PARIS OF TO-DAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24135, 29 November 1941, Page 13

PARIS OF TO-DAY

THE FOOD SHORTAGE POTATOES A LUXURY DEFIANCE OF GESTAPO The following 1 article, -which appeared in the London Daily Telegraph, is based on information obtained from a Frenchwoman who lived in Paris for more than a year under tho German occupation. She arrived in Britain recently. Lit us begin with the food question, for that is a fundamental factor in the gituation throughout the whole of occupied France. Parisians are underfed. There are weeks during which they eat neither meat nor fish; potatoes have become a luxury and bread and ifrine are strictly rationed. Food queues are a characteristic feature of Parisian life. At times the queues are so long that customers do not go from shop to shop, but from queue to queue when in quest of food. On reaching the end <}f a queue they have to inquire what is being sold at the other end. People with money, however, can obtain all they need at exorbitant prices from the black market, which, as ever, is elusive and mysterious. The people who run this underground organisation keep their secrets very is full of Gorman civilians evacuated from the Ruhr and Rhine districts. They are distributed among tie different arrondissements according to their social status and wealth. The richer refugees are billeted in the Passy, Trocadero and Etoile districts. livery German Has His Price Jewish shops were originally marked with a yellow sign on which the word "Jew" 'in Yiddish appeared. Most of these signs have been replaced by red notices, also inscribed in \iddish, which indicate that the business is now controlled by Aryan commissioners. In these' cases Jewish owners receive a small percentage on profits. A more recent ordinance, however, compels Jews to sell their businesses t-o syndicstcs. Corruption and bribery are outstanding features of the German administration, which is no longer able to cover up or restrain the ; old German instinct for pillaging, looting, treachery and bad faith. Every German official has his price, and the Parisian who is prepared to pay can obtain any facility he may reqtnre. To obtain a laissez passer it is neediiil to approach certain intermediaries -—usually foreigners, Slavs or Rumanians —and when agreement has been reached one can' count on receiving passes within eight to 15 days. The price of a pass into unoccupied territory ranges from 3000 to 4000 francs. A return pass usually costs 5000 francs. Ruse that Got Siik Without Payment Most of the hotels are occupied by German officers; as a rule private houses and flats are not thus invaded. These officers drink heavily, and my informant told of one instance in which a dozen cases of champagne were taken in at the Hotel Chambord for a party of some 30 officers who were spending a riotous night in drinking and ribald singing. The Germans usually pay for goods they purchase in shops or retail establishments, but wholesale houses are not so favpured. Thus certain silk firms received a visit one day from a group of German buyers, who made wholesale purchases, arranging for payment and delivery six months later. In the intervening period the French police rams to inspect the books of the houses in Question and proceeded against the oroorietors for illicit sales and for having failed to declare all their stock. As a result of this arbitrary measure the Germans obtained immediate delivery. and did not need to disburse a foil, while the French directors of the firms were heavily fined. The French Academy The French Academy has reopened its doors, but of the 38 "Immortels" fctill living only 10 meet in session. Owing to the scarcity of fats, perfumers prepare ersatz in which sweet almond oil has been substituted for cocoa butter. Face powder is made with kaolin (china clay), starches of different kinds, talc and cork powder. In spite of the German occupation, many traditional Parisian activities have returned to life, and among these the Marche au'x Puces at the Porte St. Oaen, where occasionally the visitor, if he is lucky, can find clothes and, above all, shoes, which are otherwise hard to find. Bed linen remains, as ever, a rarity,, nnd at the last sale in the . Hotel Salle des Ventes pairs of sheets reached 2900 francs. At Le Triomphe, the cafe in the Champs Ely sees,. now under Italian management, a shellfish and oyster lunch is provided. Oysters were selling at 25 to 30 francs the dozen when my informant left. Fashions With a Patriotic Touch There is practically no contact between the Germans and the French population. When German troops garade the streets, and especially the hamps Elysees, every Frenchman looks the other way or -turns his back on the passing soldiers. In the work of the principal couturiers a" patriotic note is always to be detected. Among the spring and summer fashions this year have been many ensembles embodying the tricolour. Thus one famous fashion house presented a tailor-made costume "France," with a blue skirt, white blouse and red jacket, signed Rochas. Another, signed Molvneux, consisted oit a white dress edged with red, trimmed with a wide blue scarf belt. Midinettes have- been wearing red straw hats trimmed with blue and white ribbon. Others would wear a white blouse, red tie and blue belt. German women- try to copy these fashions and send models to Berlin, for which they pay exorbitant prices, as the couturiers are loth to sell them dresses at normal rates. Newspapers Not Wanted The Paris papers are read by no one except the quislings and people bought by Germany, and the news vendors who in the past used to sell thousands of copies outside Metro stations often now implore the passer-by to buy a copy if only, they add pitifully, to enable them to earn a small pittance. Sales of ParisSoir, in spite of intense propaganda and big prizes to readers, have fallen from a million and a-half copies before the war to 4000 to 5000. One day each month, however, sales are satisfactory; -that is on the day the paper announces the new month's rations. ■ Anti-British and anti-de Gaulle propaganda is very active, Large bills and Sosters attacking Churchill and de aulie are to be found on the walls of public buildings and Metro stations. Every five or six' days the notices need replacing, since they are regularly torn up or defaced. This in spite of tho warning at the foot of each bill that persons found disfiguring a poster will incur the penalty of imprisonment or death. Prayers lor Britain's Triumph The Parisians continue to defy both Gestapo and French police. They remain, on tho whole, resolute ana uncompromising in their refusal to have anything to do with the "New Order." A strong religious revival is noticeable. On Sundays and even on week-days parish churches are crowded, and large numbers of workmen in their overalls attend early morning Mass. The J.O.C. movement (Mouvement de Jeunes Catholiques) has also considerably increased its membership. This is, in outline, the situation in Paris to-day. Parisians fully realise that a British victory is their only hope tor the future. There is hardly one man or woman, so my informant tells me, wbo does not pray for Britain's triumph.