The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1940 GERMAN OCTOPUS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21191, 14 August 1940, Page 6

The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1940 GERMAN OCTOPUS

One of the major tragedies of the present war is and will be the starvation of millions of people on the European continent who have fallen under the domination of Hitlerism. The European Food Distribution Commission says that 18,000,000 people are facing starvation, and that figure is certain to expand enormously as the war progresses. There is not a shadow of a doubt that German aggression must be held responsible for this ghastly deprivation. The Nazis have conquered and burned and destroyed, and what has been left has been seized for the Nazis themselves. And the pity of it is that if Britain lifts the blockade in an effort to help starving people in the Nazi-dominated countries the Nazis will simply seize the equivalent of whatever may be imported.

Germany will have it both ways. For the purpose of reassuring their own people the Nazis declare that the British blockade is ineffective and that in fact Germany has turned the tables and is starving Britain. And yet when the oppressed peoples cry out in their hunger the Nazis blame the British blockade for starving the women and children of Europe. Can Britain follow any but the one course in such circumstances ? If there were any assurance that Germany’s victims would receive the benefit, Britain would gladly lift the blockade and do all that was possible to feed and clothe the suffering multitude. But by feeding Germany she would simply be prolonging the agony of the oppressed peoples. Germany cannot in the eyes of the civilised world escape the obligation of providing for the people whom she has conquered. As soon as Hitler imposed his will upon those people the responsibility fell upon him, and history will judge how he discharged that responsibility. Lying will not relieve him of the obligation, nor can propaganda shift the blame to the shoulders of the British nation. Of course the blockade must go on in all German-occupied territory unless and until the opportunity is given Britain to bring succour to those who are unwilling victims of the Nazi regime. At present there is practically no such opportunity. The German tentacles reach from Norway to Spain and all that comes within their reach is a prize of war. If this spectacle of starvation and suffering disturbs Hitler, he has the remedy, and he must account for his sin in deliberately causing such conditions. Dr. Funk, the Nazi Minister of Economy, declares that the food situation in Germany is excellent and that “a food scarcity in Germany is impossible.” The British blockade is alleged to be virtually inoperative. What, then, can Britain do to relieve the situation while Germany is in complete control of the Continent ? If the blockade is inoperative, why lift it ? If, on the other hand, the European Food Distribution Commission is not romancing and millions are facing starvation, what is Germany going to do about it ? France surrendered too soon. Had she been able to see what was coming she would surely have resolved that it was better to be annihilated in honourable battle than to be starved and oppressed until Germany’s grip upon Europe has been broken. There is something hideously repulsive about a powerful nation sucking the lifeblood out of Europe and enjoying a “food situation which is excellent” while its victims gravel in starvation.