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Germany

We are glad to be in a position to publish some first-hand reports about the most recent developments inside Germany.

Morale

The following report from the end of April sums up the situation in a number of big German towns: ,,There is only a very small minority of Germans who still believe in a German victory. Many believe in the possibility of a negotiated peace in the case of the invasion being repulsed. Many people, however, are convinced that Germany will be defeated."

Opposition

The reports state the following about resistance in Germany:

"There is no organised resistance on a national scale. The reasons are:

1) The only perspective so far presented to the German opposition is the slogan `unconditional surrender'. As long as no other aims and prospects are shown to the German people the apathy of the majority of Germans will continue.

2) Goebbels cleverly fosters the impression that the Allies do not make any difference between Nazis and Germans and that thus every German is regarded as a criminal, and will be treated as such. Goebbels carefully examines every feature of Allied policy and propaganda with a view to exploiting it for the purpose of creating this feeling of complicity between the German people and the Nazis.

3) The effect of Nazi tactics is intensified by the following factors:

1. Uncertainty regarding the immediate intentions of the Anglo-Saxon liberation armies after the occupation of Germany;
2. fear of communism which is wide-spread even among the working class;
3. fear of Russia's demands of cessation of German territory and mass deportations of German workers to Russia.

4) Last not least it must not be forgotten, that the Gestapo is still well organised although corruption within their ranks is considerably increasing."

After enumerating all these difficulties our correspondent continued:

"In spite of all these obstacles people in opposition to the régime meet locally and discuss their problems. Although there is no centrally organised oppositional movement an atmosphere prevails throughout Germany which, given more

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favourable circumstances, would make possible the rise of an active and powerful anti-Nazi organisation."

Another report states:

"Already to-day a number of preparations are being made for the day on which an open revolt against the Hitler-regime will be possible. Leaflets are being distributed which appeal to the people to keep in mind those men and women who throughout all the years of the Nazi regime have remained loyal to their old ideals and who therefore will be the only ones qualified to take charge of the reconstruction of the labour movement and the administration. At the same time these leaflets emphasise the need to make a mental note of all those Nazis who under no circumstances should escape punishment. This is specially important in view of the fact that to-day many Nazis have stopped wearing their party badge. Nevertheless the opposition knows exactly with whom accounts will have to be settled.

In the factories the workers have often come to a tacit agreement to regard old militant workers as their men of confidence who will take over full responsibility for directing actions on the day of rising."

Political Warfare

"The number of leaflets, however, which can to-day be produced and distributed inside Germany is by no means adequate to the need. The people are very eager to read leaflets and pamphlets dropped by the R.A.F. Such leaflets and pamphlets should give an answer to the questions concerning the future of Germany and they should encourage the hope that a new Germany which has rid itself of its war criminals will be allowed to develop freely. They should, for instance, give assurances regarding the possibility of a free and independent trade union movement.

We know from a number of indications which we cannot disclose here that co-operation between the German workers and their foreign colleagues at the decisive moment is already agreed upon to-day.

Last autumn generals, liberals and catholics tried to establish contact with socialist and trade union officials. It appears that an organisation on a national scale was planned with the aim of overthrowing Hitler. The Gestapo intervened in time. The rumour has it that General Hammersteins's[1] death was connected with this affair.

During this spring an organised movement, less important than the one just mentioned, was discovered by the Gestapo. Eight death sentences were passed together with other sentences."

Secret Weapon

On July 3rd a correspondent wrote about the effect of the Flying bombs in Germany as follows:

"There is no enthusiasm for the secret weapon - on the contrary, the majority fear reprisals and the prolongation of the war."

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France

The following is a description of recent developments in the French resistance movement. The author was formerly an active member of the labour movement.

"The creation of the resistance movement has not been the work of the traditional parties, all of which have suffered shipwreck. The majority of their parliamentary representatives abdicated before the agents of Hitler Germany, Laval and ô. Only the Communist Party, having been expelled from Parliament, was spared any public statement of its attitude.

In building up the resistance movement the French people have recovered their confidence, regained their faith and conscience. Resistance was organised in the first place by the intellectual circles of the liberal bourgeoisie, the old militants of the workers movements, and protestant and catholic groups. In the Northern zone, where the difficulties were greater, direct action by smaller numbers rather than widespread propaganda by clandestine journals was the order of the day. National-bourgeois elements prevailed in `L'Organisation Civile et Militaire' (O.C.M). A regional socialist organisation was developed later which issued `La Voix du Nord'[2]. In Paris the resistance groups were at first weak. Isolated militant workers issued papers such as `Notre Combat' and `Libertés'.[3] They preceded the later Gaullist paper `Résistance'[4] which represents socialists and progressive catholics, and `Defense de la France'[5], which represents liberal protestant elements.

Not before 1941/42 was the Communist Party re-established in the occupied zone. Direct action by small semi-military groups in Paris, the North and in the Pas du Calais characterised its work. Its previous underground network, its contact in the workshops, and, most of all, the prestige of Russia assisted its efforts.

In the southern zone activities were principally due to the wellknown groups `Combat', `Franc-Tireur' and `Libération'. The range of underground propaganda (about 500,000 clandestine papers per month) was considerable.

Thanks to the initiative of these groups, a series of public demonstrations was organised. The first, held on July 14th, 1941, was a semi-failure, but on May 1st, 1942, successful mass demonstrations were held in several big towns such as Lyons, St. Etienne, and others. For the first time workers and students acted together. On July 14th, 1942, mass demonstrations on a considerable scale and in a co-ordinated fashion were organised in spite of very strong police measures. The Communist Party's separate demonstration in September, 1942, on the anniversary of the Battle of Valmy, was a failure.

Up to November, 1942, scarcely any contact existed between North and South, and the unification or co-ordination of the various movements in both zones had not proceeded very far. The position now is that various organs for ensuring common action and central direction have been developed throughout the country.

A year ago many members of the Resistance Movement still believed that, in view of the breakdown of all the old parties, it would be possible to transform the unified resistance

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movements into one single party, with a programme representing a synthesis of all views, or rather a common denominator. This naive conception soon clashed with the hard factors of reality. Most of the old parties - at least, the most important ones - have survived because they correspond to social classes and definite trends in society. Their failure, far from being merely due to the rottenness of many leaders was certainly a reflection of the disarray of all classes in the nation.

For several months it has been evident that the parties are in process of reconstitution. First of all those members of the old party machines who had not compromised themselves in 1940 came together and re-created first the top organisation, then, by-and-by, a regional and local framework. This was done by the Socialist Party and the Radical Party, the Democratic Alliance and the Republican Unions. As a result of this revival of the political parties, eight representatives of the main parties as well as of the trade unions have been included in the National Council of Resistance (C.N.R.). The C.N.R. comprises, in addition, eight members of the Central Committee of the United Resistance Movement (M.U.R.).

Amongst the parties represented on the C.N.R. only the Communist Party is a mass organisation on its own, which has not only its officer corps but its organised troops. In the North the Socialist Party seems to have been re-established as a mass party, but in the rest of the country its organisation is probably little more than a loose regional and, in some places, local frame; its activity has been restricted in the main to the issuing of `Populaire', its monthly journal, of which twenty issues have appeared so far. At any rate, it has no separate mass activity such as the Communist Party. Its most active members are distributed over the different movements of resistance. They work as individuals without directives from the party. Many of them feel little enthusiasm for rejoining the old party, which, though purged of collaborators, has so far shown too little effort at regeneration. It appears to look into the future through the mirror of the past.

Will the old party caucus change? Will the old methods be replaced by new ones? Will the party be inspired by new ideas and hopes? These are questions asked with deep anxiety by many who realize that party organisation is essential. They want a new radical, a new socialist party. Progressive Christians want a progressive Christian party which would preoccupy itself with labour problems and break completely with the Right. Large numbers of young militants are moved by a keen urge for a political regeneration. They loathe the idea of restoring the old parties as though nothing had happened.

Political life is as intensive as it can be in the present difficult circumstances when the slightest exchange of views incurs risks, when the building-up of any political group faces tremendous if not insuperable obstacles.

This new political life is reflected in the clandestine press. Besides the main journals which devote most of their restricted space to the tasks common to the whole of the resistance movement, there appear others in which different political views are being presented. `Les Cahiers de l'O.C.M.'[6] are such an attempt on the Right; `Les Cahiers Politiques'[7], published by a committee under the auspices of the M.U.R., propagate the utopian idea of a resistance party. Sympathisers of

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the Communist Party publish the review `Pensée et Action'[8] which, however, only repeats the slogans of the communists. A more serious effort is made by the `Cahiers du Témoignage Chrétien'[9], the `Cahiers de Libération'[10], and recently by the `Revue Libre'[11], which discusses the basic ideas of socialism and democracy.

These efforts to further by study, research and discussion a reorientation of deeper political thought in France are one of the most hopeful signs in the French resistance movement. They will contribute towards shaping the political life of liberated France, when the resistance movement will have fulfilled its historical task of giving to the French people a new consciousness of its mission in the world as a nation."