RELIEF IN GERMANY
have read in The Spectator of July 16th the somewhat harsh remarks of Mrs. Ethel K. Davies concerning correspondents from Germany. Personally I feel that no pathetic letters should be written to unknown people abroad imploring their help, but to take it for granted, as Mrs. Davies seems to do, "that it is almost certain that the numerous parcels sent in reply to these appeals find their way to the black market and that the letters are not genuine" would, I am afraid, show a con- siderable lack of knowledge of conditions prevailing in this country even three years after the war.
Things are far from normal in Germany and though it cannot be denied that food conditions have slightly improved in the bizonal area in the last few months, there are still many scarcities, and. the housewives' lot is not a bright one. There is the additional problem of millions of evacuees from the East, of whom hundreds of thousands are living in real misery. These people are now living to a great extent on charity, a charity which of necessity can only be precarious. If such people, often driven to despair, take to writing pathetic letters abroad, one should not think too harshly of them. I am the last to deny that sometimes demands for charity are made under false pretences, but to conclude that we are dealing with an organised racket is far-fetched. There is always the danger that charity may attract parasites; but to stop it for that reason would not , be the right method. Moreover, as already mentioned by you, there is a way to ensure that such charity is not misplaced, by allowing relief organisa- ' lions to make the distribution.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
Wenkenstrasse 47/11, Bad Salzufien, Germany. F. NOELKE.
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