UNDER THE AXIS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 87, 23 January 1942, Page 3

UNDER THE AXIS.

BITTER PLIGHT OF GREECE. “MUST PAY BY SLOW DEATH.”

LONDON, -Tan. 21. All accounts of the suffering. and famine in Greece and the heroic resistance of the people are understated, according to an Athenian barrister who lias arrived in Beirut, states the correspondent of the “Daily 'telegraph. ” The Italians and Germans have one desire, the extermination of the Greek people, whom they detest. The Germans attribute their set-back in Russia to the Greek resistance, by which vital time was lost. Therefore, the Greek nation must pay by slow death. Household effects and foodstuffs are sent to Germany. The food shops in the towns are empty, but the villagers have concealed part of their crops. Underfed children in Athens ana Salonika rake over refuse in the hope of finding food, and emaciated women stand in a queue for hours; for the most meagre rations. Stoical women bless the Royal Air Force pilots, even though there are some Greek victims of the raids. The Tass News Agency (Moscow) reports that although famine reigns in Greece,' foodstuffs, wine and tobacco are being shipped to Germany. On January 3 dockers at Salonika refused to load foodstuffs on a German steamer and clashes followed between the workers and the authorities. Conditions in France. The correspondent of “The Times” on five French frontier reports that scarcity of electricity has caused the closing of 49 Paris underground stations. Numerous French factories are closed because of a lack of raw materials. The Vichy Government is levying a profits tax on industries to assist the unemployed. The Yugoslav Government in London reveals that German artillery and dive-liombers have demolished Eeudnik. Not a single soul is left. Uzice is also in ruins. It is known that the bodies of civilian victims wore thrown in ditches and that tanks were driven over them to conceal the graves. The Germans shot hundreds of innocent civilians.