LUXEMBURG REMEMBERS WAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 8 (Supplement)

LUXEMBURG REMEMBERS WAR.

THE STORY OF AN ABDICATION.

TIITC whole world knows about little Belgium's gallant lighting role in the World War. Almost nobody knows about the reaction of that far tinier nation, the grand duchy of Luxemburg, writes the "Chicago' Tribune's" Luxemburg special correspondent.) With only one-thirtieth as great a population as what we are accustomed to call '"little Belgium" (slightly more than 250,000), with neutrality guaranteed by the European Powers since ISO", and relying on that neutrality to such an extent that her army consisted of only a few score men, Luxemburg was wholly unprepared for war. The Germans violated this neutrality —Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg admitted the violation before the Reichstag a little later—by marching across Luxemburg to invade Belgium and France, without the slightest justification. The Luxeniburgers, bound' to Germany by a customs union and by ties of culture, deeply resented the invasion. Hundreds of them enlisted in the Belgian army. The resentment against Germany still rankles: is evident to-day on every hand. Luxemburg is now united with Belgium in a customs union, is making - strong attempts to strengthen its linguistic and cultural bonds with France, and there is no doubt in case of another German aggression—which Luxeniburgers to-day mortally dread—where their whole-hearted sympathies rvould lie and where their able-bodied young men would enlist, neutrality or 110 neutrality. The following story was told by several Luxeniburgers. It throws light on their feelings toward the Germans ever since tho invasion. One day in the middle of August, 1914, a deputy of the Luxemburg Parliament telephoned in to the City of Luxemburg from his home town on tho German border that the Germans had violate;! the grand duchy's neutrality and were pouring in across the frontier. Pushed Gun Into Policeman's Ribs. A belligerent and shrewd old fellow, he suggested that the Luxeniburgers blow up all their bridges. It was a clever idea. Destroying bridges in Luxemburg would create special difficulties for an army trying to get across it in a hurry and particularly for anybody trying to enter the capital. U you have ever been in that charming medieval town built 011 its steep crags you will know that. The Luxeniburgers hesitated, then decided to let their bridges alone* To destroy them would have brought down heaven knows what sanctions on the population. Within a 'few hours a grey-clad army corps was advancing into "the outskirts of tho capital. What to do? There had to be some formal protest against the invasion. To send the little army, smaller then than it is to-day even, with its two machine guns, to bar the way even symbolically, would bo ridiculous, and might be interpreted as abandonment of the neutrality the grand duchy was desperately clinging to. So they filled up a petrol wagon with policemen, sent them over to a bridge on the main avenue leading to the heart of town, and had them park their car smack across it. On came tho Germans. An infantry officer stepped up, shoved his revolver into the ribs of the policeman at the wheel, and ordered him out of the way. An unnecessary gesture, I

this, pulling a gun and threatening to shoot, say tho Luxeniburgers. The police obeyed the order immediately, as they had planned to do, and drove back to headquarters. This incident and many others the Luxeniburgers will tell you help explain their feelings toward the Germans to-day. It is certainly not friendly. It is a compound of fear and dislike. Teutonic Toughness. Here is another incident they tell with a. tinge of hatred in their tone:— The Kaiser finally followed his troops into Luxemburg city, and for a time made hia headquarters here. The sovereign at that time was Grand Duchess Adelaide. The Kaiser demanded to be received by her in a formal call. She hesitated. It would in a way condone his violation of her country's neutrality. But again the probability of sanctions played its part. If she refused there almost certainly would be punitive measures against her people. Before tho Kaiser started his drive from his quarters to the grand ducal palace he had both sides of the streets

A Strong Anti-German Feeling.

along the route lined with hie troops. When the signal announced that he had started out the two lines of soldiery turned brusquely to face the crowds behind them and pointed their guns at them, meaning plainly: "Now, you behave, or something is going to happen to you." The Luxemburgers thought it an unnecessary piece of toughness. Adelaide abdicated in 1019, partly as a result of that audience she gave the Kaiser. A certain disapproval of her for receiving him became articulate after the Germans had been bundled out of the land following the Armistice. To-day many a Luxemburger regrets the abdication. Grand Duchess Adelaide probably saved her people from no end of unpleasantness and sanctions by yielding to the Kaiser's request, they point out. Not that they don't like her sister, Grand Duchess Charlotte, who succeeded her. On the contrary, the present sovereign ami her charming family seem to be very wei! thought of. Insist on French as Official Language. Tiny as the Luxemburg army is today—about 400 men and two machine guns, led by a chief officer who is called "commandant" —it is nevertheless several times as large as at the outbreak of the world war. Its use is to back up the police and gendarmerie in any emergency that may come along. The burghers don't mind being kidded about their army. Xot that it deserves to be kidded. They are strapping, athletic fellows of soldierly carriage, perfectly groomed, and if you watch their field training and rifle range work you quickly realise that they are capable troops so far as their numbers go.

There is another phase of Luxemburg life that has to do with the political situation—the language question. The language of the Luxemburgers is a German patois. German is taught in the schools from the first grade up. Of all the daily papers in the capital, and there are several, only one is in French. The talkies and the legitimate theatre are all in German of the Luxemburg patois. But the Luxemburger insists on French as his official language. His

street signs are all hi French; shop signs in French; IpnaT products, such as cigarettes, labelled, in "rencli; directions in French, with sometimes a translation in German underneath, sometimes not; youngster* are taught French in the schools from the second grade onward. The best of the Luxemburg literary production is in German, as is natural, since no literature can mean anything unless it is rooted in the people and their language. Nevertheless, the Luxem burgers assert to you their culture is French. You won't get far ; n Luxemburg as an American without 'tearing about two things—the big colcny of Luxembur-

gers in Chicago and the sojourn of the American troops in the country following the nrmistice. Chicago has more Luxeni burgers— Americans of Luxemburg descent or birth —than .the capital of Luxemburg itself, they cheerfully point out. Warm Spot For Americans. And tliey speak of the American troops who swarmed across Luxemburg, bundling the Germans back across the Rhine, with a great deal of affection. "The Americans were our deliverers," they tell you. The troops in and around the capital, they say, were the 33rd (Prairie) Division, many of them Chicago boys, and the late General Milton Foreman's artillery was stationed near by. | You hear amusing stories of Yank doughboy exuberance if you get acquainted a bit and break down polite reserve. Peter, taciturn waiter at a quiet little cafe across the street from the railway station, after several days' acquaintance became .quita voluble on tke subject. "Ach, die Amerikaner," ho said, "die Amerikaner . . . they brought us food. We were starving like the Germans under the Allied blockade. The Americans brought us food, flour and chocolate and canned goods. "No, they didn't exactly give it away. They asked for beer. "We had no beer. The grain had all been used for food. But we had brandy made from fruits— kirsch, quetsch, mirabelle, prunelle, framboise. They traded flour and chocolate and canned goods very often for brandy.

"On", time in Esch—l was in Esch then—a big gang of them came downtown from their camp and mopped up several shops and cafes—broke down the doors, smashed everything inside and threw it into the street. "No, not because they were mean," Peter chuckled, "but becausc they were overcharged by certain proprietors. So they just came down town and cleaned up those places. It was fair enough."