Administration In Crisis Over Burgeoning Quagmire

August 12, 1945

WASHINGTON DC (Reuters) President Truman, just a few months into his
young presidency, is coming under increasing fire from some
Congressional Republicans for what appears to be a deteriorating
security situation in occupied Germany, with some calling for his
removal from office.

Over three months after a formal declaration of an end to hostilities,
the occupation is bogged down. Fanatical elements of the former Nazi
regime who, in their zeal to liberate their nation from the foreign
occupiers, call themselves members of the Werewolf (werewolves) continue
to commit almost-daily acts of sabotage against Germany's
already-ravaged infrastructure, and attack American troops. They have
been laying road mines, poisoning food and water supplies, and setting
various traps, often lethal, for the occupying forces.

It's not difficult to find antagonism and anti-Americanism among the
population--many complain of the deprivation and lack of security. There
are thousands of homeless refugees, and humanitarian efforts seem
confused and inadequate.

In the wake of the budding disaster, some have called for more
international participation in peacekeeping. A Red Cross official said
that, "...the German people will be more comfortable if their conquerors
weren't now their overlords. It makes it difficult to argue that this
wasn't an imperialistic war when the occupying troops in the western
sector are exclusively American, British and French."

The administration, of course, claims that, given the chaos of the
recent war, such a situation is to be expected, and that things will
improve with time. As to the suggestion to internationalize the
occupying forces, the administration had no official comment, but an
unofficial one was a repetition of the quote from General McAuliffe,
when asked to surrender in last winter's Battle of the Bulge--"Nuts."

In an attempt to minimize the situation, a White House spokesman pointed
out that the casualties were extremely light, and militarily
inconsequential, particularly when compared to the loss rates prior to
VE Day. Also, the attacks seem to be dying down with each passing month.
But this statement was leaped upon by some as heartless, trivializing
the deaths and injuries of young American men.

Many critics back in Washington seem now to be prescient, with their
previous warnings of just such an outcome a little over a year ago.  One
congressman said that "...it's time to ask whether the German people are
better off now than they were a few months ago. Yes, a brutal dictator
has been deposed, but at least the electricity and water supply were
mostly working, and the trains running on time. After years of killing
them and destroying their infrastructure with American bombs, it seems
to me that the German people have suffered enough without the chaos that
our occupation, with its inadequate policing, is bringing."

It's not clear how much support the Werewolf has among the populace, who
may be afraid to speak their true minds, given the fearfully
overwhelming "Allied" presence in the country. But it is possible that,
like the guerilla forces themselves, the people have been inspired by
Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels' pre-victory broadcasts, and those of
Radio Werewolf.

"God has given up the protection of the people . . . Satan has taken
command." Goebbels broadcast last spring. "We Werewolves consider it our
supreme duty to kill, to kill and to kill, employing every cunning and
wile in the darkness of the night, crawling, groping through townsand
villages, like wolves, noiselessly, mysteriously."

While no new broadcasts of Goebbels' voice have been heard since early
May, no one can be certain as to whether he is alive or dead, and
continuing to help orchestrate the attacks and boost morale among the
forces for German liberation. As long as his fate, and more importantly,
that of the former leader Adolph Hitler himself, remains unresolved, the
prospects for pacifying the brutally conquered country may be dim.

Although Grand-Admiral Donitz made a radio announcement of Hitler's
brave death in battle to the beleaguered German people on the evening of
May 1, some doubt the veracity of that statement, and there has been no
evidence to support it, or any body identified as the former Fuehrer's.
Rumors of his whereabouts continue to abound, including reported
sightings as far away as South America, and many still believe that he
is hiding with the "Edelweiss" organization, with thousands of Wehrmacht
troops, in a mountain stronghold near the Swiss border.  Many have
criticized flawed intelligence for our failure to find him, causing
some, in the runup to next year's congressional elections, to call for
an investigation.  A staffer of one prominent Senator said, "For months,
starting last fall, we were told by this administration that Hitler
would make a last stand in a 'National Redoubt' in Bavaria. General
Bradley diverted troops to the south and let the Russians take Berlin on
the basis of this knowledge.  But now we find out that there was no such
place, and that Hitler was in Berlin all along. And now we're told that
we can't even be sure of where he is, or whether he's alive or dead."

For many, marching in the streets with signs of "No Blood For Soviet
Socialism," and "It's All About The Coal," this merely confirmed that
the administration had other agendas than its stated one, and that the
war was unjustified and unjustifiable.  General Bradley's staff has
protested that this is an unfair criticism--that the strategic decision
made by General Eisenhower was driven by many factors, of which Hitler's
whereabouts was a minor one, but this hasn't silenced the critics, some
of whom have bravely called for President Truman's impeachment, despite
the fact that most of these decisions were made even before he became
president in April.

But some have taken the criticism further, and say that failure to get
Hitler means a failed war itself.  "Sure, it's nice to have released all
those people from the concentration camps, but we were told we were
going to war against Hitler, even though he'd done nothing to us,"
argued one concerned anti-war Senator. "Now they say that we have
'Victory in Europe,' but it seems to me that if they can't produce the
man we supposedly went to war against, it's a pretty hollow victory.
Without this man that they told us was such a great threat to America,
how can even they claim that this war was justified?"