GERMAN REPRISALS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25672, 21 October 1944, Page 7

GERMAN REPRISALS

MASSACRES IN ITALIAN TOWNS ALEXANDER’S STERN WARNING (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 19. “The fact that Italian patriots in' some villages may have attacked Germans is no justification in any court Of law for carrying out mass reprisals against a civilian population or for killing people without regular trial and sentence,” was the warning General Alexander gave over ,the Rome radio to the German troops in North Italy. He continued, “ German officers and men who carry out such orders will be tried in military courts.” General Alexander gave instances of typical atrocities and said that the Hermann Goering Division in the village of Spira massacred a six-months-old baby and a woman aged 84. Also in the village of Civitella the same division machine-gunned the whole male population, including a priest aged 80. The bodies were thrown into burning houses. “ Some of Marshal Kesselring’s, few remaining planes are being used to shower over the north Italian countryside leaflets which mark the climax of the German reign of terror in Italy,” says the Daily Telegraph’s correspondent in Italy. “ One paragraph in the leaflet reads, ‘ Every place where it is proved there are partisans, where German soldiers are attacked or sabotage is committed, will be burned to the ground. In addition, all the male inhabitants in the area over 18 years of age will be shot, and women and girls will he interned in labour camps.’ The leaflets are signed, ‘Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces.’” ~ ... . The correspondent says they will be damning evidence when the war criminals are brought to trial.