Symptoms and Diagnosis

At Schwerin a German railwayman named Ulrich Middelborg was executed for taking food from a freight car. At Hamburg an air-raid warden went to the gallows for taking a few yards of blackout cloth from a bombed house. At Hindenburg, in Upper Silesia, Bank Manager Georg Miethe was put to death for conversation which "failed to set an example of loyalty for his employes."

These manifestations of justice in the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler were by no means isolated. The German press and radio are reporting a half-dozen or more such cases each day, to let the population know how badly some Germans are behaving, how ruthlessly the regime is punishing the slightest slip in wartime discipline. But to the rest of the world, this policy of revelation is a significant squiggle on the German fever chart, a new piece of evidence that Germany is weakening--militarily, politically, psychologically.

Such evidence has been piling up in recent weeks. Last week rumors and reports poured in from the neutral countries near Germany, from the Reich itself, from occupied territory. The message they seemed to spell out: crisis is bringing on important changes in the German High Command and civil government. Expert observers in London studied the evidence with interest and caution, offered an interested and cautious verdict: "Could be."

Leader in Danger. Most startling and circumstantial indication of potential trouble in Germany was a kind of pastoral letter, signed by Erich Koch, Nazi Gauleiter for East Prussia, and apparently circulated among party leaders of the district. A copy of the letter, smuggled out through Holland and vouched for by the Netherlands authorities, declared:

"The Fuehrer is in danger. The forces of reaction want to eliminate the Fuehrer and subject the Reich to a military dictatorship which, against the nation's will, would immediately start peace negotiations. The Fuehrer, in his magnanimity, has refused to start to take drastic steps against the traitors in order not to rob the army of its leader at these critical hours. Report immediately to the nearest party office, police or SS every suspicious occurrence, every rumor, every colored or slanderous statement about the Fuehrer."

Leader in Confusion. Adolf Hitler has had little to say for himself of late, nor has that little carried much punch.* Last week he issued a pallid message calling upon German youth to maintain an "unshakable belief in victory." In his last public speech, to party leaders early last month, he urged his people to rise above the shifting tide of battle, to cling to "the faith that tells us that this war will end in a mighty German victory if only our will remains unwavering." For the man who once delivered victories by the carload, to talk of "belief" or "faith" in victory must have been a sorry comedown.

Other symptoms of national malaise:

> Istanbul sources said Hitler's sub rosa nickname is now "Der Irrefuehrer" (The Misleader); peace parades have been staged in thoroughly bombed Hanover and Wiener-Neustadt; an opposition section is growing up inside the Nazi Party, with Himmler and Goebbels ready to sell Hitler out if they or the Army generals can put over a separate peace with Russia --a hope which vanished last week.

> Stockholm sources said that a movement for "an independent Danube monarchy" has arisen in Munich.

>Bern sources said that German readjustments to meet crises on the Russian front and the home front have been forced by growing defeatism within Germany.

> The Swedish newspaper Ny Dag said that extremist Nazis, already in despair, are planning methodically to go underground, and are establishing secret radio stations, arms dumps, sabotage material. From all of this, and much more, London observers drew two conclusions:

>German morale is indeed weakening, but it is less likely to crack violently than simply to wear through in a slow, general collapse.

>Most of the German people are now thoroughly weary, willing to buy peace at any reasonable price. But these Germans are totally in the power of other Germans who have no such reason for quitting, whose very lives depend upon sustaining the fight.

-He will not lack material for oratory if he takes the rostrum on the anniversary of the Munich beer-hall Putsch this week.

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