PEOPLE STARVING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 October 1941, Page 6

PEOPLE STARVING

IN BELGIUM &■ HOLLAND OWING TO NAZI SEIZURE ; OF SUPPLIES. GERMAN-OWNED GRANARIES SET ON FIRE. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.20 p.m.) LONDON, October 16. The people of Belgium and Holland are on the verge of starvation. This is revealed in reliable reports reaching London. Holland’s arm production is being sent to Germany. Half to three-quarters of the Belgian industrial production is being requisitioned by Germany. German-owned granaries have been set alight by infuriated Belgians.

In Holland the egg ration is one a month and the cheese ration an ounce a week. The Dutch potato crops are going to Germany, while Holland receives bad potatoes from Poland. People with an income of less than £4 a week find it impossible to purchase necessities at current prices. The “Vrijdederland” says the Germans admit that the situation in Holland is serious. Roiting occurred in Utrecht, leading to clashes between Germans and civilians. An independent Belgian agency says the recent replacement of German troops by Italians in Belgium was unsuccessfully. The Italians tried to fraternise in the cafes, telling the Belgians that they were in the same boat, because they only wished deliverance from the Germans. The German occupation authorities heard of this arid as a result, fifteen days after the Italians’ arrival they were withdrawn and the Germans again took over.