Thursday, July 29, 2010

Current Events July 29, 1942; ROSTOV REPORTED IN RUINS; CIVILLIANS SUFFER:


                          Joplin Globe
         JOPLIN, MISSOURI, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 29, 19 42.
NAZIS PUSH ON FROM ROSTOV
ROSTOV IN RUINS;
HUNGRY CIVILIANS
SEARCH FOR FOOD
Smell of Death Heavy in City
That Was a Flourishing
Port Before Great
Battle.
TURNED INTO FORTRESS
BY RUSSIAN DEFENDERS
Street B a r r i c a d e s Were
Erected With Machine
Guns in Buildings
and Cellars.
B e r l i n ( F r o m German Broadcasts ) ,
J u l y 28.—(/P)—Rostov on the
Don is a heap of smoking ruins
w h e r e the smell of death is heavy,
w h e r e h u n g r y R u s s i a n civilians are
s c a v e n g i n g  for food,  a n d  w h e r e tat-
ered   s i g n s  still read " death to the
G e r m a n  o c c u p a t i o n  troops," Robert
Broese, a Nazi reporter, said ton-
ight in a d i s p a t c h dated at that
once f l o u r i s h i n g Caucasian port.
B r o e s e's r e p o r t as b r o a d c a s t by
t h e Berlin radio said:
" T h e city had been t u r n e d into
one g i g a n t i c s y s t em of small fortr-
esses. B a r r i c a d e s were e r e c t e d at
n e a r l y   all  s t r e e t  crossings. Some
of these were built with bricks.
T h e n  t h e r e  were small pillboxes
for m a c h i n e guns, and even regular
walls w e r e built as high as a man,
l e a v i n g only a small opening for
s t r e e t traffic.
Writer Tells of 72 Days
Spent in Japanese Prison
Morris J. Harris, Associated Press Correspondent, Forced to
Sleep on Bare Floor During Confinement—Food Consisted
of Cold Rice and Bread—All Prisoners, Including
Americans and Britons, Fared Alike.
(NOTE: Morris J. Harris, for 15 years chief of the bureau maintained by the Associated
Press In Shanghai until the outbreak of the Pacific war last December. Is a
native of Columbia, Mo., graduate of the University of Missouri and a former Kansas
City newspaperman. He worked on the Japan Advertiser and on the Manila Bulletin
before Joining the Associated Press. Following Is a delayed dispatch received from
him as the exchange liner Grlpsholm sailed for the United States late 'tuesday.)
By M O R R IS J . H A R R I S .
L o u r e n c o Marques, Portuguese
E a s t Africa, July 24.—(Delayed)—
(AP)—1 spent 72 d a y s in a J a p a n e se
m i l i t a r y prison.
The days of u n c e r t a i n t y followed
December 8, t h e d a y of the a t t a ck
on P e a r l H a r b o r a c c o r d i n g t o E a st
A s i a time, were climaxed before
dawn on March 5 w h e n a s q u a d of
J a p a n e s e gendarmes, the m i l i t a ry
s e c r e t police, banged on my door
w i t h pistol butts and demanded
t h a t I h u r r y out.
F o r the next two and a half
m o n t h s a r m e d g u a r d s w a t c h e d me
d a y and n i g h t. The cell was never
d a r k. Arc lights blazed t h r o u g h out
t h e n g h t s . There was no bed.
I slept on t h e b a r e cold floor.
B l a n k e t Vermin-Ridden.
My c a p t o r s supplied only a thin
v e r m i n - r i d d e n blanket which I
d r e a d e d to t o u c h despite my desp-
erate need for one.
E a c h m e a l t i m e I got one bowl of
cold rice or a chunk of bread.
T h e y were t h r u s t t h r o u g h my cell
door by a Chinese coolie t r u s t y.
D r i n k was a n i n f r e q u e n t gulp of a
d i s h - w a t e r y tea from a filthy batt-
ered bowl which a dozen coolies
u s e d w i t h o u t washing.
Bedbugs t h r i v e d w i t h i n t h e cell
a n d they waged a constant war-
fare. My toilet was a wooden
b u c k e t . I was p e r m i t t e d to wash
my face only once a day in a conc-
rete trough. The water was always
cold and only a few m i n u t es
w e r e allowed as the g u a r d s kept
u p  a  p e r s i s t e n t   g o a d i n g   to  h u r r y.

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