EUROPE'S PITIFUL PLIGHT

Chronicle (Levin), 14 April 1949, Page 4

EUROPE'S PITIFUL PLIGHT

Relief V/ork Could Continue For Twenty Years ^o many people thought that now the war was over, so also- would be the work of 'ihe Red Cross Society, in actual f'act there was sufficient mbtive for the continuation of its wp-rk in E.urope for the next- 20 yaars. There was unlimited scope for Red Cross worke'rs, particularly in the supp ying- of clothmg. " ' "" The director-general of the Red Cross V.A.D.'s in New Zealand, Mies H. Iris Crooke, M.B.E.. made this point at the annual meeting of the Levin sub-centre of the Red. Cross Society on Monday, when she . told of her experiences as a delegate to tlfe \yorl'd conference in Stockholm. When referring to some of the large and enterprising relief ScHemes in Britain, Miss Crooke cqmmente'd that she sometimes 'thought that New Zealand had lost fts pionear soirit. "We have a goodly heritage in the Red Cross, and l had to go away to find out the" high esfeem and respect in which it is held," she said in urging •hat refief work should be kept up to an pVer increasing degree to help th~se less" fortunate than ourselves. The speaker ad^ed, however, that if was most heartening to come back and see the work which was •going on in the sub-cenLres- like .Levin. "River Of Confetti." Attending the conference at" Stockholm was an "unforgettable" experience, said Miss Crooke. She described Stockholm 'as a "fairy city" with chlour everywher-e. Even the bicycles were painted in gay colours, and were finished off- with ooloured p'astic seats. There- were more bicycles than in Christchurch. Everyone had them and the colour and gay fight-s reflected dh the river made it look like a river of confetti. Fifty-six nations were represented at the conference and as some of the delegations were up to 20 strong, there wouM be in the vicinity of- 1000. -people preseht. The chairman had been the late Count Bernadotte, whom Miss Crooke described as having remarkable abi.'ity to control the cosmopolitan galhering. Urgent questions had arisen oyer Red Cross matters connected with the war in Palestine and she was impressed by the diplomatic way iri which Count Bernado.te had handled such situations a,s they •gro^e between the Arab and Jewish de'egates. His ready smile and quick turn of speech had often made for the smooth running of che confersnce. The factWat there had bs'en no bitter controversies was the result. It was most inspiring, said Miss Crooke, to see those 56 nations r'epresented all working to making future wars «less cruel and ' disastrous. One of the resulfs of the conference was the protection of civilians by> the outlawing of the mass (jePortation of children, the use of human beings for medical expsriments and laws against humans being forced to suffer indignity. It was disturbing, however, for her to see the empty benches reserved for nations which were und'er *foreign domination. lt showad that even in Red Cross matters polilical ptessure was being brought to bear on them. Inside Europe. Describing her observations of Europe-an countries and" the work of the Red Cross, Miss Crooke said that she was most shocked with Vienna. The devastation was terrible and eyen now there had been rio attemot to clear away the rub-'c-le in many parcs. -She had visitsd the British born community in Vienna, which was suffering great hardships. The British Red Cross was doing what is could, however, to lighten their burde'n. One family she described as living in Vhe harness room of a stable. They existed on £3 10s a month and butter alone was 30s a lb. In Hamburg many of the ruined buildings were mar-ked with black crosses, indicating that the bodies buried there had sti1! not been recovered. The ruins stretched for miles on end. The speaker conciuded her remarks with an outlirie of ^the "marvellous" work done by the Red Cross for the aged and sick in Britain. She also told of 'the wonderful reception given food parcels and how Red Cross vans deiivered hot meals three times a week to the aged and needy. At the conclusion of her talk Miss Crooke was-accorded a hearty vote of thanks on .the motion of the president of the Levin subcentre, Mrs. F. W. Wilson. The patron, Mr. H. B. Burdekin, also expressed his thanks and as Mayor of Levin said he hooed that a meeting could be arranged through the Red Cross in Levin so that the citizens could have an opportunity of listening to Miss Crooke. He felt sure that Levin's citizens would be firmly behind the Red Cross in its work after hearing such information as Miss Crooke had related.