Evening star., 1944-06-04
life may in time conquer the insane
impulse toward death which Is war.
It is q quietly beautiful piece OF
writing, a comment OF more than
contemporary worth.
HitIers Generals
By W. E. Hart. Doubleday,
DOrGu.

2
DoTan.)
Won Fritsch was assassinated, vor
Rundstedt was retired, Won Brau-
chitsch was dismissed. With that
the talent of the German army was
lowered to second and third rate
Rommel is without real military
training, Won Book is a little man
Keitel is an out-and-out joke. Mich
showed ability in building up the air
force but, after all, Germany lost
the Battle Of Britain. AS for the
German navy, Raeder, the former
admiral, was a weak man and Doe
nitz, the present one, is desk chair
theorist.
This is the story which w. E. Hart
tells in the present book in a series
Of proflles. Mr.. Hart Is not really
Mr.. Hart at all, but a German cav
Falry officer and a former general
staff officer of one, of the FPanzel
divisions. He disagreed with Hitler
and prudently left the Country
went into the British army as vol.
unteer, was wounded and discharged
and is now a military correspondent
for number of English papers.
Via Diplomatic Pouch
By Douglas Miller. fDidier.J
This is collection of the eco.
nomic reports which Douglas Miller
former commercial attache of the
American Embassy In Berlin, sent
to his Washington office during the
years 1933-1937. The facts, naturally
are no longer news; neither are Mr.
Miller's predictions any more in the
realm, of prophecy. Over and ovel
again, he said, with monotonous
accuracy. that Germany is doing
thus and so, and it means war. As
early as 1884, he said just that
there will be peace only until Ger
many is ready to strike. But. if one
has learned from times dreadful
teaching the end of Mr.. Miller's
plot, there is still a certain stimu-
lating quality in this evidence of OH
own long warning. 1t is comforting
to know that our representatives
abroad were on the alert while at
home boondoggling made its ap-
pearance in the national vocabu-
larry.
Downfall
By Zalman Shneour. fRoy.)
Going back Is years, this novel
tells the story of the plundering
of the Polish Jews by the Germans
in World War I. To draw the
obvious comparison with World War
II is, however, irrelevant. The book
is not written in a relative, con-
temporary spirit. 1t is structure
in itself, quite adequate without
the help of events.
It's story is told in terms of one
great Jewish mercantile family
which is brought from affluence to
ruin by the "requisitioning" of the
victorious German troops and the
significance of the work lies en-
tirely in the authors presentation
Of the family relationships. 1t is
picture which will remind one
strongly of the descriptions of
Chinese family life to be found in
the novels of Lin Yutang, a picture
of a self-contained group, absorbed
in its own world, concerned largely
with comfort, prosperity and repute
before society, but even more largely
with extending itself through mar
riage and birth, group in which
the individuals are decidedly under
the authority of head who, himself
lives solely to further the welfare of
the individuals. There is a genuine
warm realism in the depletion which
is by no means to be confused with
sentimentality