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Painful Exigencies. Stirring around in the chaotic confusion that after six weeks of peace still prevailed throughout unoccupied France, Minister for Youth and Family Jean Ybarnegaray attempted last week to extricate French youth. Aping the Nazis, he organized "Youth Groups," his goal being to build strong Frenchmen by sport, work and "directed, clean living while still young ... to prepare youth morally and physically to meet the painful exigencies of existence."
Plundered Larder. On the verboten list last week were placed all the meringue, almond paste and cream cakes dear to the palates of Frenchmen. A drastic shortage of sugar, flour, cream and butter caused the percentage of sweetening in cakes to be reduced to 10% of the contents, and the sale of all pastry to be prohibited on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In restaurants a new decree provided that neither fish nor cheese could be served with a meat meal and that meat could not be included in meals served after 3 p.m. except on Sundays and holidays. As rationing cards for sugar, rice, soap, fats and oils were instituted, Minister of Agriculture Pierre Caziot warned the French nation that there would be severe rationing of butter, cheese and milk.
Why France, a self-sufficient nation, was hungry was indicated by a report from Lyon that since its arrival the Nazi Army of Occupation had seized 140 trainloads of provisions, paying for them with 1,000,000,000 francs worth of "bonds." To French hopes that at least some of the confiscated goods would be returned, the Nazi welfare authorities replied: "It is not the conqueror's business to relieve the world misery and distress caused by the fault of the vanquished."