Hitler's Table Talk

362 CIVILIAN OCCUPATION AND MILITARY SERVICE
174 24th March 1942, at dinner
Information at the enemy's disposal—Better use of manpower
in the Wehrmacht—Protection of private property—
Limits of private ownership—The rights of the State—The
ethics of lotteries and gambling—Industrial power
monopolies—Capitalist interests.
In spite of their inclination to criticise all we do, the democracies
miss no opportunity of imitating us when we take
measures designed to simplify our organisation. That's why it
will be better in future to give no press publicity to our innovations
in this field, for by so doing we are giving useful information
to the enemy nations and enabling them to profit from our
own experiences. Even in dealing with facts of this nature,
silence is nowadays obligatory.
As regards the use of manpower, General Jodl observed that there had
been a clear improvement in the Wehrmacht, as compared with the Army
of the first World War—in which a fisherman was transformed into an
Alpine Light Infantryman, and a butcher into an office clerk, under the
pretext of training the soldier. Nowadays, on the other hand, every effort
was taken to make the best use of each man's talents, to the greatest
benefit of the community. Hitler interrupted:
We mustn't look at things from the narrow standpoint of the
Wehrmacht, but from the standpoint of the nation as a whole.
I'll take the case of a Reserve officer. I'll suppose that in civil
life he holds an important post, even from the standpoint of the
conduct of the war. Very naturally this man will be tempted to
leave his job and offer his services to the Army—either from
patriotism or for fear of being regarded as a draft-dodger.
Thus the Wehrmacht will take the man and put him in an
office, thus swelling an already plethoric administration, and
the man will be lost to the activity in which he'd have been
most useful to us. Wouldn't it be simpler to put a uniform on
his back and mobilise him at his job?
I absolutely insist on protecting private property.
It is natural and salutary that the individual should be inspired
by the wish to devote a part of the income from his work