The German Fifth Column in Poland (14 page)

A
similar network of spies, saboteurs, and diversionists of all kinds was scattered over France and Belgium. The internal disintegration of these countries and the establishment of the espionage and diversionist network was carried out by various, very subtle methods; one of the most important was the assiduous cultivation of “the German minority” in Alsace and Lorraine, and in the districts of Eupen and Malmedy.

I
n the review
Suddeutsche Monatshefte
, M. Hassenblatt, the legal adviser to all the German minorities, wrote in 1929:

“
One has only to glance at the agitation which exists in Alsace or at the situation of the Germans in Belgium, Eupen, and Malmedy, as well as in the north, in German Schleswig, to be convinced that a number of problems of a juridical nature remain still to be solved in Europe. These problems must be solved not only in the east of Europe, where the mingling of the nations is most apparent, but also on other frontiers where strong agglomerations of Germans are settled”

In
1928 an article appeared in the review
Elsass Lothringens Heimatstimmen
, published in Berlin, which sought to dispose of “the legend of French unity.” It is characteristic that articles of this kind were always accompanied by organized action. Such action was pursued even in the period of Franco-German “collaboration” during the Stresemann-Briand conversations. The action was inspired by the opinion which Hitler-Germany expressed about France: “France is condemned to death.” That was the slogan of the German Press at the beginning of 1940.

A
part from the plots in Alsace and Lorraine, attempts were made to create artificial “nationalities” within the frontiers of France, such as the “Breton nation.”  The results of all these intrigues, on which tens and hundreds of millions of marks were expended quickly became evident; from the very beginning of the 1939-40 war the French courts were occupied with the espionage and diversionist activities of various Alsace-Lorraine “autonomists,” and even Breton “nationalists.”  The leader of these “nationalists” proved to be a common German spy. He fled to Germany, and the French court sentenced him to death in his absence.

T
he extent to which all this activity conduced to France's military breakdown in May and June is difficult at present to determine. In any case, the stories told by British and Poles who were in France at the time of the German Army's break through, and who only later made their way to Great Britain, contain certain extremely characteristic details. For instance, in various localities of central France, where the population evacuated from Alsace and Lorraine were accommodated, there was no lack of ostensibly loyal French citizens, who welcomed the Nazist troops as they entered the streets by giving the Nazi salute and shouting “
Heil Hitler
.”  These stories definitely confirmed that they were people who formerly had always stressed their fidelity to France and hostility to Germany.

H
ow many of them were spies who had engaged in sending important military and political information to the German authorities by means of wireless transmitters? In any case the “traitor from Stuttgart,” Ferdonnet, boasted in one of his broadcasts that there were two hundred short-wave wireless transmitters on French soil, supplying information to the German intelligence service.

S
ome days before the invasion of Holland and Belgium an article written by the military correspondent of the
Tribune de Lausanne
appeared in that newspaper. The article suggested methods of fighting German diversionist activity in the event of an invasion of Switzerland, and was inspired by the experiences of the countries which had been victims of aggression, and also by a consciousness of the danger of diversionist activities which threatened the Swiss.

O
n April 21 last, which is Hitler's birthday, an appeal entitled
Deutscher Junge, Deutsches Mädel
(German Boy, German Girl) was distributed throughout Switzerland. The appeal invited the German youth to swell the ranks of the organization known as
Reichsdeutsche Jugend im Auslande
. It contained the following sentence:

“
A passive belief alone is of no benefit to Germany. The German youth living abroad must therefore flock together into a community that does not live a doubly fruitful life for the benefit of others, but only as our homeland strives towards a greater future.”
[125]

The impudence of such a procedure inspired the author of the article in the
Tribune de Lausanne
to make deductions of a practical nature which, as the Polish experience showed, must be applied by the civilian population in the event of a German invasion:

“
Suspects must be arrested before they have time to do any destruction; the authors of sabotage, the spreaders of false news must be overcome by force. For all the national territory there is only one order of the day: wherever the enemy is met he will be killed. If this enemy rises everywhere at once, it will be necessary to organize detachments in each village, charged with attacking the troops brought by air or donning uniforms when the conflict begins.

“T
here is no lack of men capable of fulfilling these tasks. Let our old riflemen, our old sportsmen take out their carbines, their old-fashioned rifles, their sporting guns, let them put on their former uniforms or simple brassards. They will show that it is not necessary to weaken the effective strength of the army in order to guarantee the security of the rear.

“
There is not a country in the world which is better prepared to put up opposition to the new methods of warfare. Our diligent shooting practice, our cantonal and federal fetes will have served not only to provide us with excellent fighters, but also to maintain the over-ages in form. The hour is come to organize all the forces available. The father will fight by his own house; the son will do his duty at the front.”
[126]

In this connection we may be permitted to refer to a report which reveals the methods which Switzerland had to adopt against its internal enemies. The following is the text of a message from
The Times
correspondent at Geneva, sent on November 20, 1940:

“
The Swiss Federal Government has dissolved the so-called Swiss National Movement, a totalitarian organization closely connected with some Nazi bodies, and some of the leaders of which went as official delegates to the Nuremberg congress.

“
Inquiries recently made show that the movement aims at transforming Swiss institutions not by constitutional methods, but by illegal means and contrary to Swiss tradition. These means include secret instructions to members to form cells and groups and semi-military fighting units among youth. Such a movement is regarded as being likely seriously to endanger public order and to create uneasiness and even conflict among the population.

“
The Swiss National Movement last week approached the Federal Government and claimed that the former adherents of the Frontist Movement, the predecessor of the Swiss National Movement, who were prosecuted and sentenced, be rehabilitated and allowed again to hold meetings and publish their newspapers. The claim was rejected by the Federal Government, who will not allow any intrigues or mischief-making in home affairs.”
[127]

The “Fifth Column” also attempted and is still attempting to operate in Great Britain, but here its activities came up against the solid resistance and watchful opinion of the British public, and the effective counteraction of the British police and counterespionage service. Unable to resort to internal diversionist activities of a military nature, the agents of the Third Reich have endeavoured—quite in vain it has to be said—to spread a defeatist spirit among the people of Great Britain and to undermine confidence in the British Government. Their efforts in this direction are equally surely doomed to failure.

T
he Third Reich has found more suitable material for diversionist work in the United States, if only owing to the heterogeneous composition of the great North American Republic in racial and national regards. Within the frontiers of the United States live, among others, over ten million persons of German origin, and a certain number of these are consciously ardent Germans.

T
he experiences of the 1914-1918 world war were of themselves sufficient to make the United States pay close attention to German diversionist activities on their territory. But the recent investigations into the plotting of the Hitlerite American Germans proved that, by the dimensions and the perfidy of its activities, the Third Reich has left the Germany of Wilhelm II far behind. The recent acts of sabotage in the American armament works and arsenals have again been an alarm signal for American public opinion.

O
ne thing can be stated, namely, that in all the diversionist operations carried out in various countries Germany has never advanced beyond the methods which were applied in Poland and which were revealed in such a brilliant light during the September, 1939, campaign. For this reason the Polish experiences retain all their great value today for all the world.

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PPENDIX ONE – CONFIDENTIAL ORDER ISSUED BY THE WEHRMACHT

THIS
confidential order issued by the Wehrmacht was found on two German airmen brought down by the Polish anti-aircraft defences near Poznań on September 2, 1939.  A full translation follows the document images.