Iowa Civilians

The Leader, Chariton, Iowa
Tuesday, July 2, 1940

SAFE IN CHARITON AFTER FLEEING WAR.

[Caption] Above are Mr. and Mrs. Verne Hass, who arrived to Chariton last Friday with a thrilling story of their flight from their home in Louvain, Belgium, before the onslaught of the Germany army. “Runt” a pet Siamese cat that made the journey with them is in the lap of Mrs. Hass.

TELLS of Flight from Belgium When Nazis Invaded;
Was Aboard S. S. Washington Halted by Submarine

The dramatic flight of refugees from Belgium at the time of the German Invasion and a threat to a passenger liner on the high seas by a submarine as seen through the eyes of an American was told in Chariton yesterday by Verne Hass, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hass, 428 N. 7th St. Verne Hass, along with his wife, a maid and the latter’s little daughter, were forced to flee Louvain when the Germans launched their attack.

Hass, a graduate of Chariton high school and Iowa State College, was in Belgium at the time of the Nazi Invasion as Managing Director of a plant owned by a large American concern. He had been serving this capacity since 1935 at Louvain.

“On May 10,” he began, “my wife and I were awakened by the firing of anti-aircraft guns about 5 a.m. Rushing to the window we saw German bombers overhead and could see the anti-aircraft shells bursting near them.

People Were Calm
“All the people in our neighborhood were out watching them and were very calm about it—as if they were watching an air meet instead of actual warfare.

“Later we found out that the planes had bombed airports and that no shells fell on Louvain. After the attack there was very little troop movement evident because the Belgium army had been mobilized since September, 1930. That day, however, the refugees from Liege began to pour into the city.

“Downtown in Louvain people were filling the stores to buy flash lights, mineral water, and food. The principal movement was by the people going to stores to purchase articles such as these that were seen to be badly needed.

“We turned on our radio after watching the planes go over and heard that a state of war existed. The Belgian stations were continually broadcasting orders to the soldiers on leave to report back to their units. That same day, May 10, we moved to a villa in the country, feeling that Louvain was a military objective and would soon be under heavy fire. The third line of defense ran through the city, thus making it an objective.

“On our way to the country that evening, we saw British troops which had been on the French frontier marching into the city and setting up their anti-tank guns at strategic locations.

“The next day,” Hass continued, “planes came over again at 5 a.m. and began to drop bombs near Louvain.”

Hass went to work that day, despite the fact that his plant offices were near the canal railroad, a building objective. “Every half-hour,” he said, “we had to run down into the basement. Finally we sent the office force home. Everyone believed that the Belgian fortifications were sufficiently strong enough to hold back the Invasion and nobody expected the rapid penetration that came about.

“Bombs fell as close as two blocks from the office and shell splinters were picked up off the steps.” That evening Hass had just left a post where he was watching marching British troops, when a bomb fell at a street intersection in Louvain where he had been a few minutes previously. Nearly 30 people were killed.

The window casing of neighboring house where Mrs. Hass happened to be visiting that day was hit by a fragment of a bomb that dropped about a block away. Mrs. Hass and the residents of the home were in the basement at the time. At their own villa one nearby building housing some livestock was hit. The planes were missing at a nearby rail line, Hass explained.

Germans Broke Through.
“In the afternoon, the Germans broke through the outer line of fortification. Many troops were moving into Louvain, so we decided to go to Brussels which we did that night. There, life was fairly normal. The hotels weren’t crowded and the people were apparently leading normal lives. It was difficult to get news of the fighting.”

But that trip to Brussels was not the simple journey that Hass first described. Closer questioning and a little reading between the lines brought out the fact that, while driving to Brussels, Hass and his wife, their maid and her daughter had to leave the car and dodge to the side of road every time an airplane was spotted.

Arriving at Brussels, Mr. and Mrs. Hass stayed there until the following Tuesday when they heard that all men of military age were to leave the area. By that, they concluded that Brussels was in danger. Too, the residents of that city began to show their fear of Invasion. Hass said that luggage could not be purchased, having been sold completely out.

Then people began to leave out of Brussels. “We left about 4 p.m. Tuesday,” Hass said, “and the road was so jammed that it took us three hours to drive 29 miles. There were all kinds of conveyances on the road, with literally thousands of people walking.

After dark, we kept on going but the military police wouldn’t let us use our lights. We were near the French frontier, when we finally stopped about 11 p.m. Knowing that it would be closed at that time, we slept in our car all night. Next morning we got an early start. The troops moving north filled the roads so that we couldn’t travel south on it. Therefore we had to go west.

Two Miles of Cars.
“We went in that direction until we got within 30 miles of the coast by 9 p.m. and arrived at the French border. There were nearly two miles of cars ahead of us and we had to wait in line until noon before they let us cross. There were so many refugees that the French border guards finally let down the gates and allowed them to pour into France with normal control.

“Wednesday night we arrived in Paris where we stayed for two days. While there, there were eight or nine air-raid warnings a night. It finally got to be a case of ignoring the air-raid warnings and getting a good night’s sleep or heeding them and feeling very tired the next morning.

“In Paris, people were wondering what turn the war would take next and many felt that the invasion would soon engulf that city. The American embassy announced that a ship would be sent to Bordeaux to pick up American refugees so we went there.

“The Paris migration did not get underway then and only Americans or nationals other than French were going to Bordeaux. The city was filling with Belgium refugees. The police at Bordeaux finally stopped all entry and shuttled refugees off to other nearby towns.

“We were in Bordeaux three weeks before we were able to board the S. S. Washington. It was to have gone to Genoa, but that call was cancelled. The ship left Bordeaux and stopped at Lisbon to pick up refugees, then headed for Galway, Ireland. We left Lisbon the night before Italy declared war.

Early the next morning at 5 a.m. the boat stopped. The ceasing of the forward motion woke nearly everyone up. The alarms rang and stewards came through the state-rooms telling everyone to dress warmly and go to the boat deck.

Up on that deck, the Bridge informed the passengers to remain calm and to pass into their assigned lifeboats. This was done with a minimum of disorder. The life boats were swung on their davits out over the side and were ready to be dropped into the sea should the occasion demand.

“We could see the flashing off on the horizon of the submarine signaling to our boat. Finally, our boat go underway and began to steam away quickly on a zig-zag course. We finally were told to remain in the life boats another 15 minutes.

At last, the boats were swung in and we were allowed to get out of them. The next morning the Captain posted a bulletin to the effect that a submarine of unknown nationality had been acting in a suspicious manner and the Captain had deemed it prudent to take all precautions.

(Newspaper reports later reported that a German submarine had stopped the Washington, believing it to be another ship.)

“Abandon Ship”
The first order to the ship had been to abandon ship in ten minutes. This would have been difficult with 1200 on board including many women and children. Staterooms that normally held three were accommodating five, Hass said. The boat sighted another submarine after this incident, but was not halted again. After touching at Galway, the boat returned to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Hass reached Chariton Iowa last Friday after motoring from New York.

Left Maid Behind.
The Hass maid and her daughter could not be taken on board the boat because of difficulties in obtaining visas. They had to be left in a French coast town near Bordeaux. The maid’s husband had been called to the army when the war started, and no news could be secured as to his safety.

Hass received indirect word at Bordeaux that while heavy fighting had taken place in Louvain, the part of town in which his home was had not been destroyed. He also said that news was hard to get and they never knew that Brussels had fallen until they read it in the a paper on the boat.

A third refugee was with the Hass party—a Siamese cat named “Runt” which Mr. and Mrs. Hass brought to Chariton wit them.

The couple plan to remain in Chariton this week. They will go to Chicago next Monday where Mr. Hass will start working in the offices of his company in that city.