IN GERMANY

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 259, 15 November 1939, Page 4

IN GERMANY

PRIVATE LETTERS CONDITION OK THE PEOPLE PEOPLE STILE “LISTEN-iN” News by Mail. LON DO A, Oct. 5, A private letter written during the second week of the war by a German living in, a town in Western. Germany reveals some interesting sidelights on the couth Lions jn-cv.idluig. 1 hi- says “Food was extremely bad and scarce during the iirst row days.pl the war. Now it has slightly .mproved. People are very depress■' I. I liey still listen eagerly to foreign broadcasts. So far, wireless sets have not be. n confiscated.

“We listened in to the Austrian refugees! view of vengeance, boieigu stations should improve their p»‘opagamla against Hitler. f .l h/y should replv immeiH«atoly to* the nien<la>-iuus German news. r l he Proadcasts oi records of Hitler’s Loin* France were very improsYiYe." ’ They ought to go on. * “Someone gave me a leaflet tha:fell I’min the air. These lea(lets have an effect. .Mine found its way to mo from a town about lorty miles ofl. They are so clearly printed that it is not even necessary to P’ck them up. You can read them as they lie on the ground.. “Butter, fat and oil are practically unobtainable. It is no longer possible to buy fresh fish or even smoked fish. Boys of the “Hitler Youth” aged fourteen or fifteen-go about giving; adults orders about blacking-out their homes ’ Iho fact that almost all the higher officials of the party have still got their jobs and have not been called up does not impioie tin' attitude of the general public towards flic Nazis. “.Many .women were quite desperate when' the final mobilisation began. On Saturday, August '2(i. there were scenes of open protest in the stieets. Women refused to let their men go until military officials of high rank appeared and they had to. Quite a number o! men tailed to repot t loi service with the colours. They were at once arrested and sent away. I heir families do not know where they are. In a small town nearby a woman wontmad when the police came to take her husband away. In n rural district not far from here a pregnant woman drowned her-self-after her husband had been taken off. There is the case of a, man who was at the front for four years in the last war. He refused to report for service* this time. He was shot, and big wife was informed! that her husband had been sentenced to death and that the sentence, was carried out on such and such a date “No casualty lists are published mul it is forbidden to wear mourning.... During the last few days all the civilians who were left here recoiled evacuation orders. 1 hope- and pray that we shall soon hear more from France and England). What is the trouble there?” Letter frem Southern Germany. The following letter written by a German from a town __ in Southern Germany in the second week oi the war gives an indication of the state ot opinion: “The outbreak of war has uot had the sensational oflcct which mighthave been expected. No one doubted that. Hitler would invado Poland in the end, but it Mas doubted that the British and French would take action. The fact that Great Britain and Franpe. have entered the war. is sum■jtig but slowly into people?*-iruinths....

Many .still - ’believe that neither -Great Britain,/ nor France is in earnest. There is still a, widespread belief that d the Western Powers will withdraw when Poland ,liassH/oeri defeated. “Although it- is true that people -aro worrit'd and, anxious, they are less so than they wercr'Ten days, ago, be-j----cause the bombs they expected have not yet fallen. ‘They haven’t the guts to .start,’ is what’many people say of the Western Powers. “.Reports of Polish atrocities which fill the papers and are ‘documented!’ by photographs feed the hatred ielt for the Poles. Nor is anti-British propaganda unsuccessful. Many people are; honestly convinced that Great liri- f; tain has no other aim than to drive others into war with Germany wlple j keeping but of trouble herself. “All this does not prevent people r from, listening eagerly to foreign radio ' stations whenever they have the chance. Much of the information in y foreign broadcasts is undoubtedly be- v lieved the severe penalties for ;f listening in to foreign, broadcasts do not prevent it.. The only effect it lias j is toi make' people talk - less freely ? about the. foreign news. And yet cv- «- j erybodly. knows of all. thy. others that they are listening-iu, The contradictious between German and foreign ,-j$ news produce a distinct feeling, oi un- .-..A;.] certainty. -.'-M •Ml “Of rebellion or open . resistance J .tliere -is—no sigh., People, leel j that the regime .still has .tremendous ,1 power. One has to put tip with it and keep quiet? ' But there is a good deal , j of gi ambling amongst house- j wives, who arc trying to hoard whatever they can fiiy hands on. Ration cards have bee ft"’ introdreed for almost every thing/' Klven shaving soap . can only be-'"’obtained 'with ration > cards. The ration of Hour is half a pound per head per week.

“Even the farmers can obtain meat and Hour only with ration card’s ...... 'lhe harvest- was not finished in the. beginning of ,-September. For example, potatoes and turnip's have not yet been brought- in. The second hay harvest (so vitally important for cattle feeding) has not been brought in either. Women and girls who have been recruited to help with the harvest cannot cope with the job Even the men who served in the last war have been called up. Most ot them were full of bitterness and resentment when th'ey left for their barracks .... ‘‘During the last few days they have been locruiting in the villages even those youngsters who have not yet done labour .service. Artisans up to fifty years of age have been called up with their assistants. Many of the smaller workshops are lelt without a single hand. The peasants had to hand: all their horses over to the Army, with harness and carriages. li.lvery tractor, every car has been confiscated “There is great contusion in the administrative machine. The officials do not know how to work the breadrationing scheme yet Retail dealers cannot got goods from wholesale dealers There is no sign of enthusiasm amongst the soldiers who are. crowding the innumerable trains. Most of them, even the- young ones, are full of I ears. “The Na:ds RFi'acli systematically.;;‘].t will not be so bad ; we shall soon have finished with those skunks the Poles.’ There were many dramatic scenes when the conscripts said goodbye. Of many who were called up three weeks ago there is as yet no news ”

XEW GAJIE ' Father: ‘'Now, Jane, what were y*>« doing last niff lit at the gate?” Jane: “John and 1. were playing Kitli and Kin.” Father: “Kith and Kin! ‘Whatever do you mean F” Jane: “John said, “Can I kith you?’ and! 1 -said ‘You kin’.” SLMitLK Doctor: “Did you open both your bedroom windows as L told you ? 1 Patient: I’ve got only on© y window, so I opened it twice.” NUT FRKKI A butcher was sawing off a small joint when a indy customer cried: “1 say, you’re giving mo a lot of bon©... ys. with that joint of m£at.” “Oh, no,” said thef*butcher, ' "i’m not giving it; you’ll .find it chajged, on the bill!” v ... , - . - r . ••4