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HITLER'S BIRTHDAY.
LAUDED BY LEADERS.
"Painful Blows of Fate."
LONDON, April 20.—An admission
that the war had reached its hard-
est stage and that its end or re-
lief from its burdens and suffering
was nowhere in sight came from
the Nazi Propaganda Minister (Dr
Goebbels) in a broadcast to Ger-
many on the eve of Hitler's birth-
day.
Goebbels described Hitler's way of
life as "unobtrusive." He claimed
that Hitler truly represented the
image of the German people. "If
one could draw a nation's face," he
said, "It would most likely show the
profound wartime changes which
we find with serene pride in the
Fuehrer's face—furrows of hardness,
determination and suffering, of en-
durance, sacrifice, bitterness and
strain.
"Germans often complain that the
Fuehrer, although a decisive factor
in the whole political and military
trend of events, is almost completely
hidden by his work. This is in elo-
quent contrast with the practice
every day of the nonentities in the
enemy camp, who never miss an
opportunity of showing themselves
in the full brilliance of the world's
footlights."
Goebbels paid tribute to Hitler,
"whom we have learnt to love from
the bottom of our hearts," for the
manner in which he was struggling
"with stubborn grimness against
the hard and painful blows of fate."
Time of Severe Trial.
Berlin radio last night stated that
the German papers today would be
publishing a proclamation from
Reich Marshal Goering offering
birthday congratulations to Hitler
as follows: "Germany's fate lies in
the Fuehrer's firm hand. He never
allows himself to rest from the
superhuman burden of work that
is weighing upon him. His simple,
soldier-like bearing, unremitting
sense of duty and readiness for any
sacrifice are a glowing example to
all. Today the issue is between vic-
tory and annihilation. The time of
severest trials is to come for every
single German. The Fuehrer knows
how bitter are the sacrifices that
this war imposes on the battlefields
and in those regions of Germany
which are threatened from the air,
but the Fuehrer demands the sacri-
fice, not for him but for the free-
dom of the Fatherland and the
existence of the nation and the
Reich."
The radio stated that Hitler would
be spending his birthday at head-
quarters listening to the celebrations
over the wireless.
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