Evening star., 1943-10-21
BY GUNNAR T. PHIL,

STOCKHOLM CNAN.AD. When
the Germans rescued Mussolini from
the hotel on the 9060-foot high
Gran Sasso Peak in the Apennines
north of Rome, SIS men under Storm
Troop Leader Otto Skorzeny were
picked for the job. This detail may
have escaped the world at large, but
1t is full of meaning.
The exploit was clearly authorized
by Himmler. chief. of the Gestapo
and new Reich minister of the in
terror, and not by Kesselring or
Rommel, the German army COM
manders in Italy For this particular
mission the Nazis would not trust
regular soldier because the army
has no admiration for the man who
tried to buy glory cheaply at the
German Army's expense by stab
bing PROSTATE France in the Back
There in a nutshell is much of
the story of the strained relations
between the Nazi party and the
generals.
The duality of command has led
the German armed forces along the
road to ruin to stage where the
order "shc"ten all fronts" has gone
forth from the general staff in an
attempt to force an honorable stale
mate out Of what seems inevitable
defeat.
No Chance for Nazi "Badoglio."
Now, faced by the generals rising
power and influence, Hitler has
ostentatiously displayed Himmler tc
the public view as Reich minister
of the interior. This is an official
notice to the army and the people
that German "Badoglio" can at
tain Office only over the dead body
Of the last Nazi.
This is only one of the reasons
why I have reached the conclusion
that a "Badoglio'' DEVELOPMENT is
not the probable end of the Third
Reich.
Another main obstacle is the fact
that the German generals are not
politicians and do not possess a per-
sonality capable of leading them
Their one political idea is mon
archy and at present military dis
cipline and the necessity for con-
centrating every effort on the diff
hculties of the military situation on
all fronts occupies them to the ex-
clusion Of anything else.
And what about the German sol.
dier? Four years Of war have
changed his mental processes anc
exterior.
The men I saw march off to Pol
and and France looked like so many
well-trained football players They
were the cream of the Hitler youth
brought up to die for their Fuehrer
Rebellion of Commanders
Today 60 per cent of those boy;
lie buried, most of them in Russia
and others have returned home
permanent invalids. You see then
everywhere in the streets of Berlin
legless. armless and blind.
The German army which over
ran Poland, France and the Bal
kans was still practically intact
when Brauchitsch was dismissed
from command in the autumn OF
1941.
He fell in trying to save it from
the death stroke which hit it when
Hitler launched his winter offen-
sive against Moscow without pro-
viding the soldiers with the neces-
sary clothing or equipment
Tht German Army has never re-
covered from the losses it sustained
during that bitter winter.
Germany has never before or
since been SO near to defeat as il
was then, not only because of dis
asters on the field but also because
of the rising tide of rebellion by
officers of the general staff against
the Fuehrers meddling in military
operations.
l have been assured on authority
I cannot doubt that there was ar
attempt on Hitler's life in head
quarters that Christmas time by a
small group of officers, most Of them
colonies and lieutenant-cC -cClonels.
Dozen Officers Disappear.
OIuouDleuly, Ille ldCG IldI llleTe
had been shooting affray Of some
kind at headquarters could not be
hushed up.
The disappearance of nearly g
dozen general staff officers from
their sphere of activities immediate
ly afterwards is, too, some confr-
nation of their reported execution
One of Hitler's greatest tragedies