Co-authored by Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh, Dikgaj
Subhas Chandra Bose’s all-consuming passion was his mission to liberate India from British rule. India was to him a world unto itself. He was devoted to every aspect of India, encompassing her civilization, people and culture. Indian Nationalism was but his nature. There was no place that he would rather be than in India and if not then at least among Indians. There was no stone that he would leave unturned than to protect the interests of the Indians. He can be understood if we recognize that all his policies, actions and choices, both domestic and foreign, were driven by his overriding commitment to his mission. He constantly adapted, walked back and even completely reversed many of his public positions to advance the cause of India’s freedom as he deemed fit. He was unwavering in the pursuit of his one and only mission, and was flexible in all the rest. We briefly describe his devotion to his mission (Section A ) and examine how it determined his public positions on Nazism regardless of his organic reaction to the same (Section B).
We start from early 1930s when he visited Germany for the first time. This was also his first encounter with the Nazi rule there. His speeches, writings and actions starting from that time show no ideological convergence with Nazism or even Fascism or any trace of anti-Semitism. His close friends and historians, some of whom were Jewish, had observed in him contempt for Nazis and dislike for their ideology. Such contempt is only expected because he was a proud Indian and in the openly racist hierarchy of the Nazis, Asiatics including Indians were lower down the peck order as compared to the Europeans. The Nazi policies therefore offended his national pride and affronted his values because those stood for persecution of entire populaces based on their birth-identities. But, given his pre-occupation with his own motherland he openly objected only when those policies led to discrimination against Indians, and tried his level best to reverse, or at least mitigate the impact of, those policies. He did not however publicly object to persecution of other groups by the Nazis. This is because he had hoped to enlist the assistance of the Nazis in liberating India, considering that they were in political conflict with the British and were powerful. His manoeuvre was driven by his article of faith that freedom was both the birth-right of the Indians and a necessity for their survival and rejuvenation, and it was the moral obligation as also entitlement of the Indians to attain this objective through whatever means were at their disposal. At a personal level, however, he was concerned for the well-being of his close friends, who were Jews. Chanakya had advocated in Arthashaastra that the king must follow the good of the people despite any of his predilections – the separation between the political and the personal towards attainment of a mission that served the interests of a people was also the cornerstone of Bose’s foreign policy (Section B).
Section A: One and only lifelong mission – India’s freedom from British occupation
Subhas Chandra Bose’s one abiding passion was his motherland, India, more specifically, liberating India from foreign rule. In this section we demonstrate the intensity of his passion by reproducing 1) excerpts from a few of his speeches, 2) analysis of his close comrades and 3) views of historians who have written his biography.
We first produce excerpts from two of Bose’s speeches to show his unwavering devotion to his motherland. On 1 May, 1942, he said in a public broadcast from Berlin, “ My whole life, which has been one long, consistent and continuous record of uncompromising struggle against British Imperialism, is the best guarantee of my bona fides. All my life I have been a servant of India and till the last hours of my life I shall remain one. My allegiance and my loyalty has ever been and will ever be to India and to India alone, no matter in which part of the world I may live at any given time’’ p. 96, [6]. On 4 July, 1943, he said in his Presidential address to the East Asia Delegates Conference at Singapore “My loyalty is to India and to India alone and not even our enemies will have the audacity to urge that I am capable of betraying my country.” p. 43, [7]. For him, India “was a world unto itself’’, cherished for civilization, her people, her culture, rather than her connections to any foreign region, be it Middle East and the Islamic world, be it Europe.
He had once confided in his lifelong friend, Dilip Kumar Roy: “
I could not be deaf to the miseries of our teeming millions. Indiacalls to me – in my blood.’’ Hearing this, Roy felt that Bose was an authentic mystic, who deified the Indian peninsula into a Goddess: “Here at once he struck the note of the authentic mystic, deifying apeninsula into a Goddess. I was touched. ‘’ pp. 21-22, [14].
Girija K. Mookerjee had known Bose closely since the latter was a student until 1931 and had worked closely with him during 1941-1943 in Germany. Mookerjee has produced a perceptive analysis of Bose: “If he had any political theory, it was that of Indian nationalism, far above everything. Subhas was an Indian nationalist, and his nationalism was an integral nationalism of the kind whose exponent General de Gaulle turned out to be in France. Subhas’s love for India was, no doubt, tinged with some romanticism, but he did not love India because he had acquired this love from beliefs in some theory or other. He was completely an Indian and felt it his duty to free India from her bondage by all possible means. Such being the basis of Subhas’s life, it is difficult to analyse his political beliefs according to the categories of “isms”. He did not shape his action in conformity with a pre-determined theory. He took first thing first and the first thing in his opinion was to get rid of the British at any price’’ p. 91, [10].
Bose’s Indian nationalism encompassed emotional ties with every aspect of Indic existence, ranging from spirituality, civilizational, intellectual and cultural existence, and involved securing India’s interests regardless of who was violating those interests. We learn from Girija K. Mookerjee, “The fight he put up with the German authorities for securing a special status for the Indians in Europe [to be described in Section B] was inspired by his desire to see that no Indian, however poor or unimportant, should be ill treated by Europeans. Subhas indeed was a hundred per cent Indian and though far from home, his thoughts were constantly for people and friends at home. He shared in full all the anxieties which people were undergoing in the war years. I realised its extent one morning when two days after the first bombardment of Calcutta, I went to see him one morning in Sophienstrasse [in 1942-1943] to talk over with him something or other in connection with Christmas. It was very cold and I was waiting in the insufficiently heated library when he came down, his face livid and pale. I asked him if he was ill. ‘No’, he said, ‘I was dreaming all night about Calcutta. Don’t remember what it was all about but Sejda (Sarat Bose) was in it and there were lots of others. I think I was quarrelling with them for something or other.’ Then he lowered his voice and said: ‘I hope it does not mean anything bad. And I hope nothing has happened to them !’ ‘’ p. 227, [9]. Bose emotionally connected to Indians as an identity. Girija K. Mookerjee has written that one of the reasons Bose undertook a perilous voyage in submarine from Germany to Japan was because South East Asia had a large Indian diaspora and he always felt an inner need to be among Indians, “ For him, this was also an inner need, for Subhas felt best at home with Indians. He was quite successful in dealing with European politicians and diplomats but it was amongst the Indians that he expanded and felt happy’’ p. 213, [9].
Bose was specifically committed to liberating India from British rule – it was a spiritual and civilisational quest for him. For example, on 19 October, 1929, he spoke at the Lahore session of the Punjabi Students’ Conference, “life has but one purpose, viz., freedom from bondage of every kind. Hunger after freedom is the song of the soul – and the very first cry of the newborn baby is a cry of revolt against the bondage in which it finds itself. Rouse this intense desire for freedom within yourselves and in your countrymen and I am sure India will be free in no time. India is bound to be free – of that there is not the slightest doubt. It is to me as sure as day follows night. There is no power on earth which can keep India in bondage any longer. But let us dream of an India for which it would be worthwhile to give all that we have – and for which we could sacrifice our dearest and nearest” p. 51, [2]. He said in the same speech, “Freedom means life, and death in the pursuit of freedom means the highest glory imperishable. Let us therefore resolve to be free or at least to die in the pursuit of freedom- and let us show by our conduct and character that we are worthy of being the countrymen of the great martyr – Jatindra Nath Das” p. 53, [2]. On 28 March, 1939, he had written to Nehru, “In my humble opinion, considering the situation in India and abroad, the one problem – the one duty – before us is to force the issue of Swaraj with the British Government ‘’ p. 197, [4]. In the words of his close associate and friend A. C. N. Nambiar has said “[Subhas] was a one-idea man….singly for the independence of India’’ (p. xiv, editor’s introduction, [1]).
Historian Leonard Gordon who has authored a masterful biography of Bose has documented how Bose’s European friends saw Bose – they had recounted to Gordon that Bose’s only object in studying the rest of the world was to draw lessons to better the plight of India: “To several of these friends [in Vienna, eg, Vetters, Mrs. Hedy Fulop-Muller, the former wife of the noted writer Rene Fulop-Muller, Mrs Betty Hargrove, a widowed American from Maine, Mrs. Helen Ashkanazy, Jewish, the president of several women’s club in Vienna], Bose, for all his intelligence, charm, and friendliness, appeared almost myopic because he had only one interest which consumed him: the liberation of India from British rule. India, as Mrs Vetter reminded me when I visited her in Vienna some years ago, was such a passionate and consuming interest that he collected books on India in French and German which he could not read. And most of what he read was about India and about world politics as it related to India. He did investigate European politics and watched European politicians at work to see what this might teach him vis-à-vis the British. He looked into municipal experiments in European cities, so that he might get ideas about improvement of Calcutta. Some thought his view was shortsighted, for it led him to care little for the fate of other countries and peoples. He was concerned deeply however for the fate and welfare of his friends.’’ pp. 283-284, [15].
Bose can be understood if we recognize that all his policies, actions and choices, both domestic and foreign, were driven by this single all-consuming and overriding passion of liberating India from British rule. He constantly adapted, walked back and even completely reversed many of his public positions to advance the cause of India’s freedom as he deemed fit.
Section B: Opposition to Nazi racism – an Indian Nationalistic perspective
Subhas Chandra Bose has not shown any ideological sympathy towards Nazism. His lifelong friend, Dilip Kumar Roy, has written about him: “ one cannot but be materially relieved to learn that his original plan had been to go to Russia, and not to the Axis powers: not that he disliked Communism less but that he disliked Fascism more… ‘’ p. 170, [14] (The reference to Axis powers suggest that Roy had considered Nazism and Fascism as the same in this characterization). Bose was a prolific speaker and an author, his speeches and articles reveal a profound humanism in the Hindu sense which runs contrary to Nazism. In the words of Girija K. Mookerjee, “The first thing we need to do in order to have a clear understanding of Subhas Bose’s views on Germany, Italy and the countries which fought against England is to refer to Subhas Bose’s numerous writings and statements on them. If we do that, we will find that nowhere in his speech or writing, he has ever praised or supported Nazi or Fascist ideas. I have read practically everything he has written and nowhere could I discover any writing of his in which he shows that he was attracted by the ideas of depriving others of liberty or of oppressing people because of their political beliefs or because of the race they belonged to. On the contrary, a child of Indian Renaissance of the nineteenth century, Subhas Bose, who imbibed in his youth the ideas of Tagore, Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Gandhi, was a profound humanist in the Hindu sense of the term as revealed in his letters written in Bengali, published in the book Patravali’’ pp. 62-63, [10]. Girija K. Mookerjee has reproduced some of Bose’s writings to make his point: “Similarly, discussing the meaning of the word ‘fascist’, a term which has often been used against him, Subhas Bose in the context of Indian criticism of Forward Bloc wrote on August 19, 1939: “If by ‘Fascist’ is indicated those who call themselves Hitlers, Super Hitlers or budding Hitlers, then one may say that these specimens of humanity are to be found in the Rightist camp”. Subhas obviously had always belonged to the leftist camp ‘’ p. 66, [10]. Bose had told Girija K. Mookerjee in a conversation in Germany in 1942, “ We have nothing in common with the Nazis, it is true‘’ p. 197, [9]. In this Section we illustrate Bose’s opposition to Nazi racism focusing on the events before he reached Berlin during the second world war (he reached on 2nd April 1941), particularly since 1933 when the Nazi party was elected to power in Germany.
Bose’s close friend Mrs. Kitti Kurti, as also historians Leonard Gordon and Jan Kuhlman, the first two of whom were Jewish, had even observed in him contempt for Nazis and dislike for their ideology. Such contempt is only expected because he was a proud Indian and in the openly racist hierarchy of the Nazis, Asiatics including Indians were lower down the peck order as compared to the Europeans (Section B.1). The Nazi policies therefore offended his national pride and affronted his values because those stood for persecution of entire populaces based on their birth-identities. But, given his pre-occupation with his own motherland he openly objected only when those policies led to discrimination against Indians, and tried his level best to reverse, or at least mitigate the impact of, those policies (Section B.2). Periodically, he commended the military and administrative efficacy of the Nazi regime in Germany, his approach therein was analytical and dispassionate and he qualified his admiration for their abilities with criticism of their moral failings. He periodically alluded to fascism in positive light, though he primarily focused on the efficiency of the fascist state and did not omit their moral failings either (Section B.3).
He deferred his disapproval of the Nazi persecution of other groups to his personal space. This was driven by his article of faith that freedom was both the birth-right of the Indians and a necessity for their survival and rejuvenation, and it was the moral obligation as also entitlement of the Indians to attain this objective through whatever means were at their disposal. Since the Nazis were in political conflict with the British and were powerful, he had hoped to enlist their assistance in liberating India. Yet, at a personal level, he had close friends among other groups persecuted by the Nazis, eg the Jews, and was concerned for their well-being, but he limited that concern to offering counsel to them (Section B.4). The separation between the political and the personal towards attainment of a mission that served the interests of a people is consistent with the principles expounded in Chanakya’s Arthashaastra. It clearly mentions that the good of the people is what the king must follow, despite any of his predilections: “In the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness; in their welfare his welfare; whatever pleases himself he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good.’’ p. 53, [19]. Thus, in all actions, the good of the country and its people must be paramount, and the personal goals must be eschewed when they come at the expense of the people’s good. This is exactly what Bose followed throughout his documented life.
A careful review of Bose’s interactions with Nazis do not reveal any trace of anti-semitism. Bose had for example refrained from having any contact with Lord Haw Haw, who was an Irish anti-British speaker, and an anti-Semitic street fighter and rabble rouser p. 68, [17]. There is only one unverified allegation, which Leonard Gordon has essentially dismissed as follows: “Bose is also said to have written about the Indians as Aryans in an article for Goebbels’ Angriff and to have made some anti-Jewish statements. The actual article that Bose is said to have written has not been located and the comments in The Jewish Chronicle of that time are quite hostile to Bose. What Bose is reported to have said about the Aryans is not inaccurate and only passionate Indian nationalist remarks are quoted directly. The other remarks are summarized and these views are not in keeping with Bose’s sympathies for Jewish friends in Europe in the 1930s ‘’ p. 487, [15].
Section B.1: Nazi racism against Indians
The books authored by Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf, published 1925-1926) and Alfred Rosenberg, the chief ideologue of the Nazis, had anti-India passages p. 166, [3], pp. 14-15, [16]. In 1926 the Nazi party published those passages in a pamphlet in English meant for propaganda in England p. 166, [3]. Subhas Chandra Bose attributed these moves to their desire for currying favour with England. We learn these from his letter to Dr Thierfelder on 25 March, 1936: “Germany in her desire to curry favour with Great Britain finds it convenient to attack India and the Indian people. We have had repeated examples of this in the history of the National Socialist Party. The attempt began nearly ten years ago when the party published a pamphlet in English for propaganda in England consisting of anti-Indian passages from the books of Herr Hitler and Dr Rosenburg. ’’ p. 166, [3]. Nazis won power in Germany in 1933. In 1934-1935, they pushed a race bill, which forbade Indians from marrying Germans p. 15, [16]. They also launched a campaign of slander and hate against all colored races including Indians. The campaign consisted of publication of anti India articles and suppression of pro-Indian articles in the German press, anti India speeches and articles delivered by top German leaders, racist insults hurled against Indians by common Germans in streets, stones were also pelted at Indians at some instances. This campaign has been documented by Subhas Chandra Bose in memorandum and letters and by his nephew Ashok Bose, who was studying in Europe before the second world war.
Ashok Bose has written: “ Germany in 1933 was not altogether a pleasant country to reside in for Indians or, for that matter, the so-called ‘colored races’. The National Socialist Party after coming to power in Germany in March of that year started a campaign of hate against Jews and at the same time of slander against colored races including Indians dubbing then as ‘inferior’ people. Hitler in his book, Mein Kampf published a few years earlier had made derogatory references to India. In 1933 after assumption of power by the Nazi Party, one of its leaders, Alfred Rosenburg (sentenced to death by the Allied Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and executed), who subsequently became a Minister of the Government wrote a pamphlet which contained among others insulting references to Indians’’ pp. 83-84, [11].Ashok Bose has described “the mounting campaign of slander and hate that had been let loose on non-white races’ as follows: “ The campaign took the form of publication of slanderous and derogatory articles in the newspapers and periodicals, polite refusal of entry to a number of restaurants and cafes, propaganda with a view to make it difficult for Indians and non-whites to obtain lodgings, jeering at Indian students and calling them “niggers”, etc. etc.’’ pp. 91-92, [11].
On 5 April 1934, in a memorandum he submitted to the Ministerialrat Syckhoff in Berlin Subhas Chandra Bose wrote:
1)“Before the national socialist revolution, a large number of articles used to appear in the German Press which were friendly to India and her struggle for freedom. These articles have now been stopped. Possibly the German authorities now think that pro-Indian articles in the German Press will offend Great Britain with whom Germany is now anxious to cultivate friendly relations. Though pro-Indian articles have been practically stopped now, anti-Indian articles still continue to appear in the German Press. Papers like Muenchener Neuste Nachrichten, Koralle, Kolnische Zeitung, Kolnische Illustrierte, Das Haus and many others publish from time to time articles which tend to bring Indians into contempt or ridicule before the German public. And this is happening when the German Press today is entirely under the control of the Government.
2) Last year when I was in Berlin, I brought to the notice of the authorities the unfortunate effect which was being produced in India by unfriendly statements made about India by such important personalities as Herr Hitler (in his book ‘Mein Kampf’) and Herr Alfred Rosenberg (in his book ‘Mythos of the Twentieth Century’) and in other writings. Matters have been made worse by the recent statement made about Mahatma Gandhi and India by General Goering in his interview to the Daily Mail of London, published on the 20th February 1934. In this interview General Goering called M. Gandhi an anti-British Bolshevik agent and said that years ago he had refused to meet a colleague of M. Gandhi. The statement about M. Gandhi being a Bolshevik agent is entirely false and it is widely known that M. Gandhi is hated by all Communists, whether in India or outside India. Influential Indian friends have been continually writing to me to know why Herr Hitler and other prominent German personalities are so much against India – since India has not harmed Germany in any way. It has not been possible for me to reply to these queries because the German leaders themselves have not explained their attitude towards India.
3) The most serious factor threatening friendly relations between Germany and India is the unfortunate effect produced by the present race propaganda in Germany. When I was walking along the streets of Munchen a week ago – I was called ‘Neger’ by German children. Indian students in Munchen told me that they have all been addressed by German children as ‘Neger’. Besides this, the general attitude of the people towards Indians is not as friendly in Germany now as it formerly was. This is also the experience of many Indians in Berlin. But things are far worse in Munchen where Indian students have been even pelted with stones on some occasions. It has been further noticed by Indians that when German children have misbehaved in the above manner, their parents or guardians instead of rebuking them have encouraged them. It is the opinion of all Indians that the present ‘race’ propaganda in the schools and universities of Germany is developing a feeling of hatred towards all Indians. Such an atmosphere never existed in Germany before.
I should further point out that the draft legislation embodied in the National Sozialistische Strafrecht published by the Ministry of Justice states that legislation against Jews, Negros and coloured people is under consideration. All Indians in Germany are of opinion that if this draft legislation becomes law – then a mark of racial inferiority will be permanently put on Indians as a nation. This draft legislation has therefore roused considerable anxiety and resentment among Indians.’’ pp. 62-63, [3].
Yet another documentation of the Nazi racism against Indians can be found in a letter Bose wrote to Dr. Thierfelder, Director of the German Academy of Foreign Relations, on 7 November, 1935: “In fact, the new regime, which achieved a lot of progress and improvement within Germany, contributed to a certain extent to the worsening of ties that had existed earlier between India and Germany. This is not the consequence of the general anti-Nazi campaign which under Jewish influence broke out in different parts of the world. On the contrary, Indians themselves feel that the atmosphere in Germany is less friendly towards them compared to the past. I have tried to explain clearly to prominent personalities in Germany what, in my view, could be the reasons for this attitude against India. The reasons are:
1) The present pro-British attitude of the German government.
2) The race-propaganda, which among the unintelligent people in Germany, promotes a general scorn against the colored races.
3) A disdainful attitude towards contemporary India among the highest German leaders which is evident in their writings and reports.
4) The blocking or censor of pro-Indian articles and the willful promotion of anti-Indian articles in the German media.
…..
In contrast, the press in India is not under the strict control of the British government, nor under the thumb of any party. But still, it is possible for any German or any Indian friendly towards Germans to publish something positive about Germany in a popular Indian newspaper. In fact, it happens quite often that when something against the new German regime appears, in the very same issue, a refutation appears as well, either written by the German consulate in India or by an Indian friendly towards Germany. But, in Germany, it is impossible at present to publish an article as refutation in the Germany newspapers- a refutation to all the anti-Indian articles. I say this from experience. ‘’ pp. 112-113, [3].
In January 1936 Hitler declared in a speech to 5000 Nazi students, “of the [apparently divine] destiny of the white race to rule the world and the right of European nations to colonise backward areas” p. 196, [21] and “Colonies were acquired by right of might. “Europe needed raw materials and colonies and by a heroic conception of life, the white race was destined to rule. … The English went to India to teach the Indians how to walk” p. 100, [20]. The speech was reported in Japan Times, 29 January 1936. The German Foreign office in Japan spent a lot of time trying to refute that Hitler harboured any such sentiments p. 196, [21]. Owing to the protests in which Subhas Chandra Bose and the Japanese Ambassador in Germany took leading parts, the Nazi Party responded that their leader’s statement did not apply to India and Japan. But the clarifications were not published in the British or in the German Press pp. 123-124, [11], p. 166, [3].
Between 1934 and 1937, Bose wrote an article titled India Abroad, in which he described the German propaganda against Indians: “Towards the end of 1933, a German journalist who claimed to have visited India recently, wrote in a Munich paper that she had seen widows being burnt in India and dead bodies lying uncared for in the streets of Bombay. Recently in a Vienna pictorial paper (Wiener Bilder, dated the 30th June) a picture of a dead body covered with insects was painted and there was a footnote saying that it was the corpse of a ‘Sadhu’ which could not be removed for several days because of a Hindu belief that the dead body of a ‘Sadhu’ should not be removed by ordinary men. What surprises me is the careful selection of pictures about India made by propagandists in Europe with a view to depicting India in the worst colours possible. This is as much true of pictorial magazines as of films. ….If this sort of propaganda goes on in other countries, is it to be wondered at that Indians should be called ‘Blackie’ – as it happens sometimes in England – or as ‘Neger’ (negro- as is the experience sometimes in Germany)? ‘’ p. 359, [3]. In this article, he described the German propaganda as “crude and offensive’’, and therefore less effective than the much more sophisticated and subtle British propaganda: “There are numerous international Societies like the Quakers, the All-Peoples Association, etc., which have their headquarters in London and Branches all over Europe- through whose medium a very subtle propaganda is carried on in favor of Great Britain. These Societies generally have a stock of English books in their libraries. In almost every important city of Europe there is an English speaking Club. These clubs are invariably centers of propaganda. Books, etc., about Great Britain are published in every language….British propaganda is not obtrusive and people for whom it is meant, hardly realize that a conscious propaganda is going on. Where it is more overt as in the case of Miss Mayo’s ‘Mother India’ or the film ‘Bengali’ – it is conducted through the medium of a third party, so that no one can say that Britishers are behind it. As compared with this, German propaganda is crude and obtrusive and it therefore sometimes defeats its own purpose” p. 362, [3]. We learn more about “Mother India’’ from Girija K. Mookerjee. He writes, “the British engineered the visit of an American writer called Catherine Mayo who wrote a scurrilous book on India called Mother India which, it was proved later, was highly subsidized by the British Government in order to defame Indian leaders and the nationalist movement’’ p. 22, [10].
The poor treatment of the Indian students in Germany and the anti-India statements of the Nazi leaders continued until 1938 at least. We learn this from what Bose told Nazi official Dr Oswald Urchs in Bombay on December 22, 1938, in the presence of N. G. Ganpuley: 1) Indian students were badly treated in Germany and their number was declining 2) Nazi leaders continued to make anti-Indian statements and the German approach to ‘the race question’ was a matter of concern for the Indians pp. 370-371, [15], p. 19, [16].
Section B.2: Subhas Chandra Bose’s opposition to the Nazi racism against Indians
Considering Subhas Chandra Bose’s public positions before the second world war, we show his uncompromising opposition to Nazi racism against Indians. He advised the Indian students in Europe as to how to publicly protest against such racism and even drafted the memorandum they could send to the German Foreign Office. He wrote letters to the German authorities suggesting concrete measures that would mitigate the impact of such racism. He also published articles decrying such racism. He joined forces with the Japanese Ambassador in Germany to protest against white-supremacist statements issued by Hitler, and publicly supported the halting of India’s trade with Germany as part of that protest. In his meeting with Nazi officials in India he demanded that the insults of the Indians stop.
Ashok Bose describes how Subhas Chandra Bose, who was then living in Austria, had proactively countered the above outrages: “The Indian students’ organization in Munich and Berlin drew uncle’s [Bose’s] attention to the offensive passages in Rosenburg’s pamphlet and sought his intervention with the authorities. On that subject, uncle wrote to me from Berlin on the 12th August : “The pamphlet you sent me reached my hands some time ago. I was tackling the authorities here over the statements of Herr Hitler and Dr. Rosenburg – but so far I have had no result. If you people in Munich want to do something in the matter – I have no objection. I think we could agitate in the Indian Press …..Friends here are also agitated and they are talking of boycott. The rank and file, however, do not hold the views of the leaders” pp. 83-84, [11].
Ashok Bose continues, “The Indian students there (in Geneva) met uncle at a reception on the 21st [March, 1934] and sought his guidance as to what should be done to lodge an effective protest with the Governmental authorities against the mounting campaign of slander and hate that had been let loose on non-white races. ….Fortunately, the propaganda campaign had not till then affected the Universities and educational institutions, but there was every apprehension that discrimination would soon spread to those institutions unless the campaign was checked without delay. As advised by uncle, we addressed a lengthy and strongly-worded memorandum to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Germany detailing our complaints which were substantiated by facts in print. We in Munich were the first among the Indian students’ associations in Germany to send the memorandum to the Foreign Office and this was followed by those in Berlin, Dresden, and other places. In fact the memorandum was drafted by uncle himself in English, and we had it rendered into German by Dr. Ludwig Frank of Munich, who was a retired headmaster and a friend of India. The memorandum was signed on behalf of the Hindusthan Club (Indian Association) by Mr. M. S. Khanna as its Chairman and the writer, as its Secretary. A very important role for collecting facts for the memorandum was played by Mr. Ajit Sen who was then a student of photography and cinematography in Munich’’ pp. 91-92, [11].
We now reproduce Subhas Chandra Bose’s writings that sought to counter and halt the racism against Indians in Nazi Germany:
- In the second half of 1933, he met Alfred Rosenberg, the chief ideologue of the Nazis. He insisted in the meeting that Indians were not untermenschen (lesser humans), which annoyed Rosenburg. In turn, the racist Rosenberg managed to annoy him so much that he wrote a very unfavourable article for a newspaper about the Nazis and caused much distress to the German office, as it found great attention among the Indian nationalists pp. 14-15, [16].
- On 5 April 1934, in a memorandum he submitted to the Ministerialrat Syckhoff in Berlin, he documented the recurrence of anti-India articles in German Press and statements of German leaders like Hitler, Goering, the race propaganda against India in Germany (relevant parts of this memorandum has been reproduced before). He made some concrete suggestions as to how the racist discrimination against Indians can be ended: “ I suggest that if friendly relations between Germany and India are to be maintained then the following steps should be taken: 1) The anti-Indian propaganda in the German Press should be stopped;
2) A statement friendly to India should be made by responsible German leaders in order to nullify the effect of unfriendly statements made in the past ;
3) The proposed racial legislation against Indians should be dropped. Further, race propaganda in German schools and universities should not be so conducted as to generate hatred against Indians ‘’ pp. 63-64, [3].
- In Germany, 1934-1935, his main concern was the racist abuses suffered by the Indians, and the race bill, which forbade Indians from marrying Germans p. 15, [16]. On 7 November 1935 he wrote to Dr. Thierfelder, flagging the current pro-British attitude of the German government, the race propaganda against colored races in Germany and the anti-India attitude of the German press. Parts of this letter has been reproduced earlier. We now reproduce the parts that propose concrete actions, such as those that would secure the interests of the Indian students in Germany. We note that how his concern was remedying only the components of racism that affected the Indians (eg, the highlighted parts):
“I have many friends in Germany, and among them enthusiastic members of the National Socialist Party. While talking with them, I often express opinions as to how our mutual relations could be improved. My suggestions are as follows:
1) A toning down of the race propaganda, so that a negative opinion about Indians is not aroused by it.
2) An open report by one of the top-ranking leaders which will clearly represent the true attitude of the new Germany towards India.
3) A prohibition on anti-Indian propaganda in the German press. Even though I am tabling these proposals, I consciously avoid demanding anything which might be difficult to implement. For example, if a pro-British policy brings advantages to Germany, I have no reason to demand an anti-British policy, though as Indians we would welcome any such German attitude or policy. Similarly, I do not demand that you give up your race theory, no matter how many scientific reasons we might offer against it. We only want it to be modified so that it wittingly or unwittingly, does not provoke any bad opinion about Indians. Moreover, we also do not wish for once that you write in favour of Indians in the German Press if you do not want to – we only ask that you do not write against India.
…
You would be pleased to know that recently the Foreign Office in a letter addressed to the ‘Federation of Indian Students Abroad’ said that steps would be taken to halt the anti-Indian propaganda in the German Press. The letter (No. III C 3486 of the Foreign Office) contains the following lines, ‘The race-relations political office of the NSDAP and the Reich ministry for Public Education and Propaganda have been informed against any anti-Indian attacks in the press.’ But nothing has been done in this direction, because we see that this propaganda is continuing. At the beginning of this month, a newspaper of the standard of ‘Frankfurter Zeitung’ wrote a very important article in which it praised the new constitution for India. But the same has been condemned by each and every student of Indian politics.
Something more before I end. Many Indian students, who study in Germany, have complained that they are receiving no support to undergo practical training in German firms. In one instance, a German factory was ready to accept an Indian volunteer, but the Committee of the German government did not give the necessary permission. Till now, Germany exercised a strong pull on Indian students because they could, quite easily, apply for practical training in German factories. Now, if this benefit is no longer available, obviously the number of Indian students prepared to come to Germany will be sharply reduced. For those students who appealed to me for help, I tried to find openings in Czechoslovakia, Poland and Italy, and I achieved great success. ….I am really happy to know that the German Academy offered financial help to Indian students. But, at the same time, I would like to observe that apart from those Indians who need financial help, there are many others who come on their own and who only desire to have the necessary help for their study and practical training when they are in Germany. The German Academy can also extend meaningful assistance to them by arranging benefits on a broader basis, specially in the sphere of practical training in factories.
……..
Please let me know if you are in contact with the German-Orient Association and if this Association could be of help to Indian students in offering facilities for practical training‘’ pp. 112-115, [3].
Subhas Chandra Bose led the protests against Hitler’s January 1936 speech claiming the birth right of the white races to rule the world and acquire colonies. In the words of Ashok Bose, “About this time, Hitler delivered a speech extolling the virtues of the white races, specially of ‘nordic’ origin, characterizing them as natural rulers over other peoples. This evoked such a storm of protest all the world over, in which uncle and the Japanese Ambassador in Germany took the leading part, that an explanation in reply was subsequently issued by the National Socialist Party that their leader’s statement did not apply to India and Japan.‘’ pp. 123-124, [11]. In March, 1936, Bose said in a press conference in Geneva, “During the last few weeks, my mind has been greatly disturbed at the insulting remarks made by the German Fuhrer … This is not the first time that India has been insulted by … the leaders of Nazi Germany. It is quite clear that Germany today is determined to curry favour with England by insulting India. I can have no objection if the Germans desire to lick the boots of the Britishers, but it they think that … an insult hurled at India will be quietly pocketed by us, they are sadly mistaken… the Indian people can no longer be insulted with impunity’’ p. 16, [17].
We now describe Bose’s writings in protest against Hitler’s speech:
- On 11.3.1936, he wrote in Bangla to Amiya Chakravarty, who was the President of an organization in Europe, that in view of this speech by Hitler he had publicly supported the halting of India’s trade with Germany, with the hope that if Germany’s trade suffered, the German business lobby would exert pressure on Hitler to course correct. He also encouraged Amiya to sharply refute Hitler’s speech in capacity of the president of an organization: “You must have noticed in the newspapers the excitement that Hitler’s speech has created in India. It seems to me that there should be a sharp refutation on behalf of the federation. I am saying this after serious consideration. The result of such refutation will be favourable rather than unfavorable. I do not know what the Indians who are in Germany will do, perhaps it is a little difficult for them to do anything. But those of us who are abroad, our duty is clear. In this matter you should not feel hesitant. If it takes too much time or it is inconvenient to get the committee’s approval before making such a refutation, then you, as the president, can make the reply of the federation. If some cowardly person in the future raises some question about this, then you can say that at home you have always worked with the backing of public support. But when Indians at home are registering strong dissent, then, it becomes doubly necessary for Indians who are in Europe, to do the same. After a great deal of thought, I have sent a protest for the Indian newspapers (at home) and supported the proposal for halting trade with Germany. Very soon I will send a personal protest to the German leaders. But because behind me there is no organization, perhaps it won’t have too much effect. The protest that the federation made two years ago had some effect because a very mild reply came from ‘The Foreign Office’. In your protest you might refer to the fact that the spirit of that letter has not been followed up. Instead a new insult has been inflicted on the Indian people. You have perhaps noted that in Japan there has been an ‘official’ protest against this ……Against Germany, we (Indians) have many complaints. The other day (in January), I made known my protest, when I was in Berlin. They worship strength, not weakness. ….Against Italy there are complaints from other standpoints- not from the standpoint of India’s interest or prestige. But against Germany, we have many accusations from India’s standpoint. There is no early possibility of the fall of Hitler’s Govt. If war breaks out some day and the war weakens Germany, then such a fall is possible, otherwise not. But if as a result of our boycott, Germany’s trade suffers, then German businessmen will put pressure on Hitler. Now, in Germany there are two groups that are highly successful- army and businessmen ‘’ pp. 152-153, [3].
- On 25-3-1936, he condemned the recent German nationalism as narrow, selfish and arrogant in a letter to Dr Thierfelder and refuted the white-supremacism in Hitler’s recent speech citing history. He also flagged the fact that Nazi Germany was letting loose a spree of anti-India propaganda in its press in an effort to curry favour with England. He concluded his letter saying that while India was fighting the greatest Empire in the world for her freedom and for her rights, she cannot brook any insult from any other nation or any attack on her race or culture: “When I first visited Germany in 1933, I had hopes that the new German nation which had risen to a consciousness of its national strength and self-respect, would instinctively feel a deep sympathy for other nations struggling in the same direction. Today I regret that I have to return to India with the conviction that the new nationalism of Germany is not only narrow and selfish but arrogant. The recent speech of Herr Hitler in Munich gives the essence of Nazi philosophy. I know that the Deutsche Nachrichtenburo has sent a dementi relating to this speech, to India and to Japan. But we do not accept this dementi, because it has not been published in the British or in the German press. The new racial philosophy which has a very weak scientific foundation stands for the glorification of the white races in general and the German race in particular. Herr Hitler has talked about the destiny of white races to rule over the rest of the world. But the historical fact is that up till now the Asiatics have dominated Europe more than have the Europeans dominated Asia. One has only to consider the repeated invasions of Europe by Mongols, the Turks, the Arabs (Moors), the Huns, and other Asiatic races to understand the strength of my argument. I am saying this not because I stand for the domination of one people by another, but simply because I want to point out that it is historically false to say that Europe and Asia should not be at peace with one another. It therefore pains us that the new nationalism in Germany is inspired by selfishness and racial arrogance. Herr Hitler in his Mein Kampf denounced Germany’s old colonial policy. But Nazi Germany has begun to talk of her old colonies ‘’ .
Apart from this new racial philosophy and selfish nationalism there is another factor which affects us even more. Germany in her desire to curry favour with Great Britain finds it convenient to attack India and the Indian people. We have had repeated examples of this in the history of the National Socialist Party. The attempt began nearly ten years ago when the party published a pamphlet in English for propaganda in England consisting of anti-Indian passages from the books of Herr Hitler and Dr Rosenburg.
I have great regard for the work that you and the Deutsche Akademie have been doing for an understanding between our two countries. But I feel sorry, that owing to the reasons given above, much of this work is being undone. I can only hope that in the long run your efforts will prevail ; but the present atmosphere in Germany is rather disappointing for us. The older generation who had been brought up under the influence of a different racial and political philosophy are quite different from the people who are trained under the influence of a new and different philosophy- racial and political. I know that we shall not lose our old friends, but I doubt if we shall gain new ones from among the new generation. According to our past experience, the Germans were a very warm-hearted people, particularly friendly to Indians. But do we know what will happen when the new education has had its full effect on the rising generation?
I am extremely thankful to you for the efforts you made in arranging the meeting in January last. I had two long meetings with Ministerialdirektor Dieckhoff and Gesandter Dr Prufer. Both of them were personally very cordial to me, as on former occasions. But the result of the interview was practically nil. I left them with the conviction that they attached very little importance to the Indian question. I also had the feeling that if an understanding with India is to be realized, some other Ministry or Ministries should be approached.
After the speech of Herr Hitler, I have issued a very strong statement to the Indian press which I hope will be published in due course. But I would like to say this before I leave Europe that I am still prepared to work for an understanding between Germany and India. This understanding must be consistent with our national self-respect. When we are fighting the greatest Empire in the world for our freedom and for our rights and when we are confident of our ultimate success, we cannot brook any insult from any other nation or any attack on our race or culture.’’ pp. 165-167, [3].
From Hotel Eden, Bose wrote a letter of protest to Preufer against the law that would make the Negroes, coloured people, and Jews second class citizens and that `mark of inferiority will be permanently put on India as a nation.’p. 158, [18].
Given this ambience, Bose did not succeed in eliciting support for India’s freedom from the German political establishment in the 1930s. This becomes apparent from Bose’s letter on 30.1.1936 to Mrs. Vetter, on board S.S. Washington (near Havre, France), “Germany is now very pro-British” p. 139, [3]. Historian Romaine Hayes notes, “With his arrival in Berlin [in July 1933], the Nazis had to decide what to do with their recalcitrant Indian guest. This was complicated by his defiant and radical antecedents, including public quarrels with Gandhi and Nehru, criticism of Nazi policies, not to mention the fact that he had come to Germany with an elaborate, preordained political and military programme, and it seemed little concerned with what his hosts might have in mind. Bose had certainly not come to obey Nazi directives ‘’ p. xxvii, [17], and “Although received by Nazi dignitaries, his proposals for Indo-German cooperation failed to elicit a response from regime which sought a rapprochement, if not an alliance, with Britain ‘’ p. xxvi, [17].
Girija K. Mookerjee has noted, “ In Germany his success was very limited, because the National Socialists were not interested in Indian independence….. First, he did not have any contact with any important National Socialist and when, during his stay in Europe, he tried to meet some German officials in the Foreign Office, he did not succeed and, in fact, he returned to India quite disappointed with the attitude of the German National Socialists towards the cause of Indian freedom.’’ pp. 36-37, [10]. He met Mussolini in 1933 (Gandhi also met Mussolini, in 1931) p. 90, [8]. But he could not meet Hitler. Hitler was more eager to meet with Aga Khan than with Bose, because the former was a conservative, loyal to the British p. 5, [17]. During 1935-1936, while Bose was trying to build an anti-British rapport with the Germans on the basis of shared injustices to both Germany and India by the British, the Germans closed down the League against Oppressed Nations and the League against Imperialism which were somewhat in opposition to British imperialism p. 10, [17].
Nonetheless, Bose continued to secure the interests of Indians in Germany even after returning to India. On December 22, 1938, Congress President Bose met with Nazi official Dr Oswald Urchs in Bombay, in presence of Dr. F. Wulfestieg and N. G. Ganpuley. In the meeting which lasted several hours he said 1) Indian students were badly treated in Germany and their number was declining 2) Nazi leaders continued to make anti-Indian statements and the German approach to ‘the race question’ was a matter of concern for the Indians 3) he had a friendly attitude to Germany and among the Indian leaders only Nehru was markedly anti-German pp. 370-371, [15], p. 19, [16]. Mihir Bose writes, “ Bose, explaining the hostility of the Indian press, said that the Hitler regime must stop insulting the Indians. He cited the offending passages on India in Mein Kampf, Rosenberg’s writings, and Goering’s amazing attack on Gandhi … What, he asked, were the foreign policy aims of the Reich? Did it plan to uphold the `ageing and tired Empire of Britain in the event of its downfall?’ ‘’ pp. 226-227, [18]. Urchs mentioned the anti-German attitude of Indian leaders pp. 370-371, [15], p. 19, [16]. Urchs and Wulfestieg could not however answer Bose’s questions, but urged the authorities in Berlin to listen to what Bose said. But Berlin was not interested p. 227, [18]. Kuhlman writes, “As the report of this meeting distinctly shows, Bose had clearly recognised that with the Third Reich a power had risen that could create great difficulties for his opponent, England. As a realistically thinking politician, he could not but again and again seek contact with his enemy’s enemy. On the other hand, Bose’s dislike of the Nazi ideology can also be noticed. The form of government of the Third Reich did not correspond with his ideas, and the racial policy hurt his national pride.’’ p. 19, [16].
Section B.3: Positive assessment of military and administrative efficacy of the Nazi regime
Subhas Chandra Bose had however, once in a while, commended the military and administrative efficacy of the Nazi regime in Germany, though he qualified his admiration for their abilities with criticism of their moral failings. We enumerate the instances we have found – 1933-1940:
- Between 1933 and 1937, Bose wrote an article titled The Pros and Cons of Office Acceptance, in which he described Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Kemal Pasha as successful administrators p. 382, [3].
- In 1936, when Bose was asked about his admiration for Hitler, he replied, “It is entirely news to me. But there is much in his organisation that is worth studying’’ p. 169, [18].
- In his Haripura Presidential Address of the Indian National Congress delivered in February 1938, he said that “Further, an institution like the Labour Service Corps of the Nazis deserves careful study and, with suitable modification may prove beneficial to India.’’ p. 24, [4].
- In October 1938 in an article in The Congress Socialist he criticized the Nazi aggression in Europe. The analysis was clinical, disinterested and objective: “The Nazis had previously torn up the treaty of Versailles and marched into the Rhineland to occupy it militarily. The French Secret Service had reported to the French Government that Hitler’s instructions to the Reichswehr (German Army) were that if the French Army invaded Germany, the Reichswehr were to fall back and avoid a war, Blum had not the guts to call Hitler’s bluff. Austria’s independence had been guaranteed by the big powers but when the Nazis invaded Austria and occupied it, nobody had the courage to lodge a protest even. In July, 1934, Italy had threatened invasion if the Germans entered Austria when Dolfuss was murdered, but in 1938, Italy was completely changed. Small wonder that in a few months, not content with grabbing Austria, Germany wanted to annex the Sudetenland. Once again Hitler thought that nobody would venture to call his bluff. What made Hitler contemplate a fresh invasion? He was assured that Italy would not object to it and the big powers would not venture to fight him. Their armament programme was not ready, particularly that of England. Now or never was, therefore, Hitler’s motto. It is urged that Hitler was on the point of invading Czechoslovakia when Chamberlain rushed to meet him in an aeroplane. Was this projected invasion a make-believe or a reality? If you ask me, I shall say that Germany would never have ventured into a war, knowing that Great Britain would be arrayed against her. Therefore, in my opinion, British politicians were either befooled by Hitler or they deliberately lent a helping hand to German hegemony over the continent. British surrender to Hitler meant the virtual substitution of the Anglo-German Alliance in place of an Anglo-French Alliance…It is my considered opinion that a word from Britain to Germany to the effect that she should stand by France and Czechoslovakia would have sufficed to make Hitler give up all his plans for attacking Czechoslovakia ’’ pp. 58-60, [4].
- On 13 March 1940, he analyzed the military and strategic reasons for German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, in an article in `Forward Bloc’, and admired the German ability to plan the military moves in detail, prepare for long and move with lightning rapidity at the time of their choice. He concluded the article acknowledging the moral shortcomings of the regime: “It seems that in modern warfare speed and mobility are exceedingly important factors. There is an old saying – `Well begun is half done.’ One should in these days modify it and say – `Quick begun is half done.’ Germany has been practising this teaching with scrupulousness and precision. Whether in the military occupation of the Rhineland, or in the annexation of Czechoslovakia or in the invasion of Poland or in the latest inroad into Scandinavia, she has always acted with lightning rapidity. By attacking suddenly the enemy’s nerve-centres she has tried to overwhelm or paralyze him before he could realize what had happened. Such swooping tactics presuppose careful planning over a long period and adequate preparation in accordance with it. Nazi Germany has been a past-master in this art of detailed planning and careful preparation. Besides detailed planning and adequate preparation, energy and vigour are needed to fulfil a particular programme according to a timetable. All these qualities the Nazis certainly possess. Owing to their speed and mobility they have invariably caught the enemy napping and overpowered him without much difficulty ….Germany may be a fascist or an imperialist, ruthless or cruel, but one cannot help admiring these qualities of hers – how she plans in advance, prepares accordingly, works according to a time-table and strikes with lightning speed. Could not these qualities be used for promoting a nobler cause ? ’’ pp. 81-82, [5].
- On 15 June, 1940, he analyzed the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany: “When the Nazi hordes crossed the German frontier into Holland and Belgium only the other day with the cry of `Nach Paris’ on their lips, who could have dreamt that they would reach their objective so soon? A miracle in military warfare has happened, as it were, before our eyes and for an analogy, one has to turn to the Napoleonic wars or to the catastrophe at Sedan in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 …. The Nazis have performed a miracle with the help of a new military technique, invented by the younger generals and military strategists ‘’ pp. 112-113, [5].
Bose periodically alluded to fascism in positive light. Gordon writes, “When Bose referred to the accomplishments of fascism, he mentioned the efficiency of the fascist state in transforming a languid society into a dynamic one. The focus was on means, and on the role of the forceful leader. These few positive references to fascism do not specify any particular nation and tend to be vague and general, but it is likely to be with Italy in mind that Bose wrote ‘’ p. 279, [15]. In “The Indian Struggle’’ written in 1934-1935 for example, he had called for, “a synthesis between Communism and Fascism’’ in Indiap. 351, [1]. Later, on January 24, 1938, he had clarified: “But I should like to point out that when I was writing the book, Fascism had not started on its imperialist expedition, and it appeared to me merely an aggressive form of nationalism” pp. 2-3, [4]. He had also repeatedly pointed out the moral failings of Italy, the then principal proponent of fascism. In November 1935, he analyzed the geopolitics of the Italian campaign in Abyssinia. He acknowledged that Italy was wronging Abyssinia in the process p. 324, [3], but drew its moral equivalence with the imperialist designs of the British, French and Japanese on Abyssinia. He also denounced the deployment by the British of Indian troops in Abyssinia under the false pretext of protecting Indians there p. 323, [3]. In his Haripura Presidential Address of the Indian National Congress delivered in February 1938, he denounced Italy and Japan as “militant, aggressive and imperialist.’’ p. 7, [4].
Section B.4: Friendship with the Kurti Family in Berlin
Subhas Chandra Bose’s world-view and human-side is best understood through the description that his friend Kitti Kurti has left of him. Kitti Kurti was a Jewish woman who had lived in Austria and subsequently in Berlin in the 1930s. She met Bose in the 1930s in Europe and held him in high esteem. She was naturally aghast to learn from him that he was associating with high ranking Nazis. But he told her that he undertook this rotten business as a last resort to end the despair, misery and humiliation of India emanating from her subjection to British imperialism which was a s intolerable as Nazism. India and her people can not continue to be starved, degraded and exploited. He described the Jews as an old and fine race, who have been miserably persecuted. He could see the connections between the Jews and the Indians, in that both are of old oriental origin, which conferred upon both depth and insight. She understood that his choice was in reality a sacrifice of his personal inclinations, and developed a deep and real respect for him. Despite his single-minded preoccupation with the liberation of his motherland, he cared deeply about the well-being of her family and counselled her to leave for US as soon as possible, rather than relocating to Czechoslovakia, which she was considering. He counselled against Czechoslovakia because it was in itself weak and was the neighbour of the powerful and aggressive Germany. The Kurtis did flee to US to escape Hitler’s holocaust. We reproduce the relevant parts from her memoir of her interactions with him.
During his first visit to the Kurti home, perhaps around 1934, Bose told them that he was coming directly from Goering’s office to their home. Mrs. Kurti writes, “My husband and I are aghast. We catch our breath. For the moment we are too surprised, too taken aback, to think. “What can this man have to do with Goering ? How can he stand the sight, the smell of a Goering, the big brute, the crazed bull of Nazi Germany? If ever there were opposites, complete opposites, surely they are Bose and Goering. I realize, of course, that through the total ruin of Europe, especially of Great Britain, India might be able to gain independence. I also know that this could result only from a terrible and devastating war, that would completely weaken Europe and, in the end, bring self-rule to India, as well as other colonies. It strikes me too that the very symbol and symptom of the physical ruin that would come by war is the spiritual and moral collapse of Germany and its people which I am witnessing ‘’ ‘’ p. 10, [13]. Mrs. Kurti writes, “I know the trash of Europe, represented by the Hitler-Goering-Goebbels triumvirate, the S.A. and the S.S. troops. And backing the mob in all countries (as in every period of history) are the great opportunists – big business, giant industry, high financial circles, the fickle press – triumphant now, as in all times of decline. I know that jointly they can destroy us all, morally and physically, inside and out, through and through. Mr. Bose apparently knows it too. And, on the instant, I know that this is why he is in Berlin ‘’ pp. 10-11, [13].
Mrs. Kurti continues, “For a moment we face each other and understand. I am perturbed. But he [Bose] only lifts his shoulders as if to say : “What else is there to do? Rotten business, but it has to be done. Somebody has to do it. Life offers us only a single chance and we have to seize it. India and its people have been starved, degraded, exploited. This cannot go on forever. I am doing this job because I have to. There is no other way. Can’t you see ?’’ p. 11, [13].
Mrs. Kurti writes, “Now it is my turn to raise my shoulders in slight protest. Then I say hesitantly: “I do understand. I too would do anything to free my country, except to deal with the Nazis; that I could not do. I could never come to terms with them. They are repugnant to me. Loathsome. Something I shrink from touching. They are like pestilence to me – infectious. Can you really ally yourself with Satan’s representatives on earth, to save your world ? Can you ?
“It is dreadful”, he [Bose] answers, “but it must be done. It is our only way out. India must gain her independence, cost what it may. And it may mean the collapse of Europe. But it is a rotten Europe, Mr. and Mrs. Kurti, and therefore does not concern me. Surely there are excellent people, here and in England, for whom I feel respect and affection; some may perish and die, and I shall be sad over their loss. And there are some people in India who may survive, though they certainly do not deserve to. But let us not be sentimental. I am doing what I have to do; what must be done. Have you an idea, Mr. and Mrs. Kurti, of the despair, the misery, the humiliation of India? Can you imagine her suffering and indignation? British imperialism there can be just as intolerable as your Nazism here, I assure you. But it is, perhaps, difficult for you to understand it all” ‘’ p. 11, [13]. If this sounds harsh, Bose once gladly committed himself and his dearly-loved nephew Amiya Bose (the eldest son of his closest sibling Sarat Bose) to the gallows, for the cause of India’s independence, promising him that in such an eventuality, he would explain to Amiya’s mother why Amiya had to be put through such a predicament [12].
Mrs. Kurti perhaps did not know of this interaction between Subhas Chandra Bose and his beloved nephew, but nonetheless she understood her. She writes, “There is a pause, a moment of gravity. We do not find the right answer, for it is impossible for us to feel about things as he does. But we have a genuine understanding for the man. We sense him to be preeminently a man of the spirit ; a man of deep, true insight and experience who, at the sacrifice of his personal inclinations, has assumed the role of a politician. Our respect for him is deep and real ‘’ pp. 11-12, [13].
She told Bose, “The Jews, as you know, are a very old race, Mr. Bose. They have several thousand years of culture and suffering; a long and sad road of incredible experiences behind them”. Bose responded, “Of course, Mrs. Kurti, they are an old and fine race, and they have been miserably persecuted. Like us Indians, they are of old oriental origin, which gives them depth and insight. I also know that they are the originators of the one God, the monotheism of Western culture, and that its offspring Christianity has sprung from it. By the way, in this instance too, the Oedipus Complex seems to apply : the ‘Child’ (Christianity) resents the ‘Father’ (Judaism). Hence the ‘Father’ resents the ‘Child’. What else can you expect ?….Basically the Christian faith is an extremely deep and mystical religion that originated from a true, living experience. Today, however, it has dried up, become dogma.” pp. 39-40, [13].
During Bose’s last visit to Mrs. Kurti’s home, which was when Second World War looked imminent, he advised her, “Mrs Kurti, I am surprised at you. Conditions are forbidding, the spirit terrible ! Why do you stay here ? You should leave this country, the sooner the better ! “ Mrs Kurti told him that they were planning to move to Czechoslovakia. Bose said, “To Czechoslovakia? But Mrs. Kurti, Czechoslovakia is far too close and far too weak. It is the neighbor of a powerful and aggressive country. It is in a highly precarious position. I thought you once mentioned the United States.” She said, it takes a long time to obtain a visa for the United States, and “It is not easy to leave one’s job, one’s country, one’s family, all that one has loved and treasured. But we are leaving for the United States just as soon as possible.” Bose responded, “Well, just don’t keep postponing. The very earth is trembling under our feet. Conditions are precarious”. Mrs. Kurti said, “Yes, I know. I have no illusions whatsoever. I know all about the Nazis, their concentration camps, their methods of violence and ruthlessness. And I am also aware of the impending war. It will come snow it will be hell.” Bose said. “Quite so. Then please don’t wait.” …All this was said with great reticence, in the extraordinary way that was his. But beneath it all, I felt his concern and I was grateful for it. I was also glad to note his deep contempt for the Nazis, a feeling which he did not attempt to hide from me” pp. 48-49, [13]
We conclude this section with an assessment from Leonard Gordon: “Bose wanted India to have a strong central government after independence, but this did not make him a Hitler or a Mussolini or a Ribbentrop. He was not a quisling – i.e., someone who betrayed his own country – and not a fascist in the European mold of this period. Bose despised Nazi racism and brutality, but he was so set on his one goal that he screened out fascist brutality more thoroughly than some of the other Indians in Berlin ‘’ p. 454, [15].
References:
[1] Subhas Chandra Bose, “The Indian Struggle’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 2, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose
[2] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Leader of Youth 1929-1932’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 6, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose
[3] “Subhas Chandra Bose, India’s spokesman abroad, Netaji collected works, Volume 8, Letters, articles, speeches and statements 1933-1937” edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose
[4] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Congress President Speeches, Articles and Letters, January 1938-May 1939’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 9, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose
[5] Subhas Chandra Bose, `The Alternative Leadership, Speeches, Articles, Statements and Letters’, June 1939-1941 Netaji Collected Works, Volume 10, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose
[6] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Azad Hind, Writings and Speeches, 1941-May 1943’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 11, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose
[7] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Writings and Speeches, Chalo Delhi, 1943-1945’’, Netaji Collected Works: Volume 12, Edited by Sisisr K. Bose and Sugata Bose
[8] M. R. Vyas, “Passage through a turbulent era”
[9] Girija K. Mookerjee, “Europe at war (1938-1946) – Impressions of war, Netaji and Europe”
[10] Girija K. Mookerjee, “Subhas Chandra Bose’’
[11] Ashok Bose, “My uncle Netaji’’
[12] Amiya Nath Bose, “My uncle Subhas Chandra Bose’’ http://subhaschandrabose.org/my-uncle-subhas-chandra-bose
[13] Kitti Kurti, “Subhas Chandra Bose as I knew him’’
[14] Dilip Kumar Roy, “Netaji-the man: Reminiscences’’
[15] Leonard Gordon, “Brothers against the Raj’’
[16] Jan Kuhlmann, “Netaji in Europe’’
[17] Romaine Hayes, “Subhas Chandra Bose in Nazi Germany’’
[18] Mihir Bose, “The Lost Hero’’
[19] Kautilya, Arthashastra, Translated to English by Shama Shastry
[20] Nirode Barooah, “Germany and the Indians: Between the Wars”
[21] Geoffrey Giles, “Students and National Socialism in Germany”