Evening star., 1941-08-27
Iceland Is Now Pro-A||y, Realizing Britain
Stopped Its German Tourist Business in Time
(Sirth OF a Series on Iceland. }
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Stan Correspondent.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Stan Correspondent.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland.-A great
majority of Iceland's 10000 people
are pro-Ally.
The Americana British occupation
of the island is uncomfortable for
them. 1t necessarily upsets the
rather precise balance of living es-
tahlished through the centuries. But
most now realize that the coming
of the Canadians last year probably
was just in time to save the nation
from a far less palatable German
invasion.
When they look back over the
last 10 years. they can see what
was in store for them. Hundreds
of German tourists had arrived
every summer, ostensibly for hunt
ing and fishing. They had made
headquarters in lonely farmhouses
and explored both the coast and the
interior. They had been for the
most part extremely affable, so that
at the outbreak of the war there
was considerable pro-German SYM
pathy.
Adolf Hitler is to be credited with
a master move few years ago with
his proposals to junk Christianity
in favor of the ancient Scandi-
navian Valhalla-or at least to
infuse in the German churches a
strong flavor of this Nordic mythol-
ogy, which glorified the strong and
the ruthless. Icelanders themselves
never proposed to 60 that far. They
constitute one of the worlds most
truly Christian nations and have
made fetish of minding their own
business.
German Influences.
But 1t tickled their vanity. This
Nordic mythology which was getting
so much notice in the world was
only secondarily German, or even
Scandinavian. It was Iceladic. The
inspiration of Richard Wagner, the
natives insist, was the Iceland saga.
1t was through the genius of this
3ooAotSo RNoRAC bildS 4IlOi dilo WV
den had been preserved for the
world when their names had been
forgotten elsewhere.
The lonely island began to picture
itself in the role Of new Holy Land.
Also Germans began to take a
great interest in Icelandic sports
They established glider clubs and
sent instructors. A lot of German
skiing enthusiasts began to appear,
and they were glad to take lessons
from the natives.
Perhaps most important of all
many of the Leading scholars and
professional men of the island had
been educated at Berlin or Heidel-
berg. Up to few years ago it was
impossible to obtain graduate in
struction here. Such men came
home with an admiration for Ger
man culture and a liking for Ger
man ways of life.
They Like the Tommies.
The British whom the Icelanders
knew were for the most part wealthy
sportsmen. They rented the rivers
rich with salmon, for enormous
sums-as much as $1,000 a season
for short stretch of mountain
stream-and then preempted them
1t was fine for the man who ownec
the river but rather distasteful fol
his fishermen neighbors. Thest
sportsmen owned their own lodge:
and brought their own supplies
They had very little contact with
the native population. ..,4..4-.,--
The democratic, happy-go-lucky
free-spending British soldier ha.
been a revelation to the Icelanders
They have grown genuinely fond o.
each other, and now he Is beint
withdrawn they are sorry to see hin
go. The American is an unknown
quantity. The English soldiers, Ice.
landers say, have been thoroughly
decent and law abiding, except fol
few wild BLACK death jags."
Change Came With Danes Fall.
There remains a small and thor.
oughly subdued Nazi sentiment or
the island. 1t manifests itself ir
such rowdyism as cflalking swas.
tikas and some indecent words or
the walls of the British legation
when the military and Icelandit
police have their backs turned
Actual fifth columnists have beer
pretty thoroughly cleaned out Ths
yard of the imposing German con-
sulate across the street from the
Catholic Cathedral is grown up tc
weeds, although a caretaker still
occupies the building.
The great change came. Ice.
landers explain, with the fall oi
Denmark in April, 1910.
Denmark, after all, was Iceland,
big sister. The two had staged
plenty of sisterly quarrels and a,
times hardly been on speaking terms
But the cultures of the two coun.
tries had much in common. Thou.
sands of Icelanders had blood rela.
tives in Denmark. There was much
visiting back and forth.
Iceland was horror stricken ant
began to realize what a viper was
the Nazi sentiment she had shel.
tered in her bosom. So when the
Canadians arrived responsible Ice
landers began to sleep easily again
They wanted to be left alone. But
the last thing they wanted was a
German drill sergeant for a dictator