GROWING DEFIANCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 December 1943, Page 4

GROWING DEFIANCE

OF NAZI RULE IN ALSACE DESERTIONS FROM FORCED SERVICE. BLACK MARKET DEALINGS. Stories seeping through German censorship from Alsace indicate growing defiance of Nazi rule, the Berne correspondent of the “Christian Science Monitor” wrote recently. Clandestine listening to foreign radiocasts has increased to the point where the Nazis have pounced down on civilians, confiscating radios and dealing out prison penalties. If the Gestapo knows or even suspects a citizen is listening to foreign radiocasts, it makes an arrest. However, if it just needs radios, it confiscates them and claims that the victim is under suspicion of listening to foreign stations. .Radios confiscated in a recent drive were given to the German Army as a “voluntary contribution” of the . Alsatian populace. PENALTIES FOR SPEECH. Penalties are meted out for using the French “bonjour” and “adieu,” as Alsace is being Germanised. However, France is forced to supply Alsace with beef, as for such purposes as that Alsace still is regarded as part of France. In Germany, one may still say “Bonjour,” but not in Alsace. When army service was voluntary, 800 volunteered in Alsace. Loyal Alsatians were glad when their obituaries appeared. Service now is compulsory, but mostly very young soldiers are sent to the Russian front. They are not used against the British and Americans, as they would desert. COMPULSORY SERVICE. The introduction of compulsory' service first brought really bad relations between the Germans and Alsatians, with military executions for shirkers. To prevent mass flight of young soldiers, the police of Mulhausen and Colmar were sent to strengthen the border guard, but crossed over themselves. Thereupon, the remaining dubious elements in the police force of Mulhausen were sent to Germany, and Hamburg police were sent to Mulhausen. The 8,000 Germans of Mulhausen feel insecure amid 120,000 Alsatians there. Hence Reich Germans must train as a reserve police force to keep the Alsatians in check. From Essen, 6,000 bombed-out workers have joined Alsatian workers, in working slowly. This usually does not matter, as the shortage of material leaves too many workers idle, but when raw' material is there and workers shirk, it is an effective form of sabotage. ESSENERS HIT HARD. Essen workers scold more than native Alsatians, as they feel they have more right to scold, since they have lost everything. Top officials, on the other hand, do not punish them, as they feel the Esseners, in a bad mood, might revolt and are glad that they work at all.* The Germans have pumped much money into these theatres for their Germanisation programme. However,

Alsatians avoid outspokenly Nazi plays or, if forced to attend, apply the moral in an anti-German sense. The Germans are afraid to put on plays in which heroes free themselves from tyrants due to their strengthening Alsatian morale against the.Germans’, If left to themselves, the Alsatians avoid propaganda films and dramas. STOREKEEPERS’ PRACTICES. Alsatian storekeepers refuse to cooperate with the Germans and give them the worst food or none at all, claiming they are sold out. Germans often notify the police, but the practice continues. Rich Alsatians eat the best. Alsatian Nazi block leaders are perhaps even worse treated than the Germans, as non-Nazis not only dislike them but are afraid to give them illegal food. Every city employee is forced to sign a promise for himself and*, his family not to overstep rationing-rules or buy in the “black market” and to co-operate in suppressing the “black market.” Even the police are forced to sign, as often they took bribes to close their eyes. This measure had, no positive result, however. Alsatians do not incline to violence against the Germans as do the Czechs, who also are much worse treated. Germans for slight offences make reprisals against entire families. Recently,' the age limit for the capital penalty was abolished, and the first victim was a 16-year-old boy who drew a caricature against the regime on the walls in Colmar. Alsatian resistance is mostly passive. For any crime, even purse snatching committed in the dark, the capital penalty is given A common crime is the cutting of tires on bicycles, which are irreplaceable, keeping workers from 'the factories.