Evening star., 1940-10-17
Ry BLAIR BOLLES.

Five persons lived in the Brussels
household of the Belgian justice and
scholar, Henri E. "A. M Rolin.
There were his wife and their
younger daughter, Sylvie, and their
elder daughter and her baby girl
of 4 months, Vivian. On May 10
at 5 am. they awoke to the sound
of bombs. dropped on Belgian soil
from German airplanes. Two hours
later this aging man Of vast accom-
plishment and vaster aspiration
began, with his family, long flight
from Belgiums capital and the ad-
vancng Germans. The journey
brought him at length to the United
States and then, for a few days. to
Washington, where he met Chief
Justice Hughes.
NJ Rolin is the president of the
Brussels Court Of Cessation, the
second highest judicial post in Bel
GUM, and vice president OF the
Brussels University.
It is true that he is but one OF
thousands of refugees entering this
country nowadays from Europe,
where academic. economic and
theological freedom exists only in
few spots.
Yet the great iurist. now 65, who
has been a figure in Belgium S
national life since the century's
opening, deserves a special story
for the demonstration he has given
of the will to keep his intellectual
honesty. no matter what obstacles
are in the way, and to search for
the place where he can think hon.
estly.
Tells of Trying Journey.
Yesterday he was in Washington,
and at his rooms at the Martinique
Hotel he told of the trying jour-
ney from Brussels to the United
States. Then he departed for New
York City. He is a small man,
bent, bearded, affable, dignified,
intense, unhappy at the present
fate of his country but youthful
in his hope of new achievement
In what is for him new country.
In the murky dawn the Rollins
packed hastily. They put as many
possessions as they could into their
car and drove away toward the
Belgian coast and the small town
OF Lapanne
For NJ Rolin the invasion of Bel
gium by the German armies and
the coming of the German bombing
planes was no surprise. He was
prepared. He had arranged long
before for an apartment at Lapanne,
and to that apartment he repaired
with his family. Lapanne had re-
mained Belgian during the World
War. NJ. Rolin was confident that
1t would remain Belgian now.
For only four days. however. did
this hope last. The speed of the
German advance across his country
awoke the justice to a realization
that 1910 was not 1914 Lapanne
each hour was more filled with refu-
gees. Firemen fleeing before the
advance went southwark on fire
trucks with their families Bicycles,
carts. feet-the refugees moved as
best they could ahead Of the ad-
F6flClng dpnleS OF f1lIIeT.
Guests of Countess at Castle.
With deep regrets, the great man
Of Belgium on May IA decided to
leave his country. His car, an Ameri-
can make. was driven past Dun
kerque. soon to be the scene of
immortal British heroism, into Nor
mandy. There the Rolin family
made the acquaintance Of countess
with castle, and in the castle,
near lie Touquet, they stayed two
weeks. Again they were confident
that in quiet Normandy they could
rest for the wars duration.
The blitzkrieg changed their plans.
Again they turned south. Along
roads crowded with refugees they
drove. The going was difficult. In
many places the French Army had
cut tree trunks across the road,
and often the Rolin car moved with
difficulty across fields. The justice
and the baby and the others rested
at Poitiers, and then drove on
toward Spain.
Near the first of July the travel
ers reached Bayonne. the French
resort on the Bay of Biscay just
north of the Spanish border. Bay
onne was a city then composed of all
the populations of the world, said
M. Rolin. From every country
occupied by the Germans the ref
ugees had come-Czechs, Poles,
Danes, Norwegians, Dutchmen and
Belgians. The one desire of them
all was to get into Spain and then
into Portugal.
To satisfy this unanimity of hope,
the Spanish and Portuguese gov
ernments increased their consular
staffs in Bayonne. The lines of
persons waiting for visas from these
consular officers were so long that
the queues filled the streets of the
towns. The Rollins tried in vain for
a week to reach the consuls. The
justice was tired At last his elder
daughter had a thought.
Appeals Successful.
She visited the police and said:
Gentlemen, would you not assist
the mother of an infant child to the
Office of the Spanish Consul
quickly?'
The appeal to gallantry was sue
cessful. The police escorted the
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