THE NEW MEDIEVALISM

During the last few days growing protest against the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime has reverberated in all quarters of the world. Demonstrations have hissed own Hitler's name and condemned his policies. Diplomatic relations with Germany have been subject to considerable strain. In the light of this widespread revlusion of feeling, the action of the Nazis seems quite incomprehensible. There appear to be no very good reasons why they should deliberately antagonize so many people.

But there are several immediate motives behind these pogroms which reveal a method in their apparent madness. For one thing, Hitler means to consolidate his forces around him, and the easiest way to do this is to build up a solid bureaucracy. In order to be this it was necessary to remove all the Jews now holding office, and to fill the vacant places with loyal supporters. Secondly, Hitler was forced at the outset, to give vent to the personal prejudices of his colleagues and the Nazi rank-and-file. Again, the new German dictator is a sufficiently astute politician to recognize that to hold power he must have constantly before the people a live issue, a body of emotional material to capitalize into votes. Demagogues live on popular hysteria, and Hitler knows it as well as anyone.

Yet, despite these arguments, it is hard to escape the conclusion that his procedure will prove in the end to have been short-sighted and unwise, For Holy Russia tried this experiment before, during, and after the World War, and the result was disastrous. Some of the best Jewish brains were driven over to the Communist Party, where they played brilliant and important roles in the successive overthrows of the Czarist, Miliukov, and Kerensky governments. Hitler would do well to take careful note of this example. The Marxist movement is powerful today in Germany; and the Nazis cannot afford to deflect ability and energy to their enemy's camp.