NAZI VANDALS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 181, 2 August 1944, Page 5

NAZI VANDALS

OUTRAGES IN ITALY Sacrilege, Destruction And Pillage Reported British Official "Wireless Rec. 1.30 p.m. RUGBY, Aug. 1. German vandalism in Italy was the subject of a House of Commons statement by the Secretary for War, Sir James Grigg, who said that before the evacuation of Damo Gimiano, the Germans threatened the inhabitants that they would pay for their sympathy with the Allies. Before Allied troops had entered, the Germans turned their guns upon the town, which was so rich in architectural treasures that it was constituted a national monument. .In so far as this act of vandalism appears to have been prompted by the vengeful spirit of a single formation, rather than part of official policy of the German Army command, it is but an example on a major scale of what will become a common feature of the German retreat north of Cassino.

"German plundering began at Naples with the burning of the University library and the destruction of a cache of art treasures and archives near Nola," said the Minister "From that point onwards the tale is one of sacrilege and theft on all sides. We have an official record of a statue from the altar of the Monte Cassino Abbey Church being carried off for Goermg s benefit.

"At Gaeta, treasures from the cathedral, including an ivory crucifix given by Pope Pius IX. were taken, and the Sacristy strewn with vestments that German soldiers had torn from presses and subsequently discarded, after having selected and carried off the best."

Sir James gave numerous instances of other wanton sacrilege, pillage and desecration by the Germans.