GERMAN THREAT TO FRENCHMEN

Southland Times, Issue 24574, 24 October 1941, Page 5

GERMAN THREAT TO FRENCHMEN

SHOOTING OF MORE HOSTAGES SEARCH FOR ASSASSINS (Rec. 7.30 p.m.) LONDON, October 22. If by midnight on Wednesday the assassins of Lieutenant-Colonel Dr Karl Holtz, German military commander of the Nantes district, have not been found another 50 hostages will be shot. A reward of 15,000,000 francs has also been offered for information leading to arrests. A colonel and three captains of the gendarmerie have been arrested in Nantes on the ground that they failed in their duty to maintain peace. Another- German officer, a major, has been assasinated. He was shot at Bordeaux on Tuesday. The four youths believed to be responsible escaped. According ’to a Vichy report 100 hostages have been arrested in the Bordeaux district since the shooting of the German major. A curfew has been ordered in Bordeaux between 7.30 p.m. and 8 a.m. It is revealed that the execution of the 50 hostages for the murder of Dr Holtz was carried out in Paris and other cities, as well as Nantes. The Germans describe 31 of those executed as communists. They included the Paris deputy, M. Michels. Marshal Petain has broadcast four appeals to the French people to cease the shooting of Germans. He emotionally attributed the assassinations to foreign Powers. The Vice-Premier, Admiral Jean Darlan, has twice made a similar appeal. Both the broadcasts of Marshal Petain and Admiral Darlan began almost immediately the last shooting assassination was disclosed. “A STREAM OF BLOOD” “A stream of blood again flows in France,” said Marshal Petain in his broadcast. “Such a ransom is horrible. It does not bring the true culprits to light. Frenchmen, your task is clear. You must bring an end to this killing by bringing tire assailants to justice. We have no right to take up arms again to shoot the Germans in the back.” Admiral Darlan, after broadcasting, rushed to Paris at the demand of the Germans. Sabotage in France continues. The removal of bolts from a rail caused the derailment of an engine and 26 trucks of a goods train near Pavilly, between Rouen and Le Havre. The damage was considerable. The Germans recently dumped 20,000,000 French francs on the Lisbon market, which they are selling as and when they can. The result is that tire French franc has depreciated to nearly 600 to the £1 sterling. The Nazis refrained for a long time from adopting this method of collecting free exchange against their francs because of the reaction they expected in France if the foreign rate of the franc were down. Latterly, however, they have come to the conclusion that the French public is so ignorant of and indifferent to the foreign rate of the franc that they can with impunity make these sales. As the French franc is still exchangeable for North. African francs this manoeuvre is not only breaking the metropolitan exchange, but depreciating the French Empire currencies. EXECUTION OF TERRORISTS It is reported from Bucharest that 16 terrorists were executed in Bessarabia. They are reported to be members of a sabotage band organized after- the Russian retreat from Bessarabia. Moscow radio claims that sabotage in Belgium has reached a mass scale. Within three months 125 accidents have occurred to trains carrying German war material. Three Antwerp factories supplying the Germans have been put out of commission. More than 600 persons were arrested in Belgium last week.