CHILD SMUGGLERS OF AACHEN

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25394, 17 January 1948, Page 2

CHILD SMUGGLERS OF AACHEN

WORK OF THE SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND

The Save the Children Fund in London is making strenuous efforts to lead back to a normal life some of the 20,000 lawless children of school age in the old Prussian coronation town of Aachen, lying between Germany, Belgium, and Holland. Forty-five per cent, of the buildings of Aachen were completely destroyed during the war, and the school buildings suffered proportionately. The result is that, because of the shortage of room, a shift system in schools is necessary, and schools may have as many as three or four changes of children in the same building in one day The upper forms go to school for three or four hours a day; the others for two hours. During the rest of the day the children play in the rums, are put to work by their parents, or find their own excitement —generally in smuggling and stealing The law does not allow a child to be imprisoned. If the parents of child-smugglers are caught, they may, in flagrant cases, be punished. The prosecutions reach 1600 a month and the gaol is often so full that no more offenders can be admitted. The Save the Children Fund has sent trained workers to Aachen to try to combat the evii conditions there. They plan to teach the children occupational work, games, and handicrafts to fill in their spare time, and they hope to give them at least one nourishing meal a day. Many families are in dire need, and the temptation to steal and smuggle is great. The welfare workers say that the amount of lying and evasion resorted to by tiny children of six years is pitiful. The cunning measures they devise for concealing smuggled goods is amazing. The future is menacing for these young victims of war. They must play in the rubble-filled streets or in their slum rooms or, alternatively, enjoy the adventure and remuneration of smuggling. Meanwhile they are learning no trade. Unless something is done quickly it will be a difficult, if not an impossible, task to reclaim these young outlaws. The Christchurch branch of the Save the Children Fund which has already arranged for the sponsorship of many displaced children in England and Europe, hopes to be able to help, at least in small measure, in brightening the outlook of the children of Aachen.