LIBERATED CITY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 218, 14 September 1944, Page 4

LIBERATED CITY

IN BRUSSELS TO-DAY

NEW ZEALANDER REPORTS

N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 10 a.m. BRUSSELS, Sept. 13. The most hated names in Brussels, as indeed they are in any occupied country, are those of the Gestapo and the SS. People hiss the words as they say them, for both were hated and feared. If any person was suspected or informed against he or she soon had a visit from the Gestapo, and shortly the word would go round that ne had been "taken to Germany. It is estimated that no fewer than halt a million Belgians are now in Germany, some working in factories, others interned in concentration camps. Many people one talks with say their fathers or brothers or sons were "taken away to Germany, and they welcome any guesses about when the war will be finished. Germans Mutually Suspicious Several people told me that officers and men of the Wehrmacht were less unattractive, and if they were by themselves they complained bitterly about the war, but they never talked like that in the presence of another German, for they all sust pected one another. If- a member of the Wehrmacht was informed against his fate was the same as that of any person in the occupied countries. A waiter who had worked in a Stuttgart hotel declared that it was the same in Germany. He estimated that 85 per cent of • the German people were heartily sick of the war, but they were under the control of the partv leaders, who had made money and lived in luxury and wealth, while the rank and file Germans suffered. This same waiter, nevertheless, declared he would not trust a single German, and said that while living in Germany it was best not to express any opinions, for if any opinion was uttered of which Germans disapproved they quickly put the offender inside a concentration camp. The Belgians are emphatic in the opinion that the Gestapo and the S.S. must be wiped out entirely, and they are not particular how it is done. I heard one man declare, with fierce bitterness, that they should be run over by a tram first, and then shot. Some Shops Well Stocked The more one sees in Brussels the more one is surprised by the comparison it offers in many little ways, with conditions in Britain. There has been no great sugar shortage here throughout the war, since beet-growing is a local industry. The sweet shops are well-stocked with unrationed supplies, and in the cafes there is an array of ice creams, sweet creamy cakes and tarts that would make "English people goggleeyed could they see them. In the cafes there is' a wide variety of aperitifs, wines and liqueurs, in addition to beer, but the prices, particularly of liqueurs like cognac, are staggering. Cognac costs the equivalent of 10/ a nip, and champagne, of which there is apparently plenty, is equally high-priced. At one party given by Belgians in celebration of their liberty no fewer than 400 bottles of champagne were produced. Restaurant meals, when obtainable, are poor but expensive, being derived from the black market. In England there is a considerable black market, but it is considered a grave offence to buy in it. Here, people considered they were lucky to have it to eke out their rations.

A New Zealander's Friend This view of the black market was expressed by a Belgian who has corresponded since 1917 with Mr. Alfred Olsson, of Woodville, New Zealand, whom he met in the last war. His name is George Fagel. His wartime correspondence with Mr. Olsson has been considerablyinterrupted. Nevertheless, one letter reached him from New Zealand, after taking two years, and a second in six months. Fagel declared that those who could not afford to buy in the black market suffered severely from under-nourishment. The Field of Waterloo An interesting episode reported here is that there was a minor engagement fought between the Germans and the Front Interieur (which is the Belgium equivalent to the Maquis) on the battlefields of Waterloo, which is about 11 miles distant. There you can see the memorial, a British lion standing on a great mound of' earth, which is said to have been built up by women. They took the earth from a concealed roadway in which Napoleon's cavalry foundered, and formed a mound, carrying baskets on their heads and knitting meanwhile. There is a huge painted panorama of Ney leading the last charge against the British, and a bird's-eye view is given of the battle as it. would have been seen from the top of the mound. To-day the battlefield is undulating farmland, but one or two farmhouses are as they were on the day of the battle in 1815.