(Author: Gwynne Schrire, Vol. 77, #3, Spring 2022)
Hindsight is good, foresight is better. Hindsight is cleverer but usually useless because it comes too late. Foresight, despite information and expert analysis, is rarely helpful. This became apparent when I was given a newspaper with the bold headlines “DOCTOR FEARS NAZI TORTURE: EX-WIFE FIGHTS TO SAVE HIM”. The newspaper was the Daily Mirror, a British daily national tabloid newspaper, dated 31 January 1936. It was found in the woodpile by my cousin Sylvia Schrire, having been placed there by her char who had decided to clean out a small wooden commode. Bought forty years ago, this was used, well-padded with cushions, like a wonder bag slow cooker. The newspaper must have been placed in it nearly ninety years ago.
The front-page article, which continued onto the back page, concerned Dr George Bresin, a “Man Without a Country” who was on board the US liner President Roosevelt. Described as America’s leading anti-Nazi propagandist and a fanatic fighting for freedom for all men, he had fled Germany in 1933 and now claimed to have been kidnapped. He was begging the British to intercede to prevent his deportation to Germany claiming he had Nazi secrets affecting British interests in Ethiopia.
Knowing the conditions in Germany in 1936, it did not require much foresight for Bresin’s ex-wife to predict that he would indeed be imprisoned and tortured on his return to Germany. Lacking hindsight, and with his total absence from Google, I do not know what happened to him, but one hopes that the authorities relented.
The front-page article, which continued onto the back page, concerned Dr George Bresin, a “Man Without a Country” who was on board the US liner President Roosevelt. Described as America’s leading anti-Nazi propagandist and a fanatic fighting for freedom for all men, he had fled Germany in 1933 and now claimed to have been kidnapped. He was begging the British to intercede to prevent his deportation to Germany claiming he had Nazi secrets affecting British interests in Ethiopia.
Knowing the conditions in Germany in 1936, it did not require much foresight for Bresin’s ex-wife to predict that he would indeed be imprisoned and tortured on his return to Germany. Lacking hindsight, and with his total absence from Google, I do not know what happened to him, but it is hoped that the authorities relented.
Did the Daily Mirror journalists have any information at their disposal to confirm Mrs. Bresin’s fears about the fate of ‘fanatic fighters for freedom’ in Germany? Three years before this paper appeared, on 30 January 1933, Hitler had become Chancellor of Germany. This Daily Mirror issue reported that to celebrate the third anniversary of Nazi rule, long columns of Brown-shirts with torches aflame had marched through the Brandenburg gates where Herr Hitler received the flattering salutes. It included a photograph of “Herr Hitler between Dr Goebbels and Herr Victor Lutze” saluting the 30 000 Storm Troopers brought to Berlin for the occasion as they marched past the Chancellery by torchlight.
The Daily Mirror informed its readers that a drastic new law had been published that day providing Germany with almost unlimited powers to quell civil disturbances – even bombs might be used to keep order. Herr Hitler was reported to have stated in his harangue that the world should know that Germany would remain peace-loving as long as its honour was not touched and that he hoped the world would recognise Germany’s standpoint. The Daily Mirror was scathing about the celebrations in that day’s Editorial:
“If you cannot give bread or jobs or happiness to the people, you can always give them processions. Call them circuses. A circus or two does not cost very much.
So, yesterday, after three years of Nazi rule, the scared looking Hitler, with his terrified eyes and humourless mouth took a flattering salute from those storm troopers whom he has seriously “let down” since the German regulars reject them and they have a doubtful situation in the totalitarian state. Elsewhere in Germany a people always hypnotised by parades was compelled to wave flags and shout. Meanwhile the position of the masses in Germany goes from bad to worse.
And here is a little puzzle: – All day and everyday those docile masses are told – as Goebbels again told them yesterday – that they enjoy the glories of the new rule. At the same time, they are warned that, if they can’t enjoy it, they will be put out of it. In other words, as the loud proclaimed popularity of the ruling clique is supposed to increase, it becomes ever more necessary to surround the clique with precautions and to protect it by threats. Thus, on the very day of the third-year flag-waving, a new law of exceptional stringency is proclaimed for the maintenance of “public order”.
It is disorder to protest, to complain, to write or to talk in criticism, to whisper unfavourably, to telephone sarcastically. It is disorderly not to like it all, impossible for any but the most careful of foreign observers to say whether the people do like it. After all, what does it matter? They can lump it. And if they stare, they can feed their eyes on marching storm-troopers and their ears on shouts of “Heil!”
The Daily Mirror harshly criticized the scared looking Hitler, with his terrified eyes and humourless mouth, for using his three years of power to install a totalitarian state. It is interesting that the word “Jew” appears nowhere in the paper, not even in the editorial about the plight of the docile masses, among whom there would have been unhappy Jews. In hindsight it is known that the future for Jews in a country famed for its culture was so impossible to predict that no journalists in their right minds could have foreseen it, no matter how pessimistic or rational.
Should the Daily Mirror journalists have had some knowledge of the position of the Jews in Germany? As they knew about the public order bill promulgated on the third anniversary, they had probably commented when, three months after coming to power, Hitler had instituted an Anti-Jewish Boycott (1/4/1933), followed that year by the removal Jews from the civil service (Law for the Restoratio0n of the Professional Civil Service, 7/4) and public schools (Law against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities, 25/4), the burning of books deemed ‘Un-German’ (10/5) and forbidding of ‘non-Aryans’ to work in journalism (Editor’s Law, 4/10). In 1934, he became the absolute dictator of Germany, having abolished the office of president after the death of Paul van Hindenburg. In September 1935 came the Nuremberg Race Laws, the first of which – the Reich Citizenship Law – removed German citizenship from Jews and the second – the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour – making it illegal for Jews and Aryans to have relationships (similar to apartheid’s ‘Immorality’ laws). The ‘defense law’ banned Jews from the armed forces and introduced general compulsory military service (1/10/1935).
Hitler had thus by the beginning of 1936 succeeded in turning Germany into an undemocratic totalitarian state. There is a similarity between the rash of discriminatory laws introduced soon after his coming to power and the rash of discriminatory apartheid laws brought in soon after the apartheid government came into power in South Africa in 1948.
Yet the Daily Mirror in its editorial about the unhappiness of the German masses makes no mention of the many anti-Jewish laws that existed and their restrictions and removal from citizenship and from public life. It only criticizes Hitler’s totalitarian rule in which freedom of opinion was illegal. How could the paper have been so blind to what was happening on the ground to the former German Jewish citizens? Was it antisemitism, lack of interest or a belief that Hitler’s rule would be a temporary episode which required the passing of a new ‘public order’ law of exceptional stringency to ensure its survival? Could it be excused for not having the foresight to know what now seems so obvious in hindsight? Could it be forgiven for paying no attention to the laws restricting the lives of Jews, laws totally at odds with the democracy and freedom in England? Could general lack of criticism have emboldened Hitler to continue with his persecution of the Jews and, finding no effective international condemnation, extend his persecution to the final solution of eradicating them like the vermin he called them?
Their paper’s stance in ignoring the position of Jewish Germans was deliberate.
Until the Daily Mirror was sold in 1935, because its circulation had slumped it, like the Daily Mail, belonged to Lord Rothermere, a friend of Mussolini and Hitler. Rothermere had shifted the editorial line to support Sir Oswald Mosley’s antisemitic British Union of Fascists (BUF) and its Blackshirts. On 22 January 1934 the Daily Mirror ran the headline “Give the Blackshirts a helping hand” urging readers to join the Union of Fascists and giving the address to which to send membership applications and the Daily Mail ran an article “Hurrah for the Blackshirts!” Both articles were written by Rothermere, and his Evening Standard also ran a competition asking readers to write in saying why they liked the Blackshirts.
Rothermere was friendly with Sir Isidore Salmon, a proud and committed Jew, and one of the directors of J Lyons. This was a large catering company that owned Lyons tea shops and Corner Houses throughout Britain and was a major advertiser in his papers. Salmon told Rothermere that his company would withdraw all its advertising from his papers if he continued to support the Blackshirts and Rothermere listened. Starved of publicity, attendance at Mosley’s events shrank. Mosley objected, saying that the Jews threatened British press but to Rothermere business came before beliefs. The London German attaché complained about Lyons to Berlin reporting that the Jews threatened to remove their advertisements, and the names of the Lyons directors were placed on the list of people to be killed when Germany invaded Britain.[1]
Under the new ownership the paper was converted from a conservative, middle class newspaper into a left-wing paper for the working class. As a left-wing paper no longer under Rothermere, the editor was now able to criticise Hitler’s treatment of the masses, while maintaining the newspaper’s lack of sympathy for Jews.
Perhaps that Daily Mirror had been influenced by its full-page article by Anthony Parques who had read the pyramids and knew (its emphasis) what was going to happen. Parques had proved that the pyramids held the secrets of man’s destiny for the following 65 years. After 1936 there would be no more war, no financial disputes would arise to weaken world trade, a brighter age was dawning for mankind and the English-speaking peoples would lead the march to a greater conception of things in 1953. Until then the English-speaking races would receive guidance which would enable them to bring peace and prosperity upon the world. All true. The pyramids said so. If only, said Parques, their scientists would rid their minds of academic prejudice, they would be able to read the future of the world as they read any book.
It was just unfortunate that because of academic prejudice none of the scientists were able to read the future. As a result, the pyramids were unable to predict the coming World War with its effect on peace and prosperity and the concomitant decline of the British empire.
The avoidance of the word ‘Jew’ was noticeable, fortunately, in an article in the same edition dealing with a crooked society charity card party evening organised by reputable figures like Lord Hindlip and Lady Cleveland in which Keith Williams had lost £12 000. This he still paid as a percentage was going to charity, but he then took the crooks and cardsharps to court. The reputable figures had not done their homework as all these crooks and card sharps had criminal records and included in their ranks distinctly Jewish names like Hymie Davis, Mr. Solomons and Mr Abrahams.
Elsewhere they had reported on Lady Plunkett’s pink glass bathroom and the world-breaking 5½ inch world record-breaking heels worn by her ever-young mother Fanny Ward and that Dr Doris Odum, a specialist in nervous disorders had announced that lipstick was not a sign of depravity. What a relief to its growing numbers of wearers!
There was news other than Hitler’s third celebrations, sad news. King George V of England had died on 20 January. The film of the funeral was to be flown around the world and would be available to South African audiences from Tuesday 4 February.
Among the mourners was King Carol II of Rumania, who needed 20 Scotland Yard detectives to guard him when he left the country at Dover. It was also unfortunate that despite realigning his country’s policy towards Nazi Germany, King Carol did not have the foresight to realise that the Ribbentrop-Molotov had secret clauses giving part of Rumania to Russia and he would be forced to abdicate in 1940.
Fifty thousand people queued to see the wreaths sent to the royal funeral. It was ironic that the Daily Mirror had scoffed at the crowds that turned out for Hitler’s parade but not at the large crowds who turned up to watch the King’s funeral procession. The letter pages contained praise from someone who was touched to read of the loud crowd who turned out to witness the king’s funeral, including women with small children, as well as criticism from another letter writer who claimed to be a loyal subject, yet thought women who expected small children to stand exposed for many hours to witness the funeral behaved disgracefully and selfishly (self-righteously adding that she had kept her child at home). It is doubtful if German papers would publish similar criticism about children who stood for hours to watch the troops marching to salute Herr Hitler.
Again, without the benefit of hindsight, there was a long article about the new king Edward VIII, little as it was then known that he was an admirer of Hitler who had met him at his Berghof retreat. That event had been widely published in the German media at which Edward had given full Nazi salutes. Edward was a Nazi sympathiser, and a racist who believed whites were inherently superior. Fortunately, he was to be king only from 20 January till 10 December 1936, when he would renounce his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Mrs. Wallis Simpson and be succeeded by his younger brother George. This too was not foreseen by Parques pyramids.
Other news was of a fresh enquiry to be conducted into the 1932 kidnapping from his crib of the 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh, who became famous for making the first nonstop solo flight from New York City to Paris. Despite the ransom being paid, the child was murdered. Lindbergh shared Nazi beliefs on race, religion, and eugenics. He had had plans to spend the winter of 1938–39 in Berlin but canceled them to lease a house in Wannsee when he learned that it had been formerly owned by Jews.
On a lighter side, the newspaper had most interesting advertisements. While Clotabs gave new hope to all who were too thin, Bile Beans enabled one to improve one’s figure and slim while one slept. The abounding energy of the growing child demanded abundance of BREAD (sic). A woman who was afraid she would drop baby was cured of her pain through Yeast-Vite (No cure, no pay). A 13-year-old who had to be held down for nine months because of St Vitus dance was improved after taking Dr Williams Pink Pills which would also cure nervous debility, sleeplessness, rheumatism, poor blood and indigestion. (Dr Williams Pink Pills for Pale People were finally withdrawn from sale in 1970. Yeast-Vite is still available.) Today advertisers have to prove their claims. And the easy payment of 2/6d weekly would enable one to acquire a Singer sewing machine. First established by Isaac Singer in 1851 through hire purchase and clever salesmanship, this machine revolutionised the clothing industry and provided many jobs for recent East European Jewish immigrants working in small rooms for an earlier immigrant, who had hired a few machines and offered work at low wages to landsleit.
Understanding the paper’s history, with its tabloid style emphasis since 1935 on sensational, human-interest, and personal stories, the themes and stories in this copy, as well as its failure to mention Jewish persecution in Germany, are now more understandable, and could not be taken as typical of other British papers at the time. Looking at the articles in the paper nearly ninety years later, one appreciates the wisdom of poet William Blake that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but foresight is better especially when it comes to saving life. If only more people had foresight, so many lives could have been saved in the wars that Parques’ pyramids knew would not happen after 1936.
Gwynne Schrire, a veteran contributor to Jewish Affairs and a long-serving member of its editorial board, is Deputy Director of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies – Cape Council. She has authored, co-written and edited over twenty books on aspects of South African Jewish and Western Cape history.
NOTES
[1] Harding, Thomas, Legacy: One Family, a Cup of Tea and the Company that Took on the World, Heinemann. London, 2019, 319-320; Sparrow, Jeff, Fascists among Us: Online hate and the Christchurch massacre, Scribe, London, 2019,21-22
