BRUTAL REPRISAL

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24103, 23 October 1941, Page 10

BRUTAL REPRISAL

NAZI LEADER'S DEATH FIFTY HOSTAGES SHOT MORE UNREST IN EUROPE (Reed. 6.43 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. -1 It is reported from Vichy that 50 hostages wore shot at Nantes to-day as a reprisal for the assassination of the Nazi regional commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Dr. Karl Triedrich Iloltz.

The German authorities in Paris, "in view of the gravity of the crime, announced that 50 more hostages would be shot if the person who killed Holtz was not arrested before midnight on Thursday. A reward of 15,000,000 francs has been offered for information leading to arrests.

Vichy announced to-day that another German officer has been killed in Bordeaux. Four men believed to havo been responsible have escaped. The Germans, it is reported, have already rounded up 50 hostages. A further report from Vichy states that one colonel and three captains of the gendarmerie have been arrested at Nantes on the grounds that tliey f ailed in their duty of maintaining the peace. French Professor Dismissed Professor Viclley, who was recently arrested by the Germans in Paris on a charm 1 of disseminating Free French propaganda, lias been dismissed from Paris University.

Bolts removed from a rail caused the derailment of ail engine and 26 trueks of a goods train near Pavilly, between Rouen and I-e Havre. Considerable damage was caused. It is reported from Berne that one person was killed and 20 injured when an express collided with a goods train between Rome and Civita Veoliia. Czech quarters in London learn that more than 1000 Italians were recently killed during fighting in Montenegro. Seven members of Parliament appointed to posts hv the Italians were billed by patriots as traitors. Powers ol Arrest The Stockholm correspondent of the Times states that Quisling's Ministry of .Justice has authorised the Norwegian State police to arrest persons considered politically unreliable and bold them without trial. Previously, only German police have been given this right. Further instances of German treatment of occupied countries have been received in London, states the British official wireless. A grim commentary on Hitler's true intentions was found in a message received by the Greek Government in London. The message states that five German regiments have been moved into north Greece to keep order, because the Bulgarians have been unable to do so. It is difficult to foresee to what lengths the Germans are likely to go, as the message states that the Bulgarians, whose place they are taking, have already, under instructions from their German masters, been using the most brutal repressive measures, including the execution of hostages, the shooting of peaceful citizens and wholesale massacres in Greek villages. According to a conservative estimate the victims number 1-5.000, and at least one of the villages has been burned to the ground. Belgian Corn Seized

Sixty thousand Belgian farmers have been accused of not having delivered to the collecting offices, established since the German occupation, all corn they harvested this year, says the independent Belgian nows agency. Many have already been sentenced for this offence.

Under the German regulations those farmers who have sons prisoners of war in Germany are allowed to retain 150 kilns of grain for each son against his return home. If the prisoners are not freed within six months the father must deliver half of this to the authorities and the remainder at the end of the year if the son is still a prisoner.