Without a Fight?

Just what did impulsive Realmleader Adolf Hitler mean when he told cool British Foreign Secretary Sir John Simon that Germany is ready to sign a pact of non-aggression with any of her neighbors except Lithuania?

In Lithuania the implications of this statement have been slowly sinking in. Last week grave, cautious President Antanas Smetona ordered Lithuanian youths whose term of military service normally would expire May 31 to remain with the colors another 60 days.

Same day in Memel Territory, which Germany aspires to repossess from Lithuania, the District Governor ordered all able-bodied men who received military training last year to "report for re-examination."

Next the Smetona Government announced with as little alarmism as circumstances permitted, that Lithuania's Army is accepting volunteers "since last year's enlistment resulted in a decline of army capacity."

In Berlin, the Ministry of Propaganda & Public Enlightenment promptly pointed out that Realmleader Hitler, in designating Lithuania as the only nation he will not promise not to invade at the moment, added that "after the Memel question is settled" he will be willing to sign a pact of non-aggression with Lithuania, too.

The peaceful Realmleader, according to his entourage, desires nothing more ardently than that Memel be annexed to Germany without a fight.

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