LIFE IN PARIS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21178, 30 July 1940, Page 7

LIFE IN PARIS

UNDER NAZI DOMINATION MEN SULLEN, WOMEN WEEP JEWS’ HOMES OCCUPIED (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, July 26 A Portuguese woman who has returned to Lisbon from Paris described life under the German occupation. “The German troops bivouacked on the Bois de Boulogne,” he said. They seemed to be not warriors from battle, but rather suggested special men brought in for propaganda and for the victory parade. Parisians watched sullenly and women wept. “A German officer asked me: ‘Why do they cry? We do not wish to harm them.’ I said I thought it natural. The officer said: ‘Yes, perhaps it is understandable.’ “The Germans had a complete list of important Parisians, and officers immediately occupied the homes of wealthy Jews. Officers and later their wives filled the fashionable bars and cafes and crowded the shops. The women were most anxious to buy lingerie and underwear. “Immediately after the occupation, milk, butter and potatoes' were not available, but after a few days supplies became normal and the Germans settled down so thoroughly as to suggest that they would be Parisians for a long time. Nevertheless, there is an undercurrent of uneasiness. I heard many remarks about ‘ruthless’ bombings of Hamburg, the Ruhr and other places which certainly affected the Germans, particularly soldiers from the districts bombed.”