ANDORRA: Talk of Other Things

A phlegmatic German Army sergeant and private struggled up a rugged, snowbound pass in the Pyrenees last week, stopped on the frontiers of the tiny State of Andorra. "We have orders to respect your frontier," said the sergeant to the lone frontier guard. Then they laughed and talked of other things, probably not of the 15 European countries invaded by Adolf Hitler.

Andorra's sovereignty supposedly dates back to 777, when Charlemagne drove southward against the Saracens, then padded the Christian world with little buffer states. For centuries some 5,000 Andorran mountaineers dwelt in peace, snowbound more than half the year, in their high valley—about two-thirds the size of New York City.

Several times in recent decades the Andorrans were aroused by attempts of international gambling rings to buy their way into the country. In 1934 an American stood the valley on its ear by offering to buy the country for $54,000. But the little Council of 24, elected by the heads of families, turned down the offer.

During Spain's civil war Andorra was disturbed by Republican refugees but, with the aid of an army of seven mobile guardsmen lent to Andorra by the President of France, order was maintained and neutrality defended. Last week the Andorrans may well have wondered whether any country could be small enough to escape the rapacity of Adolf Hitler.