Evening star., 1944-01-30
A Man to Remember

On this day eleven years ago,
proclaiming himself to be a man Of
peace. Adolf Hitler came to power
in Germany. At first a good part
Of the world refused to take him
seriously. He was just a ludicrous
little figure who talked loud and
incoherentlya from behind a comic,
Chaplinesque mustache. It was
inconceivable that he could remain
In office very long. As the author
of "Mein Kampf"-that monumental
mass of turgidity, distortion and
crackpot mental violence-he be-
longed clearly to the lunatic fringe.
Give him enough rope, it was said,
and he would soon hang himself,
for the German people were too
level-headed, too down-to-earth, to
follow such muddle-headed mystic
for more than a few months or a
year at most.
But, willy-nilly, the German peo-
pie followed him nonetheless. For
eleven long years they have followed
him. In the beginning there were
the spectacular book-burnings, the
blood purges, the vast expansion Of
the secret police, new repressive
laws, the wiping away of the free
dom Of the press and freedom of
speech and assembly, the dissolution
OF all political parties but the Nazi
party, the opening Of the persecution
Of the Jews, and more book -burnings
and more blood purges and any
number of typically shocking things
like the restoration of the medieval
headsman, with his ak and chopping
block. From the very moment he
took Office, in short. Hitler-the
funny little man with the comic
mustache-began turning the clock
back and making himself the life
and-death master Of the Reich.
And, still loudly protesting that he
was man Of peace, he set out at
once to prepare for war, whipping
and regimenting the masses into a
frenzy of rearmament. And, even
if they had wanted to-. the German
people were l1owunable to get rid OF
him. He had been given all the rope
possible; but, far from hanging him
self with it, he used it instead to
bind Germany hand and foot to his
own destiny and to his wildly vault
ing dream togconquer first Europe
and then the world sA..s 5.-.ta II
e TO this end, with an alra1est dev-
ilish cunning, he launched political
and psychological offensive that left
countries like France and Britain
half paralyzed internally. His vic
tims-to-be were separated from
each other; they did not see how he
was planning to destroy them one by
one; they did not stand together
against him when he marched into
the Rhineland. They appeased him
instead. He said he had no designs
on Austria, and then he gobbled up
Austria; he said he had no other
territorial ambitions in Europe, and
he proceeded forthwith to agitate
for the Sudetenland. And when he
received the Sudetenland he said
that now everything was settled, and
right away he went after the whole
of Czechoslovakia. Next he said that
Poland had nothing to fear from
Germany, and not long thereafter
he cut Poland to pieces. At last
appeasement had run its course, and
his staggering lies no longer fooled
anybody, and the world was at war.
On this eleventh anniversary Of
his accession to power we can rejoice
that that power is nearing an end.
But it is SOLDERING to remember that
this man-this man who has brought
so much death and agony to the
world-almost succeeded with his
lunacy. Only by a combination Of
all-out effort, sheer chance and the
magnificent resistance of Britain
and Russia, were the United Ma
tions able to stop his march and
then bring all their power to bear to
throw him back into his present
desperate position. Next January
80 he and the whole of Nazi Ger
many may be total ruin, but he
will live in history not only because
Of his colossal infamies, but because
he has taught an unforgettable les
son-the lesson that unless the de-
cent forces of mankind stand armed
and united against evil the anti
christ can come to rule the world.