Stories of the use of this sort of non-violence occur in our press every
day, as they find their way out of the occupied countries which are
opposing the Nazi invaders with every means at their disposal. In these
countries the vast majority of the people are agreed in their
determination to rid themselves of Nazi control. Such common agreement
is the first requisite for the success of this method of resistance.
When the people of the territory refuse to inform the police about
individuals who are committing unlawful acts against the invaders, it is
virtually impossible for the latter to check the expansion of
non-cooperation or sabotage. Similarly, if the whole population refuses
to cooperate with the invader, it is impossible for him to punish them
all, or if he did, he would be destroying the labor force whose
cooperation he desires, and would have defeated himself in the very
process of stamping out the opposition to his regime.
Hitler himself has discovered that there is a difference between
military occupation and actual conquest. In his New Year's proclamation
to the German people in 1944, he attempted to explain the Nazi reverses
in North Africa and Italy in these words:
"The true cause of the difficulties in North Africa and the Balkans
was in reality the persistent attempts at sabotage and paralyzation
of these plutocratic enemies of the fascist people's State.
"Their continual sabotage not only succeeded in stopping supplies
to Africa and, later on, to Italy, by ever-new methods of passive
resistance, thus preventing our soldiers and the Italians standing
at their side from receiving the material wherewithal for the
conduct of the struggle, but also aggravated or confused the
situation in the Balkans, which had been cleared according to plan
by German actions."[29]
Opposition to the German invader has taken different forms in different
countries. In Denmark, where there was no military resistance to the
initial invasion, the subtle opposition of the people has made itself
felt in innumerable ways. There are many stories such as that of the
King's refusal to institute anti-Jewish laws in Denmark on the ground
that there was no Jewish problem there since the Danes did not feel
themselves to be inferior to the Jews. Such ideological opposition makes
the Nazis angry, and it also makes them uncomfortable, since they do
hold enough values in common with the Danes to understand perfectly the
implications of the Danish jibes. Such psychological opposition merges
into sabotage very easily. For instance when the Germans demanded ten
torpedo boats from the Danish navy, the Danes prepared them for delivery
by taking all their guns and equipment ashore, and then burning the
warehouse in which these were stored. The Nazis even forbade the press
to mention the incident, lest it become a signal for a nationwide
demonstration of solidarity.[30]
Other occupied countries report the same type of non-violent resistance.
There are strikes of parents against sending their children to
Nazi-controlled schools, strikes of ministers against conforming to Nazi
decrees, demonstrations, malingering, and interference with internal
administration. Such events may appear less important than military
resistance, but they make the life of an occupying force uneasy and
unhappy.[31]
Calls for non-violent preparation for the day of delivery go out
constantly in the underground press. While urging solidarity in illegal
acts among the French population at home, one French appeal even gave
instructions to Frenchmen who might go to work in Germany:
"If you respond to Laval's appeal, I know in what spirit you will
do so. You will wish to slow down German production, establish
contacts with all the Frenchmen in Germany, and create the
strongest of Fifth Columns in the enemy country."[32]
Over a long period of time such action cannot help having an effect upon
the success of the invader. Since the grievance of the peoples of the
occupied countries is a continuous one, there is no prospect that their
resistance will relax until they have freed themselves of their
oppressors.