Evening star., 1939-12-19
Rumors Are AiIoat
In Berlin on Way
Poles Are Treated
Conduct Of U. S. Army
Of Occupation Cited
As Perhaps q Contrast
(Thirty-Third OF a Series.
BY w. L. WHITE.

(Thirty-Third OF a Series.J
BY w. L. WHITE.
BERLIN (By AirmaiD There IS
little news in Berlin, although ru-
mors are af1oat concerning what Is
going on in that part OF conquered
Poland where order is being re-
stored by the National Socialist po-
lice. But as a newspaperman I
would not give you rumors as fact.
Since the Polish war ended Amer
lean correspondents have not been
allowed to enter conquered Poland,
so will pay no attention to things
that I have not myself seen and
heard.
However, since I was briefly a SOL
dier in the American Army during
our war against Germany and later
visited that part of conquered Ger
many occupied by our troops, I can
write accurately and factually about
this.
Since I have returned to Ger
many, this time out of uniform and
as civilian newspaperman,
have heard from Germans many
pleasant things about the friendly
relation between cur troops and
their people in the Rhineland in
1918-19. These things can be
truthfully said because we Amer
leans behaved like a civilized ma
ton toward the conquered popula-
ton. For instance, we did not send
spies among them to find out which
ones had opposed us most vigor-
ously during the war and then we
did not line these German patriots
up against wall in every village
and shoot them down like dogs. OF
course during the war there de-
veloped among Americans of Anglo
Saxon ancestry a silly prejudice
against people of German blood.
No Massacres Then.
This silly race prejudice was then
stronger than I like to remember
now. But it did not lead us to drag
from their homes people in the
Rhineland whose race or religion we
did not like and to herd them into
a desolate reservation like cattle or
occasionally, when this would have
been too much bother, we did not
crowd any of them in their churches
and toss few hand grenades in
after them because we did not like
the shapes of the noses of these
helpless German Rhinelanders or
the color of their hair.
OF course, our Army was not per-
feet and there were a few unpleas-
ant incidents. For instance, shortly
after we entered Coblenz some
drunken American soldiers in cafe
dragged German civilian from
table and boisterously gave him a
shampoo by pouring beer on his
hort-clipped hair and rubbing his
scalp with their fingers. But the
German civilian got an apology
from our military authorities and
the soldiers got long Jail sentences.
This is the only American "atrocity"
on the Rhine that I ever heard of
and I am glad to say that the Ger
mans today seem to have forgiven
and forgotten even this one little
incident. se
Innuendo.
Because our Army was truly brave
1t did not need to strut around and
abuse its authority over helpless
conquered civilians. The present
German Army lis also truly brave,
and in Berlin I have heard it whis-
pered that it was never other than
dignif1ed and courteous toward the
conquered Poles. This brave Ger
man Army has now been largely
Withdrawn from Poland to the West
Wall.
Of course, in 1918 in America we
had lot of loud-mouthed towards
who for prudent reasons remained |
at home during hostilities and did |
all of their fighting with their
mouths. If. after the armistice, we
had given these towards gaudy uni
forms, police powers of life and
death over the conquered Germans
and turned them loose in the Rhine
land to terrorize and butcher the
people, our towards would have en-
joyed themselves immensely, be-
cause America is big country and
we always do things in a big way
and I submit that our towards
would have been more brutal and
louder mouthed than the towards
Of any other nation.
But since towards have never
played an important part in our
American scheme of things we did |
not do this, and because I was an
American soldier and today enjoy
hearing the pleasant things the
Germans say about the decent,
courteous way Americans behaved
themselves in the conquered Rhine
land, I am still very glad that we
did not.
I write all these "reminiscences
because there is little news today
In Berlin, only rumors from con-
quered Poland, and as a trained
newspaperman I do not give you
rumors as fact, since I remember
how many credulous Americans be-
lieved the propaganda lies about
Belgian atrocities during the last
war. hope to go to Poland some
day, and then will tell you as fact
only that which I myself see and
hear, but because of unsettled con-
ditions" American newspapermen
are not yet permitted to travel
freely in Poland.