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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol 7, No. 5 June 21, 1944

Underground War — European Patriots Arise

Underground War

European Patriots Arise

To the south the joint Anglo-American forces are pressing steadily forward. Rome has fallen. Beyond Rome our armies still advance, and the further north they go the more sympathetic will be their reception by the Italians. Across the vast Eastern Front lies the Red Army, driving relentlessly on, hardly pausing to bring up fresh munitions of war with which to pound Hitler's army. And now, to the west the Anglo-American landing force has established a foothold on Hitler's Europe. They have a stiff battle before them; no one doubts it, neither does anyone doubt that behind the German lines and those of their allies, in France, Italy, Austria, in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and in Germany itself the forces of liberation are moving.

For three years and more the patriots of occupied Europe have struggled through fear and terror to active sabotage of Nazi and Quisling governments. In Norway, traditional land of peace, friendliness and hospitality, the courage and endurance of the Norwegian people has shown itself increasingly as the organisation of the Underground has been steadily improved. In Greece, a country which many New Zealanders grew to love, and where many of our soldiers gave their lives, the resistance movement has grown to startling proportions. Whole areas are controlled by the Eam, as the main patriot group styles itself, and the Greek people, starved and enslaved, are showing their courage and sincere hatred of all that [unclear: Nam] stands for, by [unclear: their] gallant struggle. Co-operating with other nationals—Albanians, Yugoslavs, and Bulgars—they represent a thorn in the side of the Nazi administration.

Holland is no longer a gentle land of tulips and windmills. On one notable occasion a group of resolute Dutchmen, including two students, donned the uniform of German soldiers, marched into the Town Hall at Amsterdam and burnt city records which included the birth-register and other documents relating to the political affiliations of the citizens of Amsterdam. This materially hindered the German attack on people of Jewish descent or with "dangerous" political ideas, and saved the lives of hundreds of Dutchmen at the cost of their own.

In Holland the students have been noted for their heroism in the Underground Movement. In Norway the teachers made a fine stand against the prejudice and horror of Nazi occupation.

In German Universities last year the Gestapo uncovered a corner of an organisation believed to be of considerable extent. Led by a German soldier who had been invalided home after the Stalingrad debacle, these students were active in sabotage and propaganda. There were students from at least six Universities among those executed or sentenced to terms in concentration camps.

Wherever the forests and mountains give shelter, in North Italy, Austrian Tyrol, France, Poland, Yugoslavia, bands of patriots form, first to protect themselves, later, to attack the Germans and their satellite troops.

This isn't a soldiers' war in Europe. This is a war where there is a place for every able-bodied person, and where reprisals are made and hostages taken by the Nazis from among the aged, the helpless and the children.

Let us make no mistake. Losses from our armies will be less because of the heroism of the patriots of Underground Europe.