Evening star., 1940-01-22
Polish Relief.
Needs Vital,
Bryan Says
Warsaw Bombinq
Pictures Shown
At Town Hall

Nearly million Poles will die be-
fore spring for lack of food, unless
some form of immediate relief is
sent them, Julien Bryan, war cor
respondent whose photographs Of
the bombing Of Warsaw last Sep
tennber brought him world fame,
told an audience at the Shoreham
Hotel last night.
Lecturer in the second of a series
sponsored by the Town Hall group
of Washington, Mr.. Bryan forecast
a death rate from starvation three
to four times greater than the IA
taltties recorded in the military
campaign which ended In the par
tition of Poland between Germany
and Russia.
Lack of food supplies, he declared,
has been made more acute by Grip
pling Poland's transportation facili-
ties. That country's needs is even
greater than Finland's, Mr.. Bryan
pointed out.
Entering Poland by way of Ru-
mania five days after Germany be-
gan its undeelared war on Poland,
Mr.. Bryan made his way to Warsaw,
where he remained through the
siege. Motion pictures, which finally
found their way out of the country,
were shown to the large audience
last night for one of the first times
/, in this country. They dramatically
pictured the destruction Of the
Polish capital by bombing, shelling
and fire.
Waited to Last for Help.
although the majority of Poles
inwardly knew Germany would
eventually win, they did the only
thing any nation would do. They
defended their capital until the
last" the speaker said.
The Poles waited to the very
end for the help that never came
from the allies" Mr.. Bryan stated,
"The final great blow was word
that Russia had joined with Ger
many"
Great fires ignited by incendiary
bombs, he said, were more demoral-
izing to the civilian population of
Warsaw than either the bombing
or shelling. He stressed that such
bombing was not confined to mill
tary objectives, but released "indis-
criminately'' over the city.
Defending the evacuation OF
American Legation heads from War
saw to Lublin following the out
break of war. Mr.. Bryan said it was
the custom for the diplomatic corps
to follow the heads Of a Govern
ment when they moved their offices.
Mr.. Bryan, freely admitting he
was completely scared" through
out the siege, brought laughter from
his audience when he told them he
had planned the "quietest" vacation
of his life last summer in taking
educational pictures on the CONT
nent. He was drawn to Poland, he
said, because it was the "hot spot"
Of Europe at that time.
Broadcast Studio Shelled.
Asked to make an appeal to the
allies and the United States by way
of short wave, Mr.. Bryan said the
| building in which the studio was
housed was shelled 10 times during
his 10-minute broadcast.
After several days of fruitless
efforts, he was finally granted per-
mission by the resident leaders to
photograph the city. He was given
a special car, a staff of assistants
and an interpreter. The automobile
eventually was destroyed by bomb,
killing one man and injuring three
others. Mr.. Bryan was not on the
scene at the time.
During his stay in Warsaw Mr..
Bryan remained with a group OF
about IS citizens of the United
States in the American Legation
building, which became known as
the "dugout."
Departing from the usual Town
Hall custom of a prepared panel OF
persons to lead the discussion, last
nights audience served as panel
members. Third speaker in the
series, to be held next Sunday night,
will be H. r. Knickerbocker, promi-
nent foreign correspondent.