Suffer Little Children

Over war-torn countries, the sounds of the last battle have faded away. And in the stillness that follows, another army is slowly and painfully growing. An army 60 million strong of sick and starving children. The ruin of the crippled cities of Europe is their training ground. Through the years of Nazi occupation, guile and deceit became their weapons. And now in peace, they see in all its starkness not goodwill and brotherly love, but the reality of the terrible fight for life. >> [music] >> Hunger may be met by desperate men, especially when their children also are hungry. So said Director General Herbert Lehman of UNRRA, speaking of the efforts of Europeans to keep themselves and their families alive. >> [music] [music] >> But children do not understand. >> [music] >> They see only what is the surface. And even after 6 years of occupation, some faced with the life of confusion around them are looking back to see not the horrors of Belsen and Buchenwald, but the glittering rallies and stirring drumbeats of fascist ceremony. Their schools, long the symbol of order and purpose in their [music] lives, are cavern ruins. >> [music] >> And their homes, havens of security and love, are also gone. For 25 million European boys and girls, there are no homes. >> [music] [crying] >> Children are dying from tuberculosis and typhus, and adding to the horror is the threat of bubonic plague. >> [music] [music] >> Children are hungry, digging in the worthless wealth of inflation for bread. In Holland, bulbs have become food. Daffodils for animals, for human beings, tulips. They aren't bad, said the Dutch housewife. In fat. What else can we eat? [music] The world of the European child is a world of food queues, soup kitchens, and public shelters. A world no one wants his child to live in. Ruthless Europe status today, the continent is exerting every effort to survive as she survived the Black Death and the famous turn of winter of 1918. Although they are too weak to help themselves, they are taking heart for they have seen the United Nations work out an active plan of international cooperation in the organization of UNRRA. They have seen the many joint committees set up to help solve vital shortages in transportation, fuel, and shelter. [music] They have seen help for them and their children rising from the holds of Allied ships in every European port. >> [music] >> Thousands of tons of supplies arrive daily. Wheat and flour, fertilizer and medicine, tractors [music] and trucks, cattle and livestock. But experts know that only a small part of Europe's actual needs are being met. >> [music] >> The hope is to stave off widespread famine [music] and disease until Europe is strong enough to look after itself again. >> [music] [music] [music] >> In the months to come, some European children will be kept warm by shipments of clothing from Canadians, Americans, and other more fortunate Europeans, who as individuals have shown a personal concern with the children's plight. [music] Shoes and worn overcoats, dresses, and even toys have come from every city and village of the United States and Canada. >> [music] [music] >> Relay, they touch off to the cities and villages of the ravaged continent, carrying their anxiously awaited cargoes. >> [music] [music] [music] [singing] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Facing the biggest building program in history, Europe, concerned over the growing illiteracy and poor health of the children, has given top priority to the rebuilding of schools and hospitals. In many countries, more than 2/3 of the hospitals have been destroyed, and those that have been spared operate with shortages in surgical equipment and medicine. >> [music] >> Alongside the two few available European medical workers, the Canadian, American, and British doctors and nurses of UNRRA are helping to undo the years of privation and undernourishment so that Europe's children may one day run, and play, and laugh again. >> [music] [music] >> Leaving behind them the grim nightmares of ruined towns, some fortunate children are taken to camps to start life anew. These bewildered Greek boys and girls are shown by UNRRA workers the kindness and sympathy they need. Many of them have no parents, for all life [music] has been terrifying. With none of the laughter usually heard in children's camps, they solemnly enter a new and brighter life in which the needs of a healthy, happy child are provided for them. Decent shelter, proper rest, and good food. >> [music] >> Gravely they are helped into new clothes, stepping out of the rags of their pitiful past. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Many of them, 12 and 14 years of age, get their first lesson in reading and writing. They also learn how in other countries of the world children like themselves live. [music] >> Now, over the first obstacle, they're on the road to becoming healthy citizens of a new Europe. >> [music] >> These are the little children of Europe. [music] Thousands of them with proper care today will grow into good citizens of tomorrow's world. >> [music] >> But the millions of others growing up in the midst of confusion and disease, from them the world can expect what? [music] For they, the sick and starving army of today, will face our children tomorrow. Let us hope they meet as friends. >> [music] [music]