The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945

by The New York Times

  All twelve were taken to Seoul in a C-46 transport plane.

  SEPTEMBER 19, 1945

  SOVIET SEEKS HOLD IN NORTH AFRICA BY A TRUSTEESHIP ERITREA IN SOVIET SCOPE

  Big Five Council Startled by Bid for North Africa Area—Molotoff Explains Aims

  By C. L. SULZBERGER

  By Council to The New York Times, LONDON, Sept. 18—The Soviet Union has formally advised the Big Five Council of Foreign Ministers that it considers that the former Italian domain of Trip-olitania should be administered under an individual trusteeship for the United Nations organization and that the U.S.S.R. would like to assume that role.

  Foreign Commissar Vyacheslaft M. Molotoff in placing this suggestion before a slightly startled council, pointed out that the Soviet Union was extremely interested in the future development of the Mediterranean and Africa and believed that with the modernization of communications it was fully qualified to undertake this job.

  This information was entirely confirmed today by responsible persons and even partly confirmed by Mr. Molotoff himself at a conference, where he said there was “a grain of truth” in reports of Russian interest in Tripolitania and. furthermore, that Moscow was directly interested in the future of Italy’s Red Sea colony Eritrea.

  ERITREAN BID LIKELY

  So far however, Mr. Molotoff has not yet informed the Big Five that the U.S.S.R. wants individual administrative rights in Eritrea. But from what the Foreign Commissar said today that cannot be far in the offing.

  Soviet interest in the Mediterranean area is not limited to these two ideas on Tripolitania and Eritrea. The U.S.S.R. has made no request for any bases or administrative rights in the Dodecanese Islands. However, while admitting that these are colonies and, therefore, not subject to the trusteeeship formula and furthermore, that the islands should not be returned to Italy, the Russians have failed to agree with the other four powers in the Council that they should be awarded to Greece with the possible exception of Castclorixzo. which might be given to Turkey.

  This has led some of the delegates to suspect—perhaps erroneously but nevertheless very earnestly—that Mr. Molotoff is preparing the background for a Soviet demand for a Dodecanese base. At San Francisco it was agreed that the Allied powers would not seek territorial gains in peace. However, when Secretary of State James F. Byrnes mentioned this casually in a reference to the Dodecanese Mr. Molotoff dodged the issue.

  The British are worried about collective trusteeships, because they would put Russia into the Mediterranean. Now the individual trusteeship plan is equally disturbing to them because of Soviet interest in Tripolittania and Eritrea as wall as possibly, in the future, in the Dodecanese. They also are concerned about Cyprus and the status of Hong Kong, if the former is placed under the United Nations or given to Greece.

  The Chinese favor collective trustee-ships but with a maximum time limitation of ten or fifteen years. The French want individual trusteeships—clearly thinking of Indo-china—with no time limitation at all.

  The subject of Italian colonies was raised at Mr. Molotoff’s conference when he was asked what was the Soviet attitude on Eritrea. He replied:

  “The question is under discussion. I shall not conceal that the Soviet Union has an interest in this question and can be helpful in deciding it.”

  He was then asked whether there was any truth in newspaper reports concerning Soviet interest in Tripolitania. He replied:

  “There is a grain of truth in this, but I shall defer my comments. The question has not yet been settled.”

  SEPTEMBER 18, 1945

  Truman Statement on Aid To Europe

  By The Associated Press.

  WASHINGTON, Sept. 17—The text of a statement by President Truman in connection with the European relief and rehabilitation program follows:

  The United States Government is now in a position to fulfill the main requests of Europe—with the exception of sugar, fats and oils—from this date until Jan. 1 as these requests have been stated to it by the governments of the liberated countries and by UNRRA.

  Provision of the supplies thus requested does not, however, mean that the civilian populations of Europe will reach even a minimum level of subsistence, and much suffering may be expected during the coming winter in certain areas of the Continent.

  The limiting factor in meeting the minimum needs of the liberated peoples is no longer one of shipping. For the moment, in the case of most commodities, it is no longer a problem of supply. Today it is primarily a twofold financial problem; first, to work out credits or other financial arrangements with the European governments; second, to make additional funds available to UNRRA for emergency relief.

  When I returned from Potsdam I said, “If we let Europe go cold and hungry, we may lose some of the foundations of order on which the hoped for worldwide peace must rest. We must help to the limits of our strength. And we will.” That pledge, made not only to our Allies but to the American people, must be kept. It should be made perfectly clear that, contrary to the belief of many, relaxation of rationing on the home front is not a factor in the allocation of relief supplies to Europe. The Department of Agriculture reports that, despite the release of cheese from rationing controls, and the possible relaxation of domestic meat rationing, we have sufficient quantities of meat and dairy products to fulfill the requirements placed upon us by UNRRA and the paying governments for the last quarter of the year.

  The most desperate needs of the liberated people are for coal, transportation and food, in that order of priority. Other commodities urgently required include hides and leather, cotton, wool, textiles, soap, farm equipment, including fertilizer and seeds; repair parts and machinery, medical supplies, and a general list of raw materials. The items which are causing major concern because of worldwide shortages are coal, sugar and fats, hides and leather, textiles, and a few of the raw materials, in minor quantities. Locomotives constitute a special and acute problem because of the time factor involved in their manufacture.

  Coal presents not only the most serious but the most complicated problem. Once self-sufficient in this commodity, Europe is now without the labor, the food, the transportation, the housing and the machinery needed to restore production quickly to its pre-war level. The Allied Control Commission is making every effort to speed the resumption of German production in order to supply the liberated areas, but despite considerable progress, the people of these areas face a winter of extreme hardship.

  The United States is now shipping approximately 1,400,000 tons of coal to Europe a month. For the period ending Jan. 1 the goal is 8,000,000 tons, or slightly more than 1 per cent of our domestic production. The limiting factor is not primarily one of supply, but of inland transportation facilities both here and abroad.

  The Department of Agriculture reports that shipments of food to the paying Governments and UNRRA during the last quarter of this year will include approximately these quantities:

  One hundred and fifty million pounds of meat and meat products;

  Seventy million bushels of wheat; Twenty-eight thousand short tons of raw sugar;

  German housewives waiting in line for food in post-war Berlin, 1945.

  Ninety million pounds of dried peas and beans;

  Thirteen million pounds of lard.

  In addition, the Department of Agriculture is prepared to ship the following supplies of dairy products, in at least these quantities, as soon as financial arrangements have been satisfactorily completed:

  Sixty million pounds of cheese;

  Two hundred million pounds of evaporated milk;

  Twenty-five million pounds of dry whole milk powder;

  Eighty million pounds of dry skim milk powder;

  Fifteen million pounds of condensed milk.

  It should be remembered that these supplies will serve not to improve, but only to sustain the diet of the liberated peoples, which remains below the minimum level of subsistence. In some cases the doubling of these food shipments waits only upon the c
onclusion of satisfactory financial arrangements.

  This Government has abundant evidence that the American people are aware of the suffering among our Allies. They have also made plain their determination that this country shall do its full part, along with other supplying nations, in helping to restore health and strength to those who fought at our side both in Europe and in the Far East. It is an American responsibility not only to our friends, but to ourselves, to see that this job is done and done quickly.

  SEPTEMBER 19, 1945

  STIMSON PRAISED

  Truman Says That He Accepted Resignation Very Reluctantly

  By SIDNEY M. SHALETT

  Special to The New York Times.

  WASHINGTON, Sept. 18—Secretary Stimson, who, since July, 1940, headed the War Department through the mobilization, war and victory years, resigned today, and President Truman nominated Robert P. Patterson, Under-Secretary of War, as his successor.

  Mr. Truman hailed Mr. Stimson as one of the country’s truly great public servants and told his news conference that he accepted the resignation very reluctantly.

  Mr. Stimson’s immediate plans were not disclosed. He will be 78 years old Friday. Mr. Stimson will hold his final news conference at 10:30 A.M. tomorrow, and the War Department will honor him at a reception from 5 to 7 P.M. at Dumbarton Oaks.

  The Senate must confirm the nomination of Mr. Patterson, a Republican, who has supervised the Army’s $100,000,000,000 procurement program. Approval is expected, but not without some discussion, for Mr. Patterson’s out-spoken views frequently have brought him into sharp conflict with Congress.

  It was recalled that he and Mr. Truman, when the latter headed the Senate War Investigating Committee, occasionally were at odds, but today Mr. Patterson also received the Distinguished Service Medal by direction of the President.

  DECLINES OTHER RESIGNATIONS

  Mr. Truman disclosed that he also had received the resignation of John J. McCloy, assistant Secretary of War, and Robert A. Lovett, assistant Secretary of War for Air, but would not accept them at this time.

  However, it is authoritatively reported that Mr. McCloy and Mr. Lovett wish to return to private life. Their present plans are to stay on so long as they can be useful to Mr. Patterson in setting up his departmental organization, then they would like to step out.

  Harvey H. Bundy Sr., a special assistant to Mr. Stimson since he took office, also will retire. Mr. Bundy, who served under Mr. Stimson when he was Secretary of State from 1929 to 1933, will return to his law firm, Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston.

  Mr. Patterson is a champion of the merger of the War and Navy Departments into a single Department of National Defense, a move which the President favors and for which there is considerable Congressional sentiment.

  U.S. President Harry S. Truman with American diplomat Henry Stimson after Stimson received a Distinguished Service Medal.

  SEPTEMBER 21, 1945

  KOREANS PROTEST TWO-ZONE CONTROL

  SEOUL, Korea, Sept. 19 (Delayed) (U.P.)—Korean leaders protested today that the division of Korea into a Russian-occupied industrial zone and an American-occupied agricultural zone had been made without consideration of Korea’s dove-tailed economy and said the existence of two separate occupation governments would hamper the establishment of an independent Korean government.

  The Koreans pointed out that the arbitrary division line—the thirty-eighth parallel—which gave the Russians the northern half of the country was so shortsighted that it split three of Korea’s thirteen provinces and that the Governors of these provinces were under both Russian and American influence.

  There is little similarity between the two occupation governments and virtually no liaison, they declared, adding that military government still continues in the Russian zone.

  The Koreans said the Russian zone contained virtually all of Korea’s hydro-electric power and much of her heavy industry, while the southern zone largely supplied the north with rice, fish and other food. The economy of the country was established by the Japanese over a period of thirty years and was functioning efficiently when it was chopped in two, they said.

  ‘BROKEN FAITH’ CHARGED

  The Koreans asserted that the “crime of the occupation set-up” was that the Allies had “broken faith” with small countries in the Far East. They said President Truman, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek had declared at Cairo that Korea would become free and independent in “due course.”

  Korean nationalists said they could not see how bisecting the country could do anything but hinder Korean independence and some said they believed it was done deliberately to prevent Korea from becoming integrated.

  The division of the country’s economy is the hardest blow, they said, for under Japan—as much as the Japanese rule was disliked—the country became nearly self-sufficient while the rich provinces in northeast Korea contained one of Japan’s heaviest concentrations of industry, including integrated iron and steel mills.

  Government officials said the Japanese-built industrial empire should be turned over to them in payment for the years when the Japanese bled the country of its wealth, but said that first there must be a government by Koreans and asserted “when the Russians and the Americans leave—if you do leave”—Korea “will have two governments. It’s like drawing a line down the center of the United States with the western half a communistic government and the eastern half a democracy.”

  SEPTEMBER 22, 1945

  INDO-CHINA FIGHTS RETURN OF FRENCH

  By Wireless to The New York Times.

  PARIS, Sept 21—“Only France menaces the independence of Indo-China,” Prof. Tran Due Thao, vice president of the Indo-Chinese general delegation representing 25,000 Indo-Chinese laborers in France, told the press here today.

  “Our object is to let the French people know what the effect of the arrival of the forces of General Leclerc [Maj. Gen. Jacques-Philippe Leclere de Hautecloque] is going to be,” he declared. “We will resist the French. Admiral d’Argen-lieu [Vice Admiral Georges Thierry d’Argenlieu, High Commissioner in Indo-China] can expect to be shot at when he reaches Hanoi.”

  The little Indo-Chinese professor had difficulty getting a word in during the ensuing hubbub among Frenchmen present, but he made his points.

  Viet Nam, the Indo-Chinese resistance movement, already has set up a government in Hanoi, he said. It demands total independence, and the withdrawal of French troops and officials. A treaty might be made permitting French technicians, industrialists and others to work in Indo-China on the same basis as other foreigners. Since a Government already is established, he declared, there no longer is any question of granting Indo-China independence by stages, as in the Philippines.

  FRENCH RECORD DENOUNCED

  “We do not fear the Chinese or the British because they intend to withdraw,” the professor explained, “but the French intend to stay.”

  He denounced France’s record, alleging that old elite had been destroyed and replaced by servile nouveaux riches, that the old culture had been destroyed and replaced by an illiteracy rate of 89 per cent and that industry had been suppressed to safeguard French markets.

  GERMAN BACKING SEEN

  SAIGON, Indo-China, Sept. 20 (Delayed) (UP)—Reports from Tongking, in northeast Indo-China, said today that fighting had broken out there between the French and Annamite nationalists. Tension here was increased by an Annamite boycott against the French.

  French representatives here indicated that the disturbances, which have been reported from all over Indo-China in recent weeks, may have been inspired by Germans as well as by Japanese. The Japanese last March proclaimed an independent puppet state of Viet Nam.

  It was announced that a Dr. Nochte, leader of the German mission to Saigon, had been interned in his own house. He formerly was a specialist in espionage in Mexico and arrived here in 1942. Well-informed French quarters believed he was the leading brain behind the Anna-mite anti-French movement.<
br />
  The Tongking reports—which did not indicate the scale of the disturbances—said fighting began when some of the 1,500 French troops interned with 3,500 other Europeans escaped to China and then came back.

  Saigon remained tense and newspapers were suspended for printing false and alarmist news. Members of the Viet Nam [the Annamite nationalist party] began a policy of passive resistance following the establishment of virtual martial law here.

  DR. SUN URGES TRUSTEESHIP

  CHUNGKING, China, Sept. 21 (UP)—Dr. Sun Fo, President of the Legislative Yuan of China, said today the best disposition of the French Indo-Chinese protectorate of Annam would be to place it under the trusteeship of the United Nations. He foresaw perpetual internal strife if the French attempted to retain power. “Although the French pushed economic development, their rule was despotic and Indo-China was the worst government colony in the Far East,” he said.

  SEPTEMBER 30, 1945

  ‘AXIS SALLY’ GETS JAIL TERM IN ITALY

  Woman Who Renounced U.S. and Broadcast For Nazis Will Serve 4 Years

  ROME, Sept. 29 (AP)—Rita Louisa Zucca, an “Axis Sally” broadcaster of Nazi radio propaganda to United States troops in the Mediterranean area, was sent to prison today by an Italian military tribunal for four years and five months.

  The court required only fifteen minutes to convict the 33-year-old, American-born daughter of a New York restaurateur of a charge that she had intelligence with the enemy. However, it found “extenuating circumstances” and declined to impose the ten-year sentence asked by the prosecution.