"Next Time"

From Helsinki came more details of the Nazi plan to lose the war but win the peace. TIME Correspondent John Scott remained a week in Finland after the Germans took over, learned the argument which Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop advanced to lull the fears of Germans in the north. Cabled Scott:

"After Ribbentrop had finished with the Finns, he called a meeting of Germans in authoritative posts in Helsinki. Present were the Minister to Finland, Wipert von Bluecher, the Gestapo chief and several other responsible officials. The grave-faced, pouch-eyed ex-champagne salesman spoke for an hour on Germany's international situation. She had lost the war, but could and would win the peace, he said.

"Ribbentrop argued that Germany's military reserves are sufficient for another year of slow retreat. During this time, satellite troops would be used to the utmost. Heavy losses would be inflicted, particularly on Americans, whose people would not tolerate them in battles far from home. While the Allied will to fight was being sapped, German political warfare would drive a wedge between the Anglo-Saxons and the Russians. Then two paths would open a negotiated peace with either the Eastern or the Western Powers. Contacts were already being made in Stockholm and Madrid.

"Ribbentrop explained that the Russians would probably stop somewhere between the Vistula and the Oder, permitting Germany to hold a thin line, reinforce the West and get credit among a fairly large number of 'sensible people' in Britain and the U.S. for keeping the Russians out of Central Europe. Determination would pull Germany through as the dominant power in Central Europe, which the English-speaking Allies would have to support and arm against might of Russia."

Game in Finland. "Applied to Finland, this meant keeping her in the war as long as possible, making plans to provoke civil war when Finnish arms collapse, securing maximum publicity in Finland and the Allied world for Finnish heroism contrasted with crude Russian vindictiveness and barbarism.

"After Ribbentrop's departure I was able to observe the effect of his remarks, suitably edited and sweetened, as they filtered down the line to lesser lights. For a week, I was the only Allied journalist in town. Unmolested, though carefully watched, I could walk the streets, listen to the German soldiers in bars and cafes, converse with people who, though on the Axis side, still seemed anxious to explain why they did what they did.

"I walked into the press room of the Hotel Torni the afternoon of our break with Finland. A taciturn, potbellied, elderly German 'journalist,' Friedrich Borchman, vice president of the Foreign Correspondents' Association, was playing chess. Borchman's main job is watching other German journalists for the Gestapo.

" 'Hallo, Scott,' he said. 'You still here?'

" 'Yes. I plan to leave with the Legation staff next week. Do you think I'll be safe?'

" 'I don't know. I never think. I just write,' said he with a shrug. His nervous Finnish partner decided the game was lost, remembered a phone call, ran off.

" 'Play a game?' Borchman asked. He works hard at chess and fancies his game. After the tenth move, he opened an offensive, began talking about it.

" 'Careful now. This may hurt. We Germans are strong on artillery, you know. Aerial artillery particularly. That knight is obsolete. Better use the bishop!'

"I have played a good deal of chess. Borchman lost."

For Survival. "German soldiers were tired, haggard, often ragged. The soldiers talked to each other of food, rest and how long it might be before they reached the front. But discipline was good, officers were natty. Sailors, including the crews of two submarines, looked well-fed, tough, confident. SS men looked cold, determined, efficient. These men maintained a meticulous correctness in their attitude toward the Finns and the businesslike, grunting relationship of professional soldiers toward each other. They believe in nothing. They make war because it is their business. They and millions like them throughout Europe will go on making war doggedly, efficiently, until they are killed in action or starved in the rear.

"Other Germans do think. They know without being told by Ribbentrop that Germany is losing or has lost the war. But they will keep on fighting for a variety of reasons. Said one responsible German civilian official:

'' 'Up to Stalingrad, one could still quit. The excuse was good. It was a bad show. Mistakes had been made. But after Stalingrad, and particularly now . . . das geht ja nicht [it just won't do]. It would be like rats deserting a sinking ship. It is no longer a Nazi war, it is a war for German survival and I am a German. We'll continue the losing fight and prepare for next time.' "

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