Evening star., 1941-01-05

SldNld dCIUSS lIlt bdlIuUS 4lOili DSA-
grade, the capital city.
The towns oStenSible purpose is
TO act as a way station for German
eYpatriates from the strip of land
in BeSSarabla taken over by Russia
But visit I made to the place
shortly before leaving Belgrade dis
closed several strange and sugges-
tive features.
The possibility was indicated that
the camp is being used to expedite
secret troop movements through
Yugoslavia to Rumania and also
may be intended IS bridgehead
for defense of the Danube IN the
event Yugoslayia attempted to close
it of. This much is definite: The
camp is not so much Nazl fifth
column as Nazl column.
The camp is built on three square
miles of drained land rented from
the Yugoslav government. 1t is a
logical stop-of for German refugees
between their old homes in Bes-
sarabla and the new ones to which
they have been Summarily assigned
in Germany. The majority of these
refugees are in need of food. warm
clothing and a medical checkup,
this last as a precautlon against
the spread of a possible epidemic.
Size Is Strange Feature.
The Nazi government has permiS-
sion to keep these transients in the
Belgrade camp only for one day and
one night. The average traffic dur
ing the last few months has been
between so and 60 refugees day.
This emphasizes the first strange
feature OF the toWn-itS eXtraordl-
nary size. During my visit I counted
about 200 large tents in the town,
each accommodating 80 to 100 peo-
pie. That is, the town has been built
to accommodate more than 200
times the number of people it was
ostenslbly built to accommodate.
Another curious feataure is that
] saw about 1000 uniformed Nazis
there. The bulk of these were Ger
man soldiers. The remainder, about
one-third, we're equally divided be-
tween Nazi labor corps that had
built the town in the first place
and still fingered on for an un-
explained reason and blaCk-shirted
S. S. men, armed with revolvers.
The town is located near the sub
urb of Zemun, Yugoslavia's prin-
Clpal commercial and military air.
port. 1t is difficult to obtain per-
mission to visit. Finally I managed
TO do so, accompanied by two mem
bers OF the German Legation in
Belgrade and an official of the camp.
My guides were careful about what
to show me
The outside is heavily guarded by
Yugoslav soldiers, but the Nazis are
on guard within the town. There
were several buildings I was not
allowed to enter-among them one
plainly marked as a radio station,
another marked as a hospital and
a very large wooden building, about
as big as square city block. This
was marked as a storehouse for
drugs or a pharmacy building.
1t was explained to me that I
could not visit the hospital because
of the presence there of refugees
with communicable diseases. But no
explanation was given for the re-
fusal to allow me to inspect the
pharmacy.
Divided Into Two Parts.
The town is divided into two parts,
one for the refugees and the other
for the labor corps. soldiers. S. S.
men, doctors. nurses and officials
The tents are substantially built,
with wooden floors and with wooden
walks separating them. I was al
lowed to see routine refugee work
being carried on in the town. This
refugee work is interspersed with
active propagandizing by Nazis,
particularly among the boys. The
majority of the boys seemed to take
to 1t happily, but number of young
German bodies bearing refugee iden-
tlf1cation tags have been washed up
by the Danube below the town. Bel
grade gossip has decided that these
are boys who preferred to commit
suicide instead of fighting under the
swastika.
The mature refugees l saw were
quite dazed- looking. Many had
never been outside of Bessarabia
before. Few seemed TO understand
why they had been taken from their
homes like cattle. and none knew
where he was being sent.
I saw many army trucks, most OF
them apparently not in use. My
guides said some of these we're
ambulances and others were used to
truck supplies for the town. but all
looked like regular army trucks.
Anchorage for Barges.
The town. being built along an
estuary of the Danube, provides an
anchorage for German barges, of
which there are many The anchor
age is guarded by S. S. men and no
one is allowed to see these barges.
The Germans have permission to
send empty barges down to Rumania
to bring back refugees. Once they
have delivered their human cargo,
they are supposed to return empty.
Last April when the British were
still represented on the Danube
Control Commission a troop of
German barges was found to contain
in its holds 100 Nazi troops being
transported secretly through Yugo-
slavia.
From Is to Is trains of barges,
about five barges in each train, have
been passing daily through Yugo-
slavia for months. A large number
have been assigned to bring back
refugees from Rumania and are
supposed to be empty on the way
down. Obviously there have been
many more barges going down than
refugees coming up.
Whether these barges going down
are actually empty cannot be dis
covered unless one breaks through
the armed Nazi guard stationed
around their anchorage in Yugo-
slavia. A piquant feature of the