Evening star., 1943-11-25
Songstress WhoQ Quit NoziRodio
Reveals Secrets of PROPAGANDA
(First OF q Sertes
By GEORGE AxELssoN,

:
(First OF q Sertes,)
By GEORGE AXELSSON,
Correspondent OF the New York Times anl
North American Newspaper Alliance.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov. as
9rita Bager, Swedish songstress
who, late In October, suddenly
walked out on Germany and hel
employer, Propaganda Minister
Joseph Goebbels. with no intention
Of returning, nrst appeared in Ber-
lin IN 1880. Brita was then 23 and
her father, a Swedish naval COM
mander, had just been appointed
. naval attache at the German
capital. At the Berlin school which
she attended during the six years
Of her fathers term at the Swedish
Legation she became the intimate
friend of Hildegard Meissner, only
daughter of Otto Meissnerr, State
Secretary Of the German Chancel-
lory and one Of Hitler's right-hand
men In working out the legal foun-
dations Of the Nazi State.
Since then Brita has been an
annual guest at Meissner's house,
even when Meissner moved to Belle
vue Palace where foreign potentates
were received and lodged during
state visits. In the Meissner home
Miss Bager met Hitler socially and
most Of the top-fiight Nszis. Hitler
was as dazzled by her blond, Nordic
beauty as he was by Unity Freeman
Milford. In fact, Hitler was so taken
with her that he ordered the break
ing Of her engagement to Prince
Schoenaich-C Carolath, youngest son
Of the Kaisers second wife, Her
mine. The engagement was secret,
but the Fuehrer had heard about 1t
and ordered the break, despite the
protests Of Hermine, who approved
the union.
After the wars outbreak, Miss
Bager returned to Germany, sery-
ing as q volunteer nurse until Meiss-
ner told her she would be more
useful to the Reich in radio. On
the air waves she was known as the
girl with the sex-appeal voice and
She often was used for broadcasts
to the front lines, aiming to console
the soldiers in their life without
woman's companionship.
A radio Lii Marlene (the pop
ular torch song about a girl which
swept through the German Army
early In the war;, she attracted
wide attention when she was re-
ported participating in broadcasts
directed to the Spanish volunteers,
asserting that Latin women had
no monopoly on passion but that
Nordic women also possessed a full
measure Of temperament. She spent
q year at oxford and year at the
Sorbonne and In Goebbels' employ
travelled extensively throughout
Nazi-occupied Europe.
Story Is Told.
Miss Bager's own story follows:
I have been q Quisling broad
caster for German Propaganda
Minister Joseph Goebbels for two
years. Any one thinking this work
Is q bed Of roses Is sadly mistaken.
Like crime, 1t doesn't pay. It only
means hard work, long hours for
little money and ostracism even by
the Germans.
Formerly centralized in Berlin,
the foreign department Of the Reich
broadcasting system, miniature
League Of Nations sending out mes
sages in 153 languages and dialects,
has now been scattered to all parts
Of the Reich by Allied air raids. I
left the job and, indeed, Germany,
rs 1t was becoming too much Of a
strain to follow this radio circus
On tts many moves back and forth
ACROSS the Reich, moves neces6i-
tated by the fact the United Nations
air forces did not respect Goebbels'
broadcast schedules.
First We were In Berlin, then
Koenigsberg, when danger seemed
imminent that the capital would
share Hamburg's fate, then back
to Berlin, or rather suburbs. when
the Russians and Americans made
Koenigsberg too uncomfortable.
Herr Goebbels is not supreme in
running this beehive Of foreign
broadcasters. Because the material
Is destined for the outside world,
the foreign office has the last word
on what is sent. resulting in much
jealousy and intrigue between the
Goebbels and Ribbentrop minis
tries.
Daily Directives.
Each Of the 153 departments re-
oeives daily from the Foreign Once
directives on subjects to be dealt with
IN comment and news considered
important for abroad. The instruc-
ton circulars are the same for all 153
departments, affording little scope
for department heads TO introduce
individuality. Each language de-
partment is headed by q native OF
his country using q particular dia-
lect, with a German controller en-
semble, and supervised by DR.. Otto
Glasmeier, a typical Prussian.
Trying to please both Goebbels and
Ribbentrop has given many depart
ment heads premature gray hairs.
Axeo~~ {hn ,,nlarl{noe oro CANA