2.

J’

I Those who live in the smaller villages or outside of e toungere the most fortunate, since they can walk around the countryside, but those who are in the larger towns are usually practically prisoners, being allowed out only one day a week, and then in small groups under the guidance of one of the town authorities. d

On top of all this, not one woman in a hundred knows where her hus- band or her older sons are. Mhybe in the concentration camps, maybe still in Spain. With e dozen concentration camps, and 50»7O thousand men in each, it's not easy to find out. If they do find out, there's no chance to see them, only an occasional letter to be written if a stamp can be acquired somehow.

Although long columns of personal notices have been printed free of charge in a Perpignan paper and a Spanish~speaking paper in Paris, prob- ably not one—tenth of those who have asked ire information of relatives have traced them.

‘Countless toner, showing you their one+ or two~yeer old youngsterspi

tell ycu: "he's never seen his fether”r The separation of fandlies in so

many cases started when the men went off to fight in the early days of the

W511‘ a

Bee do the hrench people reset to the refugees in their midst? It depends on the region. ln sore particularly reactionary areas, and there are many, the majority of the population are indifferent or hostile, so that

Vthe Women and children hate to go into the streets; feeling,.though they

cannot understand their language; the antagonism.of~the;tosnspeople. In other districts the_trede unions, political parties and charitable organiz~ etions have given considerable aid in the form of clothing, food, entertainr

R ment for the children. Perhaps the most_frewuent assistance is that given. ‘by local branches of the Syndicat des Insituteurs, the teachers’-union,y

who in dozens of towns have provided school material for the children.

In almost ell the camps some sort of educationalxprogrnm has beefl~a organised, even when there's not a_book, pencil or blackboerdTto he had.~ Almost all the camps have one or two teachers;—refugees like theerest, who are doing a heroic job. ‘Usually there's nothing like a separete.schoolroom;. the long trestle tables of the dining~room.are used, and there for three or. four hours a day the children, fTOm.SiX to fifteen; study as best they can.

’ .31’ i.

Let me give you some examples of camps I visited.’ some are fairly good, some are horrible, but in every single one, there issa crying need for supplies of_one sort or another, which can be.a9nt when there is money to _,»r« buy them. ” n v i. r~ ' '

hi hi O0 On an‘ sq an 1 an Inn Cu a-u an-Iv an

V In the town of Oloron (Lendes) six hundred people, more than 200 of them children, live in an old factory with rotting floors and holes in the roar. There is a littlebit of ground around the factory, .;3'ust.rn1d, inside the high walls which surround itu Eight outdoor latrines, which are i simply pits surrounded by a burlap curtain? serve the entire,camp. The _ dining-room.is simply a roofed over space in the yard Without Walls~or floor, . and it is often so cold that thepfamilios must take their food and eat it‘ Whereever they can find a corner;t Washing facilities are e couple of taps which run into 5 ditch in the yard. i '

The place has never been whitewashed, and cannot possibly be kept

‘clean. Almost everyone sleeps on loose straw on the floor, but a few have

mattresses of sacking. Families of three and four sleep under_e single blanket. There is ne teacher; no school, no books. d p < . ~-« —- ‘l’ l ipThe'whole atmosphere is appelllingly demoralizing b6¢auae bf the cold, filth and crowding.’ The Spanish nurse who is in charge of the camp appealed for material for the women to make up clothes for themselves and the children. Without a change of clothing she can make no headway against vermin and skin diseases. l