“LIKE NIGHTMARE”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 308, 31 December 1942, Page 2

“LIKE NIGHTMARE”

LIFE IN HOLLAND GERMANS PILLAGING HOMES With reference to the recent rumours from occupied Europe about the German evacuation measures on 1 Che west coast, of Holland. Belgium and other countries, the following let- ’ ter from a Netherlander in occupied I Holland who is threatened with > evacuation, has been received in Engi land:— “We feel as if our dear country is situated on a volcano —everywhere sparks and fumes disturb the air. Living in the coastal districts of Holland is now like a nightmare—the atmosphere is indescribable every minute everybody is expecting an order to leave his home ‘Hundreds of people in my district have already received the order and . have already gone. People are being tossed to and fro without the slightest consideration. All families in Hague live in constant tear of being uprooted—they live a day-to-day existence and are unable to run their households along regular lines. They do not dare to plan further in advance than a few hours, and manv , have started packing while using as , few household goods as possible, moving about among trunks, cases and parcels “Families living in villages in the North Holland coastal strip have all started packing, as they reason that it is advisable to be readv when thp hour strikes. Our telephone has been taken away—our lives are entirely dislocated —everybody stays in his horn®, which becomes like an island. “Travelling is atrocious as the trains are so full that the people light like beasts to get in them?” The writer of the letter also confirms how the Germans in Holland are taking part brazenly in blackmarketing. Germany’s Fears Revealed. Writing in a German- daily published in occupied Holland Nazi Admiral Gadow reveals how much Germany tears Allied invasion. Referring to the latest defence measures taken by the German military authorities in occupied Holland tnw admiral says that they are vital ' because two things are at stake: Firstly the struggle for communications, and secondly, the possibilities of invas : or. Both, he aids, constitute a “mortal danger for Germany as well as Eng and.” . A-'Tiirai Gadow hinted at the < danger originating from the fact that ; th? Netherlands people have noc yet 1 been won over to the New Order, £ which makes them unreliable. There- y

fore, evacuation of Netherlands coas- . tai areas is not merely a measure to give the German defence forces free- , dom of movement, unhampered by the Dutch civilian population, but lor a safeguard, in order to prevent “unreliables” from assisting the Allied invaders if and when, they come. That the Germans combine in their evacuation order military necessity with desire for personal gain and pillaging, is revealed by a Nazi order forcing evacuating people to leave everything behind including table silver, bed linen, and even kitchen utensils.