Evening star., 1942-05-03
Belgium S Experience
Under Germans Like
That Of Other Nations
By Nozis Are Fiction
Finds Distinctions Made
Brookin9s Institution
BY DAVID M. NICHOL.

BY DAVID M. NICHOL.
In Nazi public pronouncements.
they often undertook to distinguish
Belgium from other occupied and
conquered countries because, they
said. its king and head Of its gov
eminent had surrendered and signed
q formal armistice.
The only difference it actually
made, according to new study OF
the Brookings Institution. was in
the mechanism through which the
loOting process was imposed. Its
ends have been the same: confiSca-
ton of raw materials and finished
products, manipulation OF the coun-
try's finance until every important
concern was subsidiary to German
authorities and institutions. syphon-
ing OF of all human and material
resources into the NaZi economy,
with only worthless balances in Ber-
lin as payment.
Because the structure Of the Bel
gian government remained, the
Nazis were able to add q peculiarly
Machiavelkan touch.
German authorities were not
satisfied with exploiting all the eco
nomic possibilities of Belgium" the
Brookings study declares. They
aimed also to transform Belgian in
stitutions In order to render them
more amenable to German aims. AS
far as possible, German authorities
try to perform their control through
the Belgian administration, In order
to simplify their own task and to
place on Belgian ofYicials the odium
Of painful measures"
Found Kindred Spirits.
As In Holland and Norway and
as they would In England or the
United States, the Nazis found kin
dred spirits among the stricken
Belgians, who have helped them
with the ruthlessly destructive pol
icy. The Brookings study is by a
distinguished Belgian economist,
r. Ardenne, who noted that there
was resistance at first among the
department heads, but that they
are being replaced by others more
inclined, he says mildly. to col
laborate."
Collaboration or confiscation,
whichever it is called, has cost Bel
gium hugely in the measurable
items of money and material re-
sources and incalculable amounts in
morale and human factors. The
Nazis, the study says, have set aside
"the greatest human triumph of
the 18th century, the conquest of
hunger"
Biologists believe a daily diet OF
1900 calories Is an absolute mini
mum for average consumers. BY
contrast, Belgium's legal diet, all
that the rations provided. amounted
in 1941 to about 1850 calories, Mr..
Ardenne calculates, and because
these legal rations often could not
be obtained, the actual level was
about 1000.
Most Belgian adults have lost
from 10 to 80 pounds, the study
says. 1t adds: p.
Teachers complain OF the lack
Of vitality and general apathy of
their pupils. Children become sick.
or faint, in school anemia,
scurvy, dermatitis, eye infections
are becoming prevalent. The
scourge of tuberculosis Is spreading
A reduction in the rate of births
and an increase in the rate Of
deaths are manifest" --,-
Because its members could not
stand the strain, the Lawn Tennis
Federation cut tennis matches from
five to three sets and ordered in
tervals of rest for women and Junior
players.
Huge Occupation Costs.
Belgium paid 10000, 900 900 francs
in occupation costs, although the
actual expenditures of the Germans,
including maintenance of an army
numbering 10 per cent of the pop
ulation, are estimated at less than
10000. .0O0,0O The manipulation
of occupation marks" and the
clearing system under which Bel
gium is paid for its exports in
worthless credit balances in Berlin
cost another 11.60O ,000, 900 to the
first of this year, the study says.
un 1910, before the war, the
Belgian franc was quoted at
1888 cents, or about one-sixth
of a dollar)
Rolling stock lost or destroyed in
1910 amounted to 1000, 900 900
francs, most of it confiscated by
the Nazis. Property damage in
general was about $4,000, 900 900
francs. The cost to Belgium In
these measurable items is almost
equal to years national income,
estimated now at $4,000, 900 900
francs.
Detailed explanation would be
too lengthy here. but the pattern
of occupation as it exists in Poland,
Holland and wherever the Nazis
have gone is present. Agriculture
has been organized" under a single
corporation. Trade and industrial
groups, to make the looting more
efficient, have been established. La
Dor has been forced to migrate to
Germany.
Prices are up. production Is down.
Money Is worthless, humans count
for nothing. Hunger is everywhere,
hunger and misery and hatred. The