Few Germans Condemn Hitler’s Persecution of Jews on Moral Grounds, U.S. Army Finds

United States Army interrogators interviewing a cross section of Germans in the small town of Roetgen established that a very small percentage of the German population condemn the persecution of the Jews on moral grounds, a New York Times war correspondent, Clifton Daniel, reported today from the headquarters of the U. S. First Army.

The group questioned consisted of thirty men and women of all ages and income groups picked from the several thousand residents of Roetgen. Asked, among other things, about their attitude towards the Nazi policy of anti-Semitism, they invariably declared that Hitler’s greatest mistake was the persecution of the Jews.

When asked why, the interrogators report, the Germans usually say that the Jews are a very powerful “nation” and that, with great financial and political influence, they are dangerous enemies. “Only five of all the people interviewed condemned the persecution of the Jews on moral grounds,” the correspondent cabled. He added that “Just as they disclaimed personal responsibility for the mistreatment of Jews, most of the people interviewed in Roetgen claimed to be utterly ignorant of the atrocities committed by German troops in foreign countries.”