STRICKEN CITY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21552, 3 November 1944, Page 3

STRICKEN CITY

CHAOS IN BELGRADE MANY AREAS RAZED INFLATION (11.45 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 2. Belgrade appears to have suffered more damage than, any European capital yet liberated, says Reuter's correspondent at Bari. The first arrivals from Belgrade say there is not a street which has escaped damage. Many districts were completely razed. This was due not only to the terrible German air raids in 1941 and the Allied air attacks on German headquarters there but also to the fact that the city was liberated only after a six-day battle, the fury of which can be judged from the German casualties, numbering 16,000 dead. Less than half of Belgrade’s prewar population of 150,000 remain among the scorched and ruined houses.

The Partisans clamped on a price control order to prevent inflation. The dinar, which was from 230 to 240 to the pound sterling before the war is now 50,000 to the sovereign, or 10,000 to the paper pound. A box of matches, which is rare, costs 5U dinars, whereas a roll of film, of which there are plenty, is obtainable for 100 dinars.

Villagers around the capital are reported to possess plenty of food and drink, but Belgrade is still largely cut off from the rest of the country. Cinemas are running day and night showing Russian films free of charge.