Regarding the Chamberlain writing.
Do you see the warning signs? Or do you dismiss them?
No, I clearly see the warming signs. Chamberlain, like a lot of people, tended to engage in wishful thinking. A wiser man (say Sir Winston) would have simply ignored the Hitlerjugend, giving neither misplaced encouragement nor a gratuitious insult.
Taken by themselves, Chamberlain’s comments are innoculous. In the context of being addressed to the Hitlerjugend, they are ill-advised, at best. In the light of hindsight, we know they were far worse than ill-advised.