Gareth Jones
[bas relief by Oleh Lesiuk]
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'Are you Listening NYT?' U.N. Speech - Nov 2009 |
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THE WESTERN MAIL
AND SOUTH WALES NEWS, March 1st, 1933
A WELSHMAN LOOKS AT EUROPE (xi)
BEGINNING OF GERMAN FASCISMBy GARETH JONES
HOTEL BASLER HOF,Frankfurt-on-Main.Germany is going
full speed towards a Fascist Dictatorship. Now that Hitler has gained
power he will cling to it. No considerations of constitutionalism will
make him waver in his purpose. He will even throw aside Hindenburg rather
than loosen the grip which he is gaining on Germany. He is surrounded
by men of unflinching will, unfettered by traditions, burning with hatred of
Bolshevism and passionate in their cry of “Germany, awake!” Who are these men?
The cream of his followers are here now in this hotel, preparing for the vast
meeting which is to stir the population of Frankfurt. When I draw the
curtain and look down into the street I see some of them guarding the hotel.
There is a police cordon drawn around and, except for the members of the
bodyguard in their black and silver uniform, there is no one in the street
outside. The members of the bodyguard are the picked few of the hundreds
of thousands of storm troops whom Hitler has led to power. Thus Hitler has
behind him a vast army of determined young men, excellently trained. Those
who are in brown are the S.A. men, or the Storm Department men. They are
the rank-and-file. Those who are in black with silver trimmings are the
S.S. men, the special defence troops, the elite. I have just had a long
conversation with one of the leading S.S. men, who was pointed out to me as a
hero, for he had killed a Communist. What Happened
“What
happened?” I asked the powerfully built young man, whose smile was so
disarming that I found it difficult to realise that I was talking to one who had
killed a man, although he had on his helmet a skull and crossbones. He
told his story eagerly. “Yes, that was a
rare fight. We Nazis have a meeting-place here, and one night a number of
Communist thugs rushed in to raid us. We set to. One of them came at
me and I just took him up and crashed his skull against the piano. He was
done for. Nine Communists got wounded in that fight and I got a dagger wound in
my hand. Look at it. “I managed to
escape, but later I was amnestied. The amnesty came on my birthday.” Gentleness to
their enemies is no characteristic of Hitler’s hundreds of thousands of
followers. The storm troops are backed by fourteen million German
citizens, and Hitler finds himself in a strong position. He is digging
himself in rapidly, thanks to one man, Goering, who now controls Prussia, and
Prussia is two-thirds of Germany. Goering is perhaps
the most determined of Hitler’s followers. He has already dismissed
hundreds of non-Nazi police, presidents, officials, and Civil Servant in Prussia
and replaced them with keen Nazis. Many war heroes are now in control of
the police. Goering’s actions have amounted to a coup d’état without
violence. Law the Tool of a Party
In a few weeks the
Nazis have won the key positions, and they are not the kind of men to give them
up. Goering has written a letter to the police which practically absolves
them from any blame or responsibility if they shoot a Communist or a Socialist.
The police are to support the Nazi troops in crushing non-nationalistic elements
and the Nazi storm men are to become auxiliary police. Law is thus rapidly
becoming the tool of a party. Equally
dictatorial has been the attitude towards the press. Responsible news papers
have been banned for criticisms In this respect Germany is beginning to tread
the path of Russia and Italy. A
dictator of public opinion is to be appointed-if opinion can be dictated to- and
he is going to be the vivacious little man who sat behind Hitler in the
aeroplane, and whose dark, narrow head an sharp brown eyes looked like those of
a Glamorgan miner- Dr. Goebbels. With the “Herr Doktor,” as he is
called, I have spent several hours.
Goebbels at the microphone at the Frankfurt Rally National Emotion
He has a
remarkably appealing personality, with a sense of humour and a keen brain.
One feels at home with him immediately, for he is amusing and likeable. It is strange to
think that this little man who looks so Iberian, is a leader of the Nazi
movement, which has as its basic the supremacy of the big, blonde Nordic race.
Before long he is going to have control of the press, of the wireless, of art,
as head of a new Ministry, and he is determined to educate the whole of public
opinion in Germany along National Socialist lines. The time has come,
however, to leave for the mass meeting. The hall, which holds 25,000, has
been packed since twelve o’clock, although Hitler is not to speak until 8.15.
The “Leader” is upstairs getting ready. Dr. Goebbels tells me that the
Nazis never prepare their speeches fully. They all speak out openly.
Goebbels and Hitler jot a few slogans on two or three pieces of paper or outline
a short plan and are usually carried away by the revivalist spirit. Hitler is now
coming down the staircase in his brown uniform. We must go. Before
long I am destined to witness one of the most overwhelming outbursts of national
emotion which history records and the beginning of German Fascism. |
Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany. |
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