CONQUERED REICH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25866, 9 June 1945, Page 7

CONQUERED REICH

THE OCCUPATION ZONES LARGE AREA FOR RUSSIA LONDON, June 7. The publication in Moscow of the details of the Russian occupation zone in Germany has been interpreted in some quarters as a surprise move, and that the fact that Russia will occupy half Germany represents some departure from Allied planning, says Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent. The fact is, however, that the published line of demarcation is simply that on which the Allies agreed. Moreover, although the Russians may occupy roughly half the Reich, it must be remembered that on a population basis the Russian zone represents less than a-quarter of the total of Germany. One pre-war estimate gives 15,000,000 and 55,000,000 as the respective populations of the Russian and Allied zones. The latter include the most densely populated and the most heavily industrialised areas of Germany. The only aspect of Moscow’s publication of the . detailed zone which caused surprise in London was that it was a unilateral announcement, whereas there had been a general expectation that the delimitation zones would be published jointly by the European Advisory Council. One of the most interesting problems connected with the division of territory is that an overwhelming majority of food-producing areas lies within the Russian zone, while an overwhelming majority of German mouths to be fed are in the western Allies’ zone. The Moscow newspaper Izvestia, commenting on the London Times reference to “ muddle ” of the occupation zones, writes: “ Perhaps by ‘ muddle ’ The Times has in mind that the British and Americans are still occupying part of the Russian zone.” The paper points out that the European Advisory Commission in London has not yet solved its own “ muddle ” of division in the British. American, and French zones. “ The slowness in making decisions and implementing the decisions already adopted is causing alarm and fear throughout Europe, which is giving ground for numerous malicious speculations.”

“The end of western civilisation is no longer an empty phrase, but a terrible possibility, already illustrated to mankind by Berlin’s appalling condition,” says the Evening Standard’s Paris correspondent after a tour of Berlin.

“There is an atmosphere of death and decay in Berlin unlike that of any other heavily-bombed city,” he said. “ There is emptiness in the faces of the people totally unlike the expressions of Londoners during the blitz of 1940. The heart has been blown’out. of the largest- city on the Continent. Standards which apply when measuring the destruction of other cities cannot be applied to Berlin. “ The Russians have tried to bring some, sort of order from Berlin’s chaos, but what is being done is merely makeshift.”

The correspondent is of the opinion that it will take a generation to rebuild Berlin.