Evening star., 1944-09-01
Nazi Fury Transforms
Gay Bucharest Into
Gaunt City Of Ruins
BY the Associated Press.

air attacks last week, turned Ro
rnania's gay capital Of Buchares
into a city of gaunt and blackenes
ruins, Romanian armistice dele
gates declared here today.
The city. reached yesterday b.
Russian troops, was attacked heav
lily by German planes on August "a
Is and 26 after young King Michae
gave the order which toppled Gen
Ion Antonescu from the premiership
and severed Romania's tie with tn,
Axis.
(Joseph Morton, Associated
Press correspondent assigned to
the Balkans after covering the
war in Italy, reached Bucharest
In time to witness the arrival of
the first motorized Soviet column
and said 1t moved through the
city rapidly.
City Getting Back to Normal.
("I was struck to see every
single vehicle was American
made" Mr.. Morton wrote In a
dispatch received in New York
last night. The Russians, he said,
were dusty and perspiring" and
wasted little time waving to the
sidewalk throngs. appearing more
interested in getting to their
destination"
("Romanians watching the spec
tacle had little to offer in the way
OF greeting, the great majority of
them staring silently Although
badly torn up by indiscriminate
German bombing starting August
"a, Bucharest seemed to be get
ing back to normalD
Armistice delegates said Juliu
Manu-. Peasant party leader, mar,
rowly escaped death when German
night bombers dropped explosives
outside his room in the royal palace
The sumptuous palace, which for.
mer King Carol built and then re.
built because an architects errol
made 1t look lopsided. now is g
wreck after series Of NaA raids
they added.
1t. Col. Ion Focseanu of the army
general staff declared the Germans
in three days caused more deaths
and damage than all the Anglo.
American raids caused in Ave
months.
Those who knew Bucharest in
peacetime would find 1t almost un-
recognizable now. Block after block
you see only skeletons of buildings.
Suffers Near Famine.
Delegates said Horia Sima, Iron
Guard chief whom Antonescu ex-
lied to Germany. had not dared re-
turn to Romania to assist his Ger
man masters in rallying any OF the
among our people"
While German air attacks were
at their height Bucharest suffered
near famine, the delegates said
but the government Of Konstantin
Sanatescu acted quickly to restore
Five new democratic newspapers
have started publication. they said
and old-time Bucharest dailies
switched editorial STATS and poll
cies but went unsurpassed.
Delegates said Ploesti now was a
ghost town with more than 95 pei
cent Of its buildings destroyed
bombers were said tt
have hit every refinery in the f1elc
before the Germans began demoh-
tions.
George Popp, secretary general o1
the National Peasant party, said
that German planes started tax.
ing their revenge" on Bucharest the
day after King Michael had sum.
moned Antonescu and his cabine,
to the palace and had them ar.
rested.
Every quarter hour there was an
air attack" he said. "Stukas dived
within few hundred feet of theil
targets. Fires broke out, and smoke
hung thickly over the city. Our
finest buildings and thousands OF
our people were being systemat-
ically destroyed.
Through August "a, Is and &c
Bucharest was ravaged by German
planes. Nine of our largest hotels
the Athenee Palace, were
wrecked. The University Library
was reduced to rubble. The Ma
tional Theater was burned to the
ground. Many hospitals were di-
rectly hit"
Popp said the army, with very
few and unimportant exceptions, y
was loyal to Michael throughout the
crisis. Delagtes said the heart OF
Bucharest was cleared of Germans
within "a hours after the King gave
the order, and three days later the
suburbs and five airports were in
hands.
Antonescu was reported held un-
der strong guard, with German Min
iSter Manfred Won Killinrer de.