UNDERGROUND PAPER

Grey River Argus, 25 February 1942, Page 4

UNDERGROUND PAPER

Resistance in France ACCOUNT OF MASS EXECUTION. (Rec. 7.30). LONDON, February 23. A correspondent of the British United Press on the French frontier reports:—, •‘The latest issue of an underground newspaper, ‘Liberation’, contains an eye-witness account of the execution of French hostages in Nantes. It reports that fifty victims were led to a quarr v at dawn. When they were massed against a wall, a machine-gun onened fire, and in a few seconds they were all dead. Those executed included old men, cripples, and two youths aged 17. The bodies were later carted away in lorroes, which left trails of blood. Next dav thousands of mourners covered with flowers bloodstained stones at the foot of the quarry wall-.. The Germans published the names of 48 of the victims, including that of M. Jost, President of the National Union of Communists. Two names -were not revealed. They were believed to have been women. ‘Liberation’ also gives details, of mass executions in prisons. It says a German officer admitted: ‘They die with extraordinary courage, singing hymns and saluting their country!’ Although possession of ‘Liberation’ involves imprisonment, and the printing and distribution of it means almost certain death, ‘ir.ueration’ circulates throughout botii Occupied and Unoccupied France. This newspaper organised many resistance groups in readiness for future action against the Germans.”