Paris Never Surrendered
Solon, Sam L.
Paris Never Surrendered By Sam L. Solon h.utupfn Correspondent of Ths Now Loader PARIS —Thi» m a city of the unconquerable. Paris never eurrsndsjsd. Those of us who heard ths beating of it*...
...The festivities which have called sat the Inst saved bottle of champagne and perhaps the last smaB cheese load aa air of Parisian weH-being to the phstsgraphs thst is very deceptive...
...2—Mr...
...The first tentative darts in the eternal poUtieal controversy which Paris loves have been deftly exchanged...
...Ike battle of Frmnce might kave lasted for months without the active participation of the FFI...
...The Allied military authorities ars plsaning to bring Thousands of tons of food into Pans in the next 41 days—the supplies will include thousands of tons si bully beef, thousands of tons of ceres!, MO ton, of fata, 300 tons of condonsed milk snd 200 tons of chocolate...
...And in s cafe down a side street I talked with s picturesque but self admittedly dubious character sad asked him the reasons for this crime stoppage...
...Paris has emerged from four years of darkness to be again the center of a free and strong nation...
...Exact figures are not available, however, evidence showa that not one small group but all of France rose in reeietanee...
...The little food available on the black market is selling for exorbitant prices...
...Bsldwin reads into the announcement by the FFI...
...It was conaiatently reported in the American press that in Paris alone there were 50,000 armed men — including 7,000 policemen — who rose against the Germans, aided by hundreds of thousands of unarmed Parisians...
...Those of us who heard ths beating of it* great heart in thoae past years of magnificent thaos, who listened to the endless flood ef talk pouring through doorways and windows, in restaurants empty of food and cafes empty of wine, know that Paris i.erer submitted...
...The FFI and France's* Future Role From French Information Service In the New York Timee of September 6, 1844, Hanson W. Baldwin wrote: ••Many sf ths estimates of the FFI'a combatant strength ware and ars higher than the figures given, but most French estiatates today have to be accepted with care...
...Trains run on schedule, shops operate, the black market is vanishing...
...Geographic position as well as her political and intellectual influence in Europe have given her a place in world affairs which requires no exaggerated figures in confirmation...
...The situation in the workingclass quarters is absolutely dire...
...For there ia so food in Paris and when you are matting is S jeea> you do not carry very much in the way of rations...
...Ths queues are waiting for the papers wises cover a wide range of political opinion within tat Reeiatance Movement...
...Just as it is difficult te believe that Paris is hungry—although it is...
...Only 1,000 FFI men have ruled 6,200 square miles, 10,000,000 people, in southern France for two weeks, without aid from the Allies...
...Production is on a socialized basis, under supervision of a committee of representatives of management, engineers, and workers...
...The part of the FFI in ths liberation of France cannot be measured by statistics...
...The Peris Press—already a dosen journals strongis hard at work...
...French »ngineers, working in secret, produced a new six-engine seaplane under the noses of the Nazis...
...the more the French leaders can'establish the ease for French resistance, the greater their voice at the peace table...
...Ths battle of Italy has been in progress for a year...
...There will be that enough to return to work...
...To the people in Paris and elsewhere in France who never gave up hope, who never yielded to the oppressor and who <>ared continuously to resist his power, the world owes admiration and gratitude...
...Yet during those days—an official told me—civil crime was almost non-existent in Psris...
...Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, said on August 22: "The liberation of Paris by the French people themselves, after American forces had half-encircled the city, is a fitting demonstration of the waning powers of the Nazis and ths rebirth of freedom...
...1—No definite figures have ever been compiled by the French en the strength of the FFI...
...4—France does not need to inflate statistics as assurance of a place at the peace conference...
...A much mars extensive piogiam tot feeding Pans is necessary...
...But, monsieur," he said, "we too are fighting the Bocks...
...For days Paris has subsisted on excitement...
...The chaos predicted by the Nazis did not occur...
...This is partly Farleies chic aad partly the apirjt at the cos tin sous celebration that bss made the r.nsinsn snd us forget food, sleep aad everything else extant that the Germans hsve ben driva out...
...to* HlGH oa the hot of miracles—cob Id it happsa elsewhare than ia Paris...
...it must bo measured by results...
...TrlOSE who could afford it made limited preparations many months ago for the present period by saving up small hoards of foods, and these people are managing to get over the critical days...
...And today in the warm sun Psris is talking, talking, talking as never before—planning for the future...
...Baldwin estimates ths strength of the FFI at 40,000 to (0,000...
...A peace conference which does not include France will produce no lasting peace in Europe, not because France would choose to fight for political "rights," but because history has repeatedly shown that France is the balance wheel of modern Europe...
...For more than a week daring ths fighting for tbs public buildings there were no police on regular duty—traffic control, civil security, etc...
...is the agreement among the gardes variety of crlatinals—the pickpocket, the thief, the burglar aad the minor racketeers that live in the erevicos of the city—te take s holiday, ontil the situation qniets dswa so aa not te add to the difficulties of the police The police went on strike—it wsa really a well, organised revolt—on August 15...
...There is a political motive behind many of them, aa the premature reports of the fell of Paris ssem to show...
...The smssing fsct is thst much of I'aris has a prosperous air...
...We must keep order and rebuild," is the slogan...
...This will not solve the food shortage, although it k> a beginning...
...Almost nothing...
...There has been no milk for the children lor many days and mothers are begging from their neighbors for the occasional tin of condensed milk that has been concealed in order to keep infants alive...
...Even the diet of beans —purchased on the black market for 75 cents a pound —is running out...
...This announcement was made in good faith, following what had, until the Germans exhibited their typical treachery, been the successful result of a popular uprising...
...Women and men are well dressed snd well groomed...
...And the excitement which has colored the cheeks of the children and brightened the eyes of everybody has boon almost a substitute for food...
...But from now on food becomes the snoot urgent problem here...
...Armed or unarmed, the French were determined thst the Germans ahould he driven out...
...He looked at me indignantly...
...There is no moat, no milk, no butter...
...Four days after liberation the first plane was turned out...
...People—the Parisians and the Allies who have entered Paris—have been eating very little...
...Though you pass aa ssrasisasl corpse in the gutter, lying in its muddied pool of Meed, it is difficult to believe that there is still some lighting going en...
...3—As for the "premature" announcement of the liberation of Paris, there ia no logical relationship between the fact that the FFI had succeeded in forcing the Germans to sign an armistice which was later broken and the "political motive" which Mr...
Vol. 27 • September 1944 • No. 38
