Arkansas State press., 1945-07-20

splaansd terror" msthedically applied u
q mind among Ne anu.Naxis which vasu
MNU Service. Union Trust Building
Washington. D. @.
In my preceding column de-
scribed the state Of mind Of the mid
dls.aged German who had been
anti.Naxi or at least had no con.
nsctions with the Nazi party. A
study Of the gestapo methods has
revealed that II was planned def.
nitely 10 destroy initiative and indi.
viduality. This has greatly compai.
Gated the work Of the American ad-
ministrstion Of occupied Germany.
A I said. the gestapo made use
q = definite system Of PLANNED
terror"
II WILL ! realize. Be somewhat DIFF
1cult for . person living In q demo-
cratic country TO grasp the extent
y which such methods could be ap-
piled. First, we must realize that .
tstalitarian government IL the abso.
luts antithesis Of 4 democracy. In .
democracy the individual 10 the
unit The state exists for the individ.
ual Under Nazi-Fascist totalitarian.
ism. Il 10 not enough to say that the
individual exists for the state. The
individual a. q concept does not
exist At al. The Fascist conception
q the state" said Mussolini. lis all
embracing; outside Of II no human
or spiritual values can exist. :"
II was the nrst task Of the Nazis
10 destroy this concept Of indi-
vidualty. The terror was = part Of
he method employed.
Purpose Was to Break
Wu 20 Resist
Bruno Bethlehem. author Of my
Lite In Maxi Concentration Camps"
textiles TO the purpose Of the camps
and the achievement Of this purpose
~ the sestapo from his own expert.
snces. He says that among the aims
were these:
I. TO break the prisoners ~ indi-
viduals and convert them into docile
masses from which no Individual or
tGreyA act = red 1Dnce cclla erile>
1 II spllld ylErdl Sia6lss IN
rest of the population BY:
I. Using the prisoners ~ hos
4 tages:
b. Demonstrating 10 them what
happened to those who oppose
Maxi rulers.
Z 70 provide gestapo members
With training ground 80 they could:
I. Lose all human attitudes and
emotions;
b. Learn the most effective
ways Of breaking civilian re-
sistance.
I. 70 provide 4 laboratory In
which the gestapo could study the
effectiveness OF torture. minimum
nourishment and medical care, and
normal activities plus hard labor.
The general purpose, Of course.
was to create . civilian population
Of maximum benent to the Maxi
state.
The authors study Of prisoners
conducted under the camp regime.
supplemented by careful SELF
analysis, leads him to believe that
the camp treatment resulted In
either death or an adaptation to
camp life. The prisoner finally ac-
cepted his position and even came
to initiate the gestapo in manner
and conduct.
This seems a logical progression
when we know that the gestapo
themselves In their training were
submitted to tortures almost equal to
those inflicted on the prisoners.
One Of the gestapo games, the au-
thor relates. was for two Of them
10 stand up and beat each other.
The one who stood the longest.
won. Old prisoners who were thor
oughly changed" were said to in
dulge In the same sport among
themselves.
Many Were Killed,
Or Were Suicides
Bethlehem describes the three
stages through which the prison.
ers passed. The first Is the arrest;
the second Is transportation to the
camp, which is the hardest to bear,
he says. The last is prison life;
after q period of transition during
which. unless the prisoner either re-