THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, MARCH 3, 1940:
BRUSSELS, March 2.— (INS)— Abig
German bomber today shot down two Belgian army planes in a dramatic air battle
over Belgium's neutral territory. The German air force was formally
accused by Belgium of a "serious violation of Belgian neutrality and an
aggressive act." One of the Belgian fliers was killed; the other pilot
parachuted to safety as his plane spun to earth.
The air battle was precipitated when
three single-seated Belgian military monoplanes gave chase to and surrounded a
German Dornier=17 bomber over the Saint Hubert district in the Belgian province
of Luxembourg, not far from the western front. The third Belgian plane was put out
of action when German bullets cut Its machine gun controls, but
It managed to escape the terrific fire unleashed by the Nazi bomber, and made a
normal landing. The Nazi plane disappeared across the German border, some 45
miles distant from the scene of the battle.
10
DIE IN CRASHES.
Simultaneously, three Belgian army
planes crashed in other Belgian- areas today, killing 10 men and injuring one.
These crashes, however. were accidental and bore no relation
to the German-Belgian air duel.
Materials, Lives
Spent Lavishly
By Reds
HELSINKI, March 2.—(INS) — Annihilation
of the Thirty-fourth Moscow tank brigade, with the killing of at least 2000
Russians, was officially announced tonight, but unofficial reports indicated
Finnish troops already have abandoned Viborg to the Red army.
The Finnish high command revealed
in its communique tonight that the Russian tank force was encircled northeast
of Lake Ladoga and Its destruction -completed."
105
TANKS SEIZED.
No less than 105 Soviet tanks,
all virtually undamaged, were seized by the Finnish troops that closed in on
the surrounded Russians. The big haul of booty also included 12 armored cars,
six artillery guns and large quantities of firearms and ammunition.
Most of the isolated and starving
Russian tank officers and men froze to death behind their stalled machines, it
was indicated.
On the Karelian isthmus, meanwhile,
it was reported the Finnish troops withdrew from most of the southeastern
seaport of Viborg and that the Red army -was scheduled to march into Finland's
haf-ruined second city at noon tomorrow. This report was not officially
confirmed.
Tonight's communique, however, admitted
further Finnish retreats from points south and east of Viborg, namely In the
Sainio and Heinjoki sectors.
FURTHER
RETREAT.
"
Subsequently, It was unofficially
reported Finnish troops withdrew from second-line to third-line fortifications
along the entire western half of the Mannerheim line.
An estimated quarter million
Soviet troops were concentrated in the unceasing push to seize Viborg, while
another quarter million were attacking other sectors of the
Mannerheim line.
DEIFICATION
OF DICTATORS, AS IN THE CASE
OF
HITLER, IS FANTASTIC AND YET REAL
Among Americans today there is a
disposition to be cynical about the avowed aims of the British and the
French to crush the menace of Hitlerism. It may very well be that the Allied
statesmen, in their attacks on dictators, are providing the ideals for power politics.
Nevertheless, we cannot properly be cynical about the dangers of dictatorship as manifested in
Italy and Russia, as well as Germany.
George Catlin makes this point clear in his new book, "The Story of
the Political Philosophers." He shows clearly the development of the idea
of deifying the dictator from the time of the Caesars, through the age of benevolent
despotism, down to the modern leadership principle. Hitler, for example, poses
not only as the successor to Charlemagne's Roman Empire "of the German people,"
but as the .head of a new religion— a political religion of the sword, a new Islam,
with himself as its Mohammed." Mr. Catlin thinks that Hitler has
accomplished this deification more than in the case of either Italy or Russia.
Goering has revealed the dangers
of the "fuhrer-princip" in this passage:
We Nazis believe that, in political affairs, Adolf Hitler is infallible,
just as the Roman Catholic believes that, in religious matters, the Pope
is infallible. .. . His will is my law. .. . The laws of Nature demand that
authority should be exercised from above downward and responsibility from below
upwards. . . the leader at the top is responsible to the people as a whole and
to their future.
The religious aspects of the Nazi secular faith have been stated by Hans
Kerrl:
As Christ in his twelve disciples
raised a stock fortified unto martyrdom, whose belief shattered the great Roman
Empire, even so in Germany we are experiencing the same thing . . . Adolf
Hitler is the true Holy Ghost.
This heroic, patriotic faith has
had a long history, having derived its force from the idolatrous East and the
bureaucrat's feeling that there must be some sentiment to cement the political
structure. The Roman Empire, having conquered Egypt, absorbed Egyptian manners
and began to salute Caesar as the godlike Pharaohs before him:
Prince of princes, elect of Ptah
and Nun the father of the gods, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the two
lands, autocral, son of the sun, lord of diadems, Kaiser, ever living, beloved
of Ptah and Isis.
The same deification has come to
light in Germany, where, however, there is none to remark with the dry
skepticism of Vespasian on accepting his official fate: "Bah! I see I'm
becoming a god."
To many Americans this dictatorial theology seems fantastic, and yet it
is real. It accounts, in no small measure, for the feeling in Europe that
Hitlerism must go before there can be security and orderly life on the Continent.
THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, MARCH 7, 1940:
