective weapons outside of Ger
many is an article strictly for export
10 democratlc nations.
Naxis' Parties Supervised.
Social life still goes on in Berlin
today but the dining and wining. like
the rest OF life in Germany, is
regimented and supervised There
are no loose overlapping groups in
which attractive strangers can ply
the fifth column trade. Restaurant
dining Is a popular form of enter
tainment but the parties are COM
posed OF small groups in which each
individual is known to every other.
The Adlon Hotel and the Pelzer
Restaurant are the principal gather
ing places for Berliners who have
money to spend. Most of the en-
tertaining is done at noon because
of the blackout and the early curfew.
Food is rationed but wine is not and
Germans have not lost their fond
ness for champagne. The average
Berliner who had been counting on
liquid loot from the occupied coun-
tries has. however, been sadly dis
appointed. He can buy only German
champagne. Kupferberg Gold and
Heinkel Trocken, which Is only a
little more exciting than alcoholized
pop.
The absence OF French champagne
from Berlin wine cards must have
been a serious blow, indeed, for 1t
has leaked out that Berliners have
dared blame the ban on Herr
Joachim Won Ribbentrop, whose
father-in-law manufactures one of
the best German champagnes.
French champagne and vintage
wines and brandies have been trans
ported from France In trainloads.
1t is, however, reserved for the Nazi
party gentlemen and the military.
The rare cream of the champagne
and cognacs has been stored in
Marshal Hermann Goerings wine
cellars. Some of the next best bot
ties went to the No. gourmet of
the Nazi government, Herr Won Rib
bentrop. The rest is stored and
doled out according to military rank
and party position. Base hospitals
at the front are allotted generous
share of wines and liquors for the
sick and convalescent.
Soldiers Parties Gay.
Parties given in the German cities
for the soldiers from the front are
hilarious and gay. They are given
at the direction of the war depart
ment which instructs certain groups
to entertain certain soldiers and
furnishes the list of the girls to be
invited to dance with them.
Large official dinners also take
place but only individuals directly
concerned with the business of the
visiting dignitary are invited.
The gregarious instinct has not
died out In the Germans under
Hitler. But it is very different from