The Inveterates

Sabotage caused the crisis on the Eastern Front
This week General Dittmar has extensively discussed the defeat suffered by the German troops on the Eastern Front in July. They had to retreat over large distances in the north and central sector to the impassable terrain of forests or swamps. They had to give up the bloody battle. The way to East Prussia, to the General Government, thus to the Vistula, and in the south to the source area of the Vistula and Oder and to Hungary seemed to be open. Gen. Dittmar tried to trace the cause of this development. He noted that the enemy often attacked with a twenty-fold superiority of well-armed troops. What stood against this on the German side, in many places, consisted of troops of lesser combat value, alarm units, leftover personnel from staffs, supply troops, and the like, grouped together, from security and police units, largely composed of older men. They fought bravely under excellent leadership and showed that the German soldier, even at an older age, is still capable of extraordinary achievements but had to retreat. At the same time, however, reserves were brought up, and with this, the front could somewhat be stabilized. Admittedly, the natural defense lines of the San, Vistula, and Njemen could not be held, but when the arrival of the reserves began to tip the scales, the red advance was halted. The above information shows how far sabotage and the negligence of the circles around the perpetrators had already progressed. Given the above, it may be considered a miracle that even worse things did not happen. How was it that only the above-mentioned troops were available? The speaker attributed this to the extensive sabotage by those responsible for the attack on July 20th. All measures that so quickly lifted the worst danger could have been taken months earlier but were omitted due to gross negligence or malice. Anger fills, so said Gen. Dittmar, the German people towards the guilty, but conversely, the effect of the countermeasures fills with confidence. The speaker also pointed to the maintenance of the East Prussians, who built a line in a very short time, which withstood the fire test in a brilliant manner at Wilkowisken and Augustow.

The great German defeat
Stands threateningly at the door today,
Among you, the question now arises,
Who is responsible for this?

Who is to blame for Germany‘s major setbacks
In recent years?
Why are Germany‘s soldiers
No longer in the war god‘s favor?

How could the tide turn
And why is it as it is today?
The enemies are breaking Germany‘s back,
The victorious mood has blown away,

The hope that victory could be achieved
Has long fallen apart,
Today, with a deathly grin,
The great German failure looks at you.

And yet you didn’t lose
Simply because the enemies are strong,
No, again German fools believe
That from the inside, the German core

Was weakened by the activities of traitors,
German power was hollowed out,
That is why we had to lose,
That is what‘s being told to you today.

Yes, if it had been played fair,
Then we would have certainly won,
We had started magnificently
And would have defeated everyone.

And again, the front was assassinated,
And again, it was treachery
That feigned even worse than in 1918,
It undermines army and state,

Destroys belief and trust,
And when they’re gone, then it‘s over,
Then, thanks to doubters and dull people,
The road to defeat becomes clear.

Twice the attempt has failed,
Maybe the third time will succeed,
Then we‘ll make arrangements,
And show ourselves as hard as steel,

Infinitely harder than today,
Himmler was much too soft,
That’s how from this second failure
Perhaps a new German Empire will grow.