-3- German officers, however, were clear that this would not produce wheat or oil, but merely leave Germany in occupation of a destroyed Russian area. Fenthol and his friends were of the impression that, owing to the dissatisfaction of the German people, the Nazi Government had given larger food rations than their reserves justified. They had entered the war with a reserve of four million tons of wheat which was now substantially exhausted. If, therefore, the Russian adventure yielded nothing, the next phase would be extremely grim If no peace could be made with the Hitler Government it would be necessary to change that Government for one which could negotiate. I observed that I was interested in what he said; that of course we were not even remotely considering peace offers at this time, but that naturally we liked to keep informed as to the activities of German agents everywhere, and especially in South America. A. A. Berle, Jr. Comment: It was interesting to note that the statements regarding food reserves correspond in considerable degree with calculations made and the German staff documents of last January. The shortage of lubricating |