South Yorkshire Times, August 25th, 1951

1939 Feeling In 1951

Dearne Councillor Spends Fortnight in Berlin

Coun. H. Rothnie, a Goldthorpe Dentist, who has recently returned with his wife from a visit to their son in Berlin, yesterday described the atmosphere of tension and suspense which pervaded the German capital. “There was a tension you could feel”, he said.  “You were waiting for something to happen.”

Recalling the tension in England which preceded the outbreak of the 1939-45 war, Coun. Rothnie said it was exactly the same feeling I had in Berlin – that feeling of “am I going to be here at the time when the bubble is going to burst.”

The people of Berlin were not gay, he said. That was something which struck him forcibly. There was little laughter.  There was, he felt, a serious look on the face of the man in the street “maybe he shared my fears for the future” Coun. Rothnie said “fears which could be expressed in the atmosphere of tension all round us – a feeling that one small incident could start the whole world ablaze again.”

His One Disappointment

Coun. Rothnie was thwarted in his attempts to get into the Russian zone.  That was, he said, the one disappointment of his visit. The Colonel of the military hospital, under whom his son, Capt. John Rothnie is serving in the Royal Army Dental Corps, was adamant that under no condition would he give him a permit.  During his stay, Coun. Rothnie talked to four working-class Germans.  Each of them he asked the same questions. One of these queries was: “tell me your idea of the percentage of communists in the Eastern (Russian) sector of Berlin.”  In each case the answer was 10 per cent. To one of the men Coun. Rothnie replied “that seems strange all that noise from 10 per cent?”  The man’s answer was: “You have got to give lip service to Communism or you don’t work and you don’t eat. This same man was asked by Coun. Rothnie if there was any possibility that the Germans would return to Nazism after the occupied armies had left.

“Flash in the Pan”

The German threw his arms in the air and said “Never, haven’t we learnt our lesson.”  Coun. Rothnie said he was glad to hear that, but he was nevertheless aware that another leader had sprung up and had got a certain following.  “Ah, that is nothing – a flash in the plan!”  Before they parted the man placed his arms on Coun. Rothnie’s shoulders and, with tears streaming down his face, begged that the British would not leave Germany before the Russian left.

“All my relations are in the Eastern sector with the Russians” he said.  “They come to see me in the Western sector once a week to read the newspaper – they haven’t the foggiest idea what is going on in the West.”

Coun. Rothnie was in Berlin at the start of the Communist Peace Rally. “I was not impressed.” “I thought they were a lot of irresponsible youths.”  From what he saw of the rally, Coun. Rothnie formed this opinion: “It was no more like peace than a fairground.  It was simply an attempt at propaganda for Communism.

Convinced Now

Before leaving England Coun. Rothnie had some doubts as to whether or not our country was justified in its heavy rearmament. “I have no doubts now,” he said.

Coun. Rothnie said he came back with an extraordinarily high opinion of the dignity of the British soldiers as they walked the streets.  “I was very proud of them,” he said.