Praha.
Students of national psychology know how much the fairy tales of each nation are the expression of national psychology, and to what extent they are an expression of fear and desire.
It seems that the fairy tale which has influenced the formation of the character of present-day Germany to the greatest extent is the story of the “Cap of Darkness” (Tarn-Kappe). This cap gives anyone who puts it on his head the attribute of invisibility. He sees, but is not seen. As long as he has this cap on his head he can follow all his wishes and desires without paying for their fulfillment, or without being punished for misdeeds.
DREAM OF ALL GERMANS
The dream of all Germans of the Hitleristic stamp is to own such a cap. The word “tarnen” (to make invisible, to camouflage) is new in the German language, and has been used in Hitler circles only since 1923, after the ill-fated Munich Beerhouse Putsch. Since then the following password has been given out: “German, ‘tarn’ yourself! Don’t say who you are, and what you want. Try to be different from what you appear to be! Take everything upon which you can lay your hands, deny yourself no wish! Always act ‘getarnt’.”
The Cap has brought victory to Hitler in Germany, and with the same Cap he seeks to gain victories in the international field. He hopes to gain this victory with the help of the Germans living abroad, those smaller or larger German groups which not only live in the countries bordering Germany, but also the groups living in isolated oases in countries not on the German border, such as Russia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania and even North and South America. Hitler has promised all these Germans that he will “redeem” them. All these Germans, Hitler has hitched to the wagon of his policy of world power and has given them simultaneously the advice “‘tarn’ yourself!” And the Germans living abroad have ‘tarned’ themselves.
VICTORY FOR ‘TARN KAPPE’
“Hitler’s lieutenant for Czechoslovakia,” Konrad Henlein, has gained a great victory by means of the “Tarn Kappe” and has not only brought great sorrow to the Jews in the German part of Czechoslovakia, but also has caused confusion in the whole Czechoslovakian politics.
Konrad Henlein’s “Sudtendeusche” Party was able to poll at the latest parliamentary elections 1,250,000 votes, i.e. two-thirds of all German votes in Masaryk’s republic, and has thus been able to win forty-five of the 300 seats of the Parliament. This party has polled the greatest number of votes of all parties, and will enter Parliament equal in strength to strongest Czech party, the Czech Agrarians.
The progressive German parties, which so far have participated in the government, including the German Social Democrats, have been weakened to such an extent that they are of not much value in formation of the government. The Czech government parties have suffered hardly any loss in the election, as the purely Czechian Fascists will only be represented by six deputies, and the semi-Fascists have only been able to add two seats to the fifteen they have held hitherto. But the Czech government coalition has no majority io the new parliament. Thus by the victory of the ‘getarnte’ German Fascists the formation of the new government has become a difficult problem.
MASTER OF ‘TARNEN’
When, about eighteen months ago the government suppressed the German National Socialist Party for Czechoslovakia, which had behaved like a Hitler Troop, the leaders fled to Germany, where they now occupy high positions. In Czechoslovakia, however, a hitherto unknown man has come into the limelight, the gymnastic instructor, Konrad Henlein, who founded the “Sudetendeutsche Heimats Front.” He is not a great politician, no fascinating speaker, but a master in the art of “tarnen.” Just as Hitler after 1923 in Germany, he started his work with pledges of loyalty to the Czechoslovakian State. There is no more devoted supporter of the Masaryk State than Henlein. He only wants the following: To safeguard the German interests and to unite the Germans. He started his organization with the, in Germany well-proved formation of cells and “mouth to mouth” propaganda, aided by unlimited financial means about the origin of which nobody knows anything definite.
In the beginning, Henlein tried to “tarn” himself regarding anti-Semitism. In his first public speech he invited the “loyal German Jews” to cooperate with him. However, he soon went back on his own word when he saw that one can’t overlook anti-Semitism as an efficient means of propaganda. On the other hand, he had not much to fear from Jews as opponents. Henlein, who became a regular “tarn” artist in his policy toward the Czechoslovakian state, removed his “tarn” helmet in his policy regarding the Jews.
FOLLOWS HITLER ON JEWS
An important part of the work of the “Sudetendeutsche” Party was formed by propaganda against Jews, who were called enemies of everything German, by boycott of Jewish shops, Jewish employes, Jewish lawyers and doctors. The Jews in the “Sudeten German” part of Czechoslovakia are now living in an atmosphere which is growing more and more like that of Hitler Germany. Their rights have not yet been taken away, but they are socially isolated, and their economic existence is in danger. Social boycott is not everything, for the fight is also extended to the Jewish hospital and panel doctors, and to the few Jewish judges and State officials. The example of Hitler Germany is slavishly followed regarding Jewry.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
