Evening star., 1944-09-03
Nazis Fear Revenqe
Of Conscripted Labor
More Than Allies

AT THE SWISS GERMAN FROM
TIER, Sept. 2.-More than the fear
of Allied armies or the propaganda
fed fear of Russian Terror, dread of
the revenge of her conscripted for
eign labor is the uppermost feeling
in Germany today, according to
trustworthy informants from Berlin
and other parts of the Reich.
Thinking Germans foreSaw the
danger even two years ago, but now
all who work in factories feel it.
Foreign workers, encouraged by the
Allied blitZkrieg in France, are
openly telling Germans they can
expect the worst-and that the day
is not far off.
Those who have travelled in Ger
many in the last three weeks have
noted a deep feeling of defeatism
coupled with fear. The penalty for
spreading defeatism is death. So
called peoples courts pass death
sentences in day-long. continuous
chains. An average of Is persons
have been shot weekly in one small
town outside Berlin, 60 have been
shot weekly in another The total
runs into thousands and thousands.
War May End in 6 Weeks.
Some Germans now believe the
war possibly will be over in six
weeks. None gives an explanation
for such swift concluSion-he merely
thinks it is ending. Secret weapon
talk among Germans and foreigners
trusting each other is derisive. They
have no faith in such devices.
Heinrich Himmler, commander in
chief of the German Home Army,
is striving to keep Naziism upper
most in the minds of the people
Signs in official buildings exhort
the Germans to combat your
enemy-he who does not SAY He'll
Hitler!' is your enemy" The re-
suit has brought louder He'll Hit
~ than ever among under Off
Soldiers returning on home leave
have shown better morale than the
home front. They preach that a
lost war is the worse possible fate
Enjoy war, for peace will be
dreadful they say.
People in Berlin talk more and
more of reports from the front of
destroyed weapons and of flight
from death-dealing frontlineS.
German Labor Disconnected.
Deep discomfort is apparent
among German labor. Bomb dam
age and lack of materials for the
first time have created serious UNI
employment in technical trades
Days frequently go by while work.
ers await needed materials. Some
times they are shunted into COM
mon workmen's jobs to help clear
bombed cities and factories.
Workmen returning from east
ern districts add to the unemploy-
ment situation. Lacking jobs and
housing facilities, they frequently
must live days in old railway cars
awaiting assignment to camps.
Despite the Nazis' latest total
mobilization drive. the Germans
famous organizing ability no longer
is capable of coping with such prob
lens, declared one informant.
The Owl reported yesterday that
two travellers reaching Switzerland
from Berlin had declared German
military reverses had caused a split
within Himmler'S SIS Elite Guard
the imprisonment of some SIS lead
ers, an increase in Gestapo eXecu-
tlons and tendency for iittery
NazlS to take out personal postwar
insurance by performing favors
for non-NaZiS.
The ruthleSsneSs Of the Nazis in
combating the alleged July 20 as
SaSSlnatlon attempt on Hitler's life
mas created universal disgust and
a number OF new enemies" for the
Hitler regime, the Owl report said.
one traveller said the executed gen.
erals had become heroes because
they were hanged instead of shot
and that new enemies of the Nazis
had been made by the arrest of
army officers in no way connected
with the alleged plot.
The belief of an SIS homogeneous
body united behind Himmler is alb
surd,' he declared. When the
showdown comes, the SIS will fall
TO pieces"
= The Berlin resident asserted that
There was some opposition to the
kazis in Germany, but that it did
not appear to be organized. He
portrayed the opposition as poten-
Nal rather than actual and based
On a somewhat increased commu-
nifty OF anti-Nazi feeling rather
than an intense desire to over
throw NaziiSm.
: The Owl did not say how it OBJ
tained these reports.