Helmuth von Moltke’s third factor in German society between 1933 and 1945 contributing to the failure of resistance the Nazis is a stern warning to any human community that hopes to prosper.

If we are going to build healthy human communities, we must do everything in our power to avoid the third problem von Moltke identified in the Nazi-dominated years of 1933-1945.

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Lack of communication: That is the worst. Can you imagine what it is like if you

a. cannot use the telephone,

b. cannot use the post,

c. cannot send a messenger, because you probably have no one to send, and if you have you cannot give him a written message as the police sometimes searches people in trains, trams, etc., for documents

d. cannot even speak with those with whom you are completely d’accord, because the secret police have methods of questioning where they first break the will but leave the intelligences awake, thereby inducing the victims to speak out all he knows; therefore you must limit information to those who absolutely need it;

e. cannot even rely on rumour or a whispering-campaign to spread information as there is so effective a man on communications of all kind that a whispering campaign in Munich may never reach Augsburg.

There is only one reliable way of communicating news, and that is the London wireless, as that is listened in to by many people who belong to the opposition proper and by many disaffected party members.

Some of this devilish machinery has been invented by the Nazis, but some of it has been produced by war itself. But this machinery is used to great effect by the ruling class. Their first aim is to keep the army out of touch with the political trends in the country. They succeed in this to a great extent. None but men on leave and those manning anti-aircraft guns are in the country. When on leave they do not want to be bothered and their relatives do not want to bother them. When out of the country, the information they get by post is very scant as their womenfolk dare not write to them for fear of repressive measures which are and have been taken. Besides the soldiers lead a fairly secluded life. Wherever they are they usually appear in great strength and have only the enemy to cope with. Most officers especially lead a life far above their status in civilian life. The normal solider does not know more about conditions in Germany than you (Lionel Curtis, living in England) probably a great deal less. And besides the soldiers are continuously led into positions where there is no choice but to fight. Their mind is occupied with the enemy as fully as the housewife’s is occupied with her requirements. “The German general and solider must never feel secure, otherwise he wants to rest; he must always know that there are enemies in front and at his back, and that there is only one thing to be done and that is to fight.” This remark Hitler addressed to field marshall Manstein, who proposed to fortify some line way behind the frontline.

But even in Germany people do not know what is happening. I believe that at least 9tenths of the population do not know that we have killed hundreds of thousands of jews (sic). They go on believing that they just have been segregated and lead an existence pretty much like the one they led, only farther to the east, whether they came from. Perhaps with a little more squalor but without air raids. If you told these people what has really happened they would answer: you are just a victim of British propaganda; remember what ridiculous things they said about our behaviour in Belgium in 1914/18.

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The twenty-first century is an ironic time. We live in a context in which a vastly greater body of information is available to more people than has ever been true in the past. We also have means of instantly communicating across broad cultural, sociological and geographical barriers.

But, in spite of all the advances in our technical ability to gather information and to connect, it is not entirely clear that our ability to communicate has progressed at an equal pace.

A society that does not work hard at keeping the lines of communication open is in grave danger of losing the ability to continue as a healthy, life-giving place for its members. Communication requires more than technical ability. Communication will only happen where the desire to be heard is equaled or surpassed by the desire to listen.

The ability to listen is commensurate with our willingness to sit lightly to our own agendas. We will hear effectively to the degree that we open to the possibility that there may be insight and wisdom that can be gained from those with whom we find ourselves in disagreement.