Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-12-05
Dark Nuzi Hints

England the Churchill government
felt an enormous pressure from the
British people to do what was i'm
possible at that time-to retaliate
by sending the Royal Air Force on
massive raids against Germany.
Now the situation Is reversed, and
much more than reversed. Now the
Raj and the United States Eighth
Air Force are pounding the cities Of
the Reich with fury dwarfing any
thing ever let loose against Britain.
And now, just as happened to the
Churchill government, but to a far
greater degree, the Nazi high COM
mand is feeling the impact Of
vast and insistent public demand
that something be done about 1t.
But whether anything can be done
Is question. From time to time,
the Nazi hierarchy has promised
that full reprisals would be made
and have limited darkly at the use
OF secret weapons" Of nature so
dreadful as to put an end to the
Allied "air terror" Up to now, how.
ever, these promises have not been
fulfilled, and the German people
must want to know why, and their
leaders must by the same token
feel impelled to give them some sort
Of answer-whether in the form OF
concrete and spectacular action or
by making new and more grandiose
pledges of retaliation. In any case,
the Nazis have not stopped giving as
surances to bolster home-front
morale, their latest being the nat as
sertion that they intend "by one
fell, drastic stroke to end the I'M
bridled mass murder" This stroke,
they say mo longer depends on
technical matters, but solely on the
object which is to be attained by
it," and 1t will be 80 powerful and
will be started at such psychology
cally opportune moment as to in
fluence the development of the
war"
It may we'll be that this promise
has no more truth in it than others
made by the Nazis, but 1t contains a
new and somewhat mysterious note
insofar as it goes on to suggest that
the retaliation in store for us will
not necessarily involve pulverization
air raids or things like giant rocket
guns. Instead, the German people
have been given to understand that
it will be quite different and sur
prising expression, spiritually as
we'll as politically" This can be read
to mean either much or nothing. 1t
is not beyond the realm Of possibili-
ty, for example, that the Germans,
emulating the japanese, may shock
the world by inflicting physical harm
on captured Allied fiers. On the
other hand, since this kind OF action
would scarcely affect the course of
the war, the latest in the long line
OF dark Nazi hints may be Just 10
much talk without any significance
whatever.
Nevertheless, it should be no more
laughed of than it should be taken
too seriously. We must be prepared
for anything and everything, the
more so because we are up against
a resourceful enemy whose vicious
ness is apt to grow with his despera-
ton. The Nazi leviathan, in short,
though bleeding profusely in a hun
dred different places may in its
death agonies yet lash out at us
with some final stroke of supreme
violence. In any event, Hitler and
his whole black company are at a
point now where they must want to
do something, however blind and
evil, to smash back at those who have
stopped them from enslaving the
world.