Evening star., 1944-07-11
Henry
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damaged Church of st. Nicholas.
one OF Normandys oldest. It's use as
church was discontinued and it
was set aside in 1899 as a memorial
shrine Tor the French dead in this
war.
The rest of Caen's treasures are
rubble. The list OF runs includes:
ST Pierre's Church, with one of the
most celebrated classic Gothic spires
in Europe, shelled by the Germans
three weeks ago zone of its priests
was killed.; the Church of st. Jean.
with its famous leaning tower. and
st, Julian's Church, with its famous
early Gothic architecture.
Perhaps the most serious loss to
the town was the damage to the
18th century seminary built by Jean
Eudas, who was canonized in 1925
1t was taken over during the French
Revolution and made into a combi
nation city hall, library and art
gallery. The top of the seminary
was destroyed. Priceless manu-
scripts lie under its soaked
rubble
University Is Total Loss.
Some Rubens paintings which
hung in the seminary were taken to
a safer place months ago. A total
loss is Caen University, a center of
world learning during medieval
days. 1t was established by the
English dukes of Normandy, and
rivals the Universities of Paris and
Sornonne, although much smaller.
Among the hundreds of buildings
destroyed were two hospitals. Doc
tors, nuns and nurses carried ma
tlents IN their arms from one hosplt-
al to the other wnen the first was
set aflre by shelling. No sooner had
the patients been installed than the
second hospital was hit. Six nuns
were killed and from so to 100 are
missing. their bodies probably buried
in the ruins. II
talked to the hospital chaplain,
Father Robert de Rouge, a Canadian,
who was frequent visitor to Cath
olic University in Washington col
years ago.
rather Bob'-as he calls himself
was enthusiastic at meeting a
Washingtonian
That place was as hot as hell"
he said, showing familiarity with
the Capital.
Inc normal population of Caen is
oo,oO0: 1t is estimated that 10000
people have left. Many were killed
People say the Germans confiscated
Their radios and refused to give
warnings of Allied air raids. Thev
sealed the city and demanded paw
from families seeking to evacuate
Germans Held Strong Positions.
There were relatively few Ger
mans in the city, but they we're in a
strong position for stopping the
British advance over level country
Inc poppy-red wheat fields were
IDEAL Tor tank fighting, unlike the
earth walls and hedgerows in the
American sector. Some of the
greatest damage here came from
German shells. The ruin was COM
pleted by an Allied air raid at $50
p.IH last FTlQay.
The municipal electric plant has
been out of commission for weeks
1t couldn't pump water. The bomb
Damage itself was tripled by de-
structive fires which the CITY had
no means of fighting The Ger
mans, anticipating defeat, intensi-
NED the fires by pouring phosphorus
on them. Father de Rouge said he
personally witnessed two instances
OF this and heard of many more.
The lack of food is not as acute
as the lack of shelter. Most people.
including the priest, have only the
clothes on their backs. The best
estimate OF civil affairs officers is
that 1,500 civilians were killed last
week from all causes. Most of the
bodies still are under the rubble
Inc city has been sealed again .to
prevent the refugees from returning
until it is safe.
The citizens showed great heroism
In their hour of trial, especially
teen-age boys and girls who organ
lied emergency squads to fight fires
with their bare hands and to rescue
the injured. Three hundred World
War veterans constituted an emer-
gency police force. The city police
force had been cut from 100 to 40
or so, due to deaths during the
siege
Family Buried for 10 Days.
One of the most remarkable stor-
ies-vouched for by every one-is
that of M Pevae. pork butcher in
the Rue st. Pierre, who was buried
with his family of 10 under rubble
for three weeks. Some of them
were hurt. They lived on powdered
sugar and rain water. All of them
were dug out alive. Two died later.
but the rest are recovering.
The people here are proud of their
nonco-operation with the Germans.
I've never spoken to a German
nor has any member of nv family
for the last four years." declared
q school teacher.
For the past two weeks all busi-
ness places have been closed except