From all over occupied Europe come stories of the difficulties the Nazis have to overcome in making conquered peoples docile. In today's issue there are stories of mysterious railway accidents, in which German military, trains have been wrecked in what was formerly Czechoslovakia, and tales of the penalties the Nazis have announced for "offences" committed by the Greeks, The death sentence has been decreed in Greece for the following:—tearing down German flags from public buildings; hoarding food to prevent it from falling into Nazi, hands; manifesting sympathy with British prisoners of war; and the refusal of the Greek press to conform to the "new order." The Nazis apparently feel that they have a grievance against the population of the countries they have ruthlessly overrun, because the people will not-receive them as liberators, but persist in regarding them as unwelcome iniruders. Is it possible that they expect the Greeks to be glad ío see them, after the brutalities they have committed? Is it possible that they can expect the Greeks to hand over -.to them the food that hag been stored away against a possible day of want, just because the Nazis desire that food for their own bellies? 'And surely it is straining every conception of what is right and what is wrong, to make the showing of sympathy to British' prisoners of war a capital offence. The British and the Greeks fought side by side for a common cause—the salvation of liberty. Why, therefore, should it be an offence to show sympathy with those who have been made victims of the struggle? The very strictness of the Nazi regulations shows how uncertain of themselves they are. From every part of the European continent there comes evidence that the Nazis are experiencing the same kind of difficulties. Shanghai readers are kept familiar with the real conditions in Norway through the weekly broadcasts by Mr. K. A. Person. which disclose a most uncomfortable state of affairs for Hitler in that country. News is periodically received from Holland that conditions there are far from happy for the Nazis. In France it may be remarked that the most active opposition to the Nazis is seen in occupied territory, not in the area under the nominal control of the Vichy Government. This is because the French in occupied France can see for themselves the rottenness of the Nazi machine, while those under the control of Vichy can learn of these things only indirectly and are fed with false reports of the benefits they may eventually derive from the "new order." In Rumania there has been a recrudescence of trouble with the Iron Guards, on association fundamentally repugnant to democratic ideals but which has a love of independence as its inspiration. In Bulgaria there have been numerous minor incidents which have caused the Nazis embarrassment.
Presumably the Bulgarians prefer to be able to dictate their own way of life within their own confines, to having their frontiers extended at the expense of their neighbours. All these things combine to make the position of Hitler more difficult. The further his hordes are sprawled out, the greater will be the obstacles of national resistance he will have to Overcome. The Germans, even when instructed to be polite, are not a lovable people. Their arrogance makes for hate rather than admirafion. Thus is the seed of the overthrow of the Nazi overlordship being sown by the Nazis themselves, wherever they £o. They cannot hope to hold the millions of Europe under perpetual domination, and they are doing nothing to prove to' those millions that the victory of the Nazi cause will be to their advantage. On the contrary, they are doing everything to make their rule more hateful.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.