Smyrna times., 1941-07-10
Cold, Hungry,
Paris Fights On
City Opposes the Germans
With Derision and
Passive Resistance.

PARIS. - The winter that has
struck Paris is the worst that the
capital of France has known since
the Middle ages. 1t is harder than
the winter of 1889, when, told that
the people had no bread, Queen Ma
rie Antoinette said: why don't they
eat cake?" 1t is harder than that
of 1870 during the siege by the ar
mics of Bismarck, when the ami
mails in the Jardin des Plantes (the
zoo) were eaten.
Paris is freezing. Only the houses
occupied by the Germans enjoy
heating. And what heating! Rooms
are overheated and stoves red to
such a degree that several boilers
in these privileged habitations have
burst, while in neighboring quar-
ters the plumbing cracked because
of the cold, says New York Times
correspondent
At these German-occupied apart
ments, generally the finest on the
best streets, truckloads of coal are
arriving continually, to the fury of
the populace, whose hands and feet
are cracked by chilblains. The chill
dren pick up the pieces that occa-
sionally fall, put them in their pock-
cts or their school bags and carry
them to their parents, who have
merely a card for 121s Kilograms
(about 27 pounds) of coal month.
and cannot get even this meager
ration.
Hospitals Besieged.
Unemployed persons of the COM
Portable classes have entered the
service of the city of Paris to clean
the ice from the streets. Their mis-
cry is great, but they still show
traces of their one-time comfort
felt hats, elegant scarfs, gloves.
Every morning when the hospitals
open their doors, they are faced by
a crowd Of weeping parents bring
ing their frozen children.
The tortures of hunger are added
to those of cold.
At the beginning of the winter, the
Germans did not fear, at the risk of
provoking riots, to break through the
lines of housewives waiting for
hours before the doors of the shops
and to carry off at one swoop and in
a minute the thousand little bits
destined for famished homes.
The doctors shake their heads.
New maladies appear; they are IA
miliar to those who have helped
save the starving people along the
Volga or the victims of famine in
India.
News is spread by grapevine, be-
cause the real Partisan does not
read the papers. What's the use?
He does not go to the movies any
more either because there are none
but German films and German
newsreels. Besides, the newsreels
are shown with all the lights on to
avoid demonstrations that it would
be impossible to suppress in the
dark. But the lights do not prevent
the derisive laughter, the intangi-
BILE, unpunishable sneering that
makes the occupying authority mad
with rage.
Loyal to Britain.
OF course, one abstains from
meeting Germans. One abstains
from the slightest contact with
them. One even abstains from ap-
pearing to see them when one en-
counters them. The population turns
its collective back when the Ger
mans march. If a stroller meets
them he assumes a vague look and
seems to be gazing beyond them.
1t is out of order to telephone be-
tween lis and 1:3O p. m. and be-
tween 9:15 and $3.50 p. m. because
then the English radio is on the air.
Everybody listens to London.
The loyalty of Paris toward its
English ex-ally is striking. One
dreams of nothing but British VIC
tory. Only twice have the Germans
cared to sound the alert, because
on one occasion Of the passage over
head Of English airplanes the Pari-
SLAMS displayed so much joy that
the Germans have found it more
prudent to keep them in ignorance
of the flight Of British planes
! through the capitals skies.