Fol. Il. No. 45

2 Dec . 4944 RES ItTED

TO -U.S . ARMY

WORLD WAR III

Freiburg

MULHOUSE

ARMY TALKSThe purpose of the program is to give the soldier psychological

preparation for combat, and a better realization of the import ofevery phase of his military training . Emphasis will be placed oncombat orientation . The mental and physical conditioning of theenemy, and a proper evaluation o` the enemy's weapons andfighting qualities be itressed. A better un54erstanding of thebackground of the war;- and the soldier's responsibilities in thepost-war world will alto by deyeloped. "

BY COMMAND OF GENERAL EISENHOWER.(Extract from letter ETO. I August 1944, AG 35212 Op,S. Sub; ,Ict Combat Onef(iion Program,.

[BLUEPRINTWORLD WAR !11-

HAT does the German sol-dier think about the warnow? Since D-Day he has

really been taking it. He's groggy.He's down. But is he out?

Is he ashamed of his part inthe grab that Hitler tried to getaway with? Is he ready to admitthat crime ' doesn't pay? Is heprepared to be a Dagwood therest of his life—instead of aSuperman?

Here is an exact recording ofa caual bull-session among agroup of German PW's not Jongafter they were captured . Theydidn't know they were being over-heard so their talk was free andfancy.

" We're an eternally fightingnation . " said a stoker . "Since thedays of the old Teutons we'vebeen perpetually at war . Ger-many has always been at warever since she came into existence.The world must always be. kept

/r/,/.

in a state of tension: I wonderwhat the next war will be like?"

An able seaman put in his two-pfennings' worth : " Well, if welose the war now, it will onlymean another war in from twelveto fifteen years."

An Air Force private spoke up." I want to fight with the Infantryagainst the Italians in the nextwar . "

"I hope to be at least a MajorGeneral by the next war, " addeda lieutenant in the Signal Corps.

The punch behind this line oftalk was delivered by a youngNazi, an aide de camp . "Uponmy country's defeat in this war, "

he said grimly. "I and thousandslike me will immediately beginto work for her revenge . "

How does Fritz hope to get hisnew chance to conquer the world?It can 't be a secret to him anylonger that the Allies intend toannihilate the Nazi armies . . . thatthey will insist on unconditionalsurrender . . . .that they will occupyevery corner of Germany . . . thatthe Nazi war machine will becompletely scrapped.

What does he think he can doto prepare for " revenge"? A Naziparatrooper, one of the PW ' swhose conversation was recorded,boastfully let the cat out of thebag : "I am quite convinced thateven if it goes worse for us thanafter Versailles, we shall get thebest of them some other way. Iknow, how. I f they occupy us aswell, we need merely infect themthrough and through with ourideas . And that can be done. Ishall now learn English and youwill perhaps notice that I willadopt an entirely new line ofaction. I am no Nazi—and yetI am one ."

This Nazi was certainly cock-sure. Why was he so confident?What is it, this " new" line hetalked about? What did he meanby the crack " I am no Nazi—and yet I am one?"

To get the answer, ARMYTALKS sent a reporter out to

visit a German PW camp . Hetalked to the prisoners there ina quiet; green meadow beside theriver . . . asked them what theythought about the end of thewar . . . about their future and thefuture of Germany . A stenographerwrote do*n the conversations wordfor word.

These PWs Gave UpWithout a Fight

. The prisoners in this particularcamp were sound in body . Ourartillery hadn't made them pun-chy. Our air force hadn't knockedthem silly . They had marched inand laid down their arms —20,000 altogether, officers andmen with clean unifor'nis, smoothfaces, full stomachs `and heavypacks . Weary of the lbpelessnessof the situation, their Generalhad bowed to surrender on Alliedterms.

No attempt has been made topolish up the interviews printedbelow. Some of the sentences mayseem disjointed. Some of thewords may seem out of place.That's not important. What isimportant is the picture of theNazi mind which these interviewsprovide.

On the surface the thoughts ofthese PW's appear to be their .own. When you read them per-haps you will be struck by the"sweet reasonableness" of someof the arguments they put for-

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ARMY TALKS

ward . "These guys aren't beingunreasonable," you might say."Seems to_ me that what they'resaying makes pretty good sense.What's all the hullabaloo about?We have no real quarrel with'em . "

That's just what Goebbels wantsyou to say.

Look closely at the picture andyou'll find the cracks where thepieces were put together. Thefellow who put them togetherwas Goebbels. To give the devilhis due, he is just about the mostefficient propagandist who everlived.

If you had asked any of theseGerman PW's where he got hisideas, he would tell you theycame out of his own head . Hethinks he makes up his own mind— independently of what Goeb-bels puts out at the PropagandaMinistry . But if you pay closeattention you'll see that the state-ments of these PW's` all fit to-gether neatly — too neatly.

Notice_ , how they form a definitepattern . Want to know where thatpattern was designed? You get it— Berlin.

German PW a PropagandaBooby-Trap

That still doesn 't answer thebusiness of its being . reasonable.OK . did you ever hear a smart"Philadelphia lawyer" when hewas in the groove? He could putyou on the witness stand and tieyou in knots before you couldwarm the chair . Answer yes orno! By the time he was throughwith you, you'd be spinning likea gyro. Alongside Goebbels a"Philadelphia lawyer " is a rankam ateuT.

The Nazis think the Americansare a bunch of boobs. The Ger-

man PW is therefore trained togive out a running line of Goeb-bels' fanciest propaganda booby-traps — specially designed forAmerican "suckers."

So

remember, .what

you areabout to read comes to you byremote

control.

The

loudspeaker`may be a harmless-looking Ger-man PW's mouth. But the voice— via microphone from the Wil-helmstrasse — is

Goebbels . Ittransmits some of the cleverestlies ever dreamed.

These booby-traps have onedefinite, coldly-calculated purpose:to win for Germany ~fhe war ofideas.

If the Germans win that war,all the blood our men have spilledon tfie beaches, in the hedge-rows, atop the bitterly foughtcrests, will have been useless.

It's a steep price to pay forNazi sucker-bait.

Here 's how it conies from aSgt of German Engineers:

Q. Is Germany going to win orlose the war? A . I think it willnot win . Q. What kind of a peacedo you hope for? A . As far as

2 December. 1944

3

I am concerned I want a peacewhere I can work and get myliving by working. Q. Can Ger-many live without more territory?A . Perhaps, but it would be diffi-cult because we do not produceenough food. Q. Then Germanymust have more land? A. Yes, togrow wheat and corn . Q. Will itbe necessary to go to war againfor living space? A. I have hadquite enough of this one.

(Did you spot the trap? if your an-swer is " yes", go to the foot of the class.There are two traps . Here is the insideon the less obvious one : In 1939, theyear Germany teas "forced" into liar,her fields produced enough to supplyevery man, woman and child with fourpounds of wheat a week. Hardly a star-vation diet .)

Here 1.r- a Corpora/of.' German Infantry:

Q. What was your work beforethe war? A. I was a newspauer-man in Germany . Q. Will Ger-many win tie war? A . I°f . the sol-diers get the ' arms . which havebeen promised to them . I don'tknow . anythiti and the soldiersdon i'l ,knO a, y°thing. Q. Can youwits with : -these new- weapons? -Ai

We have been promised we willhave new weapons to win thewar. Q. When you have beatenus, what kind of peace terms willwe get? A . I want a peace where-by all countries can live and workand earn their living in peace to-gether. Q. When you have won thewar what will happen to. the Jaws,Democrats, etc.? A . I have nopersonal enmity against the Jews.They have never done us anyharm. I don't want to do themany harm. Q. What will you doto the people in the United States?A . I personally have nothingagainst the people of the UnitedStates . Q. And the people in othercountries? A . I have nothing to say.Q. Are you a Nazi? A. All Ger-mans are Nazis. The reason whyis that the Fuhrer has broughtus work whereby we can earnour living. Q. Have you changedyour mind about the Fuhrer? A.1, and I believe most of the sol-diers, have the same opinionabout Hitler as before the warstarted . Q. Is it essential :that Ger-many win the things Hitler wants?A. We must nave cOl'onies, butnot land such as front' 'Denmarkand Poland. Austria 'is Germanand ought to be together withGermany. Q. The Ruhr and Saar-land? A . The Ruhr and Saarlandare German. Q. What kind ofpeace treaty will you make withthe United States . A . I cannot say.Q. What kind of peace terms?Land or indemnities? A . All Iwant is to have work.

(This German Corporal . poses as afriend of all mankind, who carries nogrudge against anyody. Yet he terrainsloyal to a :Fuhrer who is systematicallyytrying to depopulate the world of an"inferior race" . On that colony ques-tion, did you know that only 3% ofthe„ world's raw materials come fromcolonies?)

ARMY TALKS

Q . How old are you? A . Seven-teen . Q. How long have you beenin the Army? A . 36 weeks . 32weeks in France, four weeks inGermany. Q. What outfit are youin? A. That is a secret. I have noright to tell you that. Q. Infantry?A . Yes. Q. Where do you, comefrom? A . Thuringen . Q . WillGermany win the war? A . If thecivil population of Germany canstick it, then we will be able towin the war. Most of the soldiersthink exactly like I do . Q. I f Ger-many wins the war will you pun-ish the United States? A . Wewant living space. Q. What doyou want? South America? NorthAmerica? A . The essential thingis that we get more land wherewe can have pastures to rearcattle. Q. If: Germany doesn't winthe war, will you fight . again forLebensraum? A. , I cannot reply.Q. .Why? A . I am too young. Onedoesn't know what is going tohappen in the-future . . Q. Are youa Nazi? A ._ Yes., Q., Do you . thinkthe Germans are' the master race?

A. (He srugged his shoulders.)Q. But the. Fuhrer says the Ger-raps are the master race, doesn 'tl ? A . Then it must be true.The prisoner asked : Will I besent to the United States or Eng-land? Q. Which would you liketo go to? A . The United States.Q. Why? A. I have an aunt inNew York. Q. Would you like tolive in the United States? A . Per-haps—later . Q. The United Stateshas many Rinds of people —ohs, Poles, Russians, Negroes,

ocrats, Jews . Why do youwant to go there? A . After thewar it will be otherwise in theUnited States. Q. There won't bethose people -any more? A . Theywill disappear.

(You have heard this Nazi before':"All we wanted was a little land" . Af-ter seizing the land in the East, whatthen? Germany stole cattle for the newpastures from Holland and Denmark,4nd how do you like his post-war plansfor the U.S.?)

German fle.r ristantPaymaster, Age 48

Q. Is Germany going to win?A : I love my Fatherland. I amGerman. I hate war . Q. Will Ger-many win the war? A. do not

German Private, Infantry:Blonde, -blue-eyed, apple-cheeked . ..

the German maiden's idea of a pin-upboy . : .looks innocent without a burp-gun.

2 December, •1944

S

think we can-hold. Out much 1on4-.er . I hope for an early . peace.I have a son in the war. A manof my age cannot want anythingbut peace . Q. . What kind of peacedo you want? A . A fair peace ona . democratic basis . Q. Are you amember of the Nazi party? A.No. '6o to 70% of the people'want peace. I am afraid of dicta-torship from Russia. I do notwant any kind of dictatorship . Q.What do you hope . for Germany?A. I hope America will governthe peace terms, with perhapshelp from _Britain. Keep Russiaout of the peace . There will neverbe peace and quiet in Europewith Russia standing over every-body. Q. Can Germany live with-in its prewar frontiers? A . Pro-vided there is some possibilityfor fair trade and not the com-plete 'squelching of all trade withGermany. If we can export andimport, colonies will be of noaccount . Q. Couldn't Germany dothat before the war? A . (The pris-oner shrugged his shoulders .) Q.I-low is democracy in Germanypossible? It didn't work last time?A . I think that the German mili-tary completely undermined anypossibility of democracy before-the war. The Germans are likechildren. They like toys. They liketo play with toy guns and rattlesabres and do things in soldierlyfashion . I think the attitude ofthe middle class—the farmersand small store owners—is avery good background for thecountry . Q. Would they go towar again? 74 . Never. Q. Who arethey! A. Those people who beforethis war were mostly no good -unemployed— and took advantageof this war to make money . with-out' ' doing any work. Now theyate sitting back in their castles

and : doing' , nothing .. They areafraid of ° peace. Do you meanthe National Socialists? A . Pleasespare me that question. Think - itout for yourself.

(This is - the "reasonable - Germanwhose argument shows almost no ap-parent flaws . Yet this friendly, logicalguy keeps turning up in this German,4fizl1. Wiz like hint have marched withall other German armies of the past.Ile is dangerous because he will followany kind of leader in uniform .)

Major, Luftwaffe

Q. Will Germany 'wiii" the war?A. I still have hope: Q. I f youwin, what kind of peace termswill you make .with the UnitedStates? A . I am only a little-man,and what the Fuhrer is going toio, that I do not 'kno_w. Q.°IfGermany, wins the waf, would theFuhrer make a peace like, Ver-sailles? A . The Versailles Treatywas the cause of this war. The

Fuhrer does not believe in hold-ing a country like America down.Look at the peace terms we gaveFrance. Q. Would -Germany -ex-pect more Lebensraum? A . -XBut our aspirations lie in ::heFast, not the WVest . Drang nachOsten . If . you go back into his-tory you find it was German

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ARMY TALKS

land: Q: The Ukraine? Poland?A . That I do not know. That isa matter for the High Command.Q. What did you do in civilianlife? A. I was a professor of his-tory, in Magdeburg. Q. Then youmust know, what countries be-longed -to Germany specifically.A . That - l do not know. Q. Whatis your own idea about NationalSocialism? A. After the last warGermany was down: Six and ahalf million people were out ofwork. Everyone was starving.After Hitler took over in 193.3things changed. People got backto work. . He provided homes forthe ° people . When the people livedbetter they followed Hitler. Q.Work was provided, but this typeof work led to wa•r: A . The firstfew years it was not. They werebuilding large roads . He wentround finding: out how peoplecould .be put back to work.

(Like -so many -Nazis, the Majorcamouflages his booby-traps with ties.Ile calls the terms of the Versaillestreaty harsh. and cites his country'streatment of France as an example ofGerman generosity. The Facts : Ger-many forced , Franee to pay every 41days the same amount the Allies asked

• Germany to pay fn reparations eachyear following World War I, and at .

that time Germany wept and ;weastedout of paying it. 77te, .Major claims the" land in the East" as German land . TheFacts : This Bend never belonged ' toGermany: He gives credit to Hitter andNational Socialism for solving . Ger-many's depression . The Facts : (litterput the unemployed to work not toraise the German standard of tieing butto build a machine for total war. Eventhe roads mentioned by the Major werean important part of the war project—they made possible the . Blitzkrieg.And did you - catch the ' "litUe ` man"line? What happened to all those"supermen". who were kicking- the,Poles, Dutch, Belgians, Jews, Luxem-burgians, etc. around, just a fewmonths ago?)

Group InterviewQ. Will Germany' win or lose

the war? A. (By a First Lieuten-ant of Infantry) We are persuad-ed we will win the war andbuild a- Europe of our own . OurFuhrer knows what will be thebest for Europe. We believe inthe Monroe Doctrine for Europe.Q. What will happen to the smallcountries — Austria, Denmark? A.They are small nations. We willleave them under the protectionof . Germany. We want a unitedEurope with all countries . on abasis equal with us. Q. What will

2 December, 1944

you do with the Poles? A . Therewill be a round table conferencewhere it wil"l be decided . Q. Areyou killing Poles? A . Not at all.

Vs.l Don ' t you kill Jews? A . No.

We sent Jews who wanted to emi-grate to Spain . The Jews are stilleverywhere to be found . While aman has a gun he is our enemy.When he is disarired he is a poorprisoner and we help him . Q. Areyou being treated well? A . Yes,they are kind to us . We get therations that are destined for us.Q. You really thank that Germanywill vein the war? A . Yes, but Ithink it will last many years. Q.Why do you think it will go on?A . I do not know, but our leadersknow. Q. When you win the warwhat will we pay? A . I do notknow, but I should think we willsay go hack to America and ruleAmerica. What do you look forhere? We do not understand thatat all . Q. We hear about RussianInd Polish prisoners being starved.I s that true? A . That is nottrue. If a prisoner goes to helpon a farm he is treated like oneof the family and he sits at thesame table with them . Q. I f Ger-many should lose this war wouldthere be another war? A . I tellyou only Germany will win thewar_ Our Fuhrer knows what todo. It would be best for the Amer-icans to go back to America, andthat I believe America has theintention of doing. Why did theAmericans come here? You haveyour Monroe Doctrine. \Vhy notleave Europe to the Europeans?Q. But you realize it is a smallworld now. don 't you — with Eu-rope and America only a day orso apart? It is important that wehave friendly neighbors, with thesame ideas of democracy andfreedom . A . National Socialism be-

8

Iieves in democracy and freedom.Q. Doesn't Nazism start with theopposite idea of denying peopleequality in principle? A . \Veil,there is the Jewish problem . Youmust settle that . Q. How can weprevent a Third Woild \Var? A.

(By a First Lieutenant, Infantry)Yes, let Europe unite and mindher own business, and I believein about ten or fifteen years mostpeople in America will hold thesame view as we do in . Germanyas regards the Jewish question,because the Jews are evil . Theywant to get the money all forthemselves . Q. Why did you de-clare war on America . A. YourPresident wanted war. He orderedAmerican battleships to fire onGerman warships . This is whatwe believe._ Q. Do you believethe United States declared war onGermany? A . They initiated it.They wanted war with Germany.America forced herself into war.A . (By a First Lieutenant, Luft-waffe) We didn't want war againstFrance, England and Russia . ThePolish people forced us into war.We only wanted the Polish Corri-dor . We wanted to decide whetherDanzig beionged to 'Poland orGermany . That is why we went

ARMY TALKS

to war. Q. Why did Germanyhave such a big army if herinterest was just peace? A . France,England and Russia had big ar-mies, so we wanted a big army too,

(Notice how these German officerspull out one scapegoat after another inan effort to shift the war guilt — etery-body but the German is to blame . Notealso the clever attack on our soft-spotsand how quick they are in reversingthe field when they meet opposition . Ifthey had an FM on flow to Set theGoebbels Booby-Traps, it might wellreact : Always attack! Blaine the British,the Russians, Roosevelt, the Jews, any-body! Find out what your listeners'prejudices and soft-spots are—thenpour it on! Make your ties sound likefacts—and repeat, repeal ! Some of itwill stick!!)

A1asterSergeant, LuftwaffeRibbon for Good ServiceQ. How old are you? A . 37. Q.

Where were you born?, A . Ost-mark (Austria) . Q. Will Germanywin the war? A . Yes. Q. Do youknow what the present situationis? A . I know the picture . Q. Andyou still think that Germany willwin? A . Yes. Q. Why? A . I haveconfidence in the Fuhrer. Q. Do

iron believe in the Fuhrer? A . Yes.

am in no party at all, but Istill believe in Hitler. Q. Whatkind of peace terms will you in-

flict on the United States? A.None: Q. Why did you declarewar on the United States? A . Thewar was declared on Germany.Germany wanted more space fortheir people to farm. Q. Youwere an Austrian . Was Dolfussyour leader a good man? A . Yes.Q. Do you know Hitler killedhim? .A . Yes. Q. Do you thinkthat was a good' thing? A . I can-not say .anything because I donot know anything about politics.

(The all-we-wanted-was-a-tittle-landalibi crops up again, and "they" are Miltpicking on the poor, innocent Germans.More and more Germans suddenly"don't know anything about politics".Wonder what they thought when Ger-many was winning?)

-German Firsrt Lieutenant,54 years old

Q. Will Germany lose the war?A . The war is already lost . Rus-sia will take Europe. Q. And Eng-land? A . That will depend onAmerica. It will be difficult forthem to take England becausethe Americans will help England.Q. What kind of peace do youhope for Germany? A . Germanywill no longer exist if they losethe war . The Russians will takeGermany. Q . What do you hopefor yourself? A . I think I shallhave work because I am an En-

2 December, 1944

9

gineer: These buildings we haveknocked down will have to bebuilt up. Q. Will Germany recoverin twenty years' time? A . No.Germany will not be built upagain. Q. Will you go back toGermany? A . I want to stay inFrance. Q. Do you believe in

Hitler? A . I cannot answer that ques-tion to the press . Q. We don'thave your name. A . It is dishonor-able to say that I do not believe inHitler---1 do nut believe in Hit-ler . Q. Will there be another warin twenty years? A. No. Q. Whyare you so sure? A . Russia isgoing to run [airope. I thinkAmerica and England will goagainst Russia . Q. Why did Ger-many declare war on the UnitedStates? A . Germany started thewar against America becausethere were too many Jews in Ge r-many- Q. Because there were tourmany Jews in Germany? it . TheJews had all the money in Ger -many. That is why Germany de-clared war on the Uriited States.

(Nett err/ain you stye how the Ger-mans protest they aren't Nazis and thenspill the hearts by parroting the hooeyGoebbels has fed there year after 7/ear,)

These interviews give you eightcandid pictures . Follow the linescarefully and you end up withBlueprint for World War 11the master plan on which the Ger-

mans pin their hopes for anotherchance to conquer the world.

You can ' t kill ideas with bulletsand the Germans have been wag-ing this "war of ideas" (as theycall it) for a long time.

('hey started shooting propa-ganda at us long before PearlIlarbor . They've continued to lirebroadsides of lies, doubt andhatred at us right along with abarrage of steel.

They're prepared to keep righton throwing the wrote stuff evenafter surrender . If the play worksout as it did last time, they'llstep up the campaign as they godeeper into defeat.

Will Germany win or lose thepropaganda war? Will they sue-ceed' in shifting war guilt on tosomebody else . . . in making theworld weep over the " poor Ger-mans" . . . in setting the United Na-tions to quarreling among thenr-selves . . , in undermining the unityof the American people? Rrk'tly,will Germany get her chance toprepare for World War III?

The answer history will giveto these quest ions depends on howyou answer this one- : Are you asucker—ready and willing to letthe Germans do your real think-ing for you?- The Germans thinkvolt are.

QUICK NOTES ON

Booby-Traps1 944-1945 MODELS

BY GOEBBElS

At the end of Woi kl 'War I tiro launched ,a cleverly organizedtlae Allies were determined that campaign for "world synal p athy".Germany slia ► tticl not grew strong llae slogan circtiiating in G e-

agaiat_ What happeared? Germany Many that, was : "We must

It,

Alttl1x TALKS

squeeze 'tears from the eyes . of almost anything about theme Thetrap is loaded with every lie theNazis can borrow or invent — :liebigger the-better . Upon detonationit sprays the blame . for the warin every direction, except towardGermany:

OPERATION : Goebbels nstruct-ion sheet on- previous model :"Since there are plenty of suckersready to bite, bait or camouflageis secondary. The device is simpleto operate. Just plant plenty ofthem and give each sucker whathe's looking for. Keep re-armingthe -trap with new and biggercharges of lies . Results are guar-anteed."

-

- -

Americans and dollars from theirpockets." The campaign succeededonly too well . Then Hitler camealong. Backed by the Junkers,the German . the big m-dustrialists, he spent millions onpropaganda to unify the Germansand to divide--the Allies . He, too,succeeded so well that Germanyalmost had the victory in the bagbefore the Allies were able to pullthemselves together again

Today, the Germans know theyhave lost World War II . But,what's a lost war when the worldis the stake! 'So Goebbels is al-ready at work clearing the wayfor the third try. He is puttinghis faith in a " new line" ofbooby-traps, styled to turn defeatinto victory.

ARMY TALKS has taken apartwhat German PW's say to seehow this " new line " of booby-traps works. Here is a quick sum-mary of the major models.

Model A - "TheWilhelmstrasseShift"

PURPOSE : The Germans knowthey can't get to first base forbWWorld- War III until they canshift the blame for this war onto somebody else— anybody else.For this mission, Goebbels hasdesigned a humdinger.

DESCRIPTION : Standard Germanbooby-trap is basically a repaintjob on an old model — one thathas paid off in results many timesbefore . The Germans see no goodreason for dropping it from theirline . The trap is built on the ideathat there are plenty of Americanswho don't like the British or theCommunists or the Poles or theJews or some other people— andconsequently are ready to believe

HOW TO DISARM : The modelis based on the old trick usedby a thief when he joins the pur-suing crowd and shouts, "Stop,thief!" louder than anybody else.To disarm it completely, justignore the shouting, and keepyour eye on the Germans

You probably don 't . need ad-ditional evidence at this stage ofthe war as to who started the

2 December, 1944

11

shooting. But here are a few re-minders from the Nazis them-selves — written before they sud-denly became so modest:

"National Socialism does away, onceand for all, with the cowardly madnessof pacifism . . .The dream of eternalpeace has come to an end . War againbecomes the primary slate of allthings!" (Alfred Rosenberg : "Welt-kampf", Munchen, Jahrgang 1929, N.G8, p. 350 .) (From the periodical " WorldStruggle", for the year 1929 .)

" Whoever wants to win much, mustrisk much . . . The Government has de-cided to extend the German order overthe whole world. The world will haveto reckon with German economy, withGerman soldiers and cannon" . (Dr.Goebbels, Speech of March 23 . 1936 .)

Model B - The Tear JerkerPURPOSE : This fancy gadget

is designed to appeal to your sense

,st `.rant /;/t/e 6:1

of fair play. (The 'German lan-guage doesn't even have a wordfor " fair play", but they're work-ing on you, not on themselves .)Mission : to soften your heart--and your brain . They want Amer-icans to help build Germany upagain — or at least not objectwhen Germany begins putting onsome muscle and laying in someguns_ They want Americans toagree that the war aims of Ger-many were not so unreasonableafter all.

DESCRIPTION : The explosive inthis one has lost some of its whamsince the Germans first intro-duced it after World War I.They hope to jazz it up as theygo along. The Tear Jerker workson the principle that Americansare suckers for the underdog line." Hmm, " they want you to sayto yourself . " They weren't ask-ing for so much . Why didn't welet 'em have it . They weren'tgoing to do us any harm. Theydidn't mean to hurt anybody.Hitler and the Nazis weren't sobad. They solved unemploymentand things . Let's help 'em get ontheir feet again . "

OPERATION Goebbels' instruc-tion sheet on this one reads:Remember how successful CountLuckner, the U-Boat Commander,was after World War I . lie hadthem weeping in the aisles --packed - houses- for his lectures, in-

12

ARMY TALKS

chiding the best families, too.Pour it on—and watch it take."

HOW 10 DISARM : The onlysure way to make the Tear Jer-ker trap harmless is to know thefacts . The Nazi depends on liestd camouflage this weapon . Whenthe lies are de-bunked nothingremains but the naked uglinessof the trap. The " sweet reason-ableness " of the sob story thenevaporates.

When Herman turns on thetears and assures you all he want-ed was a little living room, buttonyour ears. The true war aims ofthe Nazis are described by theNazis themselves in more realisticterms:

"We are obliged to depopulate aspart of our mission of preserving theGerman 'population," said Hiller . "Ifyou ask me chat I mean by depopu-lation, I mean the removal of entireracial writs . And that is what I intendto carry out --- that. roughly is my task.Nature is cruet, therefore we, too, maybe cruel . If 1 can send the flower of theGerman nation into the hell of warwithout the smallest pity for the spil-ling of precious German blood, thensurety I have the right to remove mil-lions of an inferior race that breed likevermin!" (Quoted in Voice of Destruc-tion, p . 138-9 .)

Model C - The H. E. Fragmentizer

PURPOSE So long as Americais strong and unified in its policy,the Germans know they won'teven be able to shoot at the moon.That was why the Nazis ran sucha l ;rrge-scale propaganda cam-paign in the United States before

World War 11 —giving supportof various kinds to Bunds andSilver Shirts, Ku Kluxers andother organizations selling hate.The object was simple: to sowsuspicion, distrust, and conflictbetween Americans— to set Chris-tians against Jews, whites againstNegroes, Protestants against Cath-olics, Slovaks against Czechs andso on. Goebbels said bluntly:"Nothing is easier than to pro-duce a bloody revolution inAmerica. No other country hasso many social and racial tensions.We shall be able to play onmany strings there". The Ger-mans figure that we're still push-overs for this line of attack.

DESCRIPTION : The sucker baitfor this trap can take almost

`O'er,,,;M "'e

2 December. 1944

13

endless forms—the line is thebiggest Nazi stock in trade. Itstarts with the "Aryan racehooey" . . . anybody who plays hallwith the Germans becomes amember of the Superman Club.The next big line is : "The Jewsare to blame! " It works on "gul-lible suckers " who like quick,easy answers on why they havetroubles—any kind of troublefrom unemployment to chilblains.If these two approaches don'twork, the anti-Negro angle orany one of scores of other handy

Model D ;The Great Divieercharges can be fired . It doesn't PURPOSE : Germany knows wellmuch matter-which—so long as - that she hasn't a chance tothere are enough to keep Ameri- get organized for World War 111cans fighting among themselves . until she succeeds in breaking down

OPERATION :, Goebbels himself the working unity of the Allies.During the late thirties she was so

has written the instruction sheet successful with her game of divideon this ones . "Unchain vol- and conquer—taking one nationconic passions . arouse outbreaks at a time—that she almost realiz-of fury . . . set masses of men on ed her ambition to vanquish thethe march . . . organize hate and world . German planners hope tosuspicion with :ce-cold calculation, do it again . " Break 'em up—startwith legal methods . . . (GoebbeLs 'em fighting among themselves,"in Der Angriff . ,February 18, say the masterminds of the Gen-1929 .) And he further counsels : oral Staff — " then knock 'em down.Make sure the dynamite of lies is one by one. "really loaded — and keep throw-ing the stuff!

DESCRIPTION : This booby-trap

will it serve it I fall for his line—his or mine? Remember, Hitlerlet the cat out of the bag:

"My Jews are a valuable hostagegiven me by the democracies . Anti-Semitic propaganda in all countries isan almost indispensable medium for theextension of our political campaign . Youwill see hoer tittle time we shall needin order to upset the ideas of the wholeworld, simply and purely by attackingJudaism ." (Voice of Destruction, p. 23G .)Remember .also that anyone whospreads Hitler's smear is working forAdolf.

is very much like the H .E. FrameHOW TO DISARM : Use extreme mentizer in general appearance

caution. This one is really dan- and make-up—only it is largergerous. As Hitler says : " If you and contains, in addition to I-1.E .,throw enough --- repeat, repeat, plenty of smoke . The come-onsrepeat — some of it is bound are designed to appeal to A mer_to stick! The Germans can in- icans who don't like and don 'tvent lies faster than you can trust "foreigners". That meansblink. They have been especially the Anglophobes, the Russophobesbusy setting out honey-pots about and all the other phobes . SpecialJews. The safest disarming pro- models are also set up to catch thecedure is to look behind the stuff ; American ostriches who still thinkdiscover the motive of the guy the United States can stay out ofwho puts it out. Ask yourself : wars by turning its hack on ag-Why does he want me to hate the gressors.Jews or Negroes or Poles or Rus-sians or whatever today's bait

OPERATION : "There will behappens to be? Whose interests plenty of headaches and disagree-

14

ARMY TALKS

ments that must be ironed outbefore the United Nations can getan effective international organi-zation started," states the instruc-tion sheet, "so play up distrustand suspicion between the Allies.Tell 'em their ideas and ours' arei.n the same groove. Lay it onthick—and plug away at it untilit works. Keep in mind the greatbooby-trap set in 1918. We soonhad Americans saying : 'The moreI see of the French (or British),the better I ike the Germans .' Theybit on that once, maybe they'll biteagain . "

HOW TO DISARM : Once the oper-ation of the Great Divider booby-trap is understood, the prob-lem of disarming becomes easier.The technique for handling is sim-ilar to that for the H .E. Fragment-izer. When you 're handed guff thatruns down our Allies, smell it be-fore you swallow it . The job ofironing out real disagreements be-tween the United Nations isn'tgoing to be easy . But it's a familyaffair and we don 't need any sug-gestions from the Krauts . German

YOL,R RFA~

preparation of World War III canbe kicked in the head if the unityof the Allied Nations can hold to-gether. The going will be satinsmooth for Germany if they can bedivided . There's nothing likebickering and jealousy to weakena winning team. .

There they are—the standardmodels of Goebbels "new line "of booby-traps. These workingmodels may look a little crude --first models of a new weaponusually are.

Herman will be subtle later on.He won't attack with the gleamof a fanatic in his eye . He won't'look like a Dick Tracy villain.He wont back you into` a cornerand try to club you around to hispoint of view- in one tremendousknock-down-and-drag-out bull ses-sion. He'll turn on all - the charmhe can. I-le'll try to hypnotizeyou with flattery . He'll wring yourheart with sob stories. He won 'toverlook sex appeal.

All Germany _will be infestedwith booby traps like these . Thebait will always be attractive (atleast so the Germans hope) . Andthe camouflage will be expert. ..

If you know how these trapswork and what they were design-ed for, clear thinking and cau-tious action can disarm them.Only by disarming them can theGermans be kept from stagingstill another comeback Everypropaganda booby-trap that ex-plodes its noiseless charge is abooster f o r another war . I f too manysuckers bite, the future is certain:another war will be on the way.The Germans will have - succeededin translating thei-► blueprint forWorld War Ill into guns andplanes, into tanks and submarines,into violence and death.

2 December, 1944

15

EWSCOPEIt should be recognizes that news is not the sacred property of the press, butsomething in the public domain. In time of war the Armed forces themselves are creatorsof news and have therefore &vested Interest in We way it is reported and edited byInformation Services. The ail-important question pertaining to news and information ishow victory can best be expedited by th a truthful use at news. The truth works for our side."

A round-up of activities on thefighting fronts from November 8thto 14th summarized from publicnews sources.

Western FrontGround soaked by ten weeks of

almost daily rain, bitter enemyresistance ' from strongly - fortifiedpositions, and strained supply linescombined to make Allied activitydifficult.

Taut supply lines were easedwhen the, sea approaches to • Ant-werp were freed this week . (Thecity itself was captured intact Sept.4 .) Supplies could not be pouredonto Antwerp's fourteen miles ofdocks until the mass of islandsprotecting the port were clearedof Germans . (Map. No. 3).

The salient stretching towardGermany on the northern end ofthe Western Front is a roughtriangle. (Map No . 3) . The base ofthe triangle from Antwerp to Aa-chen is barely 100 miles wide. Thelength from Antwerp to Arnhem is80 miles ." Nijmegen and Aachenform the 100-mile side of the tri-angle which faces Germany . Duringthe week, Allied troops batteredboth sides of the triangle, enlargingit by yards southeast Of Aachen. Inthe northwest, the last Germanbridgehead south of the RiverMaas was cleared, but the RiverWaal loomed ahead.

Behind fleets of bombers, theU.S. Third Army opened attacksnorth and south of Metz and eastof Nancy. (Map No. 1) . The indus-

trial valley of the Saar River was30 miles away.

Further south, moving ahead tothe Rhine meant running into atleast three walls—any one or allof which must be be crossed ; the200-yard-wide Saverne Gap, thesnow blocked passes of the Vos-ges mountains, the heavily forti-fied Belfort Gap . (Map No . 1) . Yardage was gained near St . Die.

Eastern and Southern Fronts

The Red Army inched forwardin one of Europe's strongest de-fense positions, the 50-mile-widelnsterburg Gap between the EastPrussian cities of Konigsberg andAngerburg . (Map No. 2). On thenorth is the sea where amphibiousoperations are prevented by nar-row sandy breakwaters. The southis protected by a chain of lakesand treacherous marshes. In be-tween, saturated with foriiflcations,is the narrow gap which limitedthe use of Soviet mobilized forcesand required that each fortress bereduced separately before progresscould be made.

By contrast, the battle in Hun-gary was fast-moving. The back-door of Germany was being- kickedopen by the attack on Budapest.160 miles away lay Vienna, centerof most train lines of communica-tion from Southeastern Europe toGermany.

Continued rain generally restrict-ed operations in Italy to patrol-ling.

?rintee b.; Newnes -& Pearson Printing Co . . Ltd., Exmoor Street. N . Kensington . London . W .10.

" information must get back to thereserve unit in an attack . My platoonwas part of the reserve company in theattack on Chartres . When we were thrownin to plug the gap created by the disor-ganization if another unit, my tanks werestopped by the same AT ditch whichhad just stopped it. I could have avoidedthis obstacle had t 'known of its pres-ence ."

"One CO was finding difficulty in popping his mortars into rear area hiddentargets . To find these unobserved targets,he was plotting on uncorrected map data.He put the mortar platoon leader up ina Piper Cub and set up the artilleryliaison radio at the mortar position . Aftera good look, they discovered that theywere 300 yards off on their map data.The following day he tried out his own`300' radios in communication betweenair and ground. This proved successfuleven though they couldn't rig up exter-nal antennas to stick out the plane win-dow. The observer's reception would havebeen better if he could have had ear-phones to eliminate engine noise. "

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A PW stated that in his area hand gre-lades were attached to trees. The pins weretied to ropes leading to foxholes so thatthe grenades could be detonated from acovered position.

"When mines are destroyed near thefront lines, they _ should be collected allin one spot and blown all at once, andnot individually or in small piles. Wehave found that a series of explosionswith the resulting black smoke. invitesenemy artillery fire ."

• j s

For woods fighting, each rifle com-pany is divided into two assault andtwo support units . The assault groupsare armed with grenades, BAR's andrifles, and contain a number of expertscouts capable of maintaining directionwhen advancing through dense woodsWithin the company they move on par-allel azimuths and are mutually support-

tag. The support groups have LNG's,60mm mortars and sufficient rifles fortheir immediate local protection. Theyfollow the assault group by bounds,always ready to give close support andflank protection . When a concrete forti-fication is encountered, an assault groupdetermines its type and sire, drops offthe minimum number of men to containit, and after reporting this informationto its next superior, continues on itsmission . A specially organized andequipped task force then comes up andreduces . the fortification . Before arrivingat the far edge of the woods timelyarrangements arc made for resumingnormal combat formation upon breakingnot into the open."

"It was difficult for our artillery OP'Stc see our infantrymen when they movedacross country or in split columns alongroads. In order to assist the observerswe have successfully adopted the practiceof having a panel carried by the firstsquad in each +.otato )o . On one OeedsloDone foot of panel held up from a dugoutwas sufficient to enable the ot.server tospot our troops ."

"We have set up a reclamation squadwhich searches our zone of action afterwe have passed through . As a result wehave reclaimed more than enough mate-rial of all classes to make up for battlelosses, not including damaged material.that we sustain .",

t"Increasing the idling rate from 400

rpm to about 1000 rpm reduced carboni-zation of spark plugs . Gas Is not wastedin the tong run since fouled enginesconsume ga.s at an excessive rate ."

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"When a tank on which infantry Isriding is knocked out, the infantryshould immedlately mount another tank.No more than four men should ride onone tank. A greater_ number may preventmdvcment . of the turret gun . When thetanks attack in waves, the. machine gun-

ners in the rear must be careful to avoidhitting men on the leading tanks . Whencarrying infantry, on the rear deck ofyour tanks, be sure that the tanks inthe rear do not fire their bow gulls invillages as the bullets will glance offbuildings and inflict casualties on yourown infantry ."

COM8AT TIPS

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That's right! You can win a twenty-live buck War Bond, a $ 7 .50GI Bond or 2 cartons of cigarettes in the ARMY TALKS . Contest!All you have to do is write 3oo words

less on the following statement:

"The best ARMY TALKS I have read -was...

and this is what l got out of it . .. _

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As a help to jog yoni memory, here is a list of ten recent issues,

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GI Hill of Rights

What to Do With Germany IWbest Roche PWs Think at You Jap-German,German-JapNow I Got Wounded China—7 Years at WarCombat Medicine

What to do With War Criminals:You're Really in the Army Now German Supermen Return Underground

Three winners will be picked and prizes awarded accordingly.There will be an Officers' and an Enlisted Men's Di' isic n, With prizesfor each division.

(r) The contest closes 23 Decem-ber 1944. All entries must be post-marked no later than. 23 December1 944-(2) The maximum wo:'3oo words.(3) Each entry can be signed byonly one man.

(4) Members of the staffs ofthe Orientation Branch, ARMYTALKS, Warweek, Stars & Stripesand Yank are not eligible.(5) lull name, serial number,ranks outfit and AP() must besubmitted and clearly written.(6) Winners will be announced inthe 27 January issue of ARMY

i-ISTCN z Time in your American Forces Network for ss dramatized version of the week's ARMM' TALKSTime : 1030 Saturday, 2 December.

RULESTALKS. Prizes will be mailed onor about that date.

(7) Address all entries ,to: ARMYTALKS, Orientation Branch, Spe-cial and Information cervices.APO 887, U.S. Army.

d . limit is