FORBIDDEN PAPER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20547, 6 May 1941, Page 4

FORBIDDEN PAPER

UNDER GESTAPO'S NOSE FREE-FRENCH SENTIMENT PRO-BRITISH LEANINGS Somewhere in occupied France, a patriotic, pro-British newspaper is being printed and circulated under the nose of the Gestapo and the German conquerors, writes Mr. Henry Stone.

Named after Rabelais’ immortal hero, Pantagrue! is not a mere tract of the kinds distributed from time to time or posted on the walls at night in various parts of France. Those who have the courage to do so publish it under great risks (a chemist in Peris and one in Versailles were sentenced to penal servitude for life by a German court-martial recenlty" for circulating hostile tracts). They requested their readers to pass Pantagruel round their friends. Us circulation has to be restricted because of the difficulty in obtaining newsprint. It is published every week whenever possible, printed on four pages, and distributed hv every possible mans. One method is to send it by post to people in every district of the country whose addresses are found in directories or telephone boks. Existence Unknown General de Gaulle’s propaganda staff did not know of its existence until this extraordinary little paper was brought to them by someone who has just arrived from France. Each issue has a note printed in big letters on the top of the first column which reads:— “Beware. —This newspaper is not a British tract. Any reader who may find it possible to find a way to make it reach Free French people in Britain would contribute in giving an ardent stimulant and a previous relief to those who are giving their lives for our liberty.” Here are some quotations from this third issue of Pantagruel:— “Our aim is not opposition or revolt against the authorities of occupation. We know that we lost the war and that the wise policy is a loyal collaboration, but not a cordial collaboration with the Germans. “We believe that this policy does not oblige us to sentence General de Gaulle to death and grossly to insult England, our ally. England did not betray us. She remains our ally, and she will be able to save us. Let us not forget that. . . “London has greatly suffered by German air bombing. But the British people are receiving the blows like sportsmen. What the French public must know and realise is that the spirit of resistance of the English is intact.” . Broadcast Recalled In this third issue of Pantagruel, published in October, long quotations of Mr. Winston Churchill’s broadcast to the French nation are given with this comment:— “What he (Mr. Churchill) said at the end—‘lf you cannot help us, at least don’t be an obstacle for us’—might be regarded as our slogan. We must respect the signature of the armistice. But don't ask dus to be the allies of Germany against Britain. We have the right to respect and love Great Britain, and we have the right to wish for a British victory.” On the back page was a fierce attack on M. Laval ( then engaged in parleys with Herr Hitler for a separate peace: “At the beginning Herr Hitler showed himself reasonable. Now he wants us to commit an ignominy. He is going to ask us to collaborate with him against our English allies and friends. M. Laval is playing his last card. He has no right to drag us into that .... we shall not do it.”