BELGIUM AND REICH

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 81, 3 October 1944, Page 5

BELGIUM AND REICH

CONTRASTS CONDITIONS NEW YORK, October 2. "There is odd contrast between the strict and just military government imposed in the captured German towns by the American First Army and the somewhat chaotic conditions prevailing across the border, where the liberated Belgians are carrying political and personal revenge to ominous lengths," writes a "New York Times" correspondent from Rotgen, in Germany. . ''There has not been a sjngle serious infraction of the ordinances of the First Army since it entered Germany a fortnight ago. A curfew has been imposed, all cameras, binoculars, and firearms have been collected, and the inhabitants are forbidden to travel from one village to another. Colonel A. K. Billings heads the temporary military government, which will eventually be replaced by the permanent Allied military government. "Colonel Billings has installed Ludwig Barth as temporary burgomaster. Barth was one of two Nazi officials who stayed behind when the German army withdrew, and he is believed to be still pro-Nazi; however, Colonel Billings said that Barth, who has done everything the Americans have asked, will be replaced by the AMGOT. Nazi or suspected Nazi officials are being utilised solely to speed up local organisation.

"The smoothly-functioning military government here contrasts with the situation in Belgian towns like Verviers, Spa, and Liege, where those in authority are imprisoning suspected collaborationists without explanation and conducting searches without war : rants. It is clear there is a good deal of personal revenge mixed in with the honest feeling against the collaborators, and that there is no government in this part of Belgium strong enough to deal with the situai tion."