Presented under the Auspices of the Council for Democracy

CAST. ABRAHAM LINCOLN , . , . , . .

Raymond Massey

THE EEVIL

Monte Woolley

VOICE OF JUDGE NARRATOR ANNA KOSSUTH, -witness .< AUGUST MEYER, "witness JOHAWN REISER, witness

,

GEORGE GABBEL, witness

........

FEBRUARY 27, 1942

•#-1

WEAFNBG "THE PEOPLE VS ADOLPH HITLER"

AOTCRi

(COLD) The National Broadcasting Company, In cooperation •with the Council for Democracy, brings you the first in a series of five special programs entitled "The Day of Reckoning".

Tonight's program was written by Moss Hart,

author or co-author of such hits as "The Man Who Came To Dinner", "George Washington Slept Here", "Lady in the Dark" and many more. Starred in this first program are two distinguished actors, Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln and iMonte Woolley as the Devil in - (MUSIC:

SWIRLS_UP AND OUT FOR:J. (WITH HEAVY ECHO EFFECT:

DELIBERATE RAPS OF A

GAVEL) VOICE:

(ECHOING THRU A GREAT COURTROOM) The People - versus Adolph H i t l e r J ORCHESTRAJJP FULL_IN PROGRAM THEME _ AND UNDER)

NARRATOR:

Ten y e a r s . a g o t o n i g h t a d u l l red glow spread i n the skies over Berlin. 1

I t "Has. t h e German Reichstag f i r e -

ten years ago t o n i g h t .

I t was the f i r s t

of the g r e a t

Nazi hoaxes - conceived as a device to d i s c r e d i t Communists - a l a b e l the Nazis fastened

just

the

indiscriminately

on Jews, C a t h o l i c , S o c i a l Democrat - anyone who opposed t h e i r regime.

(MORE)

NARRATOR:

(CONT'D) Out of the Reichstag fire came names then unfamiliar to most of us - the names of Marlnus van der Lubbe, the Dutch boy selected as scapegoat, the names of Dr Goebbels, Hermann Goering and Adolph Hitler - all actors In one of the most gigantic frauds in history the fantastically phony trial that followed the fire. Tonight - ten bloodsoaked years after - it is our fancy to bring you another trial - a trial Imagined for some inevitable Day - of Reckoning^

(MUSIC :

UP,_AWD_OUT_SHARPLy_ASi IN_OPENING) (GRAVEL AND ECHO)

VOICE!

XEC3HO) The People vs - Adolph Hitler.1 (FADE SLOW RAPS OF GAVEL)

NARRATOR:

(AS GAVEL FADES) Where shall this trial be held? invent a city and look about.

There - in an

Let us

open space

are the ashes of the murdered Czech village of Lidice, beyond the smouldering rubble of Warsaw, here the shells of the factories of Stalingrad - and here again an open space ~ 40 square blocks of Rotterdam razed merely as a lesson.

This building here with the windows all out -

that is an English school machine-gunned by planes roaring just over the housetops.

But In this city, there

are buildings untouched by bombs - and yet they radiate an ugliness beyond the rest - these are the clean, scrubbed schools of Germany where children have been robbed of their souls, or perhaps a home for girls -taught to bear children for the state and for Der Fuehrer - -

(MURMUR OF VOICES GROWING OUT OP ABOVE) (SHARP RAPS OP GAVEL) VOICE:

(ROARING OUT) Silenoe —

SILENCE J

(GAVEL RAPS VOICES INTO FADE) VOICE:

In the case of the People versus Adolph Hitler - who speaks for the PeopjLe? (MURMUR STARTS AND IS QUICKLY SILENCED BY) (RAPS OP GAVEL)

VOICE :

Who is prosecutor - who speaks for the People (A PEW SLOW FOOTSTEPS)

LINCOLN:

(SLOWLY) If your honor, please ~ I will speak for the people -

VOICE:

Is counsel duly qualified -

LINCOLN:

A member in good standing of the Illinois bar, your honor - the name is Abraham Lincoln (MURMUR AND GAVEL AGAIN)

VOICE:

In the case of the People versus Adolph Hitler - who speaks for the defendant? - (DEAD SILENCE FOR A SECOND)

VOICE:

Who speaks! for the defendant? (ANOTHER PAUSE)

VOICE :

Is the defendant unrepresented by counsel?

If so, the

court will appoint - » (HE IS CUT OFF BY A CRACKLE OF LIGHTNING AND A CLAP OF THUNDER - IT RUMBLES OFF AND THEN:) DEVIL:

(A CHARMER _ QUIETLY MOCKING) I beg t h e c o u r t ' s

indulgence

your honor - I r e g r e t exceedingly t h a t I am t a r d y - but the p r e s s u r e of other b u s i n e s s - -

f •.IN-

(BREAKING IN) Is counsel duly qualified? DEVIL!

(COUGHS DEPRECATINGLY) Hmmm

- Eminently, I should say,

your honor - in fact, there has never been a court of justice at which I have not had some small word VOICE :

You have been retained by the defendant?

DEVIL:

Indeed, yes,, your honor.

In fact, we have been rather

closely associated for some years now, VOICE:

Your name

is -

DEVIL:

Well, actually «• that is to say - perhaps you might call me -

LINCOLN;

(BREAKING IN) If your honor, please - the counsel for the defense has a lot of names - back in Illinois, we called him Satan - or just plain —

the "Devil" - and I

guess that would do here - DEVIL:

Why, Mr Lincoln - how very, very, nice, Shis is. an unexpected pleasure] I'm charmed to find you opposing me a ga in?

LINCOLN:

The pleasure is mutual, sir. You look exceedingly well.

DEVIL:

Thank you. Haven't felt as good as this since 1914J

0,

I have my ups and downs - but whenever I get to feeling really low I remind myself of the clear German people one or two of them are sure to pop up and business booms againj

Dear, dear, little hellionsJ

Wherever would I be

without them! By the way, Mr Lincoln, how is the democracy business these days - if you'll pardon the tawdry expression? (GAVEL RAPS SHARPLY)

-5VOIGE:

Gentlemen!

Let us proceed.

Do the people challenge the

qualifications of counsel for the defense? LINCOLN:

No « no - indeed your honor. He's qualified all right and I might go so far as to say we're downright pleased,1 Nothing like meeting the Devil face to face - as -we used to say back in Illinois.

DEVIL:

0, come, come,, Mr Lincoln] Spare us the homespun humor - the cross-roads wit! It 'Will get you nowhere.

In my

own degenerate way I have always viewed you with a mixture of admiration and contempt and I warn you times have changed,' LINCOLN:

Really?

Been around Guadacanal lately?

Or Corriegidor?

Or Tripoli? Ktnda like old times around there!

(HE

CHUCKLES) Your honor, as I remarked, the counsel for the defense is well qualified. The people have no objection to him. DEVIL:

Dear Mr Lincoln - have the people ever? (SINGLE RAP OF THE GAVEL)

VOICE:

How does the defendant plea?

DEVIL:

He pleads as all my clients plead, your honor - not guilty! We shall require a jury -

(MUSIC :_ .. .ROLL ,OF._B.IG_DRUM3JJP INTO_SHI.MMERING CHORD _S.USTAI.NED_ THRU) NARRATOR:

(III A LOW PITCHED, RATHER TENSE WHISPER) A jury is require* in the case of the People Versus Adolph Hitler - will you who listen now - will joxi serve? trial begin,

(MUSIC :_

CHORDJJP MB

OUT FOR:J.

Good, Then let the

-6VOICE:

Are the people ready? (A CHAIR PUSHED BACK

LINCOLN:

A FEW FOOTSTEPS)

The People are ready, your honor (A FEW FOOTSTEPS) Ladies and gentlemen of the jury - I Invited you to consider Adolph Hitler - - a man whose list of crimes Is so long that the People oould never even count them and get to trial.

So the People will just have to pick

out a few and base our case of them.

I kinda wish we

had time though to name all the offenses of this Adolph Hitler, I might start with that mustache of his,

I

never saw anything like that mustache of his in all my (DISTANT RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER) DEVIL $

(BREAKING IN) Objection, your honor.

If Mr Lincoln

Intends to make personal pulchritude an Issue in this case. I demand that he himself be cited for contempt of courti (DISTANT RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER) VOICES

Objection sustained. confine

LINCOLN;

Counsel for the people will

himself to the issues,

My apologies, your honor,' As one who was acknowledged to be the ugliest man in Springfield, I suppose I shouldn't be so uncharitable.

A man's mustache and a

men's haircut are only his own business, and I called attention to Mr Hitler's way of doing business so that you ladles and gentlemen of the jury wouldn't be inclined to doubt that such a funny looking little fellow could be guilty of - -

DEVIL:

(IRRITABLY) Your honor, I object.' I object most strenuously to this line of Insinuation by counsel for the people,

I am aware that counsel has employed this

same device to sway country louts In their absurd litigations In the backwoods, but I protest that this is no action over a stolen pig in Mr Lincoln's ludicrous Sagamon county — opportunity, client,

which he must drag in at every

I shall not submit to such ridicule of my

I demand that my client be taken seriouslyj

VOICE:

Objection sustained.

LINCOLN:

Again my apologies, your honor.

Ladles and gentlemen,

I ask that you forget everything I've said about the defendant's appearance.

The Devil there - or counsel for

the defendant, I should say - is perfectly right. His client, Adolph Hitler, should be taken seriously and I propose to take him very seriously Indeed,- Because this man Adolph Hitler is a symbol of evil - and the greatest evil the world has ever known.

This man has sinned

against humanity - he has soiled the dignity of man, DEVIL:

(DRIPPING WITH SARCASM) If your honor, pleasej

I deeply

regret these frequent interruptions, but I really cannot allow Mr Lincoln to bask In the mellow sunshine of his own wordiness - drunk with his own perfume.

Are there or

there not charges to be made against my client? will the people name them?

Yes, name them and we shall

know how to meet the charges. (MORE)

If so,

-8DEVIL:

(CONT'D) But we shall have none of this bucolic "balderdash about sinning against humanity or soiling the dignity of man.

Is there a statute covering such cases?

If so, it has escaped me. books?

Where does one look for It In

Under "H" perhaps - "Humanity, sins against?"

Or under "D", possibly

- "Dignity of Man, Soiling of?"

(BELLIGERANTLY) Your honor, I demand to know the nature of the charges against my client!

Else I must'

respectfully ask that this case be thrown out of court] (SWEETLY) And do remember, dear Mr Lincoln, that I heard you make the original. Gettysburg address.

I was bored

•with it then and I doubt if you could improve It now. LINCOLN;

I never felt more like trying - though I doubt if Mr Hitler would approve of any address labeled "Gettysburg" - might sound like a Jewish name to him, (HIP.PLE OP LAUGHTER)

DEVIL:

(ANNOYED) Really, your honor I May we have the charges? (GAVEL)

VOICE:

Counsel for .the people will state the charges,

LINCOLN:

Yes, your honor.' (PAUSE): (A FEW FOOTSTEPS) (THEN SERIOUSLY) The People will state the charges. (HARSHLY) Witness J

(MUS 1 ^

WILD CHORD SLOWLY J^ADING INTOJJ (LOW SOBBING OF A WOMAN)

LINCOLN:

Your name, please?

ANNA:

(SOBS CEASE

LINCOLN:

You know the defendant?

SHE ANSWERS NUMBLY;) Anna Kossuth,

ANNA:

Yes —

yes, I know him.

LINCOLN:

Under what circumstances did you oome to know him?

ANNA:

It was in Poland when he ordered my husband and three sons to be shot -

LINCOLN:

Was any reason given for their execution?

ANNA:

Yes - -

LINCOLN:

What was the reason?

ANNAs

That we were Jews - and that there were too many Jews -

(MUSIC:

Q.HORD)

LINCOLN:

Your witness ~

HEVIL:

Why no - no - no questions, Mr Lincoln. But just between ourselves - and quite off the record - aren^ there too many Jews?

LINCOLN:

(CHUCKLES) Why, don't you give up reading Mein Kampf and try "See here, Prive Hargrove?"

DEVIL:

What>s that got to do with it?

LINCOLN:

Nothing

It's a lot funnier,

— and everything. (GAVEL)

VOICE:

Gentlemen, gentlemenj

LINCOLN:

Yes, your honor. The People charge the defendant, Adolph Hitler, with the murder of two million Jews in Poland as inferiors to "What he calls the master race, the people charge Adolph Hitler with the murder of millions more of every race and religion - Czechs, Poles, Norweigans.

The

people charge Adolph Hitler with the destruction of every man's right to equal justice under law. (MORE)

-10

LINCOLN:

(CQNT'D)

The people charge Adolph H i t l e r with the

d e s t r u c t i o n of every man's r i g h t to worship as he pleases,The people charge Adolph H i t l e r -with inhuman c r u e l t y to men and "women as human -be ings , (PAUSE) (MUSIC.i

Witness J

CHORDJ'ADJNG OTT_INTOj. (SLOW PLODDING FOOTSTEPS AND CLANK OF CHAINS)

LINCOLN:

Your name?

AUGUST:

(WEAKLY) August Meyer -

LINCOLN:

Where do you live?

AUGUST:

Once it "was Berlin - now it is a concentration camp I don't know where it is - I am so confused now -

LINCOLN:

How long have you been in this concentration camp -

AUGUST:

Two years - or maybe three years - I don't know - it's been so long -

LINCOLN:

Plow are you treated there .

AUGUST:

(II SUDDEN ALARM) Oh (A LESSON HE HAS LEARNED) treated fine, every day*

I have plenty to eat,

I have warm clothing.

oh, I am

I have exercise

Although I am guilty

of treason and deserve death, I have "been permitted to live through the generosity of Der Fuehrer, Hell HitlerI (BREAKS INTO A STIFLED SOB) Hell HltlerJ LINCOLN:

(KINDLY) Will you tell us the crime for which you were sentenced,

AUGUST:

One Sunday morning I went to the home of a friend. were both too heartsick to go to church,

LINCOLN:

Why?

We

•11-

AUGUST:

Pastor Niemoeller had just been arrested,- We were praying for Pastor Niemoeller when the storm troopers came -

(MUSIC:

^ _ CHORD)

LINCOLN:

Your witness -

DEVIL:

No questions - but really - what a stubborn man Pastor Niemoeller was -

LINCOLN:

(QUIETLY) Yes, Pastor Niemoeller was a very stubborn man.Thank God] (GAVEL)

VOICE:

Proceed with the case, Mr Lincoln.

LINCOLN:

The people charge Adolph Hitler with the perversion of education, with the destruction of the home, the people charge Adolph Hitler with the most heinous crime of ages, the deliberate poisioning of the minds of children WITNESS}

(MUSIC:

CHORD INTOj.)

LINCOLN:

What is your name, child?

JOHANN:

(CLIPPED ANSWERS THRU OUT) Johann Reiser.-

LINCOLN:

How old are you, Johann?

JOHANN:

I am twelve.'

LINCOLN:

You wear a uniform.-

JOHANN:

The uniform of the Hitler Youth.

LINCOLN:

And what does that uniform mean?

JOHANN:

It means I have sworn to devote all my energies, all my strength to the saviour of our country, Adolph Hitler. I am willing and ready to give my life for him, (WITH RISING EMOTION) One people, one nation, one Fuehrer] Hell HitlerJ-

-12-

LINCOLN:

Did you learn to say that at home - from your father perhaps',

JOHANN:

No,' 1 have no father,

LINCOLN:

Oh - I'm aorry,

JOHAOT:

I am not sorry.

LINCOLN:

Would you mind telling us why?

JOHAM:

Because he spoke lies of the fuehrer -

LINCOLN:

And some one reported him?

JOHANN:

Yes, I reported him,'

LINCOLN:

You reported your own father,

JOHANN:

Between a father and der fuehrer, there can be only one choice.

(MUSIC :

I have disowned my father,

Hell HitlerJ

_ _ CHORD)_

LINCOLN.:

Your witness,

DEVIL:

Ummm - yes, a few questions - now, child, tell me

- you

are happy, aren't you? JOHANN:

Yes, one can be.truly happy only in the service of der fuehrer,

DEVIL:

Yes, yes of course - but you have plenty to eat,

JOHANBF:

Yes,' Because of der Fuehrer.

DEVIL:

You have your games at school -

JOHANN:

Games are only to make one strong for the fuehrer - to be a soldier -

DEVIL:

To be sure, to be sure - but the point Is that you have everything you want —

JOHANNj

Because of der fuehrer -

DEVIL:

Ummm - ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to look at this lad. Have you ever seen a finer looking chap?

Look at the strong limbs, the ruddy complexion?.

Does he look like he is being mistreated?

I ask you to

compare this lad with some of the children in the great humanitarian democracies JOHANN:

(RECITING) A democracy is a government of rich jews. democracy, people waste time.

In a

The American democracy

ha3 no race purity. Roosevelt is the head of the American democracy. His real name is Rosenfeldt, He Is a Jew, The American democracy will be defeated by der fuehrer The very enormity of a lie contributes to It's success.

The masses of the people easily succumb to it

as they cannot believe

It possible that anyone should

have the shambless audacity to Invent such things. Even if the clearest proof of it's falsehood is forthcoming, something of the lie will nevertheless stick. LINCOLN:

From Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler,

DEVIL:

Admitted - readily admitted! But can you cite an

Page 2j51.

example of any other words that have worked as well?

LINCOLN:

Yes, you can f o o l some of t h e people a l l of the t i m e , and a l l of t h e people some of t h e t i m e , but you cannot f o o l a l l of t h e p e o p l e a l l of the t i m e . 111, May 29th.' I856,

Speech, Bloomlngton,

That h a s n ' t done b a d l y , - i f I do

say so myself, 1 DEVIL:

H a s n ' t done badly? 0, d e a r , 0, d e a r * Lincoln!

(HE ROARS WITH LAUGHTER) You make i t almost Jtoo e a s y , Mr

I c a l l George ¥ Gabbel t o t h e s t a n d ,

(CLAP OP THUNDER) (MUSIC : DEVIL:

, CHORD C0.MING_0UT_0F THUNDER) Mr Gabbel, I believe you are a citizen of the United States of America,'

GEORGE:

You bet.

DEVIL:

Yes.1

Born and raised in the U S A ,

Now Mr Gabbel, you are something of a student of

world affairs, I believe, GEORGE:

Well, I Keep up on things pretty veil, I guess,

DEVIL:

I'm sure you do, sir. Adolph Hitler?

Now - what do you real_ll think of

GEORGE:

Veil-) sir

DEVIL;

Naturally not., Mr. Gabbel.'

GEORGE:

But- — I will say this..

DEVIL:

Yes, Mr Gabbel?

GEORGE:

You take the Jews now...

DEVIL:

Quite.

GEORGE:

Mind you now, I don't say all Jews

DEVIL:

Oh, perish the thought, my dear Gabbel--

GEORGE:

Some of my best friends are Jews...

DEVIL:

Exactly

GEORGE:

. But

now mind you, I hold no brief for Hitler--

sometimes., I say maybe Hitler's got something therei

Maybe we better keep an eye on the Jews right here in this country

why, they tell me

DEVIL:

Yes, yes, Mr Gabbel

they tell you?

GEORGE:

They tell me that before Hitler came along, the Jews had all the money in Germany.1

DEVIL:

Imagine

GEORGE:

BUT- —

DEVIL:

But, Mr Gabbel?

GEORGE:

I don't approve of going around slaughtering people.

DEVIL:

Certainly not, Mr Gabbel!

GEORGE:

At the same time, you've got to remember this

DEVIL:

And what is that, sir?

GEORGE:

Well, maybe Hitler is keeping Russia from overrunning Europe

and I say if we're going :to have Communism, it's

six of one and half a dozen of the other.... DEVIL:

An apt phrase, Mr Gabbel.1

Most apt

then I take it that

you, George Gabbel, a citizen of the United States, do not believe all that you read in the papers and hear on the radio ?

-16GEORGE:

Ko ; sir

I read between the lines

and I put two and

two together—then I make up my own mind... DEVIL:

Mr. Gabbel, I compliment you upon your insight.

Wow the

charge has been made against 'my client^-that he is guilty of all sorts of atrocities the sort of thing, Mr Gabbel

(CHUCKLES) You know

you remember the atrocity

stories of the last war—killing of women and children, that sort of thing, Mr "Gabbel? GrEORGE:

Oh, sure

DEVIL:

What is your feeling about atrocity stories of tha present time, Mr Gabbel?

GEORGE:

Well, sir

a lot of it is propaganda.

DEVIL:

Indeed, Mr Gabbel.1

OEORGE:

Sure.

In every war you got to have propaganda.

to have atrocity stories. for ina-tance.

You got

You hear a lot about Poland,

You know what they tell me about Poland?

DEVIL:

(WHISPERS) What, Mr Gabbel.'

GEORGE:

Mind you, this is in strict confidence]

DEVIL:

You know me, Mr Gabbel.

GEORGE:

Well sir, they tell me that things in ibland aren't half as bad as we're led to believe.

They tell me the Germans

have gone in there and cleaned up the place are getting fed

the people

no luxuries, you know

DEVIL:

Naturally-—

GEORGE:

But this talk about starving people

that's a lot of

propaganda. DEVIL:

Mr Gabbel, this has been moat illuminating. point.

One final -,

Have you any ideas about the stake your own

United States has in this war?

-17GEORGE:

I'll say so.

When this war is over, I say this....

DEVIL:

Yea, Mr Gabbel?

GEORGE:

1 say build up the biggest army and navy and airforce in the whole world

arid then stay right here in our backyard.

If they want to start scrapping over in Europe, that's their funeral. DEVIL:

Mr Gabbel, I envy you your way of putting things.

Thank

you very much indeed, sir.1 GEORGE:

And here's something else you might keep under your hat

DEVIL:

That will bo quite enough, my dear Mr Gabbel. witness,

LINCOLN:

Your

Mr Lincoln?

Mr. Gabbel, you believe in that old American expression 'seeing is believing1 don't y.ou?

GABBEL:

Yessirreee, Mr. Lincoln.

I'm from Missouri

if that's

what you mean! LINCOLN:

That's what I moan, Mr Gabbel.

Have you got a pretty

good memory? GABBEL:

One of the best.

Why I can tell you things that heppened

as far back as... EINCOLN:

As far back as 1933 perhaps?

GABBEL:

1933?

Why sure!

LINCOLN:

Good.

I quote from Adolph Hitler's speech to the Reichstag

May 3,4., 1933•

That's nothing at all.

"Germany wants nothing.

The German people

have no thought of invading any other country". that? GABBEL:

Yes, sir.

Remember

LINCOLN;

-18I quote from Adolph Hitler's speech to the Reichstag May 21st, 1935»

"We recognize Poland"as the home of a great

and nationally conscious people. aggression pact with •unconditionally".

We have concluded a non-

Poland and we shall adhere to

it

Remember that?

GABBEL:

Yes, air.

LINCOLN:

Germany invaded Poland, did she not?

GABBEL:

Yes, air.

LINCOLN:

No propoganda about that, Mr Gabbel.

It happened, didn't

it? GABBEL:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Mr Gabbel. here is a sentence from• Adolph Hitler's speech to the Reichstag on September 13, 1935-

"Germany neither

intends nor wishes to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, to annex Austria or to conclude an Anschluss" Remember

it?

GABBEL;

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Suppose you toll us, Mr Gabbel, exactly what happened to Austria.

DEVILs

I object, your Honor.1

The line Mr Lincoln is pursuing

is irrelevant and immaterial.

We have already admitted

that Adolph Hitler is the most accomplished liar the world has ever seen. LINCOLN;

I consider it his greatest asset.

Your honor, I intend to prove that

this accomplishment,

so called, is. perhaps as great a crime against

the minds

of men as his concentration camps are against their bodies. VOICE;

Objection overruled.

The witness will answer.

-19LINCOLN:

Go ahead, Mr1 G a b b e l .

GABBEL:

Why#-~er

LINCOLN:

Of course*

Austria was invaded, of course. Wasn't just propaganda, Mr Gabbel?

It happened,,

didn't it? GABBEL:

That's right.

LINCOLN:

Even in Missouri they had to believe that, didn't they? Maybe something is ¥rong with that gaod old American expression 'seeing is believing' eh, Mr Gabbel? Because I quote now from a speech made by Adolph Hitler to the Reichstag on January 36th. 1937.

"The German Government'

has assured Belguim and Holland of it's readiness to recognize and guarantee these states as untouchable and neutral regions for all time.1" Remember that? GABBEL:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

And since your memory is a good one, Mr Gabbel, you of course remember what happened to Holland .and Belguim?

GABBEL:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Did you, indued? Mr Gabbel?

1 felt pretty badly about it at the time. Wasn't exactly propoganda e i t h e r , was i t ,

I t happened, d i d n ' t

GABBEL:

Yes,

LINCOLN:

Remember Munich?

GABBEL:

Sure. Everyone does.

LINCOLN:

Do they?

it?

sir.

Do they remember

Feb. 26, 1938 in Munich:

that Aflolph Hitler said on " There is no territorial problem

left for Germany in Europe. interest me any more. phrase,

The Czech state does not

I guarantee that.

That is no hollow

It is our sacred will".. You ofr course remember

what heppened to Czechoslovakia, Mr Gabiao'l?

-20GABBEL:

Of course.

LINCOLN:

Of course-

And you remember, too, what happened •.••too

Yugoslavia? G-ABBEL:

Yes, air.

LINCOLN:

Sure it wasn't just propoganda?

GABBEL:

No.,. .no.. . it happened,, all right.

LINCOLN:

Because you sue, Mr Gabbel, Adolph Hitler on April 28th, 19.3o said:

" The Yugoslav Government has been informed

that Germany has no aims beyond Austria and the Yugoslav frontier would remain untouched".

You know, Mr Gabbel,

Yugoslavia is just a little country, no bigger than the Missouri you mentioned a little while ago.

And perhaps

just one more test of that excellent memory of yours. you remember Adolph Hitler's speech of September

Do

1st.,

1939? GABBEL:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Just give us the part about air_warfare, Mr Gabbel. What did Adolph Hitler say?

GABBEL:

He said:

" 1 will not war against women and children.

I have ordered my air force to restrict itself to attacks on military objectives" LINCOLN;

Correct.

You have a remarkable memory.

But what about

the school children of Coventry and Plymouth, Mr Gabbel? And the 34 little London school-children bombed on February 21st, 1943. you

That couldn't be propaganda, could it, because

have a son in the army overseas, Mr Gabbel, and he

wrote and told you and Mrs Gabbel about it, didn't he? GABBEL:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Your son saw the bodies of those children carried out of the wreckage, so it really happened, didn't it? was believing, wasn't it? don't

you, Mr Gabbel?

Seeing

Because you believe your son,

That's really straight from

Missouri, isn't it? GABBEL:

Yes, but

LINCOLN;

No buts, Mr Gabbel. Perhaps too well.

You have made my point for me.

For you are not a bad fellow, Mr Gabbel--

you are merely an example

of Hitler's greatest crime—

the planting of the seed of man's disbelief in the common humanity of his fellow-man.

Yes - the strategy by which

he seeks to divide and conquer - by turning Jew against Catholic, Catholic against Protestant, white against black. Still, I find it hard to excuse you, Mr Gabbel

you who

have lived through these tragic years of treachery—I find it difficult to forgive your stupidity in saying the samethings again --no lesson learned. all of the people, your honor. yes

But Mr Gabbel is not

He is some of the people,

but I say again to my opponent who sits smiling so

confidently there--all of the people cannot be fooled all of the time.

I have a patient confidence in the wisdom

and justice of the people. hope in the world.

There is no better or equal

And on the evidence here submitted I

charge Adolph Hitler with savagely trying to destroy that ho pe, VOICE:

Are there any further witnesses?

LINCOLN:

None, your honor.

VOICE:

We will hear the summation for the defense.

-22DEVTL:

Hmmm,. . of course it Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.

I

shall not attempt to compote with the backwoods charm of Mr Lincoln. facts.

I shall simply state the inescapable

Now I know you have been looking forward to hearing

my client, Mr Hitler, apeak

-in his own behalf.

I do not

think that will be necessary or - uh - shall we say—well^ necessary.

It happens that my client is - at the moment ~

suffering from a slight indisposition - contracted during the unusually severe winter.

As you are aware, it has

been necessary for Mr Hitler to cancel a number of speaking engagements--notably the address he had planned for the Nazi party's tenth anniversary.

But since he cannot speak

I think 1 may say - in all modesty

that no one is better

qualified to speak for him than myself.

Now I am aware

(CHUCKLES) that my client is not an altogether popular fellow.

His methods are unorthodox.

Granted.

But have

any of the great leaders of history been popular, orthdox people?

Not a bit of it.

My client has been charged with

murdering great quantities of Jews.

Wo11 now, as our

friend George Gabbel — a citizen of the United States, mind, you- — put it just a moment ago, didn't Mr Hitler have something there?

I leave it to you, ladies and gentlemen—

remembering, of course, that I cast no reflection on all Jews.

As my client himself has said,

favorite Jew."

"Everyone has his

But Jew or not, I am aware that murder is

a charge to be answered.

Let us grant, for the sake of

argument, that Mr Hitler has been forced to - uh liquidate certain classes of people. (MORE)

-23DEVIL (CONT):

Well, now, ladies and gentlemen of the jury lot us take the long view. killed,

This is war.

Of course, people will be

You cannot have a war without killing.

become so incensed, over poor Mr Hitler? a rage at the thought of Napoleon?

But why

Do you fly into

He killed people.

Do

the names of Alexander and Caesar and G-hengis Ghan upset you?

Of course not.

Yet they killed people, tortured

people, starved them., sold them into slavery.

You don't

worry about them, now do you?

And why?

Of course not.

Because you are taking the long view...I daresay in a hundred of years> the allpgod crimes of my client will fail to excite the merest school-boy. You have heard from one of the children of Germany during this trial.

Are they not happy?

Are they not better cared

for then most children in democracies?

They have security

in Germany and they have my client, Adolph Hitler, so thank for it.

Aren't these children better off under one strong

leader than in any such naive arrangemunt my worthy opponent Mr -Lincoln described one time as (MOCKINGLY SING-SONG) Government of the people, by_ the people, for the people, ylth the people

however, it goes.

Ladies and gentlemen, mark this:

"A few years from now

you will be laughing at yourself for believing all the things you heard during this war about my client. I guarantee it.

Wasn't that what happened'the last time?

This is just another war War is progress.

and in a way, a good thing.

Let's not take it too seriously, eh? (MORE)

DEVIL; (GONT)

Lot's take the lon-n~n~g view.

Wlio knows?

Perhaps my

client, Adolph Hitler, is leading the way toward some new and better kind of world. Adolph Hitler, shall we?

Let's string along with (LOW CHUCKLE) The defense

rests. (CRACKLE OP LIGHTNING) (CLAP OP THUNDER) (DEVIL'S LAUGHTER UP INTO:) _(MUS_IC__ _ jjp FROM_EfFECTS_AID_0UT] VOICE:

Mr Lincoln?

The summation for the people? •

(FOOTSTEPS) LINCOLN:

(A PAUSE) Yes, your honor. My opponent has just said: "Wasn't that what happened last time.1" what happened last time.'

Yes., .yes, .it wa_s

Those tragic words must echo

thru the annals of the human race like the crack of doom. Alexander,'

Caeserl

Ohengis GhanJ

opponent has named them all.'

Adolph Hitler!

My

Hi a client is in worthy

company! "Wasn't that what happened last time,'"

Is there

to be no moment in the history of humanity when man rises up and from the depth of his torment and pain cries out: "No more!"

For Adolph Hitler is no new scourge on the

face of the earth.1

His crimes are more deadly, more

bestial, but his purpose is the old purpose struggle is the old struggle. between these two world.

this '

It is the eternal struggle

right and wrong

throughout the

They are the two principles that have stood face

to face from the beginning of time] and will even continue to struggle.

(MORE)

-26LINCOLN: (OONT)J

The one- is the common right of humanity, and the other, the divine right of the despot.

It is the same principle

in ¥hatcver shape it develops itself—Alexander., Caeser, Hitler.

No matter in what shape it comes, whether from

the mouth of a leader who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation or from one race of man as an apology for enslaving another race, principle.

it is the same tyrannical

:•

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, there is no.

need for me to recount the crimes of Adolph Hitler. My reliance is in the love of liberty which God hag planted in all of us.

My weapon is in the spirit which praises

liberty as the heritage of all men, In all -.lands everywhere.

I have often inquired of myself what great

principle or idea it was that made this country we love so well a shining light in the world.

It was not mere

wealth or the bounty of the land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the people of this country but hope to all the world, for all future time.

It was that which gave

promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men; and that all should have an equal chance.

Whoever seeks to destroy this spirit is

planting the seeds of despotism at our

own doors.

Whoever uses the chains of bondage on other men is preparing our own limbs to wear them.

Once before, in

my own time, I said that this country could not exist half slave and half free, and now 1 rife again to say that this world

cannot exist half slave and half free.1 (MORE)

-27LINCOLN: (OONT:)

And this time 1 cry: the last time!" o- sign

"No more.1

No more I

Let this be

Let the conviction of Adolph Hitler be

to all men for all time that government of the

people, and for the people, shall not perish from this earthi

Your honor,

The People Rest.

CHORD_PADBIG THRUj,) NARRATOR:

(LOW, QUIETLY) I n t h o caae of t h e People v e r s u s Adolph Hitler jury is you

the People rest.

Ladies and gentlemen of the

all you "Who listen now the people

will you decide?

For it

who must decide.1

(A SECOND'S PAUSE) IMUSJLCJ.

ROLL .OF_BJ:G_DRUMS_U_P _INTO___THEME_ I A E ^ I V M I )

ANNOR:

You have heard tho first in a series of five special programs entitled "Day of Reckoning" - presented by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with the ' Council for Democracy. versus Adolph Hitler

Tonight's program

The People

was written by Moss Hart and

starred Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln and Monte Woolley as the Devil.

Next week: at this same -hour, The

People versus Benito Mussolini,"

written by tho

distinguished playwrights, Sam and Be&la Spewack. This program came to you from New York. THIS IS THE NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY.

nh/faq 2/22/43 4:15 pm