BELOW ODESSA

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24874, 21 April 1944, Page 5

BELOW ODESSA

GUERILLA ACTIVITIES SYSTEMATIC RESISTANCE ARMY OF 10,000 MEN (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, April 10 Russian guerillas in Odessa lived underground in every sense of the word, says Reuter's correspondent in Moscow, describing a visit to that area with other British and American correspondents. Reuter's correspondent adds that he saw catacombs 100 ft. below the city streets. From these catacombs, 10,(XX) armed Russians had emerged on April 9 to lend a hand to the oncoming Red Army, after living through a period of killing such as few Russian cities had undergone. Systematic resistance within Odessa began in January, 1943, with a small band of underground workers. They obtained arms by devious means,, buying some on the black market, where the Germans and Rumanians were selling weapons. The catacomb campaign began in March, when the German Army took over the city. Germans in Perpetual Panic The guerillas immediately went underground. One guerilla leader said: "The Germans did not know how many of us there were. They were in a perpetual state of panic about what we were doing. On April 8, they declared a curfew at 3 p.m., and ordered all windows to be shut and doors left open —windows shut to prevent grenadethrowing, and doors open to enable German soldiers to take quick cover." The catacombs contain 100 miles of corridors and caves, in which t lie guerillas accumulated stocks of food, built a radio station, established a printing press, and installed electric light. They also maintained a hospital complete with beds and linen. Over 13,000 people passed through the catacombs during the German occupation. One Jewish family lived underground for 18 months without once venturing out. Cruelty of Rumanians During the German occupation, he concludes, 70,000 Jews were shot, hanged or burned to death. The Mayor of Odessa, in an interview, stated that 25 per cent of the buildings in the city had been blasted. Only 280,000 of the total population of 737,000 remained. More than half of the population were evacuated to Central Asia. The rest were killed or driven off by the Germans and Rumanians. He told the correspondents that the Rumanians proved an even greater evil than the Germans, and subjected the people to sadistic tortures with greater readiness than their German masters. One correspondent said that already some sections of the industries in the Lower Ukraine were functioning. Many dwellings were spared from tb<3 flames, as the Germans fled too fast to set them on fire.