NSL Study

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be with-held.)

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

The two letters in Wednesday's CRIMSON betray a confused state of mind with regard to German Fascism which should be clarified. The idea is called "foolish" "that Hitler is the hired tool of capitalism." Since the author of the letter himself does not challenge the correctness of the NSL interpretation of Hitlerism as the dictatorship of big business, we can hardly quarrel with him, but in order that "the more skeptical readers of the CRIMSON" be relieved of their doubts, he suggests that the NSL study the German situation on the spot for four years. Inasmuch as we have only one member who has spent more than two years in Germany during the last year of the Weimar Republic and the first year of Hitlerism, and we cannot afford the four years abroad he generously recommends, we have been forced to eke out our experience of twenty-seven months in Germany with the study of books, newspapers, and periodicals.

Among the books we can cite in proof of Hitler's role of servant to German capitalism, we should like to mention the following: "Germany Puts the Clock Back," (N.Y. 1933) by Edgar Ansel Mowrer, fifteen years the Berlin correspondent of the Chicago Daily News; Konrad Heiden: "Geschichte des Nationalismus," Berlin 1932; Paul Kosck: "Modern Germany," (Chicago 1933) in the University of Chicago Training of Citizens series; "Nazifuhrer sehen dich an," (Paris, 1934); the first and second "Brown Books," the second as yet not translated; and Adolf Hitler: "Mein Kampf," (38th printing, Munich, 1933) especially pages 229-234.

Besides the New York and London Times, the Manchester Guardian is essential for the inner history of the Hitler regime. Such German papers as are in Widener files, of course, have been used at one time or another by NSL members studying Hitlerism.

As for periodicals relating to the question of Hitler's role as the saviour of German capitalism, the most substantial are the "Gegenangriff," (weekly) published in Paris, and "Unsere Zeit," (monthly) published in Paris and Basel. The Neues Tagebuch also brings much of value. The latest article on Hitler and capitalism is the detailed survey of the German economic situation by E. Varga in "International Press Correspondence," of April 10, 1934, containing the conclusion: (page 567) "An analysis of the figures given by the fascist institutions themselves... shows that the situation of the bourgeoisie has improved at the expense of the workers, a fact which is quite natural for the finance oligarchy which put Hitler in the saddle for its own benefit and not for the benefit of the workers."

It might be well to point out also that Professor W. T. Ham, of this university, in his article, "Labor under the German Republic," in the February 1934 issue of the "Quarterly Journal of Economics," while not believing that the German capitalists were farsighted enough to have supported the Hitler movement in its early days, says (page 226) that "Once it had become a party of national significance, the great industrialists undoubtedly proceeded to try to turn it to their purpose in opposing the growing power of the working class." Their effort has been crowned with success in the course of Hitler's rule. If anyone still doubts, let him read the pamphlet by O. Piatnitsky: "The present situation in Germany," (N.Y. 1933). The National Student League.