TaÌˆgliche Omaha tribuÌˆne. [volume] (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926, 1914-11-14

The following graphic description Of the hArdshlps 70 which German
women and children IN London have been subjected since The outbreak Of
lhe war, Is part Of a statement submitted4o the Monthly Review" by an
eye witness, Mr. X, In confirmation Of reports received from n member OF
the German-Amefcan Relief COMMITTEES in London Mr. H. whose name
must be withheld for the present, holds the position Of a lieutenant tober
Leunant) Of the Reserve OF the German army and has been a reaaen. Of
London for the past five years He left England for The United states late
vestgaton which the English government has found necessary 2 impose
upon German and Austrian residents IN England Mr. KS family has not
left England yet and In view Of the matrcatmens Of German women and
children In London 1t will, therefore be readily understood for what reasons
Mr. ks name cannot be made public at the present time.
Nothing under Heaven justihes the ruthless, hhuman cruettes which
we're and are continually perpetratod, with cold blood and calculation, on
the non-eombatant Germans and Austians, especially those Of the poorer.
classes, who could not leave England after the declaration Of war or were
captured since in vessels brought in from abroad.
All men Of military age we're at ono segregated and intened in Con
eentration Camps; they were protected Is prisoners Of war according to
international usage. However II was not the men-in-arms, but the baoesdn-
whte-hared old men who were left behind In the treatment Of these
innocent people the muchyaunted British superiority in humaneness showed
itself in It's stark n~akednessl
Visitors from France, England and the States have a habit of defding
the German policeman and his methods. He provides a topic which duly
distorted lends itself par excellence to exploitation in a campaign against
miitarism and PrussianismL What overwhelming material could a clever
juggler Of words, however, collect behind the sinister, wel-guarded walls Of
the police stations Of Britain, for a brilliant case against nayysm and
Britain ruling the Waves But the great public does not know and is
no invited to look through these police court walls For it is not the Eng
|hh fashion TO show their true nature, their Unborn brutality in public;
officially all & tolerance, generosity, farmndedness, but what do we find
Inohcialg behind these wasl 1t matters not, such a triAe IS the life Of
I German woman or child; they don't speak English they cannot tell about
their suferngs, or If they can, care is taken to hthmidate them too
thoroughly to complain.
Deprived Of the protecting arms Of their mems, these unhappy nom
combatants are now deliberately left to their fate Brave German women,
haggard and fantng from exposure and anxiety can be seen dragging
along their starving little ones childrenis eyes look wistfuly up into yours,
wondering why they must suffer all this; why father and brother were
taken away nobody knows where; why baby, mother and grandfather have
mo house and no bed where to lay the tired heads, nothing to eat since
yesterday when the kindly German pastor, now arrested "for assisting the
enemy, told them not to make the long journey again, 5 he had no more
soup und bed tickets to give them
Too proud and too frightened TO beg, the weary throns pushes slowly
on to the next station in their pilgrimage, the police court Only grand
father has been left behind, broken down by the church wall where a
eounryman, himself near starvation, takes pity on him.
GIowehng, malignant looks receive them inside the Police Court gates
where they are hudded together in rain and squaor. In rough, abrupt
accents which one is supposed TO expect only Of the military Berlin Schultz
mann the English police officer orders them about like cattle: "Woyer-
wanti?" Can he suggest any help? mol See the Inspector The in
spector in charge appears "Who are these? % - Germans, Sir, want
assistance! - "Asdstancefl The police court amt no benevolent institution
Why should we help you Germans anyhow. If you are destitute, to the
~work-house, all Of you'll"
Shrinking out with horror they flee. On to the street, back into the
gutter, TO the parks with the dripping benches and the wet lawns, until they
are shut out there, too, at midnight And then? Numb with exhaustion,
beaten and defeated, in botomless despair they return the only way: to
the police and thence, to consumate their doom, 10 the English poorhouse.
There is no God in Heaven If swift and terrible vengeance is not
wreaked on the nation who authorized and committed these numberless
crimes against humanity Justice has never yet stood by with her sword
sheated while defenceess human beings whose protection should have been
a sacred trust were first driven from their homes and hearths and then
calmly and brutauy delivered to their destruction.
Let us be silent in future when they speak Of British Civilization and
let US remember the thousands Of German women and children whose
wreched fate calls aloud for instant and universal succor!