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Show HITLER GIVES REICH LITTLE NEW YEAR CHEER Probably the chief interest in the New Year address Adolf. Hitler reportedly broadcast from his headquarters is, that it adds another paragraph to the somewhat mysterious eclipse of the fuehrer since he had his pants bombed off last July. If Hitler is still alive and is not totally crazy, as has been suggested in some European reports, he apparently has adopted the Garbo publicity technique. The last previous vague report about his reappearance was that he personally had urged German troops on the crucial Roer River front' to hold on until December 16 under the promise that the Americans Ameri-cans would get a nasty surprise. There was a time when the bombastic utterances of Hitler merited scrutiny for clues as to what German political and military developments might be expected. Only the temporary tem-porary resurgence of Nazi military power on the western European front now lends more than casual interest to his messages. II is statement that "the end of the war will not come before be-fore 1916 unless by a German victory, because Germany will never capitulate" may be taken as a muddled prophecy suited to the German psychology of explaining repeated defeats as withdrawals "according to plan." Naturally he did not refer to the predictions he made a year ago when he promised his European fortifications would surprise the enemy invaders. He did wearily repeat his harangue over the threat of Bolshevism, sneered at democracy democ-racy but could no longer boast that the Reich had been kept free from the tramping feet of invading armies. To those Germans who might be inclined, to yearn for peace, the fuehrer's New Year's greeting was a threat of destruction. de-struction. A leader grasping the faintest hope of victory or a negotiated peace does not hurl such threats. Hitler is not wishing the Reich a Happy New Year. Los Angeles Times. |