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FRANCE at Nazi Mercy
By Joe Alex Morris
This is the second of two dispatches by the Foreign News Editor of the United Press, who visited France on his way back to the United States after an assignment in Eng- land. The first appeared last Friday.
Sometimes a procession of automobiles rolls into the main street of Vichy and half a dozen_German. army officers get out in front of the big resort hotel that houses the French Ministry of War. If the guard at the door presents arms, and a trim,
little
in man
uniform comes to greet the new arrivals, you know that
there is a general of the Reichswehr among the Germans.
man
The sober little with a ramrod back is General Huntzinger, the French Minister of De- fence. Only a little man in a stiff, flat-topped General's cap could be so severely correct in his public greeting to a con- queror.
Passersby pause to look at the Germans. The Ger- man soldiers gaze around with restrained curiosity and sometimes take snap- shots. They have an air of confidence that con- trasts sharply with the apathy of the French around them, and it is only when some of the passersby turn away that you see anger and bitter- ness on their faces.
The anger and bitter- ness that exist among the French may become a potent element in the war. But thus far; it has failed to penetrate the confused apathy of a defeated na- tion. The people know that at any moment Ger- many may draw tight the noose that would
strangle what is left of Unoccupied France.
-To-understand-the-posi- tion of France in a war- ring continent, you must weigh the attitude of the government leaders, the power of Germany to strangle France almost overnight and the dazed, hopeless condition of the mass of the people after last year's battle.
The government of Mar- shal Petain, under the in- fluence of former vice-pre- mier Pierre Laval, bet on a German victory over Great Britain and agreed to col- laboration in a new European order dominated by Germany. Most members of the govern- mont are still staking their futures on that bet, although they are less confident now of the outcome. One of them explained it this way:
"There are more than 80,- 000,000 Germans with a vast industrial machine. It is only reasonable that they should be a dominant power on the continent. We lost the war. We are primarily an agricul- tural country, and we can fit into a new European order in which we maintain the rights and sovereignty of France just as any one of your states in America maintains its position, And, just as a no- live of any one of those states
become leaders again in Europe."
can
In a general way, that is the official version of the ultimate purpose of collabora- tion with Germany, but it is modified by many influences. The first big influence was Laval, who staked everything on a quick German triumph after France fell. He went so far in his efforts to gain personal power, with the
FRENCH REFUGEES-More than 30,000 German Jews, Hungarians, Czechoslovakians, Russians, Poles and Spaniards are detained in internment camps in unoccupied France, where their lives are utterly futile and miserable, according_to_reports. Pictures above were taken at Camp des Milles, not, far from Marseilles. Top, ancient brick factory now used as the main building.
backing of Germany, that he fell victim to the intrigue of his political foes at home and to Petain's own ideas of how to save France from extinc tion. Laval is now in Paris, but many in Vichy believe he will return. They know that the Germans can put him in a place of power again if they think it desirable.
The
of
ousting
Laval brought Admiral Francois. Darlan to power, and conso- lidated in his hands the most. important cabinet posts. Darlan is outspokenly anti- "British, because he built up the French Navy and saw. some of its finest ships at- tacked by the British at Dakar and Oran. He is re- puted to have expressed a hope that the French Navy would have a chance to show its mettle to the British, but is also credited with being merely more anti-British than pro-German.
Darlin's lack of political experience has brought Pe tain's position more strongly into the foreground. The old Marshal, regardless of his personal political views, re- presents the French desire to survive as a nation. He has convinced the people that he is above political Intrigue or personal ambition. His one desire is to go down in history He is as a national savour. trying to mark time until somebody wins the war,
Petain and all of Un- occupied France, however, are at the mercy of Germany.
"The line of demarcation between occupied and unoccu- pied France is a diabolically clever cord of strangulation,"
Left, a refugee reads his shirt" for para- sites. Right, Russians huddle about a small wood-burning stove while bread and soup are served. Bottom, wooden bunks for men in German refugee quarters. Each group is assigned a leader who is responsible for per sons in his charge. Future appears dark for them,
one French official explained. "Whenever it is drawn tight. we begin to choke."
The Germans hold almost 2,000,000 French war pri- soners, and by holding them can delay the ability of the nation to recover and weaken France for a generation by drastically affecting the birth rate.
Germans are using billions of francs paid by the French Government for support of the Nazi army in occupied France to buy into French industries and other enter- prises, which they will control even if the army of occupa- tion is withdrawn. German occupation is forcing France
its to sky-rocket
borrow. 100,000,- ings toward the 000,000 fran: mark, with con- sequences so obvious that the franc can now be purchased on the Black Bouree at more than 125 to the U.S. dollar in contrast to the official rate of 43%.
This Nazi programine of economic destruction, how- ever, is only part of the pro- blem. The French are run- ning short of food, and when- ever the "strangulation line" is drawn tight the Germans can make the food, fuel, and raw materials shortages 'so acute that the unoccupied zone is all but paralysed. Al- ready the food shortage has Petain to back persuaded Darlan's threat to use French warships against the British blockade. Some neutral ob.. servers believe that rea) fa- mine conditions might persu- ade the Marshal to go further In deals with Germany in ex- change for food. ;
Against the German power, there are a few safeguards. One is the Nazi-dictated armistice that left the fleet in French hands to protect French colonies. As long as Petain can threaten to flee to North Africa and turn the fleet, air force and colonial army over to co-operation with the British, the Germans must carefully weigh the cost of breaking the armistice terms by invading_the_unoc- cupied zone or seizing French naval bases,
The second and, possibly the most important, safe- guard is the pro-British feel- ing among the French armed forces and the people. Three experienced observers just re- turned from North Africa told the same story: that the French navy took an objective view of the military necessity that prompted British attacks at Oran and Dakar, and that the feeling among both men and officers was favourable to the British.
an
The people of the accupied zone are invariably described by responsible persons reach- ing Vichy as becoming daily more bitter against the Ger- mans-largely because army of occupation paralyses business and hits the people in their pocket-booka. In the unoccupied zone, the, people have not yet recovered enough from the daze of defent to worry seriously about who is going to win the war. But if they forget their own troubles long enough to talk about it, the old fear of Germany emerges, and there are new signs scrawled in chalk on the walls: "Vivo De Gaullel"- Copyright 1941 by United Press.
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