Administration In Crisis Over Burgeoning Quagmire
August 12, 1945
WASHINGTON, DC (Reuters) President Truman, just a few
months into his young presidency, is coming under increasing fire from
someCongressional Republicans for what appears to be a
deteriorating security situation in occupied Germany, with some
calling for his removal from office.
Over three months after a formal declaration of an end
to hostilities, the occupation is bogged down. Fanatical
elements of the former Nazi regime who, in their zeal to liberate
their nation from the foreign occupiers, call themselves members of the
Werewolf werewolves) continue to commit almost-daily acts of
sabotage against Germany's already-ravaged infrastructure, and
attack American troops. They have been laying road mines, poisoning
food and water supplies, and setting various traps, often lethal, for
the occupying forces.
It's not difficult to find antagonism and
anti-Americanism among the population--many complain of the deprivation and lack
of security. There are thousands of homeless refugees, and
humanitarian efforts seem confused and inadequate.
In the wake of the budding disaster, some have called
for more international participation in peacekeeping.
A Red Cross official said that, "...the German
people will be more comfortable if their conquerors weren't now their
overlords. It makes it difficult to argue that this wasn't an
imperialistic war when the occupying troops in the western sector are exclusively
American, British and French."
The administration, of course, claims that, given the
chaos of the recent war, such a situation is to be expected, and
that things will improve with time. As to the suggestion to
internationalize the occupying forces, the administration had no official
comment, but an unofficial one was a repetition of the quote from
General McAuliffe, when asked to surrender in last winter's Battle of the
Bulge" Nuts."
In an attempt to minimize the situation, a White House
spokesman pointed out that the casualties were extremely light,
and militarily inconsequential, particularly when compared to the
loss rates prior to VE Day. Also, the attacks seem to be dying down with
each passing month. But this statement was leaped upon by some as
heartless, trivializing the deaths and injuries of young American
men.
Many critics back inWashingtonseem now to be
prescient, with their previous warnings of just such an outcome a little
over a year ago.
One congressman said that "...it's time to ask
whether the German people are better off now than they were a few months
ago. Yes, a brutal dictator has been deposed, but at least the
electricity and water supply were mostly working, and the trains
running on time.
After years of killing them and destroying their
infrastructure with American bombs, it seems to me that the German people
have suffered enough without the chaos that our occupation, with its
inadequate policing, is bringing."
It's not clear how much support the Werwolf has among
the populace, who may be afraid to speak their true minds, given the
fearfully overwhelming "Allied" presence in the
country. But it is possible that, like the guerilla forces themselves, the people
have been inspired by Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels'
pre-victory broadcasts, and those of Radio Werewolf.
"God has given up the protection of the people .
. . Satan has taken command." Goebbels broadcast last spring.
"We Werewolves consider it our supreme duty to kill, to kill and to kill,
employing every cunning and wile in the darkness of the night, crawling,
groping through towns and villages, like wolves, noiselessly,
mysteriously."
While no new broadcasts of Goebbels' voice have been
heard since early May, no one can be certain as to whether he is
alive or dead,and continuing to help orchestrate the attacks and
boost morale among the forces for German liberation. As long as his fate,
and more importantly, that of the former leader Adolf Hitler
himself, remains unresolved, the prospects for pacifying the brutally
conquered country may be dim.
Although Grand-Admiral Donitz made a radio
announcement of Hitler's brave death in battle to the beleaguered German people
on the evening of May 1, some doubt the veracity of that statement,
and there has been no evidence to support it, or any body identified
as the former Fuehrer's. Rumors of his whereabouts continue to
abound, including reported sightings as far away asSouth America, and
many still believe that he is hiding with the "Edelweiss"
organization, with thousands of Wehrmacht troops, in a mountain stronghold near the
Swiss border.
Many have criticized flawed intelligence for our
failure to find him, causing some, in the runup to next year's
congressional elections, to call for an investigation.
A staffer of one prominent Senator said, "For
months, starting last fall, we were told by this administration that Hitler
would make a
last stand in a 'National Redoubt' inBavaria. General
Bradley diverted troops to the south and let the Russians takeBerlinon
the basis of this knowledge. But now we find out that there was no
such place, and that Hitler was inBerlinall along. And now we're told
that we can't even be sure of where he is, or whether he's alive or
dead."
For many, marching in the streets with signs of
"No Blood For Soviet Socialism," and "It's All About The
Coal," this merely confirmed that the administration had other agendas than its stated
one, and that the war was unjustified and unjustifiable.
General Bradley's staff has protested that this is an
unfair criticism--that the strategic decision made by General
Eisenhower was driven by many factors, of which Hitler's whereabouts
was a minor one, but this hasn't silenced the critics, some of whom
have bravely called for President Truman's impeachment, despite the fact
that most of these decisions were made even before he became
president in April.
But some have taken the criticism further, and say
that failure to get Hitler means a failed war itself.
"Sure, it's nice to have released all those
people from the concentration camps, but we were told we were going to
war against Hitler, even though he'd done nothing to us,"
argued one concerned anti-war Senator. "Now they say that we have
'Victory inEurope,' but it seems to me that if they can't produce the man we
supposedly went to war against, it's a pretty hollow victory. Without
this man that they told us was such a great threat to America, how
can even they claim that this war was justified?"
