Evening star., 1941-08-10

lean pdr correspondent tells the
story OF his arrest and imprison-
ntent TOR four months by the Ger
man forces in occupied France
and discloses information he
CLEANED from other prisoners
and Nazi guards.
BY JAY ALLEN,
Correspondent of The Star and N. A. N. A.
NEW YORK, Aug. 9.-There are
plenty of people to testify that wher
Herr Allen was brought in by the
Nazi dragnet along the demarca.
ton line at Montchanin on March
13, he was, though bulky figure OF
some 2l0 pounds, only one person
Yet from the investigations thai
ensued upon his arrest he might
have been a whole crime wave.
AS has been explained in these
articles. the Gestapo in Chalor
thought he had an honest face and
only as a matter of form turned his
case over to the military tribunal ir
lie Creusot. This was the second
phase. There was to be third
bringing the S. S. and the Vichy
police into the picture and, at the
very end, when he was about to
cross out of occupied France into
Frances Spain, the Spanish police
popped in.
When, in March, George Axels-
son. New York Times correspondent
IN Paris, came down to Chalon to
see me, the Gestapo and the officers
OF the Kommandantur told him
In all sincerity I am sure, that my
case was a simple one-illegalIy
crossing the line. The Strafe would
be only few weeks Imprisonment.
Silent Drive to lie CreusOt.
But in the second phase politics
reared their ugly head. On my
third Sunday morning in Chalon I
was told by my guards to make my
self pretty for trip to LIE Creusot,
25 miles away. A young lieutenant
called for me in an army car driven
by a PrusSian soldier with a steel
cut profile. Not word was uttered
by any of us during the drive
Through the wine country of Mer-
curey, but when I was about to be
shown into the Office of the Judge
advocate, the lieutenant, in beautiful
English, remarked that he had been
an instructor in fine arts at Prince
ton and New York University, Be-
lore that he had done research at
sCluny, not far from Chalon, and
when the war broke out was sent
to Burgundy to handle counter
espionage work.
On the way back when it was eyi-
oent that I was not a case for a
hrlng squad the Prussian chauffeur
broke down to the extent of telling
me that he had been a COP in Ber-
lin. This was when we met a peas
ant family cycling in their Sunday
best, occupying the entire road. The
ex-schupo stopped his car until thev
were past and then, very grimlv.
said, No discipline these French.
we've got to teach them! And
dirty -
Soldiers Served Meat.
Once in LIE Creusot I was parked
Tor a time with the Feldgendarme-
RE, the German equivalent OF our
military police They introduced
me to their police dog who I was
told brought in an average of two
smugglers a day. And I was given
a huge platter of roast pork and
boiled potatoes. a German soldiers
ration. They get meat twice a day,
requisitioned in France and paid
for from the s4000,0 900 francs a day
occupation assessment. The French
people often 60 weeks without any
meat at all. This does not make
for friendly feelings between oc-
cupant and occupee.
Always frugal race, the French
are shocked at the opulent nature
of the German army's garbage pals.
And very often heard Frenchmen
say, The Germans don't eat, they
gorge"
While I ate, a corporal who spoke
good English and better French,
talked to me about Spain where he
had worked as an artist for years.
He had stayed on after the out
break of the Spanish civil war. I
asked him where. He did not an
swer and from his silence I gath
cred that he had been on what
for the Nazis-was the wrong side.
changed the subject and asked
him why LIE Creusot was never
bombed. He said that only loco
motives were being manufactured
In the once great Schneider arms
plant.
Connections in England.
And anyway, he added, IN.
Schneider has connections in Eng
land-around the royal family-who
will see to it that his property is
never damaged" Il am merely
quoting my corporaD He volun-
teered with a chuckle that NJ
Schneider had always been more or
less Naziphile but had nevertheless
lost the Skoda works in Czecho-
Slovakia.
After lunch my English-speaking
lieutenant who was later to intro
duce himself as DR.. Walter Schlunk
took me to a requisitioned villa on
q hillside overlooking M. Schnelder's
vast plant. There was sign over
the gate "Kriegsgericht'' court
lnartiaD.
There, for seven hours, l was in
terrogated politely but so cleverly
that I was glad that I didn't have
to sustain an elaborate lie. The
Judge advocate CKriegsraD was a
sandy, spectacled gentleman who
had been a magistrate in civil life.
Letters Pieced Together.
He spent an hour piecing together
the mass of torn letters and note
books that my pal, the customs
guard in Montchanin, had gathered
up as mine. He smiled family when
I told him the story and took my
word as to what was mine and what
,oSro't pIlt bo rac ccvara opd yor,,