Friend or Foe?

"Is it wise, is it in the interest of security ... that this ex-Nazi should be permitted an inspection of modern British arms?" The problem cropped up at question time last week in the House of Commons. Labor members were objecting to the presence of Major General Hans Speidel, wartime chief of staff to Field Marshal Erwin ("The Desert Fox") Rommel, in a group of 100 allied officers invited to inspect the British army's latest infantry weapons. Speidel, no Nazi Party member but a willing soldier of the Third Reich, was tortured by the Gestapo for his part in the 1944 bomb plot to assassinate Hitler. He is now the top military adviser to Buero Blank, the embryonic German Defense Ministry, which will raise and train German recruits for the European Army.

Prime Minister Churchill's comment on Speidel's visit was brusque: both parties in Britain support the European Army project; Speidel is doing his best to make it reality. One Labor backbencher called Speidel's visit "an affront to the men who fought the Rommel army." Said Sir Winston sharply: "In the height of the war, I paid my tribute to General Rommel's outstanding military gifts, and I am bound to say now, in time of peace, that I also regard his resistance to the Hitler tyranny, which cost him his life, as an additional distinction to his memory. This keeping alive of hatred is one of the worst injuries that can be done to the peace of the world, and any popularity gained thereby is shame to the member who attempts to gather it."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.