“A FASCIST WAR”

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19883, 9 March 1939, Page 7

“A FASCIST WAR”

GERMAN-ITALIAN AID

ONE-WAY INTERVENTION

COMMUNISM DENIED

N.Z. DOCTOR’S IMPRESSIONS

(Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day

Dr. D. W. Jolly, a Now Zealander who, after five years in a London hospital, spent two years with the Spanish Government forces in Spain as a surgeon, arrived by the liner Arawa on a visit to New Zealand before returning to England. In Spain he was doing emergency surgery in the front hospitals, mostly on abdominal cases. He found the Spanish a delightful people, he said. They were very serious - about the war and the future of their country. “They are tilled -with amazing joy of life and, having very tittle real liberty as a people, they are bent on achieving it,’’ he said. ■His own opinion was that government by General Franco would be impossible without terrorist methods as so large a proportion of the people had been governed by themselves for three years. They were not a neople to accept lightly the loss of the thing they fought for. His sympathies were completely with the Government.’ That was why lie went to Spain and he saw nothing which had aimed his mind. Democratic Government

“ft is definitely a Fascist war, with Germany and Italy on the side of General Franco,” saw. Dr. Jolly.

“It is quite untrue that the Spanish Government is communist! ■: it is a democratic Government with a very small Communist representation. Out of 250 delegates there are only 14 who are communistic. There were no Communists in the Government at all till half-way througn the war. “There is a great feeling of resentment in 'Spain about the nonintervention agreement,” he said, “which amounted in practice to oneway intervention. It is strong against France and Britain and those other democratic countries which have helped General Franco by preventing the introduction of supplies to the Government, while permitting them to be brought in to the rebels.” The Government had every right to import arms to defend itself against insurrection. Non-interven-tion made no difference to the aid given by the Fascist countries to General Franco. It was complete oneway intervention under the guise of non-intervention. The Spanish people were very -bitter about it. There was no bitterness against the British people as a people, however, as they had demonstrated their sympathies very largely by sending out medical equipment and medical and surgical supplies.