PARIS TO-DAY

Grey River Argus, 9 January 1941, Page 7

PARIS TO-DAY

LITTLE INTEREST IN WAR. A LONDON ACCOUNT. LONDON December 10. Paris to-day is a city of listless, hopeless people struggling to maintain an outward appearance of normality, but still stunned* by what everybody refers to as “le debacle” or “le catastrophe,” writes the Lisbon correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph.” A vivid picture was given to me by a neutral woman who has lived there for many years, remaining right through the war and the Nazi occupation, and is now on her way to America.

“People take no interest in any happenings except the momentary problems of living,” she said. “They seem equally apathetic about the future. You never hear mention of Petain, de Gaulle, the British or the Germans. If they speak of the past it is to place indiscriminate blame on the rulers of the Republic in the last 20 years.

“The French, overwhelmed by their own catastrophe are not following the further course of the war. They have, in any case, given up trying to form an idea of what is happening in the world outside the German cordon. They have no trust in their own newspapers and the radio, which they know are merely German echoes. Many tried at first to listen to the British radio, but the programmes are now jammed. “Yet Paris is slowly returning to an outward appearance of its old self. The most striking change is the almost complete disappearance of motor traffic. The few cars all belong to German officers. There is not a single taxi in the whole city. “A few motor-buses are allowed in the outer suburbs where there is no Metro. The only other motor transport is lorries bringing food. Everywhere are bicycles, often with sidecars, trailers, and other’ contraptions to increase capacity. “Nearly all the shops, including the famous dress salons, have reopened. The latter are doing scarcely any business, selling perhaps half a dozen dresses monthly. Stockings are practically unobtainable, but there are a few pairs of old stock selling at 100 francs a pair. “German womenfolk who flocked to Paris after the occupation to buy up everything with cheap francs are no longer much in evidence. Officers, however, are still buying many antiques. “Goering, through agents is reputed to be the biggest client, collecting especially tapestries. “It is noticeable that the Germans are most courteous to the Parisians, apparently in obedience to orders. They salute on entering shops, and tip generously at restaurants. «11 hotels are commandeered by the Germans, whose headquarters are at the Carillon. Even the smallest places have been taken over. The Ritz alone obtained special permission to keep a part for its own guests.. “Empty flats and houses, including those vacated by British residents, have also been taken. Male Britons are interned at St. Denis, a' few miles from Paris. The women remain at liberty, but report daily to the police. “Large numbers of the inhabitants who evacuated before the German advance are now back again. But many have never returned. A patnetic sight is that of hundreds of rav-

enous dogs and cats wandering in the Bois Boulogne abandoned by their fleeing owners. ‘'Food shortage is now France's biggest problem. The bread ration is fairly liberal, but the fat allowance, including cooking, is only half a pound monthly. Cheese is also half a pound monthly, and meat threequarters of a pound weekly. “The increasing co-operation of Vichy with the occupied area authorities is illustrated by the tact that rations in both parts of France

have been identical since September. • Domestic fuel shortage is also acute. It will be impossible to heat many blocks of flats this winter.” My informant added that the Faris blackout has been much stricter lately. Orders were recently posted in the streets commanding absolute observance of the new rules. Further details of conditions in France were given by Mrs. Margaret Oxley, one of the last English to escape from France. She has just flown to England from Lisbon. “They will starve certainly this

winter,” she said. “Here you have rations, but the shops are full. There the shops are absolutely empty.” Nobody knows France better than Mrs. Oxfey. Sister of the British ViceConsul in Calais, she was born in France of English parents, and for the last five years has directed the Ada Leigh Hostel for Englishwomen in Paris.

On June 9, the day the French Government left Paris, she succeeded in getting away to Chateauroux and thence to Montdore, near Vichy. In mid-August Mrs. Oxley went to Marseilles and remained there six weeks trying to get permission to leave. The town was filled with Germans, although it is in unoccupied France, and the Gestapo made life unbearable.

“In the cafes,” she said, “they would come -in in their brown shirts and stand by our table listening and taking notes of our conversation. “They discussed in German in front of us whether we were English. Chiefly they were looking for German-J'ewish refugees, of which the town was full. The Gestapo also followed people round in the streets. “The great majority of the French know that their only salvation is in the British aeroplanes, and cheer them, saying to the Germans, ‘Those are our friends. They will not hurt us.’

“So sacred are the German troops of the English aeroplanes that they rush to cover when they see or hear them. They are also reputed to be terrified of embarking on the invasion boats. “No French are allowed near the Atlantic and Channel coasts even it they live there because of the immense number of drowned Germans washed up. “In Marseilles,” Mrs. Oxley said, “rice is not allowed except for children with a doctor’s certificate; mim is not allowed except with a doctor’s certificate.”