The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-05-03

/ 0N1A W. AiAeAlA 49, eesNo'N W ~
lieve was Asiatic barbarism.
HERO o. SUICIDE?
The weak point in the NazI
legend, however, will be the
possibility that Hitler's death
may be proved TO have resulted
from some less heroic cause than
the German official version de
scribed.
Moscow put its finger on this
vulnerable point the day Berlin
] / a p s d, approximately "A
hours after Hitler was said to
have fallen at his post" The
Russian high command stated
that Hitler and GoebbelS both
had committed suicide according
to DR.. Hans Fritsche, deputy
propaganda minister captured
by the Red Army.
This would be the direst blow
of all 10 .he NaZi fable. To sup
port the legend, Hitler had to go
down fighting and particularly
fighting against BolshevlSm.
~ Even TO have represented his
defnise as occurring at BerchteS-
gaden would have meant he had
gone where Americans were
fighting. There might always
have been the suspicion he re-
treated to his mountain lair be-
cause he expected better treat
ment from the Americans IN
event of capture.
DEFIANT SLOGAN
When contemplating the cir
cumStances surrounding the an
nouncement Of his death and
their bearing on Hitler legend
it IS important also to remem-
Der that Hitler emphasized un-
ceaSingly Il will never capitu-
late. That was the burden OF
his argument when contrasting
the Germany of 1918. To Hit
Ter, Kaiser Wilhelm and his as
SociateS were spineless creatures
who gave up when longer re-
sistance would have brought in
evitable victory.
AS the Allied armies recon
quered more and more of the
countries ravaged by Hitler and
especially as Germany itself was
invaded, Hitler still preached
that victory was in sight pro-
viding all stuck together and no.
body capitulated. He approved
wholesale executions of officers
ready to surrender when the
fight was hopeless.
Significantly, all the rumors
of alleged proposals for surren-
der preceding the announcement
of Hitler's death came not in
HitlerS name, but Himmler's
Hitler simply couldn't afford to
capitulate. That would have re-
moved tie last vestige of his al
ready badly Shattered reputa'
ton.
FACTS LACKING
Only when all the facts are ir
will the historian be able tC
Judge the final relationship OF
Hitler TO Himmler. The appoint
ment of Doenitz as the new
Fuehrer must have met Hmm
lerS approval for it is unthink-
able that any man would dare
proclaim himself Hitler's sue
cesSor unless that act met with
the approval of the most power
ful man in what was left of Ger
many. On the other hand it was
an open secret that Himmler
planned his entire career with
the final objective of becoming
the Reich's next Fuehrer.
Except for the announced per-
sonal ending of Der Fuehrer his
prestige might never have been
great enough TO outlive the beat
ing Of German arms.
Evidence came to every quail
fled observer of the German
scene as city after city fell into
American hands that the Nazl
regime was discredited.
Worst Of all for the Nazi
cause was the fact that through
out the Saar region, the Rhine
land and Palatinate, in all the
sections first reached by the
western powers, the party bur
eaucracy fled. When the harm
this was doing to Nazism became
obvious, Hitler himself, or some
one signing his name, tried &c
stem the tide by issuing orders
that all must remain at thclr
places until the last.
Nevertheless, SO powerful had
Il years Of buildup of Hitler
through Goebbels' propaganda
been that many politically in
lantile Germans still were will
ing to condemn the Nazi party
but doubt that Hitler knew what
was going on.
GREW MORBID
The official version of his re-
ported death is calculated tC
pave tie way for the Hitler les
end from that viewpoint also.
So far as the actual leadership
Of Germany was concerned
there is little doubt that Hitler