NAZI ATROCITY

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21226, 24 September 1940, Page 6

NAZI ATROCITY

HITLER’S BARBARITY MURDER OF CHILDREN (Received Sept. 24, 3.15 p.m.) (Official Wireless) RUGBY, Sept. 23 Horrified condemnation is expressed in all quarters today at a German submarine sinking in the mid-Atlantic, without warning on a bitter stormy night, a ship carrying children from vulnerable areas to Canada. The Times says: “ Another hideous German crime makes deeper the hue of Hitler’s infamous warfare. Not even the daily and nightly occurrence in Hitler’s programme of merciless, indiscriminate war, the descent of his aerial torpedoes in residential areas to blast people from their homes, nor any of the other examples of Nazi terrorism, can deaden the sensitiveness of feeling to this atrocity of a torpedo launched through the dark, tempestuous seas.” The Daily Telegraph says: “To realise the facts is to feel compassion for the victims, infused with burning indignation against the perpetrators of so foul an outrage against every humane instinct.” The Daily Mail, after remarking that the crime stands out as a supreme instance of horror, adds: 4 ‘ On the sea, as on the land, the hand of murder reaches out to strike children.” Message From Mr Menzies Among the messages received by the authorities to be passed on to the relatives of the children is one from Mr Menzies, Australian Prime Minister, as follows:—“ This latest exhibition of savagery by the Nazis will steel the British people in their resolve to count no sacrifice too great in defeating the dark spirit for which the Nazi regime stands.”

NAZI VERSION

44 EFFICIENT PROPAGANDA ” STRANGE DELAY IN REPORT (United Press Asn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Sept. 24, 3.15 p.m.) BERLIN, Sept. 23 Informed Berlin circles, commenting on the sinking of the evacuee ship, declared: “ It is strange that a ship supposedly sunk on September 17 was not reported Lost till the night before the King's address. It looks like efficient propaganda.” It is officially denied that Germany was responsible for the sinking of the child evacuee ship. It is stated that no German U-boat or aeroplane was operating 600 miles, from the British coast. ‘‘The Germans attack only armed merchantmen. That is our answer to the British report, which is a brazen lie for squeezing the tearglands of the world and contributing towards bringing the United States into the war on the British side.

NIGHT OF HORROR

RESCUE OF SURVIVORS IN SEA FOR 18 HOURS HEROISM OF CHILDREN (United Press Asn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Sept. 23 A British destroyer rescued the survivors of the liner which was tor pedoed in the Atlantic when on the way to Canada with child refugees. 89 of whom were drowned. The survivors were adrift in lifeboats or on rafts in stormy weather for as long as 18 hours. There were heartrending scenes when the bodies of those who died from exposure had to be dropped into the sea. The raging sea defeated many attempts at rescue. The child victims in several cases represented entire families. The ship carried, besides 96 children, all of whom came from England and Wales, 101 other passengers and a crew of 209. Twelve privatelyevacuated children were accompanied by their mothers, and of these children six perished. Seven of the nine adult escorts on board were lost, as were also a doctor and nurse. Most of the children on board were in bed when the torpedo struck the ship in the part allotted to them, killing many outright. The remainder were bundled to the deck, scantily clothed for the ordeal of many hours on rafts or in lifeboats, some of which were waterlogged, with high seas raging. Many children, separated from their parents or escorts, slipped to death from the arms of strangers who vainly sought to shield them from the storm. Only seven of the children survived the ordeal. Tribute to Navy All the survivors paid tribute to the Navy.

RELIEF OF DISTRESS

£IOO,OOO IN SOUTH AFRICA (United Press Asn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Sept. 24, 3.15 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 23 South Africa has raised approximately £IOO.OOO in the first week of the London civil distress fund appeal.