OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES
                     OFFICIAL DISPATCH                      
 
 
FROM: Berne
 
 
TO DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES
 
 
REF. NO. 250
                                                            
                          RECEiVED                          
 
 
would not have been possible in any other European country, because the
population would have revolted.  The strength of the Nazi regime lies
in their knowledge that it is easy to rule the German people with an
iron hand, for they are used to it.  The people look upon the state as
the supreme authority, to which the strictest obedience is due.  The
Germans have no tradition of personal rights and liberty, such as
exists in the Anglo-Saxon countries and Switzerland.  Prussia, from
which the Reich sprang, was always a country where the mass of subjects
bowed to the rule of a master clan.  It is the same today.  The Weimar
Republic failed in the end because of the lack of any strong democratic
spirit.  The people today obey the Nazi leaders, just as they obeyed
their princes and kings in the past.
 
However, no amount of abject obediences and no political police could
account for the accomplishments of Germany in this war.  They are
inconceivable without a good measure of spontaneous, voluntary
cooperation.  There is no doubt that National Socialism has taken deep
roots in the German people.  At the time of Hitler's great triumph, he
had practically the whole nation behind him, and this applies
particularly to his foreign policy.  Through intuition, he aroused
latent instinct.  His plan of expansion and European hegemony found
general approval in Germany.  The Germans are convinced that they did
not get a square deal when the riches of our planet were divided.  They
demand world power, and they do not care much whether other European
nations fare badly in the process.  There was no great enthusiasm in
Germany when the war broke out in 1939, but the people were very happy
to recieve the fruits of victory and fully backed world power.  There
was complete agreement between government and people in that respect.
The Germans are a military nation.  They enjoy militarism.  Martial
virtues and decorations are highly rated.  In no other country is a
soldier so respected and so pampered as in Germany.  This is the strong
support of National Socialism, as they know that any appeal to the
martial virtues will always find response.  The German youth burns to
show its mettle at the front.
 
It is true that now the time of easy victory has passed.  The reverses
following Stalingrad have created new postulates in the country.
Inevitably, National Socialism has lost prestige, but has succeeded in
maintaining much of its domination of the soul of the people.  This is
their appeal: "We are all in the same boat.  You cannot get out.
Whether you agree with us or not does not matter, for if we sink, you
will go down with us.  So help us as best you can, if your life is dear
to you."  After Stalingrad, Dr. Goebbels resolutely revamped his
propaganda.  The line of world power was changed to the line of
self-preservation.  He arouses great fear of the consequences of
defeat.  The German is inclined to paint the future black respecting
the country and himself.  He imagines the invasion