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Show Death Decreed For Berlin Hitlerites Admit By DeWltt Mackensle Whether the all-out bombing of Berlin and the land offensives in Russia and Italy presage some great Allied diplomatic move to try to force capitulation of the Axis, as London and other capitals cap-itals seem to think, there's small doubt that we are witnessing the death of Berlin the first city of its size to perish. Destruction of the German capital cap-ital from the air will be a military mili-tary and psychological coup unique un-ique in war. Smaller cities have been wiped out, but nothing approaching ap-proaching this vast metropolis of four millions. ioaay ior the lirst time thei Hitlerites admit that British and American bombers may "lay all Berlin waste". George Schroeder, chief correspondent ,of Europa Press, who writes under Nazi Propaganda Minister Joe Goeb-els Goeb-els direction, minces no words in conceding the grim prospect. The devil himself, being about ready to exact the price for the .bill of goods he sold henchman Hitler, must have smiled grimly when he read in the fuehrer's own newspaper "Voelkischer Beobachter," an item of gloomy finality, advising the people of the stricken city now to write their last wills and testaments. When you stop to think about it, thats one of the most remarkable remark-able little news dispatches to come out of the war. It certainly is close to being a gesture of desperation des-peration which fits well with the declaration by Britain's two-fisted bomber chief, Air Marchal Sir Arthur Harris, that the holocaust which . Is .weeping the German capital is "the last lap of the race". But we mustn't conclude from all this that the end is at hand. Air Marshal Harris, whom I know from personal acquaintance to be far-sighted and logical, doesn't claim this. He just says it's the last lap, and doesn't predict how long the lap will be. Berlin is to be bombed until it is dead. Would the death of Berlin mean the end of the war? Not necessarily, neces-sarily, but it's difficult to see how the German machine could keep going long with its capital smashed smash-ed for Berlin, quite apart from sentiment, is literally the heart of the Reich. It not only is one of the greatest industrial areas in the country, but it's the hub of the European railway system. Cripple Berlin and you've thrown a monkey-WTench into Hitler's entire continental setup. Moreover, the destruction of the capital, with its awful death roll, would be one of the fiercest blows public morale could receive. re-ceive. Dr. Robert Ley, leader of the Nazi labor front, declares: "We shall never surrender. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Defiance and revenge". Propa-iganda Propa-iganda Minister Goebbels takes a similar but more fiery line in 'promising heavy reprisals against Britain. Likely revenge will be attempted attempt-ed by the Hitlerites, and they may indeed have a new "secret weapon" weap-on" which they boast. I think we should also be prepared to see the reprisals take some barbaric form. However, the Germans no longer have reprisals which would win them the war, no matter how Hpvilish the revenge might be. As a matter of fact, while desire de-sire for revenge can be a powerful pow-erful emotion, the slogan of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'' doesn't provide the flaming flam-ing sword of leadership needed by the Germans or any other civilized civil-ized peoples. You've got to have more inspiration than just "revenge" "re-venge" to win world wars, and any government which tries to sustain public morale on that will come a cropper. That's been one of Hitler's greatest weaknesses since the start of his attempt to conquer the world lack of any high and inspiring purpose. His only justification jus-tification for his aggression has been that might is right and he had the might. It akes more than that to sustain a great nation as destruction rushes on it. |