"Our Faith!"

No. 3 man in the German hierarchy, after the heads of State and Army, is the country's mouthpiece. In title and theory, Propaganda Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels holds this position. But the Goebbels' star has fallen so far since the signing of the German-Russian pact that another man is rapidly moving into his spot. The usurper's official title is Reich Organization Director, Leader of the Labor Front; but as he moves towards No. 3, he becomes, more & more, spokesman of Nazi doctrine, utterer of slogans, salesman of ideas. The unfortunate pronunciation of his name is the same as of the English word "lie."

Robert Ley is one of the more radical oldtimers of the Nazi Party. He organized the Party into its prison-model machinery of blocks, cells, wardens. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, he was made head of the Labor Front, proceeded forcibly to liquidate the free trade unions, numbering 4,000,000 members. In his ability to incite-and entertain, he combined the talents of Billy Sunday and Billy Rose. He staged the vast Nuernberg Party rallies each year, and built the "Strength Through Joy" organization, which mass-produced recreation, playgrounds, loyalty--all convertible for war uses.

All this while Robert Ley tossed out pronouncements which tended to set him up as a second-string oracle. When the Party wanted discipline, he ranted against nicotine, alcohol and debauchery (despite his own proclivity for liquor, generously indulged on "Strength Through Joy" outings). When Germany needed manpower, he lectured the Many Children League on that "natural, healthy" phenomenon, illegitimacy (see col. 2). When Lebensraum (living space) and the Communist menace were in the air, he proclaimed: "In Germany 147 men have to live on one square kilometre--in Russia only nine. This may be borne for a time by superhuman effort, but not forever." When vilification of Britain was in order, he was among the loudest and most insistent, branding the enemy "a dark smudge off the Continent," "a heap of moneybags." "a rich parvenu wishing to play world policeman."

Last week Nazi Germany came right out and declared its intention not only to beat Great Britain but to dominate the world, and it was Robert Ley who made the declaration. The theory of Germanic superiority lies at the nub of Nazi doctrine, was the hypothesis of Mein Kampf. But until last week no responsible German had ever talked right out for the world to hear about Germany's heaven-given right to rule. Dr. Ley did. In a speech in conquered Lemberg, German Poland, he said:

"We know the issue; it is to be or not to be. But we also know that Germany will live. For England is already blockaded. The country that wants to starve us is itself shut up like a mouse in a trap. We want to be hard in this war. We are going to forget the arch-evil, our good nature, and will be hard and relentless in battling for our demands.

"The German race--that is our faith! It has higher rights than all others. A German laborer is worth more than an English lord. We have the divine right to rule, and we shall assure ourselves of that right."

Almost as an afterthought, later in the week, came a speech from waning Mouthpiece Goebbels. It was merely a reiteration of the do-or-die talk which all German bigwigs have handed out to keep citizens in a proper frenzy. But there was a new note of genuine desperation. "This is no potato war," said Herr Goebbels, "but will bring a decision on our future. . . . We will either relinquish our position as a united people and a big power or win. . . . Germany is fighting a totalitarian war, calling on both the front and the homeland, if not for the same sacrifices, then for the same national duty. In this war we are fighting for bare existence."

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