German Propaganda Archive Calvin University

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Background: The Nazi Party depended heavily on speakers to get its message across. Those speakers needed to be informed. The following is a translation of instructions to speakers in November 1942 dealing with a speech by Wendell Willkie that critized aspects of American policy. Although the bold paragraphs are in quotation marks, they are usually paraphrases and summaries, although reasonably accurate ones.

The source: Redner-Schnellinformation, Lieferung 44, 3 November 1942.


On Wendell Willkie


Wendell Willkie gave a radio speech to the American people. His remarks are a gold mine of material for every speaker that can be used to support the sharpest criticism. In what follows, the most striking ideas and thoughts are discussed.

Wendell Willkie, for example, discussed British-American news coverage. While discussing an “energetic call for a second front,” he said among other things: “The record of this war to date is not such as to inspire in us any sublime faith in the infallibility of our political, military, and naval experts.” Regarding those “experts” who might want to doubt his judgment, perhaps citing his statements during his trip to Moscow, China, and the other “fronts,” he stated: “The demand that non-military experts, or those unconnected with the government should leave military, industrial, economic, and political matters to the government is ‘misdirected censorship.’”

Willkie intensified this harsh criticism by demanding that military experts and America’s political leaders must be subject to “the whiplash of public opinion.”

That will make Roosevelt happy. He put a great deal of effort in converting his former election opponent into a loyal follower. But now Willkie travels around the world and learns about the huge deception that Roosevelt and his political and economic measures have produced. In view of the obvious failure of Roosevelt’s war policy, his armaments program, and his economic organization, Willkie demands with ruthless brutality the “whiplash of public opinion” against the president and the responsible officials behind the scenes.

He also heavily criticized those responsible, ruthlessly pointing out the mistakes they have made so far. He spoke openly as one of Stalin’s agents, for the part of his speech that dealt with the disappearing “reservoir of good will” on the part of allies centered on him. He said, for example:

“This reservoir is leaking dangerously not through holes punched by Hitler. They have been punched by us. One of these holes is the tragically small amount of war material that has so far reached the fighting forces of the United Nations.”

Now, one can probably assume that those responsible in England and the United States are not entirely to blame, since our U-boats have made their own major contribution and will continue to do so. Stalin, however, takes no notice of that. Through the mouth of his new friend Willkie, he demands:

“If we continue to fail to deliver to our allies what they are entitled to expect of us or what we have promised them, our reservoir of good-will will turn into one of resentment. We owe them more than boasts and broken promises.

Here he could also have said “fireside chats” along with “promises” and “boasts.” That would have hit the nail on its head. That is where the flood of wild promises of production on which Stalin bases his hopes comes from. One recalls the speech by our Reichsleiter Dr. Goebbels in Berlin responding to Roosevelt’s latest claim that a 10,000 ton freighter was manufactured within ten days. As Dr. Goebbels pointedly remarked, all one has to do is to order such a huge ship and wait to pick it up.

Willkie has another major worry: “We have still not succeeded in clearly stating the war goals of the United Nations.” He fears that “the Allies run the risk of losing friends around the world.” Here Willkie fails to make clear the difficulties involved. The plutocrats began this war solely to prevent any further German social progress and hinder its growing prosperity. Therein was the great danger for the Jewish stock manipulators and the plutocratic masters of the world. The outstanding German example could awaken the longings of other peoples who might not then allow themselves to be so easily “governed,” or in other words, “exploited.” Now the war has taken on such a nature and extent that it becomes absolutely necessary to promise their peoples that they will have in the future what Germany has already achieved, and is on the way to perfecting, namely “socialism.” Now they proceed very cautiously and with democratic trimmings as they announce as war aims what they condemned by us as contemptible “Nazism” that needed to be destroyed, and which in fact was the cause of their warmongering persecution of the Germans. That is really something that will require a masterpiece of clever Jewish sophistry. That is why Willkie will have to wait a long time for a declaration of Allied war aims.

Enemy Reporting

Willkie’s complaint about “American news reporting about the course of the war” provides an opportunity to examine a current blatant example.

The American aircraft carrier Wasp was sunk by the Japanese in September of this year. Official American sources naturally kept entirely silent. After the old policy of not admitting what cannot be proven, the sinking was stubbornly concealed.

Now the time has come when there is a danger that the sinking will be confirmed by eyewitnesses. The American Navy Department released this rather eloquent announcement:

“The North American aircraft carrier Wasp was sunk in the South Pacific on 15 September by an enemy submarine attack. The ship remained afloat for five hours after the attack and sank after there were no enemy forces in the vicinity. For this reason, the loss of the aircraft carrier was not announced as long as the possibility remained that the enemy could not learn of the sinking.”

This clearly confirms what we have always said. The enemy admits a loss only after he can no longer deny it. One has to conclude that the enemy’s actual losses of warships and merchant vessels are significantly higher than our strictly checked OKW reports announce. Doubtless this enemy tactic will backfire eventually, since over the long run such losses cannot be concealed. Shipping tonnage is the prerequisite for all military operations, all economic efforts, and also the enemy’s food supply. This is true above all for England. According to press and radio reports there, the new Allied offensive in Africa will require all available shipping, which means that those in England will have to accept new shortages.

One can clearly see the tremendous importance of our U-boat war. Even during the severe fall and winter storms of the North Atlantic, it has not ceased for a moment, but continues with full force.

Speakers are particularly encouraged to honor the extraordinary achievements of our U-boat crews.

[Page copyright © 2011 by Randall Bytwerk. No unauthorized reproduction. My e-mail address is available on the FAQ page.]


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