TIME
January 19, 1942 12:00 AM GMT-5
Recent effects of the Nazi occupation of the world’s most civilized city were reported in a letter from Paris published last week in the Nation. Excerpts:
“. . . After the cinema one must take the Metro—or walk. Naturally, the Metro was crammed . . . everyone knew, somehow, that there was a German officer among us. After the second stop I saw—and I think everyone else realized—that someone had pinned a gigantic paper V to the officer’s back. At the next stop everyone in the car got out. None of us wanted to be shot. . . .
“A few days before this a workingman had stabbed a German officer in the Métro station of the Bastille. Everyone on the platform and on the train was arrested. A certain number of them were allowed to see their families. They were optimistic and said they would be home soon. They were executed the next day. . . .
“Since the war against Russia many German soldiers have disappeared, but they have been replaced by Frauen in Uniform. All nightclubs are open and filled with Germans and their collaborationist friends. Life is very gay, and champagne flows like water—but French people (if there are any) must leave at 11:30 or stay until the curfew ends at five in the morning. . . .
“German officers and soldiers and collaborationists (in evening dress) are predominant at the opera. Very few French people go and then in ordinary dress, as a sign of mourning. . . .
“In the Louvre there are only empty rooms. . . . All Jewish collections—given or lent to the State—have been taken by the Germans. . . .
“All the pigeons of Paris are dead. Some have been eaten, which is natural, but most of them have been condemned to death because they carry messages.”
ncG1vNJzZmismaKyb6%2FOpmaaqpOdtrexjm9ub21mbX5wstGapZydXam1pnnPop6ep56oerCyjKmYq6GjZA%3D%3D