FRANCE AROUSED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 27 October 1941, Page 5

FRANCE AROUSED

NAZI BUTCHERY OF HOSTAGES FACTORY WORKERS STRIKE HORRORS OF EXECUTIONS ' REVEALED London, Oct. 25., No workers went down into the coalpits in northern France: on October 25, the day follow-j ing the execution of the first 50 hostages for the killing of the! German commander of the Nantes district, LieutenantColonel Holtz, says the “Daily j Mail’s” correspondent on the! French frontier. He states that all textile, iron j and steel factories are idle, and tile Renault and Citroen em-j ployees have struck. Never has! France been so aroused. All the horrors which are associated with Nazi concentration camp murders were reproduced j at Nantes at dawn on October! 22, tiie correspondent says, revealing details of the manner in which the 50 hostages were executed. IHG OWN GRAVES Tinnr condemned were marched out ' under a heavy guard and formed up in a double line. They were made to dig a long, deep thench as a communal I grave foi themselves. Neither priest nor chaplain was al- j lowed the condemned in their last hour. ' a tin they were even forbidden to write farewell messages to their families. j Some of the hostages protested to 1 the last and refused to leave the cells. | out the German police drove the pro- j testors to the wall with rifle butts and) truncheons. Wnen the two ranks formed an offi- j cor barked out an order, whereupon j 10 of the men were marched to the l wall. Another order was given, a vol- j ley followed and the 10 fell. By tens the butchery was repeated. | till even the nerves of the firing squad 1 were affected. BITTER, DEFIANT FRENCH The cruelty persisted after Heath. Re- i tatives were forbidden to place flowers : on the grave. The correspondent adds that the French reacted angrilv. bitterly and defiantly. Dawn of the next day revealed the names of the martyred added tc those on the town’s war memorial, and three large wreaths in the national red, while and blue were placed alongside It was six hours before the Germans removed them. OTHER EXECUTIONS DELAYED? Whether any of the further hostages , for the Nantes and Bordeaux assassinations have vet been executed is a mystery. Following the execution of the 50 for the death of Holtz. 50 more were jto die at dawn yesterday. Though Ber- ] lin offiicals announced yesterday morning that these mass executions had been carried out. an official statement issued at Vichy later said that the 50 hostages had been reprieved till midnight on 26th October. This reprieve was stated to have followed pressing appeals to the German authorities by Marshal Petain and Admiral Darlan. For the Bordeaux killing. 50 hostages were also to be shot yesterday morning. and the German authorities announced that unless the assailants of i the German major were handed over 1 50 other hostages from the Boideaux I district would be executed to-morrow, i Tiie appeals by Marshal Petain and [Admiral Darlan have resulted in the extension of tljis time limit from tomorrow till 29th October, but there is still no definite news of the fate of life 1 50 men sentenced to die by daylight ; yesterday morning. PETAIN AS HOSTAGE j A Vichy newspaper to-dav said rumours that Marsha] Petain wanted to I hand himself over as a hostage to pre- | vent the execution of further hostages in Nantes and Bordeaux were neither 1 confirmed nor denied by Government j circles. ' It is revealed from Vichy that a fine of 10.000,000 francs on Bordeaux I was collected to-day. ! The Petain Cabinet lias approved a i severe measure for the suppression of attacks against German soldiers, says la Vichy message. The Government is i appealing to Germany to halt the reprisals. and Admiral Darlan reported ' that Marshal Petain's efforts “to end , the tragic reprisals” have resulted in I the Reich Chancellor granting a re- , prieve. PENALTY FOR EYE-WITNESSES i The emergency law referred to pro- , vides for drastic punishment of the eye-witnesses, accomplices and those with information about the act? against the German occupation authorities who fail to inform the authorities, i The measure is intended to break the public silence, which protects the patriots in spite of the offer of large rewards