"Divide and Conquer" Government book distributed by the millions and reprinted inits entirety in the Saturday Evening Post issue of May 9th, 1942. Idea and material tsunplied by us. DIVIDEAND CON .. ; P4 , . v 'S 5$: "At the bottom of their hearts the great masses of the people are more likely to be poisoned than to be consciously and delib erately bad. In the primitive simplicity of their minds they are more easily victimized by a large than by a small lie, since they sometimes tell petty lies themselves but would be ashamed to tell big ones. "An untruth of that sort would never come into their heads, and they cannot believe that others would indulge in so vast an impudence as gross distortion. Even after being enlightened, they will long continue to doubt and waver, and will still believe there must be some truth behind it somewhere. For this reason some part of even the boldest lie is sure to stick -a fact which all the great liars and liars' societies in this world know only too well, and make base use of." ADOLF HITLER, Mein Kampf OFFICE OF FACTS AND FIGURES Washington, D. C. The Story of Nazi Terror.... Soon after Pearl Harbor, a Nazi broad- "Mental confusion, indecisiveness, caster to America shouted: "British naval panic," Hitler once said, "these are our circles are finding encouragement in the weapons." 2 The United States is now defeat suffered by the United States !" subject to a total barrage of thé Nazi strat- Calculated to create distrust of our egy of terror. Hitler thinks Americans allies, this Nazi lie, like all Nazi lies, was are suckers. By the very vastness of his part of a vast strategy of terror. Hitler program of lies, he hopes to frighten us knows that in order to conquer the world into believing that the Nazis are invinci- he must first enslave the mind of man, ble. In carrying out that program he and toward that end he is carrying out a takes it for granted that decent people program of propaganda, blackmail, and here -as they have elsewhere -will say : death. Because he fears truth, he has "Such evil cannot be." But Hitler is tried every means of wiping it off the face wrong. For Americans, reading the of the earth. story of the Hitler terror, will neither be iFor sources see end of pamphlet. 3 blinded nor afraid. As free men, they and valuable book, The Strategy of Ter- will say to Hitler, "Don't pull any of your ror, has said that these rumors, planted by tricks on us. We're wise to them." Hitler agents, were often passed on during casual conversations. "I heard today," Pre- Invasion Tactics a young Frenchman whispered to a group Before Hitler attacks any country, his of friends at a sidewalk cafe, "that Hitler agents carefully sow seeds of hate and dis- has a secret weapon that will destroy Paris unity, turning people against their own in 2 minutes. This machine is so ter- governments, governments against their rible that even Hitler is afraid to use it." allies, class against class. By nightfall each of his friends had told Before the invasion of Austria, young several other friends, and the story soon Nazi hoodlums were sent onto the streets blanketed Paris. to play schoolboy pranks on the police and make them appear ridiculous in the The Poison Takes Hold eyes of passersby.' In the early days of These rumors and thousands like them the war, before France was invaded, mo- gradually accomplished their purpose. rale was lowered by professional weepers, Circulated day after day, worming their clothed in deep mourning and wailing way into the minds of Frenchmen, Nor- loudly, who wandered into subways and wegians, Danes, Belgians, Austrians, onto buses in Paris spreading the false Dutch, Czechs, and Poles, they created a belief that French casualties were enor- feeling of fear and frustration, a loathing mous. Mothers received mysterious post- of the war, and a certainty of defeat. cards informing them that their sons, at Having weakened the resistance of his the front, had either been killed or were enemies, Hitler was quick to find outlets deathly ill. Soldiers received anonymous for their discontent. notes saying that their wives or sweet- For most evil, the Jews were to blame. hearts were unfaithful and had run off Business is bad? Labor is to blame. with British soldiers.' Palm readers and Wages are low? Capital is to blame. crystal gazers in the pay of Hitler gloomily War is hell? The British are to blame. predicted to their clients that in the days Everybody was to blame except Hitler, to come France would lie prostrate at the the common enemy who would crush feet of Germany.' Nazi agents combed them all. National unity was destroyed the gossip columns of Paris newspapers by setting group against group. In Bel- for items that could be used as blackmail gium, Nazis told the French -speaking against prominent persons. Armed with Walloons that King Leopold was pro - scraps of personal dirt, they would force German and was preparing to sell out the victim to act as a Hitler agent, and Belgium to the Nazis; they told the Flem- help spread rumors to confuse and demor- ish that King Leopold had a secret treaty alize the public. Rumors of secret weap- with the Allies and was ready to declare ons spread like wildfire : Hitler had elec- war on Germany.' "Why should French- trical mines, nerve gas, deadly germs that men die for Danzig ?" read elegantly could be dropped over an entire country- printed propaganda tracts mailed to side' Frenchmen in hand -addressed envelopes.' Edmond Taylor, in his authoritative Slowly, Hitler tried to deaden the corn- 4 bative spirit of the French soldier and Comic strips were tossed over the make him distrust his British ally. When Maginot Line, picturing a French poilu the French first crossed into German ter- and an English Tommy about to dive into ritory, the Germans retired without firing a swimming pool marked "Blood Bath." a shot, leaving behind placards and pos- At the last moment the poilu dove in, but ters saying that they had no quarrel with the Tommy, calmly smoking his pipe, the French. When French scouting walked away. "The English will fight to planes swooped over the German lines, the last drop of French blood," said the the Germans stood up and waved hand- caption.Y2 Special trench mortars shot kerchiefs. During the first week of the beautifully colored postcards into the war, French soldiers, unloading barges at French lines, bearing pictures of a Strasbourg, were suddenly blinded by wounded poilu lying amidst the ruins of a German searchlights. "Do not be afraid, town. "Where are the Tommies ?" read French Kamaraden," cried a German the simple caption. Held to the light, the officer through the loudspeaker. "We postcard revealed a Tommy-well -fed just turned on the light so you could see and prosperous- courting the poilu's better. We have had the same work on wife.1' our side and we know how it is." Work- The Death Litany ing in the glare of German lights, the French accomplished two nights' work in The Germans played monotonously one.' Hitler convinced the French the upon the fear of death. "Frenchmen !" war could be waged without fighting. cried a leaflet, shaped like a coffin, "Pre- "Defense" would triumph. Bloodshed pare your coffins." Tracts shaped like was futile, offensive military action leaves swirled over the front. "Next against Germany unnecessary. One had spring when the offensive comes," they only to sit and wait, safe and snug, behind read, "you will fall as the autumn leaves the Maginot Line. are falling now-and for what ?" 1' Often, when German guns were about Night after night during the long winter to fire, loudspeakers warned the French of 1939 -4o, when the armies of France to take cover, even announcing where the and Germany were lined up facing each shells would land.10 And if the Germans other, German loudspeakers blared forth were so friendly, why should one die? their propaganda : false lists of French The Germans had an answer for that, an "prisoners" were periodically announced; answer calculated to separate the French French dignitaries, visiting the front with from their British ally. "Frenchmen!" elaborate secrecy, were greeted by the cried one tract, dropped over the front, German loudspeakers; several minutes "We want nothing from you, neither your after a French infantry unit arrived at the land nor your lives. You don't want to front, the Germans announced the name fire on us; we don't want to fire on you. of every member of the unit, his home Who are the only ones who want this town, and the names of his officers. This stupid war? The English alone. The so demoralized the group that it had to be English will fight once more to the last instantly removed."B Frenchman. P. S. This is not propa- Hitler's war of nerves in neutral coun- ganda. This is an exposé of the facts." 11 tries, such as Holland and Belgium, was 5 designed to keep them in a constant Belgium. Simultaneously, the German state of terror. By means of periodic Foreign Minister, von Ribbentrop, sum- war scares -carefully planned and re- moned the Belgian Ambassador to his hearsed-he gradually produced a set of office in Berlin, picked a fight over some national jitters that left these nations minor economic demand, and finally weakened and demoralized. threw the Ambassador out of his office, A typical war scare was engineered in shouting, "You want war; well, you'll Belgium in January 194o, when an ob- get it !" scure Nazi paper reported heavy German Belgian officials immediately sent a troop concentrations along the Belgian hurry call to General Gamelin, chief of borders.