Events in Germany during the past two weeks have resulted in speculation in official quarters here as to what the next steps will be.
Despite all of the bloodshed, Germany today is no better off economically than she was before the “purging” process started. Not that the bloodshed was meant to restore economic stability. After all, as far as the masses were concerned, the whole affair reflected strife within the ranks of Germany’s leadership. The drastic means used by Hitler to quell the upheaval have sunk deep in the minds of the Germans as well as the rest of the world.
Regardless of whether or not Hitler stays in power, the fact remains that there is much to be done in Germany to restore economic and social stability. The fanatical policies of persecution, the development of international distrust, and the so far futile attempt to live on a purely nationalistic basis, have forced Germany against a stone wall which must be surmounted. The question is—How can this be done?
Senator Millard E. Tydings of Maryland, who during the last session of Congress introduced a resolution calling upon the Senate to protest the persecutions of Jews in Germany, believes that to a considerable extent the world as a whole is responsible for what has taken place there during the past year.
“While the world put aside the cannon and the machine gun on November 11,1918, it at once embraced the equally deadly instruments of oppression in the form of greedy national and international policies,” Senator Tydings said. Under the terms of the peace agreements, Germany was virtually in a straight-jacket—pledged to obligations impossible of fulfillment. This, Senator Tydings believes, is what led to the drastic measures in Germany.
The Senator says, “It is wrong to forever doom the millions of inhabitants of Germany to a life of economic slavery for in truth they were the victims of a system which more than they has brought them to their present state.”
Taking the long range view, there may be much to what Senator Tydings says. He indicates that in reality, the people of Germany are to be pitied. They have been misled by a leadership which refused to be frank with the rest of the world. As Secretary of State Hull pointed out in his note on German debts, the Hitler government has brought upon itself the mistrust of the world.
Now, Senator Tydings says in effect, Germany and the rest of the world should atone for what has been done in the past. Virtually, the persecutions of Jews in Germany, and all of the heartaches resulting to the rest of the world should be forgotten. For “the wrongs of the past cannot be corrected by present or future wrongs.”
Senator Tydings may be right. But, much depends upon Germany herself. The wrongs of the past cannot be forgotten. They may, however, be used to good advantage in shaping future policies. The world will not move in the direction Senator Tydings advises without Germany’s making the first step.
In some official quarters here, there is doubt as to whether the world at large will be willing to completely trust the Hitler leadership without some iron-bound assurances of the course that may follow.
This will involve correction of many of the criticism stated in Secretary Hull’s note. This note, by the way, is expected to play a leading part in the near future. For the time being, the “purging” activities in Germany have drawn attention from the sharp message.
Dr. Mordecai Ezekiel, economic adviser to Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace, has been nominated for the Hall of Fame by Vanity Fair, a national magazine.
In the citation, the publication says, “We nominate for the Hall of Fame Mordecai Ezekiel, because as economic adviser to the Secretary of Agriculture he has helped give the farmers information on prospective supply and demand conditions; because he is thoroughly experienced in his field, having been assistant chief economist of Hoover’s Farm Board; because he assisted in drafting the Agricultural Adjustment Act; because he comes of a family which has been resident in America since the eighteenth century; and because he is devoting his youth and ability to a nation that needs both qualities.”
Since Congress adjourned, there has been much speculation as to just why the Senate did not act on the Tydings resolution which would have placed the Senate on record as protesting the persecution of Jews in Germany.
When it was introduced by the Senator from Maryland, the resolution was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from where it never emerged.
An authoritative explanation is that some of the members of the committee who favored the resolution doubted the wisdom of acting on it.
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.
