GREECE UNDER THE AXIS

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23534, 12 January 1942, Page 6

GREECE UNDER THE AXIS

CRUELTIES PRACTISED BY GERMANS ACCOUNT GIVEN BY “THE TIMES ” (8.0. W.) RUGBY, January 10. A further account of the sufferings of Greece under German, Italian, and Bulgarian tyranny is given in “The Times." , „ ■ O 1 “Fired by the example of their Bulgarian subject allies, the German forces of occupation in western Macedonia have been indulging in a battering of the peasantry,” says "The Times," ‘ yet none of these villages gives the impression that there has been method in the German ferocity, and that places from which attacks might be delivered on important roads or railways have been singled out for punishment, irrespective of the guilt or innocence of the inhabitants, “Here, in the territories occupied by the Bulgarians, a barbarous system of collective punishment, a relic of the barbarian laws which superseded those of Rome in the dark ages, is ruthlessly applied. “In eastern Macedonia and western Thrace the situation of the Greek population is even worse. A rising, apparently fomented by alleged Bulgarian Communists, was suppressed last autumn with such brutality as to drive scores of thousands of people to take flight and thus add to the hunger, overcrowding, and unemployment that prevail in other parts of occupied Greece. “The people who remain are subjected to every species of cruelty, vexation, and a sedulous attempt to denationalise them, whether by the introduction of Bulgarian settlers or the persecution of the Greek churches and schools. “The Bulgarian actions are more disgraceful when contrasted with the assurances given by the Bulgarian Government to their neighbours in the Salonika Pact of 1938 and repeated during and after the Belgrade conference of 1940. “Yet the Greeks, who merited the respect of their chief allies by their manly help in delaying Hitler’s attack on Russia and exposing the military weaknesses of Italy, have continued to hold up their heads and endure privations and hunger with undiminished fortitude. They deserve the thanks and the fullest possible aid of the free world.” AXIS ACTS OF VIOLENCE PUNISHMENT AFTER THE WAR ALLIES TO CONCERT MEASURES (8.0. W.) RUGBY, January 10. Representatives of the European Governments established in Britain will meet next week to concert measures for ensuring the punishment of those responsible for illegal acts of violence in the occupied countries. The countries participating will be Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Greece, and Jugoslavia, while representatives of Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China will be present as observers. If is pointed out in official quarters that although The Hague Convention has been violated flagrantly by the Axis countries, the existing treaties do not provide for extradition in cases where only the convention has been infringed. For this and other reasons the criminal of Germany and her allies escaped retribution after the last war, and no doubt meaSOrdT will be taken to obviate such Possibilities in future. The crimes committed against The Hague Convention include annexation before the conclusion of peace, violation of personal security and rights of family, property, and religion, and collective punishment of innocent civilians. COMMON FOE OF ASIATICS JAPANESE FASCISM CONDEMNED (8.0. W.) RUGBY, January 10. A manifesto has been issued by leaders of the Chinese and Indian communities In Singapore. It is addressed to their compatriots throughout the world, and Is as follows; “The Japanese Fascists claim that they are driving the white people out of Asia in order to free Asia for the Asiatics. This is a lie. “In the past numerous Koreans have been mercilessly butchered, and during the last five years hundreds of thousands of Chinese have been massacred. The Japanese are now bombing open cities in the Philippines, Burma, and Malaya, killing innocent men, women, and children of the Asiatic race without discrimination. "In the occupied territories Indians and Malays are threatened with pillage, rape, and other brutalities, as is happening in China. Japanese Fascism is therefore the enemy of Chinese and Indians alike, and the common foe of all Asiatic races. Until Japanese Fascism is exterminated there can be no peace or order in government. ROMAN WELLS AGAIN IN USE AID TO BRITISH IN DESERT WAR (80. W.) RUGBY. January 10. The skill and labour of ancient Rome Lave helped to destroy the African empire of modern Italy. British and Imperial troops are taking full advantage of the discovery and adaptation of ancient engineering works. A great number of old-time wells and reservoirs constructed in the late Roman period of the fourth, fifth, and early sixth centuries have been cleaned, repaired, and put in order by Royal Engineers. To that age belong most of the cisterns found in the upper desert. These are underground chambers differing much in size. Other works of antiquity which the British have turned to their own use are rock-cut tombs. The rocks are honeycombed with sepulchral chambers, which make ideal bomb-proof shelters. These ancient tombs have been converted into headquarters, dugcuts, store-rooms. and living-rooms. FRESH PURGE IN GERMAN ARMY REPORTS CIRCULATE IN STOCKHOLM (Received January 11, 10 p.m.) LONDON, January 10. Reports circulating in Stockholm state that there has been a fresh purge of German generals, involving General Guderian, Marshal von Leeb, and General von Kleist. General Haider, Hitler’s personal adviser, wishes to resign, but has been persuaded to remain. The Official German News Agency denies British and American rumours of disquiet and imminent revolt in •Germany.