Evening star., 1944-05-21
The StrainGrOWS
Inside Germany
BIZ w. II. Harrison

thud, ofnclal and unofficial Allied COM
mentators are quick to caution that the
people of the Reich are still strong in
morale, that Heinrich Himmlers ubiqui-
tous Gestapo is fully prepared to cope
it would, therefore, be wishful in the
extreme to bank on an internal crack
up in Germany to shorten the war.
This is wise counsel, since the only
safe assumption at this point is that an
all-out, unrelenting armed effort
mightier than any ever before seen in
the world-will be required to put an
end to the Nazis. That said, however,
there is nothing wishful in questioning
just how strong Germany's home-front
morale actually is or in reckoning with
it as one of those imponderables which
may sooner or later play an important
role in shaping the course of the war.
To begin with, it is fact that the
spirit OF the Reich, however firm 1t may
still be, is no longer the thing it once
was. The years have taken their toll.
Like the rest of us, despite their prone
ness to regard themselves as herrenvolk,
the German people are made of 'ordi-
nary flesh and blood and, as such, it is
inconceivable that they do not feel, by
this time, great degree of physical and
emotional fatigue, the more so because
they see their armed forces on a des-
perate and sterile defensive everywhere,
because their cities are being remorse-
lessly hammered into rubble by air blows
that never end and because they know
that the promise of victory is gone from
them forever and that there is nothing
to wait for now but ultimate defeat at
the hands of our invading Allied armies
That German fatigue and disillusion-
ment are real in noteworthy measure,
that the Reich's general internal situ-
alton is already strained and steadily
deteriorating, seems clear from what the
newspapers of Germany themselves re-
port. These publications are not meant
for circulation in the outside world, but
our Office of War Information neverthe-
less has ways of keeping constant
check on them, and what they have been
saying of late-implicitly and explic-
itly-leaves little room for doubt that
the Nazi hierarchy, wholly apart from
battleline problems, has much to worry
about on the home front, no matter how
strong and ruthless the Gestapo may be.
There is the problem OF imported
labor, for example-the vast numbers of
individuals forced or wheedled into leav-
ing their homelands to work in the Reich
Everybody knows" says one German
paper, that today millions of foreigners
are working in the German war in
dustry," but though this may be re-
gretted by some people and even cause
concern" it is unavoidable. Neverthe-
less, because these millions "are not al
together our friends" another German
paper warns that lit is absolutely neces-
sary that in the near future thousands
of German women should join the labor
army in order to insure the predomi-
nance of German workers in every fac
tory 'S'f'r ~.
In addition to revealing degree of
jitters over the trustworthiness of for
eign industrial help, the German press
has been voicing- concern over other
aspects of the labor problem. Thus one
publication appeals to "all workers who
have left their work or their place of
residence because of danger from the
air" to register at the nearest labor
office" adding that those who do not do
SO risk serious penalties" The editor
of another publication angrily comments
on "idlers and shirkers," heaping scorn
on "the person who has suffered slight
AFRAID damage and who stays away
from work for fortnight" and on those
who play dumb so that they may be
spared as much work as possible" And
as further evidence of the shortage of
productive manpower, the medical men
of the Reich have been ordered to re-
port to the authorities the names of all
tuberculosis patients who are not too i'll
to take job.
There is also the question of food.
Within recent weeks, the Nazi-controlled
press has carried numerous warnings
that because of the loss of the Ukraine
and the quite uncertain" harvest out
look, there will probably have to be more
belt Tightening. There are acute meat
and fat shortages, and serious fodder
and fertilizer deficiencies Indeed, the
disposal of livestock is so severely su-
pervised that people pay with their lives
If they are caught violating the regula-
tionS. Thus, according to the Berliner
Lokal-Anzeiger of last March 10, Frau
Frieda Scherbarth of Berlin, aged As.
was sentenced to death and executed
for 'surreptitiously" slaughtering "a
pigs, and her husband died during de-
tention.'
Other food notes gieaned from reports
from Germany show potatoes and vege-
tables exceptionally scarce. Eggs, marga-
rlne and baked goods have virtually dis
appeared. When meat Is unavailable,
which is most of the time, there is an
erSatz liverWurst made of such things
as yeast, onions and marjoram Bread
alone seems plentiful and even that is
said to be low-grade and often unpalat-
able. The German housewife can hardly
be in pleasant frame of mind In her
daily hunt for victualS, she must stand
in long line outside the food store, and
just before it is her turn to buy, the air
alarm may sound and she goes off to
the shelter, and when the raid Is over,
she starts waiting in line again, and if
she manages to get enough for meal,
she finds preparing it a problem be-
cause gas is available for cooking only
in strictly limited quantity.