NAZIS IN ALSACE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 November 1942, Page 6

NAZIS IN ALSACE

a * -- 0 3 | PERSECUTION OF CATHOLICS. | | Details of the persecution of Roman 1 Catholics in Alsace is given in a docuI ment on “Religious Persecution” issued | by the Inter-Allied Information Com- | mittee in London. “As regards anti-Catholic persecutions,” says the report, “in view of the fact that in Alsace and Lorraine there is a wholesale policy of ‘germanisation’ and Nazification, religious persecution coincides with action against French patriotism. School children are forced to learn ‘biology’ (racialism), ‘history’ and ‘geography,’ the text books of which run counter to Christian teaching. At the age of 14 they are forced to join the Hitler Youth or the German Girls’ Un- ' ion. These organisations, apart from their radically anti-Christian spirit, render attendance at religious services or : religious instruction practically impos- '■ sible, by holding their meetings, rallies :

and film-shows on Sunday mornings By a decree of April 1, 1941, everyone reaching the age of 14 may leave the Church —they must simply notify the Mayor. Parents may make this declaration on behalf of their children whe are under 14. “On April 4 the Vatican radio drew attention to the ‘lamentable situation oi the Catholic Church in Alsace.’ AU Catholic Youth movements have beer suppressed. The bishop and chapter oi Metz cathedral were expelled, but the bishop was driven away in a sumptuous car and the incident photographed for purposes of propaganda. “The Abbey of St. Odile, patron saint of Alsace, has been closed and the shrine desecrated. Strasbourg cathedral has been desecrated and is no longer used for religious ceremonies. “By a decree of October 20, 1940, all ecclesiastical property was seized, a measure which touched innumerable Catholic and Protestant charitable, social and other organisations. All teachers must go to Germany to be impregnated with the Nazi ideology and attitude.”