"LIKE NIGHTMARE"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 307, 29 December 1942, Page 6

"LIKE NIGHTMARE"

LIFE IN HOLLAND

GERMANS PILLAGING HOMES

With reference to the recent rumours from occupied Europe about the German evacuation measures on the west coast of Holland, Belgium and other countries, the following letter from a Netherlander in occupied Holland who is threatened with evacuation, has been received in England:—

"We feel as if our dear country is situated on a volcano—everywhere, sparks and fumes disturb the air. Living in the coastal districts of Holland is now like a nightmare— the atmosphere is indescribable— every minute everybody is expecting an order to leave his home.

"Hundreds of people in my district have already received the order and have already gone. People are being tossed to and fro without the slightest consideration. All families in The Hague live in constant fear of being uprooted—they live a day-to-day existence and are unable to run their households along regular lines. They do not dare to plan further in advance than a few hours, and many have started packing while using as few household goods as possible, moving about among trunks, cases and parcels.

"Families living in villages in the North Holland coastal strip have all started packing, as they reason that it is advisable to be ready when the hour strikes. Our telephone has been taken away—our lives are entirely dislocated—everybody stays in his home, which becomes like an island. "Travelling is atrocious as the trains are so full that the people fight like beasts to get in them." The writer of the letter also confirms how the Germans in Holland are taking part brazenly in blackmarketing. Germany's Fears Revealed Writing in a German daily published in occupied Holland Nazi Admiral Gadow reveals how much Germany fears Allied invasion. Referring to the latest defence measures taken by the German military authorities in occupied Holland the admiral says that they are vital because two things are at stake: Firstly the struggle for communications, and secondly, the possibilities of invasion. Both, he adds constitute a "mortal danger for Germany as well as England." Admiral Gadow hinted at the danger originating from the fact that the Netherlands people have not yet been won over to the New Order which makes them unreliable'. Therefore, evacuation of Netherlands coastal areas is not merely a measure to give the German defence forces freedom of movement, unhampered by the Dutch civilian population, but for a safeguard, in order to prevent "unreiiables" from assisting the Allied invaders if and when they come.

That the Germans combine in their evacuation order military necessity with desire for personal gam and pillaging, is revealed by a Nazi order forcing evacuating people to leave everything behind including table silver, bed linen, and even kitchen utensils.