CHILD VICTIMS

Waikato Times, Volume 193, Issue 22204, 25 November 1943, Page 4

CHILD VICTIMS

PRIVATIONS IN EUROPE HUNGER, COLD AND DISEASE New Zealand’s butter rationing scheme, by which each person is allowed eight ounces a week, has been compared with that of Great Britain, where only two ounces is obtainable, but comparisons with other countries show that New Zealanders are unusually well supplied. A bulletin issued by the Save the Children Fund Post-War Committee, London, cites the conditions in Poland, where children that have not been deported by the Nazis are suffering from hunger, cold, and lack of nutrition common to children in all occupied countries. The calorific value of food rations in Warsaw is constantly falling, from 736 in 1940 to 401 at the end of 1942. A normal person requires between 2000 and 4000 calories daily, and a child between 700 and 3000 calories daily. Fuel and clothing are as difficult to obtain as food. Tuberculosis and epidemic diseases have increased, and little can be done to check their spread, the Germans having taken over most of the medical supplies, hospitals, sanatoria, etc. In Yugoslavia, too, conditions are comparable with Poland. It is estimated that 400,000 children have been orphaned in the struggle against the Nazis. During the winter thousands died from disease and privation. 200,000 Orphans In the “quisling” state of Croatia 200,000 children are without homes or parents. Children from Bosnia have been distributed amongst the largest towns in Croatia. Food in this territory is very scarce and distribution is extremely disorganized. No oil or sugar was obtainable for several months; 250 grammes of flour were given out for three months’ supply a head, and only 250 grammes of lard. Money has no value to the peasants, who therefore refuse to sell eggs, cheese, vegetables, etc. In Slovenia intensive guerilla fighting makes distribution exceedingly difficult. There are 100,000 war orphans in Serbia alone. The most encouraging feature which emerges from this long tale of misery is the way in which the pre-war organisations, in spite of almost insuperable financial difficuljties and lack of supplies of all kinds, have continued and even increased j their activities. The British Save ; the Children Fund Committee, which , is affiliated with similar organsations (throughout Europe and in the United States, including the Save the Children International Union, established in Geneva in 1920, looks forward to the day when it can once more establish direct contact with the child .welfare organisations of Yugoslavia land co-operate with them in rebuilding the child life of the country.