GERMANS IN DEFEAT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 84, 8 March 1945, Page 5

GERMANS IN DEFEAT

PICTURE OF HERDED ANIMALS LONDON, Mar. 7. "If you ever wanted to see the German people utterly beaten and reduced to a state; of herded animals you see it inthe big industrial places like Gladbaoh and Krefflld," writes the Daily Express correspondent. "The Germans in many tens of thousands huddle in cellars or scramble in the ruins looking for food. They have in most places no heating, no light, no running water, no organised medical attention or immediate hope of getting these things." | deferring especially to Krefeld, the correspondent says: "The German Government authorities left printed instructions to the workers at an elec-

trical plant: 'You will continue to keep the plant going and act under the orders of anyone who may arrive.' This means, if generally carried out, that the Germans are accepting our occupation and preparing to extend it. The Germans, of course, destroy bridges and railways, but are trj'ing to keep the German industrial machine going. "In Krefeld, or for that matter any occupied town, you see bits of white sheeting tied to front-door knobs. The people are well-dressed and look healthy —even the children. The people fled from many homes, leaving their furniture, their washing on the line, chickens and pigs roaming in the yards and unfinished meals on the tables. I do not think they suffered much until last week except for the absence of I their menfolk. I SLAVE LABOUR CAMP. ! "There is a Todt labour camp in the suburbs for foreign workers. Over each group of huts today you see the Russian, French, Belgian, Dutch and Polish flags. You notice the deadness of the dreary half-ruined streets, the dead shops and shuttered houses, and the overwhelming atmosphere of despair, loneliness and loss." The correspondent visited an air-raid shelter in Krefe'ld capable of holding 15,000 people. Four thousand are at present living there, with more continually arriving. "The Germans shrank back and ran to get out of our way. The men avoided one's eyes or stood obsequiously with slouched shoulders and the children stopped playing. It-was the German women who kept most composure. There was something indescribable in their' eyes—hatred, fear, despair, avid curiosity, anger—perhaps a mixture of all these things. "The 'bunkermeister' arrived, removed his hat, bowed and took us round, while the Lutheran pastor explained: 'All the German police and military left several days ago. They took all the food and stores from this shelter. Here in the control room we used to sit and trace the course of your bombers overhead, and were very glad when they had passed.' The pastor said he had many friends in London."