Evening star., 1942-03-30
Exi|ed Leader Charges Nozis
Turn Belgium Into Cemetery
Allies Urged to Rush Food to Aid
Children ond Expectont Mothers

It's people are so ravaged by mall
nutrition there is danger the Allies
will find Belgium has become "a
cemetery instead of a country" when
they drive out the Nazi invaders,
Baron Rene Boel. counsellor of the
Belgian government in London. said
here today. He is In the United
States on a special mission.
Baron Boel urged that the Allies
make arrangements through the In
ternational Red Cross by which vita
minis and concentrated foods, fruit
juices and condensed milk, could be
sent to Belgium for children under
and expectant mothers. Otherwise
the country will be depleted, its in
ternal resistance weakened and its
future as a useful nation placed in
serious doubt, he said.
The English government has
steadfastly resisted the requests of
exile governments that the block
ade be lifted so that food could be
sent to their countries, except in the
case of Greece. The requests are
urgent, however, and 1t is possible
formula will be developed.
Stark Picture Presented.
Long inquiry in many informed
quarters has brought a stark pic
ture of the difficulties of Belgian
life today. The story Is told that
last November a man in Portugal
sent a box of sardines to a friend
in Belgium. In February he received
letter Of thanks from the friend,
who said that the sardines had been
kept until Christmas, when they
were eaten as the chief course Of a
holiday feast.
Belgian children have been SO
weakened from reduced diets that
they can attend school only four
hours day. The German military
occupation authorities prohibit the
teaching of history to these children.
They have ordered the closing Of
the University of Brussels.
The story is told that a woman
in Brussels remarked last autumn
that her clothing ration tickets for
the coming year we're insufficient
to provide material for a single
dress.
From this sort of depressed and
limited existence 30 to 100 Belgians
are escaping every month to Eng
land. where they join the fight
against the Axis. They carry mes
Sages from the Belgian people
pleading for an Allied invasion of
Belgium. They go by boat across
the dangerous North Sea, or they
travel the long route across France,
the Pyrennes. Spain snd Portugal.
! Nazis Try to Split Nation.
The Nazls have tried to divide
the naticn and weaken its united
resistance by giving the Flemings
certain preferential treatment de-
MED to the French-speaking Wal
looms. Flemish soldiers held as
prisoners were released from the
Nazi camps before the Walloons
| but word from the continent says
the NaZis have not benefited from
the attempt to play on the tradi-
tional division between the Flem-
ings and the Walloons.
The 10000 Belgian prisoners of
war taken during the May cam
paign in 1910 have dwindled to
10000. The first group released
comprised officers with industrial
experience. The second group COM
prised soldiers with industrial ex-
perience. The third group COM
priSed the Flemings.
Having outlawed the Belgian Ia
Dor unions, the Germans recently
established q Nazified union, the
Union of Manual and intellectual
Workers." and invited all Belgian
workers into membership. Two are
said to have joined, and they re-
signed after discovering what they
could about its program and pur-
pose. The Germans order certain
Belgian industrial workers to work
in factories in Germany. The Nazis
meet refusal by taking back the
recalcitrant workers ration cards for
themselves and their families.
! hCdtiHS Is severe fTODlem.
Next to scarcity of food, the Bel
gians suffer most from insufficient
heating. In every part of Europe, in
Belgium as we'll as in Russia, Eng
land and Scandinavia, the depart
ing winter has been the coolest of
narily are capable of producing
enough coal for the needs of indus
try and home heating, but for two
reasons the output has been limited.
The Belgian miners have practiced
the slow-down" because they are
unwilling to help make the Belgian
coal-burning factories 60 full blast
in the German interest. And the
health Of the Belgian miners has
been failing on the short rations
available since the German army
reorganized the Belgian economy,
although the miners ration Is better
than that of other persons.
Belgium before the war imported
rs per cent Of its food. Germany
has been sending some foodstuffs to
Belgium, but the amount is limited.
The Nazi army lives of the land as
much as possible, which means the
Belgian people must do without
what their military guests consume.
The currency is so deteriorated
that at a time when there are few
things to buy circulation has risen
from 10000 900 francs on May 10,
1910. to 5000 900 francs at the end
of January, 1912. Some Belgians
have counterfeited American dol
lars, which they use to buy goods
from the German black market.
Cost Of Justice High.
The Belgian officers of justice
act on their duties, still as Bel
gians, although the cost occasionally
is high. A Belgian Nazi recently
scrawied down with Churchill" in
chalk on a wall in Brussels. He
was tried and found guilty in a
Belgian court of violating the Bel
gian law which forbids public crit