The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-04-30
RUSSOS N A SAVAGE
ATTACK ON MEMEl
from Tuesday. Dairy.

For seven months and half the war
had been little more than a rumor
for the inhabitants OF the little city
of Memel, tucked away In northern
most East Prussia on the Baltic. Be
You'd the mobilization OF 500 OF the
'landsturmr TO take the place OF the
regular troops things had gone ON
much the same as usual Then. sud-
denly. on March N. there came the
report that the Ccssacks we're COM
ing from the north and the east. and
Mcneil began TO get its first direct
impression OF the gigantic conflict. In
the DAYS that followed Il was TO get
other and more terrible Impressions.
While officials frantically appealed
for help from the military authorities.
the little band of landsturm slowly Tell
back from one defensive position TO
another before the oncoming Rus
slams. made one final but ineffective
stand at the outlying village OF Al
thof, and in Thursday night, March
Is. were forced to- let the Russians
enter.
BURNING and Pillasing.
Burning and pillaging as they went
The Russian troops swept into Mcneil.
Ns terrified villagers gazed from their
windows. tho soldiers marched through
Memel's main street. smashing In the
store windows, stopping only long
enough 10 help themselves to tobacco,
liquor and food. Memel. however. had
twenty -four hours notice. and had
utilized the time for partial flight.
Terrified villagers from the outlying
districts had come painting into town
with stories OF dwellings looted and
burned. relatives and friends seized
and borne of 10 Russia by Russian
civilians following the wake OF the
soldiers. and of atrocities too ter
rible to mention. Eight thousand OF
the towns population. thanks TO one
final stand OF the landsturm at the
KarlsbrueChe with machine gun.
succeeded In getting out of Mcneil.
with a few belongings. and onto the
long strip of sand dune known as the
'Kurische Nehrung' that runs in
curving direction southwark toward
Koenigsberg.
Flight Was Terrible.
Few of the fugitiyes had had time /
to bring any food. and on the narrow |
strip OF sand there was nothing on |
which they could subsist The bitter |
winter weather that had made the |
flight so terrible. however. proved TO /
be their salvation. for II froze the !
sheltered water between the sand and |
the mainland so that supplies could /
be sledged across on sufficient guam
fifty to keep soul and body together |
Ignorant OF the fate that might have !
befallen those they had left behind. |
suffering terribly in the bitter wealth |
er the fugitives waited. hoping des-
perately that the reinforcements for /
which they had appealed so earnestly |
had arrived to drive the Russians out.
There they remained a week. or for
four days after the invaders had been /
expelled with great losses For three
days the Russian troops camped about |
the town. Their swooD on Mcneil I
seemed TO have been inspired BY no |
tactical reasons. for they did not sink /
the ships I'm the land locked harbor. |
nor fortify themselves. Germany's
threat that Russian towns would be
destroyed IL they continued to burn
down German villages Is believed TO
have restrained them from destroying
Memel.
SicdHcu Out stores.
Instead they cleaned out virtually
every delicatessen store. every pro-
vision market and every wine and
LIQUOR establishment in Mcneil Indi-
videai soldiers. proving about. en-
tered the homes of Inhabitants and
added to their fear by their depreda-
lions and their threats. On Sunday
The German reinforcements began 10
arrive, and the Russians began 10
leave. \ few hours later trail OF dead
bodies from the center OF the little
city TO Althof-or its remnants-told
The story OF the departure. When the
last Russian had gone and the inhab-
itants yentured out OF their homes. 7
Ia corpses were picked ND and piled
together preparatory to burial in
common grave. This gruesome work
was stu In progress when an Asso-
riated Press correspondent reached
Memel.
one OF the first To reach the scene
was Ober-President Won Batocki OIL
the province OF East Prussia. and he
began at once TO sift out the truth
from the mass of rumor and hearsay
regarding the invasion. Shortly he
determined that between SEQ and 600
persons in the Mcneil part of the prov
ince had been carried off to Russia.
That twelve civilians had been killed
mat one woman took poison when she
was attacked by a Russian soldier
and that another died from such an
attack. that the second mayor of the
city had been dangerously and per-
maps fatally wounded by a bayonet
stab in the abdomen. and that sixteen
German soldiers had been killed In
dispelling the Russians.
Belgium She'll RiddIed.
the Associated fress correspondeut
was able 10, retrace the route taken
Dy the Russians as they advanced on
Memel from the nearby border. To the
nCrth and to the east. and TO see n
panorama of desolation such as now
Is common In East Prussia. and no
where else in Europe. Belgium js
shell-riddled. East Prussia Is burned .
down and devastated. The route led
up along the Baltic coast 20 the re-
mains OF the little village of Nimmer-
sau-a typical town. the principaI
building I'm which had been the inn. n
mad been the objective OF the Rus
slams as they swept over the border
from Polangen; they had stayed long
enough to all but wipe IL of the map.
The few inhabitants of the village ,
who had mustered up Courage IN stav