Dr. Frank, is the German Governor-General of Poland. What particular qualifications' he has for the position are not at present clear, though doubtless he secured the job because he was a staunch Nazi. Despite his servile adoration of Hitler, which amounts to worship, Dr. Frank apparently thought it was his duty in the middle of last December to deliver a Christmas message to Germans in Poland, when he addressed a fient, the armed forces and_ the police ithering of representatives
together with some German families, in the course of which he delivered himself of the usual turgid Nazi nonsense. a good running start the worthy doctor declared "Once again we realize the meaning of the Christmas tree which....brings us the sacred message that the German nation is called upon fo establish securely through Adolf Hitler's Victory, peace in Europe." The idea of Hitler posing as a prince of peace may sound queer to outside cars, but apparently the Germans ike such rubbish. Whether they do or do hot, the Governor-General of Poland save it to his hearers, Dr. Frank proceeded to tell his hearers of the German duty to hate, to remember the alleged Polish "atrocities," after which he dwelt on the subject of war graves:—
When remembering all these graves, it is Important that they should not inspire only mourning and grief. Rather are they a call to recognize that the highest good, the great est gift which Almighty God has given man to be a German,...We are proud to master the world as Germans, where Adolf Hier has set up a Reich which reaches from the Allantic to the Bug, from the Pyrenees to the North Cape.... Never before have we been $0 great and so exalted.
Dr. Franck was merely crowing on the midden in Poland created by the ruthless barbarity of men who will readily appeal to the Almighty while secking almost in the same breath to deny him.
That is what in fact the ineffable Dr. Frank goes on to do, for he dethrones the Divinity, and places his Fuhrer in his place:—This belief in the Fuhrer is... the most sacred thought of our present celebration.
He the solitary Sublime One, he Is incom-parahly great in his uniqueness, Thus he watches over German life, He, Adolf Hitler, emerged from the depths of the people, Today he is called upon to be the leader of the world, unhampered by anyone. It is he who again made the German light to shine "Adolf Hitler stands before the world as realest war lord of history. the German-Yugoslav negotiations, in which the latler is proving not quite so amenable as Hitler would desire, that the reason why. Germany has not struck, is because of poor communications in the Balkans and the urgent necessity for obtaining passage across Yugoslavia, if not of armies, at Least of Germans who may be wounded in the fighting which is expected. Communications it cross Bulgaria fare probably sufficient to maintain the German forces adequately supplied, but the few routes would be likely to become much congested if they were obliged to handle the two-way trafic. which. would become necessary.
Hitler would dearly like to invade Greece through Yugoslavia if that were at all possible, for a movement down the Vardar Valley. towards Salonika is even more attractive than a similar endeavour down the Struma Valley to the Gulf of Rendina on which there are not the same harbour facilities as are provided by Salonika. It will be remembered that General Metaxas was responsible for the creation of two lines of fortifications in Greece, one stretching from Yannina to Florina and the other roughly running par-alld to the Greco-Bulgarian border. Owing to what has happened since the war began, some doubt has been expressed as to the value of these permanent fortifications. Nevertheless that doubt has not yet been completely resolved. It is idle to regard the fate of the Maginot line as the last word on the subject, for those fortifications were never really availed of as their creator expected they would be, and it is possible that the Metaxas Line, manned by such daring and willing fighters as the Greeks have proved themselves to be, might prove a very real obstacle to German progress.
With the exception of the Vardar and Struma Valleys, the terrain over which the Germans are expected to move in an invasion. of Greece is rough, almost as rough as that in Albania. Certainly it is something very different from the Low Countries, which were admirably adapted for mechanized forces, and. there is a distinct possibility that the Germans will find themselves faced with practically the same problems as the Italians were in Albania. That the fighting qualities of the German troops will be much superior to that of the Ttalians may be taken for granted, but the Greeks with British assistance, which judging from persistent reports is already on the spot, ought to be able to give a account of themselves and frustrate Hitler's tempt to reach the Mediterranean, What Hitler is in search of, with regard to the negotiations with Yugoslavia, is to make sure of his line of retreat, Should It is somewhat of a pity from the Nazi point of view thatthe speaker allowed himself to be carried away with the fervour of his eloquence, for he has accomplished the by no means unusual Nazi feat of dropping a good-sized brick. He boasts that the "Sublime One" "emerged from the depths of the people," or, perhaps, more bluntly put, from the dregs of humanity. It is surely an irony of fate that the untalented artist, the inefficient house painter should be dominating millions of Germans und leading them to destruction, but it has only been possible by the exercise of a wickedness unparalleled in the history of the world It fs highly significant that according to reports to hand the speech was received in complete silence, there being no applause during or after its delivery. Perhaps his hearers were merely bored,—for there are still some intelligent people remaining amongst the Germans. Perhaps they were aghast at Dr. Frank's blasphemous claim of divinity for Hitler, or maybe they simply thought it was silly. That Hitler is inspired can readily be accepted. Tt is not by anything holy, but by a wicked fanaticism which has brought death and destruction, to millions of people, and which continues to bring death and suffering to millions more. Tf there is anything sublime oont him it is the sublimity of evil, that evil which would seek to deny all that is good in the world and elevate oxime to the position of the highest religious philosophy. Dr. Frank, unconsciously without a doubt, makes it quite plain why this struggle can only end in defeat of Hitler and his accomplices. There can be no compromise between the forces of good or evil. One or the other has to go. The forces of good have now rallied to the common standard, and the time will come when this anti-Christ will be torn down from his high office, and the world at large, and the German people themselves redeemed from the bondage of sin.
Britain be able to: carry the war to him the Balkans, as it is hoped she will, substantial German forces would find it very difficult indeed to withdraw were a route not available through Yugoslavia. For this) reason it may still be expected that overt action against Greece will not _oceur until Hitler has made himself quite certain of the Yugoslav attitude and of the possibility of being able to retreat through Yugoslavia should that become necessary. That has been responsible for the rather more gentle manner in which Hitler has negotiated with the Yugoslavs. He is out to secure, if possible, a maximum of advantage witha minimum. of friction, but he is nevertheless faced with the fact that the Yugoslavs are jealous of their independence, and are not prepared supinely {0 surrender in the way other. Balkan Stales have done. With an army of one million men in wartime, Yugoslavia is in position and the temper to defend herself should that become necessary, and her government fully realizes the danger that if they do in fact yield to German pressure and grant the desired facilities, there is a very Brave possibility of their country becoming, the cockpit in which this war may be
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.