Obscuration Maneuvers

"What, going home and leaving your shopwindow lights on, Weber?", a friendly policeman last week admonished a petty Berlin dealer in women's wear. "You know Goring's orders."

"Ja, but I have set the clock to turn off my lights at 10 o'clock. It always works. Auf Wiedersehen."

At exactly 10 p. m. the World's third most extensive city-suddenly became the World's darkest. Over 150 battle planes-- barred to Germany by the now scrapped Versailles treaty--thundered aloft over Berlin in a night air raid followed by another at dawn. Some dropped cannon cracker bombs. To make things more realistic Air Minister Goring had a section of Berlin subjected to real tear gas. Squads of Nazis dashed about telling teary citizens not to become panicky, assuring them "You will soon be quite all right." To make things still more realistic fake wounded soon appeared profusely bandaged. A little girl of nine, supposed to have had her arm blown off by an air bomb, happily displayed a red-daubed papier-mache stump.

Everywhere in Berlin citizens, on General Goring's orders, left their doors unlocked. It was fun for Nazi squads to burst in and bawl: "Citizens, your window shows a crack of light! Darkness is the order! See you aren't caught again!" Most fun, however, was attending to the shop of Weber.

Weber's time switch failed to work. Scarcely had 10 o'clock struck before the street was full of furious Nazis. They smashed Weber's window and his lights, then sloshed buckets of black paint over his dainty dress goods, daubed the whole shop and made matclhwood of the counters. "When you consider," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Propaganda & Public Enlightenment next morning, "that in the entire city of Berlin only this Jew, this unspeakable Weber, had to be dealt with, the vast obscuration maneuvers can be called an entire success."

In every public square Berliners had indeed gathered joyfully, pointing skyward at the first German military escadrille to take the air officially since the Fatherland was beaten, exulting over & over "Those are our planes! Our planes!" Proudest of all was the grim old dowager Baroness von Richthofen, mother of Germany's late greatest war ace. To her wrote General Goring, Air Minister and Premier of Prussia:

"Honored Frau:

"I am fulfilling a sacred legacy by transferring to this new pursuit squadron the name and tradition of the glorious Richthofen Escadrille of which I was the last commander. The example of your immortal and heroic son will inspire all officers and soldiers of the revived German Air Army to the highest daring and sacrifice."

Son Manfred von Richthofen was downed after bagging 80 Allied planes. His downy-lipped "baby brother" Bolko, the present Baron von Richthofen, now gallantly squires the Dowager Baroness. A doctor of philosophy, he is an honorary member of the new Richthofen Escadrille, does not fly.

*London is the most extensive, Los Angeles the second.

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