Fifty years ago
SINCE General Eisenhower believes Hitler to be still alive, he had no doubt to avow the belief when asked a plain question on the subject, but he may be wrong. No one, I suppose, on the Allied side knows whether Hitler is dead or not; there certainly is no convincing proof that he is. But in the absence of certainty it seems better to assume him dead than to assume him living. If Gen- eral Eisenhower's belief becomes gener- al, two consequences are likely to follow. It will give encouragement to bogus Hitlers to make an appearance, either for the sake of notoriety or to head some nationalistic movement; and it will make it easier for Hitler himself, if he really is alive, to take the stage again at what may seem to him a favourable moment. If he has to drive home conviction of his existence in face of a universal conviction that he is non- existent, he will find the going rather heavy. Of course, if any serious evidence of his survival is forthcoming, it must be given all proper weight, but in the absence of it we do well to allow our- selves the satisfaction of concluding that, evil as the world is in many respects, it is at any rate Hitlerless.
The Spectator 12 October 1945
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