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german fiiReactions
"Letters to The Times
The "open letter" has of late be-
come a most popular means of self-
expression. All licensed German news-
papers carry a rubric entitled "Freie
Aussprache", and Radio Stuttgart in-
vites its listeners to send in contri-
butions for a Public Opinion hour.
Those letters which are critical of the
present civilian administration or of
Military Government give striking
proof of the nearsightedness or am-
nesia on the part of writers of nazi
mentality, who believe that the hard-
ships which Germany is now under-
going are the results of an Allied plan
to ruin the German people. That the
spoliation of Europe made possible
the well-being and comfort of the
German people during the early years
of the war does not occur to those
who have been imbued with the theory
of the "Master Race".
NAZIS ON ALLIED POLICIES
Below are excerpts from a letter
sent to the Stuttgart Radio and to
the Oberbfirgermeister of Stuttgart.
".... For.... months the Americans
have been here and like thousands of
others in our town, I am very dis-
appointed. The liberators did not come
to help us, but exploit defeated Ger-
many as much as possible. I was the
first to approve the measures of Mili-
tary Government to remove all nazis
from leading positions, for they were
worse than the FUhrer himself. But
the so-called eradication of nazismgoes
so far, that even non-members are being
dismissed. You have overreached your-
selves! I warn! The enemy drives us
back to national socialism....
"In Saarbrucken you can read the
following: 'Either bread or Hitler!'
The balance of the five months of
occupation is: 'Hate against the Ger-
man people, breach of promises as
broadcast by Radio London - to which
I always listened - less to eat 'and
no progress in reconstruction.' Reading
the 'Stuttgarter Zeitung' you might get
the impression that everything was in
order ....
"I warn you once more! Don'tthrow
this letter carelessly into the waste-
paper basket. If you have the courage
you will submit it to the Regional
Military Governor.
From  your talks over Radio
Stuttgart - Public Opinion Speaking
- one gets the impression that you
are fond of hearing yourself talk, and
that you are extraordinarily proud of
your present activity as radio-school-
master of so-called public opinion. It
is no use to argue about yournarrow-
mindedness and unrealism, but you
must not forget that perhaps, you too,
will one day have to give account for
your present utterings of your thoughts.
In the enemy countries, those who
formerly co-operated with the success-
ful Germans in the interest of the
community are now being held to re-
sponsibility and some of them are even
sentenced to death. In these circum-
stances, even hiding behind alleged
letters from listeners will be of no
avail.
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