John Toland's 'The Last 100 Days,' Powerful
Expose of Nazis, Nazism and Tuehrerprinzip'
So many details relating to the
final days of World War II are
incorporated in "The Last 100
Days," the sensational book by
John Toland, published by Random
House; so much that is "tumultuous
and controversial" is part of this
impressive collection of data, that
this work deservedly occupies one
of the most important positions in
the story about the tragic events
of the early 1940s.
There is so much material here
about the Nazis, Nazism, the Allies,
he Russian as well as the Amer-
can procedures in the final days
of the war, that any review, no
matter how lengthy, could at best
merely scratch the surface in re-
ferring to the incidents that were
gathered from more than 600
sources.
-
--
Toland interviewed Hitler's
chauffeur, generals of all the
armies that were engaged in the
battles, Jewish and German
leaders. The result is a stagger-
ing account that once again
brings to light the methods that
were pursued by Nazis, the atro-
cities that were perpetrated by
Russians when they entered Ger-
man territories, the intentions to
exterminate the Jews and _ the
attempts that were made to re-
scue Jews.
President Roosevelt's role at
Yalta—the Crimean conference—
and his conversations with Church-
ill and Stalin; Himmler's desire - to
secure an end to hostilities that
would be beneficial to Germany,
contrary to his chief, Hitler's,
wishes and knowledge; the selec-
tion of General Doenitz as Hitler's
successor; loss of -favor with Hit-
ler by Goering and Himmler and
the chief roles played by Josef
Goebbels and Martin Bormann —
these and many more occurrences
appear in new light in Toland's
record.
Hitler's death, his marriage to
Eva Braun in the last days to his
life—when he wanted to give his
mistress legal status as his wife
and other occurrences are of spe-
cial interest.
Most amazing are the revela-
tions that when Goering made his
final flight he tried to hide a valu-
able painting: "Goering had per-
suaded his SS guard to take him,
his wife, daughter and butler to
the family castle in nearby Mau-
tern dorf, Austria. As Goering
drove off he held in his lap a
stovepipe; rolled up inside was one
of his favorite paintings—worth
2,500,000 Mark."
And Hitler to the very last mo-
. ment, knowing he was defeated,
blamed the war on the Jews in his
final testament!
.
Heinrich Himmler's negotia-
tions with the World Jewish
Congress representatives, Gilel
Storch and Norman Masur, in
the discussions that were insti-
tuted in an effort to rescue Jews
for a price, is an important ele-
ment in Toland's revelations.
The late Count Folke Bernadotte
and the Dr. Felix Kersten,
Himmler's masseur, played im-
portant roles in these talks. The
story as related here is incom-
plete, Kersten's memoirs, pub-
lished by Maxmillan in 1957,
serving extensively to imple-
ment the story.
It was during these negotiations
that, according to Toland's ac-
count, Minister of Labor Franz
Seldte went to see Himmler and
said to him: "You have to do
something. The Fuehrer must be
made to negotiate a peace. This is
no longer an individual matter, for
the fate of the entire German
people is at stake."
Toland's report of that conversa-
tion states: "Himmler blustered
out loyalty to the Fuehrer. 'My
goad Himmler,' Seldte broke in,
`you have only one thing to do—
kill Hitler!' "
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, April 8, 1966-11
There is enough data in the brief
references to Adolf Eichmann to
add to the charges that justified
his conviction at the trial in Jeru-
salem.
Among the occurrences reported
is the death of Major General Mau-
rice Rose, one of the chief com-
manders of the U.S. forces, who
was killed in action on March 29,
1945. Allied press reports that he
was "murdered - by the Nazis be-
cause he was a Jew are discounted
by Toland who describes in detail
the attack on him and two other
army officers.
There were many anti-Jewish
occurrences and there is refer-
ence to the charge by Germany
that the Russians committed a
wholesale massacre of German
troops in the Kotyn Forest.
Buchenwald. At first Doenitz
had refused to believe that such
atrocities had ever taken place.
But as incontrovertible evidence
mounted he was forced to face
the truth—the horror of the con-
centration camp system was not
merely Allied propaganda.
The remarkable collection of
photographs of Walden and
other natural are - as illustrate
the phenomenon of life that influ-
enced Thoreau, and the appropri-
ate selections from Thoreau's writ-
ings, are in this work, produced
ciated with Myron Fagan, a Holly-
wood anti-Jewish pamphleteer.
Senn said that the ADL at that
time considered Ramsey "a mixed-
up kid seeking attention by ped-
dling anti-Semitism."
2nd Canadian Province
Petitions Ottawa to Ban
Spread of Hate Literature
desalination plant_ to cost $200,-
CUSTOMERS SAY:
000,000 and for other assistance,
according to information that be-
came available here.
• Better Service
The Egyptian government has
• Better Deals
conveyed to -the State Department
a number of projects on which
war.
Egypt said it depends on America
for assistance, in line with Ameri-
can hopes for improved Washing-
ton-Cairo relations. The nuclear
desalting plant, similar to one orig-
20811 W. 8 Mile Road
inally envisaged for Israel, would
KE 4-1400
pression in his life and his writ- provide fresh water for desert ir-
ings that even those who disagree rigation.
Leo
CI
with him have to admit that his
belief has become a vital tenet of
the American tradition."
Beginning Sunday, April 10 thru April 30
Yet it is this very tradition that
is being resisted today, and the
Thoreau writings now assume spe-
cial importance.
Focus on nature, landscapes,
presents
the four seasons, birds, nature
and man are reflected in the
writings that have been selected
for this magnificent book. There
woodcuts and lithographs by contemporary Israeli artists
are selections from Walden, his
Journal, "The Maine Woods," "A
Yosl Bergner
Week on the Concord and the
Marrimack Rivers," "Cape Cod"
Pinkas Litvinovsky
—from his poetry and his prose.
Last 100 Days." His book is re-
vealing, exciting, it holds the read-
er glued to a brilliant account of
the tragedy of an era. It is one of
the very great books about the last
Thoreau's Gifts to America Emerge
Gloriously in Illustrated Quotations
Special skill is needed to pro-
duce books that will enlighten and
at the same time entertain chil-
dren. William Morrow & Co. (425
Park S., NY16) has produced this
type of work by issuing "America
the Beautiful in the Words of
Henry David Thoreau."
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The
Anti-Defamation League of Bnai
Brith charged here that a right-
wing extremist has used a Jewish
name in tape recordings broadcast
to American troops in South Viet-
nam to "come home" in a crude
attempt to impugn the loyalty of
American Jews.
The ADL said that Ronald Ram-
sey, a radio propagandist with an
extensive record as a right-wing
radical, used the name Joe Liber
Epstein in broadcast recordings to
troops in South Vietnam. Milton
Senn, Pacific Southwest director
of the ADL, said the use of the
Jewish-sounding name also was
intended to impugn the support of
American Jews "for our nation's
resistance to Communist aggres-
sion and imperialism."
The ADL official said that 10
years ago, when Ramsey was 16,
he published, a "Nationalist Sum-
mary" for "Americans for Action"
and that in 1955-56, he was asso-
"This revelation struck at the
core of his faith- in National Social-
WINNIPEG (JTA) — All parties
ism and he wondered if Hitler's
in the Manitoba Legislature joined
achievements had been won at too
in approval of a resolution con-
frightful a cost. He thought of his
demning the distribution of hate
two sons who had died in battle for
literature in Canada, the second
the Fuehrer.
such provincial stand in this coun-
"Like so many other Germans,
try. A similar resolution was una-
Doenitz was just beginning to see
nimously adopted last month by the
Ontario Legislature.
the perils of the Fuehrerprinzip,
the principle of dictatorship; per-
The Manitoba legislators strong-
ly urged in the resolution that the
haps human nature was incapable
Federal Government pass appro-
of using the power arising from
priate measures to make distribu-
dictatorship without succumbing to
tion of such materials punishable
the temptations of its abuse of
under the Canadian Criminal Code.
power.
"As he finished the speech to the
officers, the Admiral was beset by
doubts. He glanced through it Egypt Requests U.S.
1 CHEVROLET IS
again, then slowly folded the pa-
° THE BEST PLACE
per and locked it away in his desk to Furnish $200,000,000
drawer."
TO GET YOUR rj
Desalination Plant
Such were sentiments that were
WASHINGTON
(JTA)
—
Egypt
CAR."
locked in- many drawers, but the
facts regarding t h e atrocities has asked the United States to fi-
MORE
REPEAT
nance construction of a nuclear
There is a concluding report
about General Doenitz that is of
major interest. Toland related that
"in Flensburg, Hitler's successor,
Grossadmiral Kar
l Doenitz, sat at
a desk finishing his farewell ad-
dress to the officers corps." In it,
addressing his "comrades," he was
to have said, "We have been set
back for a thousand years in our
history . . . "Then, after quoting
from that farewell address, Toland emerge time and again. They be-
come evident in Toland's' "The
writes:
"These words gave no hint at
what had been haunting Doenitz
(Alfred) Jodl returned from
Rheims with a copy of Stars and
Stripes containing pictures from
Right Wing Extremist Poses as Jew
in Anti-War Call to Troops in Vietnam
.
Better Every Way
Slatkin' s
DEXTER
CHEVROLET
GRAPHICA GALLERY
THE LION AND THE STONE
by the editors of Country Beauti-
ful, under the direction of Michael
P. Dineen, edited by Robert P.
Polley, art direction by Robert W.
Pradt. Morrow co-published it with
Into the brief life of Henry David
Country Beautiful Foundation, Thoreau (1817-1862)
was packed
Jakob Steinhardt
Monday - Friday 11-6
Waukesha, Wis.
109 West Warren Avenue
an immensely creative accomplish-
Saturday 10-3
The Thoreau book could well ment. "America the Beautiful in
Detroit
Sunday,
April
10
be considered most timely be- the Words of Henry David Tho-
1-5
832-3533
cause it serves to recall the reau" proves it. --P.S•
eminent rebel's protest against"
slavery. Thoreau became famous
for his "Walden." He had lived
at Walden and this work had
the best sales. Many of his other
works appeared posthumously. It
was during his second summer
11-MILE RD. AND LAHSER
at Walden that he was jailed for
not paying a poll tax. It was said
that the tax, which he refused
to pay for several years, was
very nominal. He was angered be-
cause his aunt paid the tax and
therefore forced his leaving the
jail. The reason for his refusal
to pay taxes was because of his
refusal to support a government
that sanctioned slavery.
It was this passion for justice
that made Thoreau stand out among
men and has given him such status
in history. He had befriended
Ralph Waldo Emerson and it has
been said that Emerson offered to
pay a few pennies to assure his
receiving his diploma from Har-
vard. Thoreau was not interested
in a sheepskin.
Polley, in an introductory note
to this impressive, large-sized beau-
tifully illustrated work, explains
that Thoreau; in the Jefferson
tradition, believed "that state is
best which governs least." The edi-
tor of this volume adds: Thoreau
"simply believed man's lives more
important than the state and the
state had to be restored when it
threatened individual liberty. Tho-
Have You Paid Your Allied Jewish Campaign Pledge? Do It Now!
reau gave this belief such vivid ex-
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