BERLIN’S ORDEAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 November 1943, Page 4

BERLIN’S ORDEAL

LIFE OF CITY UNHINGED CLEARING UP POSTPONED. WORK WILL OCCUPY MONTHS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.0 a.m.) LONDON, November 26. Rain has begun to fall in Berlin, giving the population its first relief from fire and smoke since Monday. All this week, Berliners have had to wear goggles or to hold handkerchiefs over their faces as a protection from sparks, ashes and smoke. Al! offices have been closed and employees have been given time off while A.R.P. work and cleaning were being carried out. One Swedish correspondent likens Berlin to a battlefield after a prolonged artillery barrage. He adds that even undamaged factories are not working, because of transport difficulties. A Swedish official who has arrived from Berlin said the most damage was caused by fire, but comparatively few people had been killed compared with Hamburg, where the narrow streets trapped thousands. Other reports from Berlin state that no bread or milk was on sale in Berlin shops yesterday. Crowds of people waited vainly outside shops for sup-, plies. Many people are still sleeping in debris-littered streets. Firemen have been so busy that they are unable to dig into ruined air raid shelters for the bodies of victims. Rescue work has been confined to a few areas, as systematic clearing up is impossible at present. It will take months.

FLIGHT FROM CITY

IN SPITE OF GOVERNMENT ACTION. 400,000 PEOPLE HOMELESS. (Received This Day, 11.40 a.m.) LONDON, November 26. The Exchange Telegraph Agency’s Stockholm correspondent says the German Ministry of Munitions, which is now situated in Breslau, is appealing to - factories to send copies of documents destroyed in Berlin. The old Nazi slogan: “Fuehrer we thank you” has been chalked on Berlin's .bomb-shattered buildings, say Swiss reports. “La Suisse’s” Berlin correspondent declared that, “it is impossible to stop the flight of Berliners from the city, despite the Government's energetic measures. Those leaving the city without a permit are not given food cards. After hours of the most complete disorganisation, the- authorities have begun to concentrate on those left homeless, who are estimated to number 400,000. They are apparently to be sent to a collection camp. Thousands of foreign workers are being sent to Berlin to reinforce the fire fighters and rescue workers.” According to “Vrij Nederland,” the Dutch newspaper published in London, the entire Dutch population of Utrecht and Eindhoven has been ordered to move out to make room for bombedout Germans. The Dutch must leave their houses in perfect order. Only books and a few clothes may be taken away. The R.A.F. raids on Berlin have captured Russian headlines. The newspapers are printing all despatches from & London. The “Red Star” says the British and American air forces are weakening the enemy’s military might. APPEAL TO CZECHS TO ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY IN GERMANY. OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL ARISE DURING RAIDS. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) RUGBY, November 26. A wireless appeal to half a million Czechoslovak slave workers employed in Germany and Austria to use the R.A.F. raids as a means for escaping, is being made from London. The appeal states:— “Yesterday it was Berlin, tomorrow it will be Munich, Nuremburg, Leipzig, Dresden, Dusseldorf and Vienna. During bombing, panic and chaos ensue. Registration files are often destroyed and Gestapo control is weakening. Workers' in Western Germany, try to escape into France, Belgium and Hol-, land. Workers in Southern Austria can go to brotherly Yugoslav. Workers in central and eastern Germany and -in Northern Austria can return home to Bohemia and Slovakia. It is difficult, but a helping hand is being stretched out to you at home in the south and west by brothers and friends. We have received news that in forests of Bohemia and Slovakia you can find refuge. In Germany, on the other hand, all industrial towns one by one will go, up in the flames of hell.”