GERMAN WOMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21206, 31 August 1940, Page 17 (Supplement)

GERMAN WOMEN

PROTEST AGAINST WAR The Times (London), recently published the following letter from Mrs Pethick Lawrence, well-known English feminist:— “I have received a letter from a former political leader of German women who is now in exile, but is still in touch with what is happening in her country. She asks me, if possible, to secure publication of the following facts:— “ ‘From reliable sources, we hear that German women do not hesitate to protest against the miserable war conditions under the present dictatorship. The general instinct for freedom functions still in German women owing to the fact that they have never been completely delivered over to military discipline. For instance, during the lecent coal shortage, German women did not attempt to hide their indignation at the mismanagement of officials. S.A. Men Abused “ ‘They demonstrated in the streets as they stood in long queues in the bitter cold and roundly abused the S.A. men who were in control. The men pretended to be deaf, but every now and then they had to arrest two or three women, whom they carried off to the barracks and kept in custody for three days. Meantime other women took care of the families as a gesture of solidarity.

“ ‘The entire German womanhood of today is exploited for totalitarian war—of course, women are cheaper than men, and in fact much of their labour is altogether unpaid. Girls are living in camps, where they are subjected to military drill and then drafted off to work on farms. Older

women who are in well-paid positions are forced to give up their work and are drafted into munition factories; but there is no doubt that in protesting against their conditions women are resorting to sabotage. “ ‘When the 10-hour day was extended to 11 and 12 hours, women saw to it that production did not increase. It is to be hoped that in spite of military drill, arrest, deportation, and compulsory labour, German women will keep their spirit of revolt until human rights and dignities are restored in Germany.* ”