CITY OF MISERY

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21043, 20 February 1940, Page 2

CITY OF MISERY

CONDITIONS IN VIENNA TOO WEAK TO WORK Vienna, once the romantic home of waltzes and laughter, is now a silent city of misery under the Nazi regime. The appalling conditions there are vividly described in a letter received by an Austrian refugee in Luton from his former maid, says a London paper. The letter was taken by a friend from Vienna to Zurich to be posted. ‘‘Soon we shall be too weak even for work," the writer declares. •'The rations are very small, and the good black coffee has gone. Instead of milk, we get only coloured water, and for coffee ‘ersatz’ made from acorns, but this is so bad that I have given up coffee. “We have no tea here, so I drink camille with peppermint, but when I started this drink I always had to hold my nose. The smell was terrible, but I am used to it now. and anyway, I have to drink it. Good-bye to Sausages “I have had to say good-bye to my dear Viennese sausages, because we have only a 7lb ration for meat and sausage. Never in my life have I had such a small bill for fats—3jd a we ek—as under the rule of ‘our beloved Fuehrer.’ “Just lately we have had ration cards for clothing. Also, if you want to buy a new winter coat you must give your old one in exchange. “I am very curious to know when the war will really start, but I think the Allies will make us very small, because the blockade is the strongest weapon, and if we have nothing to eat, then we are finished.”