NAZI SAVAGERY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 December 1943, Page 4

NAZI SAVAGERY

IN OCCUPIED HOLLAND INTENSIFIED OF LATE. PEOPLE HOLDING ON GRIMLY. (By Pieter V. Anen, in the “Christian.. Science Monitor.”) Events in Italy are vitally affecting conditions in the German-occupied Netherlands. The more insecure grows the position of the Germans in the South of Europe, the more they endeavour to entrench themselves in the North. The scantly disguised joy of the Dutch over Mussolini’s downfall and the Allied invasion of Italy drove Reich Commissioner Dr. Arthur Seyss-In-quart and his underlings to new peaks of cruelty. Within the two weeks following the overthrow of Fascism the officially announced executions in the Netherlands rose to 44. Army officers, students, prominent businessmen, teachers, and municipal officials —and one greengrocer —fell before Nazi firing squads. In addition to the “officially” listed victims, the number of those shot “while attempting to escape” has not been disclosed. VERITABLE MANHUNT. In four north-eastern provinces of the Netherlands a veritable manhunt is on. These provinces appear to have been a favourite hiding place for Netherlanders seeking to avoid reinternment as ex-service men, or conscription for forced labour in the Reich. By decree of last August 12, Dr. Seyss-Inquart prohibited all non-resi-dent males over 16 from remaining in the North-east area. General Walter Rauther, head of the Secret Police in Holland, simultaneously ordered his men to comb the district. According to his own statement in the “Deutsche Zeitung in the Netherlands,” a . large number were arrested and many killed. If it were not for the Dutch broadcasts from Radio Oranje in London and from American shortwave stations, the Netherlanders would know little of retent spectacular events. For days the tightly controlled press and radio practically ignored the story of Mussolini’s ouster. When, finally, the news was released it was presented, on orders from Berlin, as a purely Italian affair of no consequence.

The sudden collapse of Fascism is causing many Dutch Nazis concern about their own future. Anton Mussert, leader of the Dutch Nazi Party, and C. J. Huygen, its Secretary-Gen-eral, are reported touring the country to assure their followers that they have chosen the right side. Following the pattern of Nazi exhortation, Mussert is demanding “unshakable faith” from the party members. In a recent editorial in his newspaper “Volk en Vaderland” he wrote that National Socialism would never capitulate and that Hitler was sent by Giod “to save Europe from ruin and guide us toward a happy future.” HOPES OF LIBERATION. The overwhelming majority of the Dutch people who are clearly opposed to Nazism and German domination have very different ideas about their country’s immediate future. An underground newspaper, which reached London in recent weeks, warned its readers against German plans for the hour of defeat and issued instructions aimed at “conserving national strength” for the day when the Allied armies of liberation' would arrive. “Our struggle,” the paper said, “is no longer against Nazification of our life. The great, decisive question is: Will the Netherlands people still be here on the day of liberation? Will Germany suc-

peed in dragging Holland down with her?” The German record of 'destruction in the preparation for evacuation of Naples and in numerous Russian towns provides a sharp edge-to the warning which is not lost on the Dutch. But the German’s display of terror is hardening rather than intimidating the Netherlanders. As one Dutch clandestine newspaper stated in a recent issue: “The more cowardly the usurper, the fiercer our resistance. The Netherlands spirit cannot be broken. The Netherlands fight on.”