Evening star., 1943-03-04
(Second Of q Ssrtes.)
By DAVID M. NICHOL.

0y DAVID M. NkC6OA,
Foreign CORRESPONDENT ef The star and
chicaso Daily Nsvs.
KHARKOv, Feb. Is (Delayed).-
One Of the most significant features
appearing from . brief visit to this
shattered city IS the apparent fail
ure Of Hitler's vast coloniEing and
exploiting program on which the
Nazis depended greatly for the sup
port Of their new order economy.
It Is perhaps premature to gen
eralize solely on the basis Of what
can be seen here. On the other
hand, Kharkov's streets and build
ings are filled with evidence that
the Germans planned to remain per-
manently while it has long been
known that they hoped to make this
Ukrainian capital into the center of
what they termed In official docu-
ments as "our new eastern colonial
possessions"
There is evidence that the Ger.
mans attempted to re-establish those
portions Of Ukrainian industry and
agriculture which could be useful to
Nazl purposes. There is also evil
dence that the German program
was making no headway even a
year ago.
The result, 1t seems, was a spur
to shipments Of forced labor, not
only to solve the Reich's shortage.
but also to stem the rising number
Of Ukrainian jobless, Z condition
which captured German documents
admit was "fraught with danger to
the tranquility Of occupied regions
and wholly unpermissible in the
rear OF combatant troops"
Man Robbed Of Boots on Street.
Factory wheels moved but SO slow
~ as to be almost useless. Scientific
looting, which was applied with con-
siderable success in some other Dor
tions OF conquered Europe, appar-
emily collapsed In favor Of out-and-
out robbery and terrorization. "Ex-
ploitation" became a matter of grab
bing everything on which they could
lay their hands.
These generalities can be reduced
to specific examples. A man we met
walking in the middle of ruined
Dzerzhfa square said that the Nazis
halted him on the street and took
his leather boots.
III you were seen with boots like
these" he said, pointing to 4 pair of
German field boots that he ap-
parently acquired during the Ger
man withdrawal, you were shot
Immediately"
A woman in the crowd that
gathered when we stopped to oues-
ton another said that the Nazis
had taken her fur coat In the street.
One man said the Germans searched
his fiat seeking only sugar, choco-
late, cocoa and other sweets and
that he took nothing else.
On a somewhat larger scale, the
Nazis undertook to turn over busi-
ness establishments and factories to
German or Ukrainian sympathizers.
Gen. Hesse who was made plenipo-
tentiary for the production and re-
pair OF tractors, opened the famous
kharkov tractor plant with much
fanfare and only II machines, ac-
cording to one report, to replace
those the Red Army evacuated.
Looted Commodities Resolt.
People refer to the Nazis owners
OF those businesses, which are state
operated under the Soviet, as mil
lionaires" with the same deep feel
Ing as Americans once referred to
"profiteers." They apparently had
little for sale except commodities
looted, in turn, from the populace.
What little trade occurred was CEN
tered chiefly In markets which the
Nazis, for their part, tried to limit
as much as possible as potential
leaks for goods which otherwise
might be rounded up for Germany.
One professors at Kharkov Uni
versity recalled Nazi announcements
that agricultural specialists were
being sent to the eastern Ukraine in
order to step up grain production.
There was no evidence that they ever
arrived, he said.