Evening star., 1940-12-29

family has remained in Paris,
subject to GeStapo scrutiny, he is
obliged to use a nom de plume.
By A PARIS REFUGEE.
NEW YORK, Dec. % N.ANA).-
1t is most curious how the human
animal can adapt itself to almost
anything and it is only since my
return to New York a few days ago
| that / realized I had been virtually
a prisoner at large since the Ger
man Army entered Paris on June IA.
I had not been molested by their
troops or threatened with bodily
harm. 1t is more that there is
mysterious sort of static wave in
the air that an old resident is con-
scious of the moment he steps out
side his front door in the morning.
go to play tennis in the Bois de
Boulogne during normal times.
Often on fine day when we are
busy with our game, the birds start
to emit nervous little chirps and the
air gets heavy and it is hard to
breathe when you run and your
temples feel a pressure. The trees
begin to rustic in a peculiar way.
Before the thunderstorm breaks,
you are already nervous and hur-
ried. There is something ominous
in the air and you feel yourself
menaced by danger that you can
not analyze.
Two of my friends from Paris
called on me one evening and
agreed with me that this is what we
all felt. Our real suffering has been
mental.
Lose Weight Through Worry.
Although the city has been quiet
er than during normal times, have
noticed that I slept normally until
about or 3 o'clock in the morning
and then woke up and tossed the
rest of the night wondering what
was coming. I can honestly say
that although I am a normal
healthy man, I haven't had five
nights good sleep in five months.
All of us have lost about 10 pounds
weight through worry. So far we
ate normally although not always
what we would like to have the day
we wanted it.
The thing that Frenchmen and
Americans prize the most highly in
life is personal liberty and the
privilege of following their whims
as long as they do not interfere with
the rights of others or damage
property. Living under the German
boot takes the JOY out of life.
First of all is the control of the
press. A very few days after the oc-
cupation two old established news
papers. LIE Matin and Paris Soir,
appeared, also several new ones,
such as AujOurdhui, La France au
Travail and La Nouvelle France.
We were all starved for news and
eagerly bought the first copies. Nat
urally we expected rigid censorship,
but what was our astonishment to
find the entire paper full of eulogies
of the German leaders, abuse of
everything French, details of the
air raids on England with always
to their bases
People were furious at the thought
that Frenchmen could be found to
write such patent lies. Then it
daWned on us that these papers
were not only being censored but
were actually issued by a German
staff 1t is true that French jour-
nalists were hired to write the minor
articles and sign them. When you
read the editorials, however, you
realized the truth. They were writ
ten in a French that was gram
matically correct, but employing ex-
pressions never used and in a stiff,
stilted style.
Elevator Man Made Editor.
At Paris Soir the man who had
been running the elevator for five
years suddenly put on a German
officers uniform and became editor
in chief. When a Frenchman asked
him about his experience on the
paper he answered that he had
been going up and down all through
it for some time. The result was
that most people stopped reading
newspapers altogether, but the
newspaper is a part of your daily
life and you miss it.
1t is forbidden to listen to any
radio that is not German controlled.
The penalty is confiscation of your
machine. Naturally every one listens
to England just the same and the
leading topic of conversation when
you meet your friends in the street
is the last bulletin.
Every one feels that France was
not whipped, but sold out, and the
humiliation is worse than the
physical discomforts. For instance,
parts of some streets in front of
hotels that have been taken over
for German military or civil service
headquarters are barred off. In
front of The Hotel Crillon you have
to walk out around the statues in
the Place de la Concorde instead of
straight through the arcades. Part
Of the Rue de Rivoli in front of
the Meurlce is barred off as is the
Avenue Kleber in front of the Ma
jestic
1t griped me when I was walking
along looking into the Shop windows
to be suddenly steered across the
street by French policeman or a